Endings

by Lisa Williamson

  It was important that she find out if the fop who asked for Elvenbane's favorite whore was a spy or just a fool. She opened the concealed drawer of the table next to her and pulled out a large piece of glass set in a loop of gold. This little trinket was very expensive. She had the scrying glass made up by a spell crafter she found living in the Caverns. There were any number of strange beings living in the cities most downtrodden neighborhood. Penny whores, thrives, assassins and the odd magic worker. Those who were addicted to something and had been thrown out by their guilds. It was just such an addicted mage who made the glass. It was tuned to only one being, Elvenbane. It was made so that the Half-Orc could not tell that he was being spied upon. Even his snake had no idea. She had been careful the first few months after she had it made but the following years had proven that the strange little creature had told her the truth. It was too bad that he had to die, she could have used more of his little trinkets. Well that was all water under the bridge. She lifted the glass and breathed on it. As the mist of her breath cleared she saw an image appear.

  Samuel Elvenbane was in the middle of speaking with his mage. She could just hear what they were talking of. It seemed that the battle for some obscure city in the north was going slowly. He was upset and was taking it out on the mage. She listened for over an hour and heard nothing that led her to believe that Elvenbane knew that she had sold off the girl. That was good but she wasn't confident. He could have sent the man as a check on her. He had done such things in the past. She had grown to confident of his continuing absence and had let down her guard. She would have to set up some type of trap for dealing with the man quietly and permanently

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  Two days later the four friends had a plan. They would all be going in to the house. Levy would put disguises on them so that they all looked like human males. He would use a different one this time so that the woman would not be on guard. It would take a lot of concentration and power. Over the past two days they had learned a little about the woman and her tendencies by watching the house during the day and night. The guards of the other night were only visible during the evening hours. After midnight half of the guards would leave the house, the other half would stay to insure that the customers would leave before dawn That way none would be seen by the soon to be entering farmers and merchants. All of the guards tended to large and muscular. And as far as Levy could tell none of them were too smart. The house was scry guarded. That wasn't surprising as many of its patrons were of the upper-class ruling families. It would do much damage if any knowledge of one of them entering a house such as this. There didn't seem to be any other type of spell guarding or blocking the place.

  The four friends gathered outside the house at about a half hour before midnight. Karleen and Katlin now looked like a pair of eastern lordlings. Decked out in silk and ribbons and carrying perfumed balls which they held close when ever anyone walked by. Mika looked much like Samis with a few changes. The weapons were gem bedecked and the clothing was finer than anything that Samis ever felt comfortable in. Levy himself was in the guise of the blonde haired man mountain he had showed his friends a few days before. His clothing was also silk, but of a different cut. It was obvious that he was a mage by the robes but one who had more attitude than ability. And more money. They had found out that the average price of a whore in this house was a gold crown for an hour, ten times that of a girl in a normal house. The added touch of the scent of dream dust completed the picture. It would explain why a mage would be using her house. No man on dream dust would be of any use to a woman if there was any resistance to his desires. Hopefully any scent of magic around them would be put down to Levy's persona of a failed mage and the difference of the easterners. He could hide only so much of the power needed for these spells.

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  Inside the house Ursa had been very nervous for the past few days. She had expected less subtlety from an agent of Samuel Elvenbane. The man should have returned before now. Before she retired this morning she had one of her contacts in the mage community visit. The little creature, race unknown, had been paid to set up a short term trap spell. Anyone entering the House of Elven Pleasures with anything other than lust on their minds would be sent to a special room. They would not notice the difference, it would be like they just stepped from the lobby into a showing room. She had even placed a few of her less valuable girls in the room. Those girls who had not been bringing in the kind of money they used to. The food and the drink had all been drugged. The food with a powder that tasted like a common spice but would cause a general slowing of reflexes and a loss of visual acuity. The sweet elixir she added to the wine would mix well with the powder and amplified the effects of whatever it was mixed with. She had four of her larger guards stationed around the room in alcoves covered with false fronts. If that didn't work she had some special little packets made up with sleep powder. Those and a couple of special trinkets she had in storage were now in her hidden pockets.

  The early part of the evening went well. Her business was brisk this night, with the advent of the lust goddesses of five different pantheons holding celebrations. She had a few customers who looked like the man from the past week but none were him. She had two men who tripped the trap spell but they turned out to be just thinking of their business affairs first. She let them out after they chose a girl and she made sure that the girls had the antidote. She was beginning to believe that she had been overly cautious when four men entered the front lobby of the house.

  They didn't look to be together. Two of them were of the eastern nations that had just started to trade with Greymer. She knew little about them but it was common knowledge that they didn't think much of the people they had met in Greymer. Very insular types. She had heard that they held harems of at least ten women per man in their countries. What two of these men were doing her she could only guess. She swayed over toward them, using all of her age old seductiveness to gain their attention. "Welcome to the House of Elven Pleasures, my lords. I am the house's mistress, Madame Ursa. How can my humble establishment bring you pleasure?"

  The two men looked at each other and then at the woman before them. The taller of the two spoke, his voice was very deep. "We have heard of your house as far away as the eastern sea and have come to check out the services that we have been told of."

  "Yes," replied the second man. "We don't have many of your 'elves' living in our country and have heard that they are exceptional harem material. We thought it would be an excellent idea to 'try' out some here before we went to the 'market' and brought a few home with us."

  "Oh, you are in for a real treat gentlemen. I have the finest ladies in all of Greymer working under my roof. If you will just go through the beaded curtain to your left you will find the lounge and I believe tonight's selection holds many rare beauties." She waved them toward the curtain and turned to the other two men standing in the room. The first was a large specimen. He looked to be a mage who had given in to a desire for dream dust. How amusing! She had many clients with the same problem. Usually not mages but then this one looked to be big on money, not brains. The second looked to be a well paid hire sword. Probably working for the first. She turned her attention back to the first and took a step toward him.

  "Madame Ursa, I believe?" The mage squinted past a truly huge nose. He was obviously nearsighted.

  "Yes, good mage. How can I help you?"

  The mage actually blushed and stammered. "I-I-I have a problem and and I heard that your girls could help me with it." The swordsman stood behind his employer. Ursa gave him a quick wink. He was just the type of man she loved in her bed, all muscle.

  "I believe I can help you. I have just the girl. Gentle, quiet and very pretty. She is very sweet." She lay a hand on his arm and stroked the fine silk of his sleeve. "If you will just follow me I will lead you to her room." She paused a moment just before the beaded curtain. "And what will your mercenary friend here be doing du
ring your appointment'?"

  "Oh, I don't really care. He is just my guard. Do you have a less expensive service for those who bring along their 'servants'?"

  "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. After we bring you to your special young woman I think I can find something to keep your 'servant' busy." She added with a sly look at the man, who returned her look with interest.

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  As Karleen and Katlin walked through the beaded curtain they felt themselves transported. It was obvious to anyone who had regular dealings with magic that the room they now stood in was not the room that they had originally stepped into. Katlin turned quickly and saw that the beaded curtain was gone. Behind them was a solid looking wall. In front of them was a boring room. It contained only a table, covered with food and drink and two bored looking whores on couches.

  "Interesting, don't you think?" Karleen spoke in elvish. The two whores were lounging on the couches with looks of pure boredom. They didn't even look up at the sound of their native language. She walked over to the first girl and took the slack face in her hands. After a quick probe she found that the girl had been heavily drugged. She used just a touch of power to clear out some of the drugs in the girl's system.

  Meanwhile Katlin was busy checking out the room for possible enter and exit points. She spotted the false walls over the alcoves quickly but just filed the information in the back of her mind. Nothing seemed out of place here. She turned to the table and looked over the offerings. They looked good. Lots of fruit in sauces and little pastries. There were two bottles of different colors at each end of the table. She picked up one and sniffed. It smelled like blueberries and wild flowers. An unusual combination for a wine. She reached for a goblet and poured a small amount, more for something to do than for any thirst she had. She walked over to Karleen and whispered in her ear a reminder that it would be best to leave the girls as they were. Karleen nodded and took the goblet from her hand and peered at it for a moment. With a careful movement she placed it on the table. "I wouldn't drink that, if I were you," She whispered. "Its drugged." Katlin looked toward the table and back at Karleen. Karleen nodded. It was a good bet that the food was drugged too.

  After a moment three more people appeared in the room. Levy and Ursa, with Mika trailing behind. For a moment the madam was surprised but she quickly recovered. "Ah, I see that these two gentleman have not yet chosen a girl. Let me help them." She let go of Levy's arm and stepped toward the two eastern lordlings, her mind working overtime. To have four men whisked to this room within moments of each other was definitely strange. She placed her left hand on the arm of the taller of the two men and spoke softly. "I am sorry, it seems that these two are the only girls not engaged at the moment. Would either of them be to your liking?" She paused and cast a quick glance at the ring circling her middle finger. It was a special ring. It would detect magical disguises. The one on the next finger would remove them if she pressed it against the flesh of the wearer.

  "These girls seem to be very 'relaxed'. Is that normal for elfin maids?" Karleen asked, grasping one of the girls by the chin and tilting her eyes toward the light. Ursa removed her hand from Katlin's arm and stepped toward Karleen.

  "Sometimes the girls take something for a headache, so that they can continue to work." She moved the strong-looking hand from the girl's face, with a quick glance at her detection ring. The same result. Both were in disguise! She pretended outrage at the drugged girl in front of her. She slapped the face below her and pulled her up by one arm. "Go to your quarters and sleep it off!" She quickly turned to the other and shooed her out with the same orders. Turning back to the men in the room she apologized for having two such sluts in her house. "Its so hard to get good help these days." She held her hands out and Levy took them and replied.

  "It is alright dear lady. We all understand these things. Sometimes the dear things just have to have their drugs." He babbled on for a few more sentences. Ursa wasn't paying attention. She glimpsed her ring. The mage was under disguise also. She hid her reaction. If the mage was disguised, then the man at arms probably was too. She glanced over at the hidden compartments. Pulling her fingers from the mage's hands she gave a quick signal to the men in hiding. In a moment they sprang from the hidden compartments and attacked the four 'men'.

  Katlin spun about as she heard the first scrape of the paneling moving aside. "Watch out!" Karleen tucked out of the way, pulling her dagger from the sheath at her side. She was little good in a fight and did her best to stay out of the way. Mika stepped forward to protect Levy's side and was momentarily stunned by a bag hitting his face. A puff of some powder surrounded his face and he breathed some in before he realized it. In less than a second he found himself sinking to the floor.

  Levy caught Ursa's movement out of the corner of his eye and held his breath. What ever was in that little pillow had put Mika down in one breath. He whipped out his blade and threw it in one movement, hitting a guard heading toward Karleen squarely in the throat. The man went down with a gurgle. Then he immediately prepared to cast a spell. Before he could get a sound out he was grabbed from behind. He put all of his slight weight into fighting the man off long enough to cast a spell. He quickly charged the air about his body and shocked the man into releasing his arms.

  Katlin battled two men at the same time. There was no space for her to pull her sword so she had to make do with just her long knife. Fighting knife to knife in close quarters was always bad. Fighting two to one odds against larger opponents was worse. When the fight started Levy had to drop the disguises so that he would have the power to cast other spells. The men had paused a moment when they saw that they were fighting a woman but just smiled when they saw that she was elfin. In their experience no female was up to fighting one, never mind two, human males. They started to play with her. It wasn't until she scored a solid slash on one of the bulging forearms that they got serious.

  Karleen knelt on the floor, her eyes following the action. She tried to get up to reach Mika as he fell but was stopped by a tug at her hair. "That's as far as your going, slut." She grabbed at her skull and looked up at the person holding her hair. Ursa had snuck behind her and now was holding her. Ursa pulled Karleen up by the hair and placed a wicked looking blade against the girl's neck. She cleared her throat and spoke. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" The two man fighting Katlin paused as one scored a hit on Katlin, a low stab in her upper thigh. Levy looked up from the spell he was casting. The shout interrupting his concentration. "PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN! NOW!" When neither the mage or the elf moved she pressed the blade into the thin skin of Karleen's neck, breaking the skin. "Do it our I'll cut her throat." Ursa looked straight at Levy. "And you mage, no spell casting. I feel anything in the air and I'll push this through her throat." Levy stared at the woman for a moment and then lowered his hands.

  "Alright, let her go."

  Ursa just smiled at shook her head. "Now that would be very foolish. Why should I give up a perfectly good hostage?" She nodded at the remaining guards. "Tie them up and bring them down to my work room."

  The men moved to do her bidding. "Make sure to blindfold and gag the mage. We don't want him getting loose now do we?"

  They quickly tied his arms behind him and pushed a rag into his mouth before settling a sack over his head. He could hear just fine through the thick cloth. "Come on, bitch. Join your little friend over here on the couch. Wouldn't want one of you uppity elf bitches thinking that I'll go easy on them. He could hear a crack of flesh against flesh and a low grunt from Katlin. Next he heard the sound of a drawer opening. After that he felt something slipped around his neck. "There. Now you're harmless, mage.

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  Mika came around after what felt like an eternity. He tried to bring his hand forward to rub his eyes but was pulled up short by something. As his eyes focused he saw that it was a chain. What was going on? It took a moment for his mind to clear enough to remember what had happened. He cast about
, looking for his friends. He spotted Levy chained to the wall opposite from him. "Levy, where are the women?"

  The young mage lifted a battered face toward the elf. He worked his mouth and throat for a moment and spoke, in a croak. "I don't know." He tried to say something else but nothing came out.

  In the uncertain light of the torch Mika could see that Levy was dressed only in part of his breeches. His torso and lower legs were covered in vivid purple and black bruises. "What's going on?"

  His answer came from the doorway. "I have been trying to find out why I have had suchdistinguished visitors to my humble house. Your young friend here took exception to the

  treatment of the ladies in your party." Ursa stepped into the room pulling Karleen by the hair. The woman was also covered in bruises and there was a blank look on her face. "This one seems to have lost herself somewhere. Too bad. She would have brought me a lot of money at one of the other houses." She pushed the girl down on the floor at her feet. "Maybe you can give me more information." She ran a hand down Mika's throat and chest to his waist. "Such a fine example of a man. I could have lots of fun with you."