The
Elven Chronicles
Episode
Three
The
Fugitive Bride
Chapter
14 The
Demonlands
Honoria’s head was
still whirling as the Elves broke camp.
Keldar’s revelation that he and she were now love-bonded was
almost overwhelming in its impact.
Myriad thoughts and questions poured into her mind, the foremost of
which was what her future now held for
her. How could a relationship
between Human and Elf possibly endure?
Keldar had revealed that Elves lived incredibly long lives, but she
would age normally. In a relatively
short time, measured in Elf years, she would begin to lose her youth as she
followed the inevitable Human decline, but Keldar would remain
youthful. How could their love
survive a situation in which she aged rapidly while Keldar continued
unchanged? It was something she
broached to Ralasharia.
The flame-haired Elf smiled at Honoria’s
question. “You will just
have to wait and see. All will
be resolved when we reach the Throne of
Fire. In the meantime enjoy your
relationship with Keldar. It
is something that the Goddess herself must have ordained, otherwise it could
not have come to pass.”
Honoria was not overly impressed
by this reply. In the last few
weeks she had been married off to a brutal husband who had repeatedly raped
and humiliated her; had been captured by bandits, and subjected to their
brutal attentions; and finally fallen into the clutches of the Grothargs
who had treated her even worse. It
seemed the Goddess had a strange way of showing her
favours.
Ralasharia seemed to sense
her misgivings. Smiling again,
she squeezed Honoria’s hand.
“Sometimes we cannot know the mind of the
Goddess. We are not always destined
to have things go our way; we can only make the best of the situations we
are in. You and Keldar have found
one another. Share the joy while
you can.”
“Then tell me about
the Throne of Fire,” Honoria
replied. “What is it and
how is it connected to my destiny?”
“It is something that
is rather difficult to describe,” Ralasharia
answered. “The throne reveals
itself in different ways to different peoples, but the place where the throne
is found in a fire-filled inferno that must be crossed before one’s
destiny can be revealed. I have
visited it only once when I received my power of
fire. Not everyone dares brave
the dangers in order to find out what the Goddess intends for
them”
Honoria considered the
information she had just received.
It seemed that if she followed what Ralasharia called her
“destiny” she would be drawn into even greater danger, but the
Elves had saved her life and befriended
her. And she now had an Elven
lover. Pressing her lips into
a thin line she made her decision.
She would go with the Elves and seek the Throne of
Fire.
Following the party of Elves,
Honoria was relieved to see that they were heading out of the land of the
Grothargs. Although the Elves
seemed more than capable of dealing with the bestial creatures, her ordeal
at their hands had her constantly looking for signs of an attack, even though
she was certain that the Elves would spot any danger long before she
did.
One change on the march
was that Keldar now walked beside her.
He took over the task of educating her in the ways of Elves, giving
her pointers on how to move more lightly and easily through the forest
landscape. It was something that
Honoria did her best to emulate, but she soon realized that the Elves seemed
to have a natural ability that she
lacked. Even with their winged
outfits both Ralasharia and Erallendria moved with less noise and disturbance
than she did and Honoria slowly realized that she would never match the Elves
in natural grace.
However, being constantly
attended by Keldar made up for a great deal of her
frustration. He went with her
almost everywhere and, of course, stayed with her at
night. Their lovemaking lost
none of its intensity as they traveled.
Honoria had never experienced such gentleness or
kindness. She felt that she could
go anywhere as long as he was with her.
She began to rethink that
optimistic outlook a few days later.
She stood on a high bluff overlooking
a wide river. On the horizon
dark clouds tinged in red hung over a range of
mountains. Occasionally the clouds
flickered as bolts of lightning shot through them and even more ominously
a low rumbling sound could be heard, and flashes of what looked like fire
detected. A shiver ran down her
spine as she watched it. She
almost didn’t need Keldar’s words to explain what it
was.
“The Throne of Fire,”
he Elven lover said. “Now
the most dangerous part of our adventure begins; the crossing of the
Demonlands.”
Honoria
nodded. She had listened carefully
while Keldar had explained the dangers of the savage creatures that inhabited
the Demonlands. The dangers were
many and varied and unlike the places usually frequented by the Elves, even
the vegetation was dangerous. She
was not looking forward into traversing so perilous a place, but as long
as Keldar was with her she was willing to try
anything. Unconsciously she reached
for his hand. He took it and
grinned down at her and for a few heartbeats the rest of the world
disappeared. Perhaps she would
not live as long as Keldar, but she would never leave him as long as he wanted
her and she would be content with that.
It took a day to build a
simple raft to cross the river and another four to make their way to the
verge of the Demonlands. There
was no mistaking the fact that they had
arrived. Before the Elven expedition
stretched a land that had been blasted by
fire. Large expanses of black
rock, devoid of anything but the toughest vegetation, stretched before them
as far as they could see. Honoria
stared in awe at the devastation, and wondered what could have caused such
complete destruction.
As if reading her mind Keldar
pointed to a strange cone-shaped mountain that dominated the
horizon. “The mountain of
fire, called
Elibor
by the Elves and various other names by other
races. It seems quiet now, but
when it awakens its slopes flow red with rivers of molten rock and its summit
coughs forth clouds of ash.”
As if to emphasize his point
the ground shuddered beneath their feet and a short time later a low rumble
issued from the direction of the
mountain. Honoria concealed her
uneasiness with a question.
“What causes that? I
have never known the ground to shake before.”
“I cannot say that
I know for certain,” Keldar replied.
Ralasharia might know better than I, but I have heard it said that
beneath the mountain sleeps a great dragon and that the rumbling is created
when he turns over in his sleep, and the smoke and fire result when he
coughs. Of course that is just
a story. There may be other
reasons.”
“It must be a mighty
dragon to have such power,” Honoria
said. “Let us hope it never
awakes.”
Keldar nodded his
agreement. “There are more
immediate dangers in the Demonlands, however, and now that we are here we
must be wary. Pay careful attention
to any living thing you see whether it be plant or animal as almost everything
is dangerous here.”
Honoria’s hand went
to the hilt of her sword and tested it to see if it moved freely in its
sheath. “I will,” she
said and then she stepped forward as the rest of the Elves moved
off.
She found as they progressed
through the Demonlands that not all of the ground consisted of black
rock. Here and there by some
miracle, patches of green had survived and in a few places they even came
across small streams. However,
she noted that the Elves did not venture near the green areas and they carefully
tested the water before they drank it.
The first day into the
Demonlands passed uneventfully, but Honoria was
uneasy. Although she had seen
nothing alive except for a few plants she had the strangest feeling that
something was watching them and the feeling grew even greater the next
day. She wondered if she should
say something to Keldar, but decided that she was probably just her
imagination. It was simply a
very bad case of nerves brought on by the proximity to her goal and the
strangeness of the Demonlands.
Finally, however, she could
stand it no longer.
“Keldar,” she said, “I feel as if something is watching
us.”
“We’ve been watched
steadily since we arrived,” Keldar
said. “The question is whether
what is watching us will decide to attack.”
“What is it that watches
us?”
“Quite a few its
actually,” Keldar replied.
“If we are lucky we’ll never see them up
close. The most dangerous are
the Rock Goblins. They are quite
nasty little creatures, but rarely attack unless they are certain of complete
success. There are probably several
hundred of them watching even as we speak.”
Honoria looked around but
saw nothing but acres of black rock.
“They must be well hidden,” she
commented.
“They specialize in
hiding, not being exactly the boldest of creatures, but in large numbers
they can be deadly.”
Honoria found this far less
than encouraging news, but since Keldar did not seem to be the least concerned
she hid her fear. Ralasharia
and Erallendria had both been to the Throne of Fire and survived so she supposed
she would as well.
They camped that night against
the edge of a steep bluff of black rock.
The food was cold as there was no means of starting a fire, but Honoria
was too tired to care. Trekking
over a seemingly endless expanse of black rock was tiring, especially as
the surface was far from even. As
soon as supper was over she settled down beside Keldar and crept into the
shelter of his arms.
There was no thought of
doing anything else except sleeping.
Honoria had never been able to bring herself to make love when surrounded
by others, although the practice was common among the Elves and even among
many Humans.
“Perhaps
one day,” she thought.
“When
I am more accustomed to Elven culture.
But tonight I am just too
tired.” She snuggled
against Keldar and was soon asleep.
They continued their journey
the following day, and halfway through the morning another element was added
to their trek. A strong sulphurous
odour filled the air, becoming even stronger the farther they
progressed. A short time later
Honoria noticed yellowish fumes escaping from cracks in the
rocks. The Elves noticed them
as well and detoured carefully around them, but even that soon became more
difficult as the fumaroles became more and more
prevalent.
Honoria found it hard to
breathe, but she didn’t complain.
All of the Elves were suffering as well, but none of them even commented
on the poisonous atmosphere except to warn one another away from the
vents. Still farther on Honoria
became aware of a low hissing sound that gradually rose in volume, finally
manifesting itself in a jet of steam issuing from a large
vent. It was louder than any
sound Honoria had ever heard and it filled the air around it with water
vapour.
“Here we have to watch
our step,” Keldar warned.
“In some places the surface of the ground is only a thin crust
overlying boiling springs. Fall
in and you would be badly burned.
Erallendria will go ahead and everyone will follow her
exactly.”
One behind the other the
Elves threaded their way through the warm fog that overlay the
ground. In some cases they had
to jump over boiling pools and in others detour around large water-filed
depressions. The stink of
Honoria stumbled as the
ground moved under her feet and then watched open-mouthed as the mountain
thundered and the red hot rock rushed like water down its
sides. A huge black cloud rose
from the top of mountain blotting out the sun and throwing the tortured land
around them into semi-darkness.
Keldar moved quickly to
her side and helped her to her feet.
“Come on, we must move quickly before the streams of molten stone
cut us off from the Throne of
Fire.”
There was no talk among
the Else of turning back, just of completing their journey as quickly as
possible, but Honoria had grave doubts about placing the lives of her Elven
companions in danger just so she could complete her so-called
destiny. As they regrouped a
short time later she called that to their attention.
“I’ll not go on
if all of you accompany me. Surely
we are close enough that I can complete the mission on my
own.”
“You cannot go by
yourself,” Ralasharia said.
“There are simply too many dangers for one
person. There is not one of us
who would dare attempt it by ourselves.”
“Surely with the eruption
of the mountain of fire the Rock Goblins will be distracted enough that a
smaller party could make it through,” Honoria
countered. “It makes no
sense to endanger the lives of so many for one
person.”
The debate might have gone
on longer had it not been for
Erallendria. “We cannot
remain here dickering. Either
we all go on or we reduce the risk by sending in a smaller
party. I suggest a party of
four. I, Keldar, and Ralasharia
will go with Honoria. The rest
return and wait on the borders of the
Demonlands. If we do not join
the main party in five days then a search may be ordered if deemed
necessary.”
Her last statement did not
have to be explained. Anyone
not returning from the Demonlands in five days would probably be beyond
saving. The thundering of the
fire mountain and the streams of fire pouring down its sides more than emphasized
the dangers of the dreaded land.
Erallendria’s suggestion
ended further discussion. Within
a short time the main party of the Elves had turned back and the four remaining
adventurers were on their way.
Relieved that her quest
was no longer placing the lives of so many others in danger, Honoria set
off with her three companions.
Ralasharia led the way, Keldar brought up the rear, and Erallendria
walked next to Honoria.
They moved as quickly
as they could, given the fact that the ground would not stop shaking and
the sulphurous stench became even
stronger. How much longer could
they go on before the poisonous fumes became so deadly that they became
life-threatening?
Fortunately, as Honoria
had hoped, they encountered no opposition from the Rock Goblins or any other
creature, and they were able to move another three leagues before
nightfall. They had another cold
camp, but this time there was little need for blankets against the
cold. The eruption of Elibor
had raised the air temperature and even at night it was almost uncomfortably
warm.
Honoria got little sleep
that night. The constant rumbling
of the mountain and the shaking of the ground, not to mention the sulphurous
stink, made sleep almost impossible, and her companions obviously suffered
as well. Several hours before
morning, by mutual agreement they broke camp and set off
early. The fact that there was
no sunlight was compensated for by the fact that the rivers of fire were
so close that their light provided sufficient
illumination.
Even though they had not
slept, the mere fact that they were nearing their goals gave the little
expedition added energy. “At
this rate,” Ralasharia said, “we should reach the Throne of Fire
before evening, provided the mountain presents no further
obstacles.”
That news spurred Honoria
to greater efforts. The mark
on her shoulder had grown more distinct as they neared their
goal. In Honoria’s imagination
it now resembled the outstretched wings of a bird, although what that might
mean she had no idea.
She was much tougher
now. Her months with the Elves
had hardened her, and although she still lacked their grace of movement she
was now capable of keeping up with them.
As a result they continued to cover ground at an impressive rate and
Honoria hoped that they might reach their goal even earlier than
estimated.
That hope was dashed, however,
as they crested a long black ridge that lay across their
path. Directly in front of them
flowed a river of molten rock.
Stretching to either side as far as they could see, there seemed no
way around it and it was far too wide to jump
across. That last option was
remote in any case. Even
at a distance of several hundred yards the heat given off by the fiery stream
was so intense that approaching any nearer seemed
suicidal. They had no option
but to go back the way they had come and see if they could find away around
the obstacle farther away from the mountain.
“There is a possible
route that I know of,” Ralasharia said. “A day’s walk from
here the ground rises. It should
provide a way around the river of fire.”
Honoria felt frustrated
to be so near yet so far. But
there was no choice. Adjusting
her pack she set off in the direction Ralasharia had suggested.
They had to backtrack two leagues
before heading for the alternative route, but by evening they had reached
the long ridge of black rock that might lead around the molten
river. There they once again
made camp and this time all members of the party were so tired that they
slept in spite of the raging thunder of the mountain and the constant shaking
of the ground.
Once again they set off
before dawn, rising early and eating
quickly. This time Ralasharia
was not so optimistic about reaching their goal by the end of the day, but
she did say that it was reachable if nothing went
wrong. “Do not despair,
Honoria, she smiled. “If
the Throne of Fire was so easy to reach then there might be no merit in achieving
it. Some things are meant to
be difficult.”
Honoria nodded her
understanding, but she was beginning to wonder whether or not she would ever
learn what her so-called destiny was going to
be. Following Ralasharia she
hiked along the ridge. The higher
ground provided an excellent view of the landscape between them and the fire
mountain. It seemed to her that
most of the land seemed to be in flame with rivers and streams of molten
rock flowing everywhere. It was
plain to see that their original route was
impossible.
Even though the landscape
was a nightmare of fire and sulphurous fumes, Honoria found it strangely
beautiful. She had never seen
such intense colours of orange and red and the power of the fire mountain
left her awe-struck. So fascinating
did she find the volcanic display that she did not spot the ambush until
Keldar yelled a warning.
“Honoria, on guard,”
her Elven lover shouted, interposing himself between her and the horde of
black creatures that were coming at them from all
directions.
Honoria drew her sword even
as the three Elves moved into a defensive formation forming a square so that
each of them faced in a different
direction. From Ralasharia came
a blast of fire that incinerated dozens of the creatures while Keldar,
Erallendria, and Honoria depended on their swords to defend
themselves.
The ambush had been staged
on an open area of the rocky ridge that allowed the Rock Goblins to come
at them from all sides. Honoria
realized immediately why she had not been able to see them; they were well
camouflaged, their skin matching the dark colour of the
rocks. They were vaguely humanoid
in form, possessing two arms and two legs, but most were hardly taller than
Honoria’s knees. Almost
pixie-like with large pointed ears they were far from
harmless. Each appendage ended
in three razor-clawed digits and sharp fangs were revealed in their gaping
mouths. They also brandished
a variety of crude weapons, from stone hammers and obsidian knives to whips
weighted with lead. But perhaps
the most frightening aspect of their appearance was the outsize phallus on
the males. It was fully six inches
long and seemed to be in a permanent state of
erection. Honoria found herself
wondering just how big it would have been if the Goblins had been the height
of a man. The very thought made
her pale in fear.
Although none was a match
for Honoria or any of the Elves their sheer numbers made them
deadly. They scrambled across
the jagged rock in an almost unbroken wave, ignoring Ralasharia’s
devastating fireball and clambering over the charred bodies of their
fellows. Honoria, Keldar, and
Erallendria cut at them with their swords, each sweep of their blades dispatching
half a dozen of the loathsome creatures.
But there were so many that not even the slaughter of dozens of Goblins
deterred the others from attacking.
Some got through, hacking and slashing at the feet of the feet of
the defenders. And Honoria discovered
how they used their whips when several of them caught the blade of her sword,
another encircled her wrist, and still another coiled about her
ankle.
She struggled to break free
as the Goblins began to pull her toward
them. Using all her strength
she managed to hold her ground, but was unable to free her
sword. Drawing her knife she
struck down at the Goblins that had tangled in her legs and were attempting
to claw and bit their way through the tough leather of her
boots. Keldar noticed her plight,
and swinging his sword cut through the whips holding her, enabling Honoria
to use her own sword to cut through the other Goblins that were attacking
her.
“We can’t hold
here,” Ralasharia yelled above the screams of the attacking
Goblins. “We must retreat
to a more defensible position.
Follow me.” She hurled
a fireball in front of her, blasting several dozen Goblins into oblivion
and then charged forward. Swinging
their blades to hold off the hordes of Goblins at their heels, the other
three followed.
Ralasharia led them just
a few yards, to a place where the ridge jutted out over a low
cliff. It provided them with
a place where all four of them could turn and face the Goblins, limiting
their attack to one direction. Once
again Ralasharia let loose a blast of fire, temporarily halting the Goblin
attack, but the use of her powers had weakened
her. Her energy depleted, she
dropped back behind the other three defenders, too weak to even hold a
sword. She would recover, but
it would take time and in the meanwhile her companions would have to defend
her.
There seemed to be no end
to the Goblins. In spite of the
fact that they had killed hundreds their numbers hardly seemed
affected. As far as Honoria could
see a teeming mass of black bodies surged toward
them. It seemed impossible that
they could kill them all.
And then the fire mountain
intervened.
With a thunderous roar,
the top of the mountain exploded.
The sound was impossibly loud, completely deafening Honoria and her
companions, but that was the least of their
worries. Fire jetted upward from
the rim of the mountain, rising high into the air and then slowly arcing
back to earth. Or at least it
seemed slow from the distance Honoria was from the
mountain. A short time later
she realized that the hundreds tiny dark objects that rained down toward
her were moving very fast indeed.
The dark blobs of congealed
rock ranged in size from small stones to large semi-molten chunks of rock
half the size of her body. But
even the smaller objects hurt as she quickly found out after being struck
several times. However, it was
the great mass of Goblins that suffered
most. Since there were many more
of them, there were many more to be struck, and the screams of Goblins dying
under the rain of rock was almost louder than the thundering of the fire
mountain.
“Quickly,” Erallendria
shouted, straining hard to be heard over the incredible din of both the Goblins
and the fire mountain. “We
can’t stay here.”
The powerful eruption had
brought one blessing. The Goblin
attack had ceased as the grotesque creatures scattered in all directions,
seeking shelter. Erallendria
led them right over the rocky ledge.
It was a drop of about ten yards and so she swung over the edge and
worked her way down the rugged cliff
face. Fortunately, the nature
of the rock provided dozens of handholds even though the abrasive surface
cut Honoria’s hands.
She was about halfway down
when another shudder cracked off the cliff
face. A huge chunk of black rock
sheered away threatening to take her and her companions with
it. With a desperate lunge Honoria
flung herself free, dropping the last five yards to the rocky
ground. She hit and rolled and
came to a bruised halt on her backside as the cliff collapsed in a heap of
broken stone. Somewhere in that
heap was Keldar and two two female Elves.
“Keldar,” she
gasped, and then shouted the names of the other two
Elves. “Ralasharia,
Erallendria!”
It was unlikely that any
of them would have been able to hear her above the deafening roar of the
fire mountain, so it was not surprising that there was no
answer. Staggering to her feet
Honoria looked at the heap of broken rock in dismay and
shock. Had she lost her lover
and her two best friends? It
couldn’t be. She stumbled
toward the rockslide and began to pull at the
stone. Around her chunks of stone
thrown from the fire mountain continued to fall, but the cliff above her
provided some shelter. For the
rest she trusted to luck. Now
was not the time to worry about herself.
A sudden tug on her ankle
alerted her to a danger she had temporarily forgotten, but probably should
not have. Turning she gasped
in fear. Just feet away were
dozens of Rock Goblins and they were all scrambling toward
her. She almost froze in
terror. Two of the Goblins had
already lashed their whips about her ankles and were attempting to pull her
off balance. She slashed viciously
with her sword, severing the whips and then cut at several more Goblins that
were rushing toward her.
Honoria fought down her
fear. Her survival depended on
keeping her head. She retreated
as far as she could, trying to keep the rock fall at her
back. Most of the Goblins seemed
to have fled leaving only a couple of
dozen. If she could fight off
these few she might yet escape and be able to search for her
companions.
The Goblins seemed to understand
her strategy. Instead of rushing
recklessly into her blade many of them now held back while others tried to
climb the rocks behind her.
Realizing that she had to keep the Goblins off-guard she darted toward
them with a quick slashing attack, cutting down two of them and then moving
back before they could close in from the
sides.
The unexpected attack, however,
had little effect. Instead of
being cowed the Goblins seemed to become
enraged. They charged her en
masse, seeking to take her down by sheer weight of
numbers. Desperately she cut
at them, thankful for the fact that none of them were more than three feet
tall. A dozen died at the point
of her sword and they once again fell
back. It left her an opening
and almost without thinking she darted into it and dashed through the surprised
ranks of the Goblins.
Just ahead of her was one
of the strange green areas the Elves had been careful to avoid, but with
nowhere else to run she ran straight for
it. Behind her the Goblins shrieked
as they charged in pursuit, their cries changing from sounds of rage to
disappointment.
Honoria stopped in the centre
of the island of greenery, noting that the Goblins had not pursued
her. Instead they once again
had disappeared, blending with the black rock of the Demonlands.
Carefully, she looked around
her. At the centre of the green
sward was one of the boiling sulphurous pools she had encountered elsewhere,
but there was no sign of life other than some rather attractive green
vines. Exhausted from her battle
with the Goblins and shaken by the disappearance of her friends, Honoria
sat down on a large rock and carefully wiped off the blade off her sword
on a handful of dead leaves. The
deadly rain of rocks seemed to have stopped, at least temporarily, but she
was stuck in a strange land with only the supplies she carried in her
pack. It had taken three days
to trek this far into the Demonlands and that had been with a
guide. It would probably take
her even longer to get out, provided she did not get
lost. And there was the matter
of her missing companions. No
matter how unlikely the fact that they might be still alive, she could not
go off without looking at them. And
that meant braving the Goblins alone.
She lurched to her
feet. Tired as she was, she could
not rest. Her friends might be
lying pinned beneath rock and desperately need her
help. Even with the threat of
the Goblins she had to try. Her
sense of loyalty would not let her do anything
else. Wearily hefting her sword
she stepped forward and tripped over one of the
vines.
Muttering a curse, she tried
to get up and found that the vine had somehow wound itself about her
ankle. Annoyed she bent to untangle
it and felt the vine tighten.
“What…”
She pulled out her knife,
fighting down the urge to panic. It
must be her imagination. Vines
didn’t grab hold of people. A
loud rustling sound behind her made her turn her
head. Behind her was a terrifying
sight. A wall of vines was moving
toward her. There was no mistaking
their purpose or the fact that they clearly knew she was
there. Her stomach clenched in
fear and she hacked frantically at the vine that held her
ankle. But she was already too
late. As still more vines reached
her it flashed though her mind why the Elves had avoided going anywhere near
these green spots.
The third blow of her knife
succeeded in severing the vine, but now another had seized her other ankle
and still more were snaking toward her.
They moved slowly, but she had already allowed herself to be trapped
and there were dozens of them. As
she hacked frantically at the vine that held her ankle another began to encircle
her waist while another tangled her hair.
Within a few heartbeats a dozen vines were clinging to her with still
move arcing toward her.
“No,” she gasped.
“No, no, no!”
She heaved her weight forward,
hoping to break their grip, but one now clasped her waist, another tightened
around her throat, and several more made for her ankles and
thighs. Even worse several had
managed to invade her clothing, moving up her sleeves, into her boots, and
up her trouser legs. Another
slithered into her vest and was sliding up her back, while another had found
its way between her breasts. In
sudden panic Honoria knew she was caught and probably caught too well to
escape.
In desperation she kicked
off her boots and tried to shrug out of her
vest. The action freed her a
little as several of the vines seemed just as interested in attacking her
clothing as they were in going after her, but it meant that for a few heartbeats
she could not use her sword or knife.
Ignoring the sharp edges, several vines grabbed her blades and tried
to wrench them from her hands. And
then another element was added to the attack as sharp thorns suddenly pierced
her flesh.
She cried out; the pain
was excruciating; almost as if the thorns were injecting her with
something. Then a gradual numbness
began to spread through her body.
“Vines drugging me,” she
gasped. Her vision swam and she
let go of her now useless weapons.
Helpless, she was
being drawn back toward the nest of vines where she would no doubt be sedated
and slowly ingested. “Oh
Goddess, please. Don’t let
me die like this.”
A strange noise assailed
her ears, like the hissing of snakes.
She had heard it somewhere recently, but she was so befuddled that
she couldn’t remember when.
But the touch of clawed hands on her body soon reminded
her. “Goblins,” she
murmured, her head still spinning. “How did
they…”
She struggled feebly as
she felt herself picked up and carried, and then she was dumped unceremoniously
on the ground. The rude treatment
shook her out of her metal fog. And
what she discovered sent a surge of adrenaline through
her. The Goblins had carried
her out of reach of the vines, probably taking advantage of the fact that
the plants were distracted by their attack on
her. Some remnants of the vines
still clung to her body. But
her situation was hardly improved.
Dozens of the evil little creatures surrounded
her. Several had hold of her
arms and were trying to pull them behind her, and others were sitting on
her legs attempting to keep hold her
down.
She kicked her legs and
jerked her arms, trying to break free, but their sheer numbers held her down,
that and the fact that they had already succeeded in attaching ropes to both
of her wrists. The Goblins holding
the ropes pulled on them, trying to force her arms behind
her. Frantic with fear, and filled
with renewed energy, Honoria heaved her body, scattering Goblins in all
directions. But they immediately returned, one of them tossing a lasso over
her head and tightening it around her neck.
Honoria fought for breath,
but the real danger of the rope was the fact that she was now pulled one
direction while her arms were pulled in
another. As more and more Goblins
grabbed hold of the lines binding her, she was slowly being pulled into a
position of submission.
“No!”
she screamed. Somehow she found
the strength to lurch to her feet.
She stood, surrounded by her tiny attackers, her arms drawn behind
her and held by more than a dozen Goblins and her head pulled
forward. With all of her remaining
strength she tried to break free, jerking the Goblins holding her off their
feet, but the effort exhausted her.
Her energy spent, she slowly sank to her knees as the Goblins once
again asserted control.
Her head bent forward, she
whimpered in fear and defeat as her wrists were slowly but surely drawn
together. A sob of frustration
escaped her lips as her wrists were bound, leaving her at the mercy of her
captors. Her struggle with the
vines had already left her stripped of most of her clothing and the now that
she was helpless her remaining garments were
removed.
Nude, and shaking with fear and exhaustion, Honoria was prodded to her feet. In front of her several Goblins pulled on the rope while behind others poked, none too gently, at her exposed buttocks. She staggered forward, wondering what horrible fate now awaited her. She had come to the Demonlands to seek her destiny. Now it appeared that all her quest had achieved was the death of her friends and lover and eventually her own death as well. And she could well imagine what death at the hands of the Goblins might be like. Almost weeping in terror she stumbled in the direction her captors wanted, wondering how things could get any worse.
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