Red Dragon

Episode II Return of the Dragon

Chapter 6 Sisters

Vayasha shivered and huddled closer to her older sister. Sympathetically Shasara pulled her a little closer. They were both cold and hungry. An arm’s length away was a bucket of water, but they had not been provided with any food for hours. Above them they could hear the steady beat of the drum and the sweep of oars.

Vayasha couldn’t remember much about how they had gotten where they were. She had only vague memories of clinging desperately to her barrel. She and Shasara had drifted for a day and a night. Before they had left the ship they had linked their barrels together with a length of rope. That action had probably saved their lives.

It enabled them to push the two barrels together and using a bit of extra rope they had tied them together creating a small platform. Then they had taken turns riding on top of the bobbing platform. Somehow by good fortune or perhaps bad, depending on the point of view, they had been washed up on a barren rock. And there they had remained for several weeks.

The rock they were caste away on was just that – a rock. It measured barely seventy paces long and fifty wide. The sea had eroded it into jagged shards, so that walking across it was difficult even with boots. It also offered no shelter. Fortunately, there was enough driftwood on the island that they were able to drag together a crude shelter. They were also able to build a fire although they had to be careful with the wood. There was no telling how long they might be stranded on the rock and the wood supply was not unlimited.

For food they depended on the rock. There were numerous crannies that served as the hiding places for crabs, and mussels clung to the rocks. It was not the sort of food they would have preferred, but it kept them alive. On the odd occasion they even managed to kill fish with their bows and arrows. Their biggest problem, however, was water. They had to depend entirely on rain. Fortunately the rugged surface of the rock provided basins that caught the water, but these gradually dried up after a few days without rain, so they piled rocks over one of the pools to keep down evaporation. It seemed to help, but they were careful not to drink too much unless it was actually raining.

Most of the time on the rock they simply waited. There was not much else to do, however, they tried to find ways to occupy their time and spent several hours each day training, practicing the techniques that Sha zhu had taught them. And, of course, they practiced their archery, as all Silvani had for generations unknown. The practice was a bit limited, as they could not get farther than seventy paces from the target and if they missed the arrow would disappear into the sea. However, missing was not something that Vayasha and Shasara did very often.

They also kept a lookout for any possible chance of rescue. Occasionally, they spotted a sail, but it did not come within hailing distance. Finally, they hit upon a plan. Gathering a large amount of seaweed they piled it beside a pile of wood they had assembled as a signal fire, and then they waited.

It was not the signal fire, however, that got them off the rock. Rather it was the spirit of the sea. Three weeks after being stranded on the rock a storm blew up. It was an event the two girls were ill-prepared to handle. Enormous waves were soon breaking completely across the rock. Their small driftwood hut was obliterated within minutes, forcing them to try and find shelter on the lee side of the rock. But here they were completely exposed. As the waves increased in size it was obvious that it was only a matter of time before they would once again be swept into the sea. Fortunately, they had saved their barrel life preservers. Lashing themselves to the barrels once more they waited as long as they could until eventually a huge wave crashed down over them. Tumbling about in the cold water they were dragged from the rock like a couple of insects caught in a downspout and swept into the sea.

Clinging desperately to the barrels and each other, the two girls were once more at the mercy of the ocean. Night found them still afloat, but the fury of the storm had died. Exhausted, they found themselves alive but surrounded by an endless sea. There was no sound of waves breaking. Wherever they were it was not close to land.

They floated all night and all of the next day, their strength slowly ebbing. As before they took turns riding on top of the barrels, but this time no convenient rock showed up where they could find shelter. Without food or water they faced a slow death. It seemed a cruel fate considering all that they had been through. The ocean seemed intent on destroying them despite their best efforts to survive. Gradually both girls lapsed into a semi-comatose state, such that when they were finally found they had no recollection of being rescued.

Who had rescued them was a bit of a mystery. One thing seemed certain, however, and that was they did not have their welfare at heart. He had deprived them of their weapons, boots, and jewellery and confined them in the dank cold of the hold.

Vayasha studied the metal bands and chains that secured her ankles to a heavy staple in the hull. It seemed quite superfluous. Neither she nor Shasara had any way of escaping from the hold even if they were not chained, but whomever had “rescued” them was taking no chances.

A thump from above and a whiff of fresh air alerted them to the fact that the one of the upper hatches had been thrown open. A few seconds later there was the clump of boots on a stairway and then the gleam of a lantern. The two young women blinked in the light. A shadowy figure moved closer to them and there was the sound of metal on metal and a key turning in a lock. Then the chains holding their leg irons were pulled through the staples chaining them to the hold and they were free. Or at least their legs were free.

“Alright, on yer feet. Cap’n wants a better look at yez.”

Stiffly both girls got to their feet. They swayed uncertainly and then followed the lantern as the man who had released them led the way. The light of the sun almost completely blinded them as the emerged onto the deck. For a few seconds they stood stupidly, attempting to adjust to their new surrounding. A sharp push in their backs alerted them to the fact that they were wanted elsewhere.

They stumbled forward, heading for the stern of the vessel. They could see now that they were on a galleass, a sailing vessel that was also equipped with oars. There were six of them on each side; each sweep crewed by three sweating men. None of the men were chained; each apparently rowing from his own free will. It was a windless day and the sun beat down on their bronzed shoulders of the rowers as they strained at their task to the beat of a drum.

Reaching the elevated stern deck, the two girls were prompted to climb the ladder and ushered into the presence of the captain. He was standing next to the helmsman and his blue eyes were fixed on them as they approached.

The two girls noticed that all members of the crew were armed, including the rowers, and that the ship did not seem to be particularly tidy. Having served as part of Sha Zhu’s crew they were critical of nautical slovenliness. No normal captain would have allowed coils of rope to be strewn across the deck or the limp sails to be so poorly tied down. This was not an ordinary ship.

And it was no ordinary captain who greeted them. “What have we here?” he roared as they approached. He was a burly red-haired man with a beard that reached to his stomach. “Ye ever see the like?” he shouted to the man standing next to him, a small rat-faced individual sporting a red sash with a half dozen dirks shoved into it.

“Nah, captain,” the shorter man replied. “Perhaps they are of the fair race.”

“Elves ye mean,” thundered the captain. Apparently he never spoke in normal tones. “That would mean they be possessed of magical powers.”

“Nah,” the rat-faced man replied. “If so they never would have let us pluck them from the sea.” He stepped toward the two girls. “Their looks are different, but I’m guessing they will fetch a fair price in the slave market.” He reached up to touch Shasara’s silver hair.

A second later he was moving in a smooth arc through the air. He hit the deck with a sickening thud, helped in his flight by Shasara’s grip on his wrist. She made the impact as painful as possible.

“The gods!” shouted the red-bearded captain. “Tie them down!” A dozen men moved toward the two girls.

Vayasha caught the first one as he moved forward. Using the man’s weight she shifted her body smoothly and propelled him furiously toward the stern of the ship. He hit the taffrail and kept on going, striking the water with a noisy splash. Beside her Shasara ducked neatly below the nearest man’s arm and drove her knee into his groin. Then both she and Vayasha backed toward the stern of the vessel.

Both girls were breathing hard. Their ordeal in the sea and subsequent treatment had left them in less than prime condition. Outnumbered six to one and with more sailors rushing to join the fray, they knew they could not last long, but they would not go down without a fight.

“Avast!” roared the captain. He thrust his bulk in front of his men. “These beauties be worth a ton of coin. I’ll not be having them damaged.”

There was a movement from behind him. Two men came forward bearing a cargo net. Before either of the two girls could move they tossed it over them and then closed in.

The two Silvani maidens struggled frantically in the folds of the net, but it was something they could not fight and before either of them could work free the gang of sailors had them tightly trussed up. They were then untangled from the folds of the net and dragged to their feet.

This time there would be no chance to resist. Their hands had been tightly tied behind their backs and their ankles had been tethered. They could neither run or fight. Breathing heavily, the two girls awaited the mercies of their captors.

The little rat-faced man was on his feet. Drawing one of his many knives he advanced on Shasara, but the captain laid a huge hand on his shoulder. “Nay, Weasel, yer going to have to save yer revenge. These two are too valuable to be carving up.”

“They are witches, Valjo,” Weasel replied. “They’ll curse the ship.”

“If they are witches they be mighty comely. I think they be something else. What say we have a look at them?” He moved close to Shasara and began to remove her clothing.

“Ye cost me a crew member,” Valjo said as he ran his hands over the girl’s still clothed body. “I’d like to take ye to me cabin for that, but I’ll be content to see what’s hiding under yer clothes.”

The Silvani girl flinched as her red-haired captain began to undo the ties that closed her white blouse, but she could not escape and so stood stock still as he began his degrading investigation. There was a murmur from the assembled crew as her breasts were revealed. Beneath her clothing Shasara’s skin was pale, unlike the healthy tan of her head and hands. The delicate pink nipples of her swelling breasts stood out in contrast to the silken fairness of her body. Her bosom heaved in restrained emotion, her fear evident in spite of her calm demeanor.

“The gods, but I’ve never seen a finer pair,” the captain exclaimed. He cupped her left breast, the perfect hemisphere disappearing beneath his huge paw. Gently he squeezed the firm, young flesh and then tweaked her delicate pink nipple. “Soft as a duck’s back, but firm as a ripe peach. If she wasn’t worth so much I’d enjoy sucking on them until they bled.”

Shasara stood helpless and humiliated. Only twenty summers, she was just coming fully into her womanhood. Silvani women matured late, but as the pirate captain and his crew were discovering, the wait was well worth it. The captain continued to fondle her ripening breasts for a few seconds, and then sliding his hands down her torso he began to remove her deep blue sash. “Let’s see what she’s hiding down below,” he chuckled.

Vayasha watched helplessly as the captain stripped her sister. She wanted to scream in rage, but knew that such an effort would be wasted. They were surrounded by men who would just as soon violate them as not. It was clear that their “rescuers” were pirates and such men were not known for their tender mercies toward women.

Shasara used all of her self-control to keep her body from trembling. Once before she had been stripped and threatened with violation. It had been a terrifying experience and she had been saved only by the fact that her ordeal had triggered a magical response in Sha Zhu, resulting in her transformation into her namesake. But Sha Zhu could not save her now. Her chest heaved in fear and her perfect breasts quivered as the horrible humiliation continued.

The pirate captain stripped away her sash. Shasara tried not to look at Vayasha, knowing how frightening the ordeal must be for her. She wanted to close her eyes and shut off the lascivious stares of the men surrounding her, but her pride would not let her do it. Instead, she kept her gaze on the horizon, and tried to ignore the captain’s probing fingers. He ran his fingers over her hard, flat belly. Her slender body was willow-tough after two years of training under Sha Zhu’s demanding regimen.

“She be built like an Amazon,” the captain commented. “There be more to these two than meets the eyes. No wonder she tossed Rigo like a sack of grain.”

“He sank like one too,” laughed one of the surrounding ruffians, showing little sympathy for the man Shasara had flipped into the sea.

“Ye owe me for that one, silver hair,” said the captain, continuing to unwind Shasara’s sash. He dropped the azure sash to the deck and began to work at the laces binding her tight-fitting pants. “Dressing in men’s clothing be strange,” the captain said. “Ye be much better looking without them.”

He dropped the garment to Shasara’s knees, revealing the erotic curve of her pelvis and the swell of her down-covered mons veneris. The pirate captain ran his fingers trough the silvery fleece. “Soft as a seal pup,” he murmured. “What a joy it would be to deflower this one.”

“Then let’s do it, Valjo,” Weasel chimed in. “She’s a witch. Bursting a witch’s maidenhead takes away her powers.”

“Nay, Weasel,” the captain replied. He was moving his hand lower, sliding his fingers over the helpless maiden’s vulva. “This one be worth her weight in gold if she be virgin.”

Shasara flinched as the captain’s fingers parted the lips of her vulva. A single finger probed her vagina. “Ah,” the pirate captain, grunted in approval. “She’s never been visited by a man. We’ll not be taking weasel’s advice.”

There was a growl of disapproval from the assembled gallery of pirates, but the captain roared at them. “I say her well not be plumbed. The bidding will be lively for this one at the slave market.”

Shasara stood white-faced and trembling, her ordeal temporarily over as the captain now turned to her sister. “I say we take at least one of them,” Weasel whined in the background. “We share all.”

“And so we do,” replied the captain, his hand raised to begin stripping the younger girl. “And how are we to share one of these without selling her first? Would you turn a king’s ransom into a ship’s whore? Sell these two beauties and we’ll have gold enough to buy a dozen women each.”

The captain’s reply seemed to settle the crew. They watched in animal interest as he stripped the younger girl.

Like her sister, Vayasha stood unflinching as her clothing was removed. It helped that she had seen her sister debased and knew what to expect, but it still took every once of self-control not to whimper in fear as her slender body was revealed to the drooling ship’s company. Younger than Shasara by two summers, she had not yet reached her full maturity. She first flushed and then paled as the pirate captain tugged open her blouse and revealed her small uptilted breasts.

“Ah,” this one still be a girl,” the captain leered. He pinched Vayasha’s left nipple between his thumb and forefinger, tweaking the tender bud until the girl flinched. “Ah, it’s a shame she has to be kept intact. It’s going to be a happy man who gets between this one’s legs.”

Vayasha could not help shivering as the pirate captain ran his huge mitt over her supple body. Almost the twin of her sister in every way, she was slighter in build but identical in height. Her chest heaved with suppressed emotion as the captain fondled her sweating body.

Item by item she was stripped of her clothing until she stood as nude as her sister. The two humiliated girls stood side by side, trying to control their churning emotions. Finished with his inspection after determining that Vayasha was as virginal as her older sister, the captain stopped his energetic probing of the two young women. “Take em below,” he ordered. But stow them in a dryer part of the hold. I want them in good shape when we reach the slave market.”

Still devoid of most of their clothing, the two girls were escorted below decks. The men accompanying them could not refrain from grabbing at whatever part of their bodies was closest, but eventually they found themselves shoved into a small bare room. There, chains were secured about their necks and they were chained to the wall. The door was then slammed shut and there was the sound of a heavy padlock being locked in place. The two girls found themselves in total darkness. Emotionally exhausted from their ordeal, both young women slid to the deck and tried to make themselves comfortable. And then they waited.

Some time later the padlock was opened and to door thrown back. Blinking in the light of the lantern, they saw two of the pirates enter the room. One of them dumped a pile of rags on the floor. “Captain says to give you this,” he said. The other tossed the clothing that had been removed toward them. The two men left but returned a short time later with three buckets. One was filled with water and the other contained what seemed to be some watery soup. The last bucket was empty, but its purpose was clear. Then the door was slammed shut once more and the clicking of the lock ended the visitation.

Both girls dressed and then turned to the food and water. Without any eating utensils they were forced to scoop out the tepid thin soup with their hands, but they managed to get enough of the food to satisfy their empty bellies. Then, pulling together the pile of rags they created a crude bed, and snuggling close to one another they slept.

Shasara struggled out of her nightmare-filled sleep. Beside her Vayasha was already awake. How long had they slept? It seemed that it was only a few moments. However long it was did not matter. There was someone moving stealthily outside the door.

Muttered whispering could be dimly heard through the thick planks, and then the padlock was unlocked and the door opened. Outside a partially shuttered lantern cast a dim light, but it was enough for the two girls to see that there were at least two men standing in the corridor. The light flickered over the girls and then the two men crowded into the room. “Come here you two,” whispered one of them. Alarm shot through Shasara’s stomach. The voice was Weasel’s.

Rough hands hauled Shasara to her feet. There was a man on either side of her and as she was still chained to the wall, she couldn’t make much resistance. She thought about screaming and then dismissed the idea. Who on a pirate ship would come to her aid? Besides, she was probably simply going to be taken before the pirate captain. She could expect no help if that was the case.

She winced, as her arms were roughly forced behind her back. Now it was too late to try to escape. Coarse rope was wound about her wrists and then before she could react to what was happening a length of cloth was stuffed into her mouth and tied in place. She was forced to her knees while the two men turned to Vayasha. In the shadowy light she could see them binding her sister in the same way. Then the chain about her throat was unlocked and she was dragged to her feet and hustled toward the door. As the men dragged her from the room Weasel whispered a parting remark to Vayasha. “We’ll be back for you later, witch, just as soon as we’ve finished with your sister.” Too late Shasara realized that she should have screamed after all.

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