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Episode
II Return of the Dragon
“This way,” Vanora whispered, as
she led her new companions down a side
passage. They were deep beneath
the castle that dominated the Sandoran capital, and by now the three young
women following the princess were having their
doubts. None of them felt comfortable
in the dark passageways. There
were too many places for enemies to lie in wait and too many twists and
turns. Che Sha was not sure that
she would be able to find her way out, but she held her
tongue. They had committed themselves
to trusting Vanora and could only hope the princess knew what she was
doing.
As if guessing what her companions were thinking,
Vanora stopped. “Above us
are the castle dungeons. I’m
going to take us into them and then into a passage that leads up to the throne
room. With any luck there won’t
be anyone around to slow us down.”
Che Sha nodded, although in the flickering
light of the single torch she doubted that Vanora saw the
movement. She hoped that the
princess was right. If they were
discovered they wouldn’t have much chance against the castle’s
garrison, not to mention the power of the wizard and his female
acolytes.
Ahead of her Vanora fumbled with a
lever. With a grinding creak
a section of the wall slid away.
All four of the women cringed.
The noise was loud enough to wake the
dead. For several heartbeats
they stood perfectly still, then with Vanora still leading the way they stepped
through the opening. “Remind
me to bring a pitcher of oil next time I come this way,” Vanora
whispered. They were in the dungeons;
the cell doors lining the dark and dismal corridor were proof of
that.
Vanora led them upward through corridors that
stank of mold and rot to the upper levels of the
dungeon. Here she went more slowly
as there was greater chance of discovery.
Finally, however, she stopped before a cell
door. As quietly as she could
with Che Sha’s help she pulled it
open. Inside there was only
blackness, but Vanora moved in, the rest of the women
following. Inside the air was
stale and hard to breathe, but Vanora did not
hesitate. She went to one of
the walls and carefully searched the
stones. As she did so she whispered
an explanation. “My father
showed me the passages when I was a girl.
One of the things I was required to do was remember where they were
in case of an emergency. My mistake
was in not using them when Khan stormed the
castle. I would have saved myself
a good deal of grief, but I could not bear to run away from that pirate
rat.”
As she finished speaking there was a small
click and another section of wall opened.
“This leads to the throne room,” Vanora
whispered. “We might be
able to find out what is going on from
there.” She stepped into
the opening.
Inside there was a long stairway that switched
back and forth between the walls. They climbed for several minutes and finally
Vanora stopped. She held up a
hand, signaling caution. Light
streamed through several small openings in the
wall. Each of the women put her
eye to an opening and peered into the throne
room.
Che Sha stifled a
gasp. They were overlooking the
throne room. Apparently the secret
passage had taken them to the ceiling
level. Their elevated position
allowed them an excellent view of the throne room and everything in
it. There were several people
in the room. One of them, a tall
man who exuded evil sat upon the throne.
Two women stood on either side of the
throne. There was something strange
about them, but it was a fifth woman that caught all of Che Sha’s
attention.
Tall, beautiful, and oozing deadly menace,
the woman was someone Che Sha knew well.
The quick intake of breath from Vayasha and Shasara indicated that
they too had recognized her.
“Sha
Zhu,” Vayasha
whispered.
The words she spoke would have made less sound
than a butterfly’s wing, but almost immediately the almost dead eyes
of the woman flashed upward. She
seemed to be looking right through the stone of the
ceiling. A slow smile spread
across her features, but it was a smile that held no
warmth. “Master,” she
said slowly. “We have
visitors.”
Saphora led her little band from the camp
in the dead of night. It was
not difficult, the sentries were watching for intruders, not for soldiers
trying to escape and she and the women with her had to take out only one
sentry to clear the way. To her
satisfaction it was one of the Sea Warriors who had joined with
Rohvan. That union was the reason
for her departure. She had been
willing to follow Rohvan as long as he worked with the Red Dragon, but that
had changed since the death of the enigmatic woman who had come to her
rescue.
She had secretly blamed Rohvan for the death
of the woman she had come to regard as her
friend. It had been he who had
led her into the ambush where a stray crossbow bolt had cut her
down. It seemed a pathetic death
for a warrior or such great bravery and martial skill, but Rohvan had pointed
out that such tragic events sometimes occurred in times of
war. In honour of her passing
he had held a special ceremony with all of his soldiers attending, but after
that she was forgotten except by Saphora and the women she had
trained.
Saphora and her closest friends had attempted
to continue the training of the women warriors after the death of the Red
Dragon. It was a way of carrying
on her memory, but she soon found that Rohvan was now less than
cooperative. It was almost as
if with his former lover gone he wanted to wipe all trace of her from the
camp. As a result Saphora and
her female companions had been relegated to a much less important role in
the camp than what the Red Dragon had visualized for
them. Joining with Zirhan Khan
had been the last straw. Neither
Saphora nor many of her friends could bring themselves to serve alongside
the men who had raped and pillaged their
homeland. As a result, Saphora
had gathered about herself a number of the women she could trust and had
decided to leave the camp.
They didn’t have much of a
plan. Saphora had learned from
Rohvan that princess Vanora had escaped from the clutches of the evil wizard
who had seized control in Sandor’s
capital. She had no idea where
the princess was, or even where she might be heading, but she had decided
to join her and help her regain her rightful position in the
land. It wasn’t the most
brilliant of plans, but Saphora was sure that the gods would lead her in
the right direction. After all,
they had brought her the Red Dragon.
The least she could do was try to repay that debt.
“Where do we go?” asked
Jerriah.
Saphora thought for a second before replying
to her second-in-command.
“Narum,” she replied.
She shrugged. It seemed
as good a destination as any.
Che Sha fled through the darkness of the
dungeons. Just ahead of her were
Vayasha, Shasara, and Vanora. Her
heart pounded and it was not just from
exertion. What was that
thing
in the throne room? It had looked
like
Sha
Zhu, but it was not. She
had never felt such terror as when those coal black eyes had looked directly
at her hiding place. The ghoulish
woman exuded an aura of evil that was almost
suffocating. The panic she and
her companions felt was completely unreasoning and completely out of
character. They fled like frightened
children afraid of the dark, hardly noticing what direction they were
going. It was this that was their
undoing.
“We’re lost,” Vanora
proclaimed. Leaning against one
of the tunnel walls, and gasping for breath, the princess looked despairingly
at the stub of torch she still held.
It had only a short time left before it burned to nothing and left
them stranded in darkness. “I
must have made a wrong turn,” she gasped.
None of the other women
replied. All were too exhausted
from stumbling about in the dark airless
tunnels. Normally such exertion
would not have winded them, but in their panic they had forgotten all their
training. Their blind fear had
drained their energy as if they had just finished a run of several
leagues.
Che Sha tried to calm herself, forcing down
her fear. She turned to her
companions, her breathing now returned to
normal. “We have to get
out of here before we are found. By
now the evil wizard will have his hirelings searching the
passages. We probably don’t
have much time.”
“You have no time,” an ice-water
voice proclaimed. As one the
four women turned in the direction of the speaker and as one their blood
chilled in their veins.
“Sha
Zhu!” gasped Che
Sha.
The dead-black eyes of the tall women flickered
momentarily, almost in recognition; then the gleam
faded. “I do not know anyone
of that name,” she said.
“I am the Black Dragon and I serve my
master. You are to be brought
to him.”
“Do you not remember us?” Shasara
interjected. “We are your
friends.”
The Black Dragon revealed needle sharp
teeth. “I have no friends;
only those who serve me and my master.
You will come with me.”
Che Sha drew her
serpent’s teeth.
She would never have dreamed of using her deadly weapons against
Sha
Zhu, but the women she faced was not the warrior who had befriended
and trained her, but something indescribably
evil. Behind her she sensed Vayasha
and Shasara fitting arrows to their bows and Vanora drawing her
sword.
“Fools,” the Black Dragon
sneered. “I should kill
you all, but my master has commanded that you be brought to him
alive.” As she finished
speaking, she raised her hand. An
eerie green light flowed from her
fingers. As one the four women
gasped as the air was squeezed from their lungs by an invisible
hand. Suffocating, they fell
forward, dropping to their knees and their weapons falling from nerveless
fingers.
The Black Dragon smiled in cruel satisfaction
and then twisted her fingers. All
four women screamed in agony as indescribable pain coursed through their
bodies. “Now,” leering
demoness said, “you will do as you are told.”
Rohvan placed his hand on Zirhan Khan’s
shoulder. “There it is,”
he said. A league away Narum’s
walls loomed before them.
“Yes,” replied Khan
wryly. “I’ve been there
before.”
“It is only lightly held,” Rohvan
said. “It should fall easily
to our forces.” Behind the
two men their combined armies were spread out for five leagues on the roads
leading to the Sandoran capital.
“I don’t think so,” Khan
said. “You are forgetting
that Noric has more than just an army at his
disposal.”
“We have our own magicians,” Rohvan
said. “We have collected
them from every temple in the land.
They should be able to counteract whatever powers Noric
has.”
“I am trusting that you are right,”
the Sea Warrior leader replied.
“If I did not think so I would not be here, but I do not think
things will be as easy as you say.”
“We shall see,” Rohvan said, as
he dismounted. “We will
establish out camp here. Bring
up the magicians. I suspect that
we may need them soon.”
Saphora huddled in the ruins of what had once
been one of Narum’s outlying
settlements. Her plan of seeking
out the Red Dragon had not gone well.
She had been unable to find a way past the formidable defences of
the capital city without being
discovered. Now the combined
armies of Rohvan and Khan had come up trapping her and the two dozen women
who had accompanied her. There
seemed no way to escape the encircling armies as they cut off every possible
escape route. However, sunset
was only an hour away. Perhaps
under cover of darkness they could make their way through the
lines. There was always a chance
that they might not be recognized.
It seemed to take forever until the light
faded, however, the light finally dimmed enough that Vanora decided to take
a chance. The light of the campfires
helped. It allowed her to see
where the enemy soldiers were camped.
However, Vanora found that she was forced to move very close to the
castle walls; much too close for her liking, considering that the evil wizard
Noric was somewhere inside. She
began to realize that her plan of trying to find the Red Dragon by going
to Narum had been very poorly thought
out. She was now by the city
walls and had no idea of what she was going to do next, other than trying
to escape capture.
Vanora held up her hand, hoping that the women
following would see it in the blackness.
There was something up ahead.
She could sense it, even though she could see
nothing. Ahead of her there was
a distinct sensation of evil. It
was nothing she could clearly identify, but whatever it was sent chills down
her spine.
Out of the darkness emerged a tall dark-robed
figure. Partially hidden by the
shadows of the castle was it was indistinct, but its presence exuded an eerie
cold. The figure stepped closer,
moving its face into the light.
Vanora drew in her breath sharply.
She knew that face! Without
thinking she gasped out a name.
“Red
Dragon!”
The figure turned fully into the flickering
firelight and Saphora’s eyes widened in surprise
and fear. It was the Red Dragon,
but at the same time it was not.
For a second Saphora was sure the figure
recognized her; then the look was gone replaced by one of
contempt. “The Red Dragon
is no more. I am the Black dragon
now.”
Saphora shuddered.
The voice that that of the Red Dragon, but she had never heard her
speak with such a cold intonation.
Instinctively she drew her sword.
Behind her she could hear the movement of her companions as their
hands also sought their weapons. A
low laugh emerged from the figure in front of
her. “Oh, do put those
away,” the Black Dragon chuckled.
“They won’t do you any good
anyway.”
Vanora was filled with
terror. She took a step back,
stumbling into Jerriah, but something told her escape was
impossible. “Let us pass,”
she stammered, but the woman’s only response was to raise her
hand.
“Aahh!” Vanora cried as her sword suddenly burned her
hand. Behind her the cries of
her followers showed that they were experiencing the same
thing. With a clatter their weapons
fell to the ground. Other dark
forms emerged from the shadows, revealing themselves as armed
men. Within short order the two
dozen women found themselves at the point of
swords. Vanora’s stomach
clenched. She had led her small
band into a trap. As her arms
were pulled behind her back and bound, she was almost sick with
fear. The men binding her were
Sea Raiders and she already knew what happened to women who fell into their
hands. Almost weeping in fear
she allowed herself to be led away, glad that the darkness hid her
terror.
Seated on the throne in the great hall, Noric
studied the four women who had been brought before
him. One he knew, the others
were an intriguing mystery. He
had never seen any women like them.
He addressed Vanora first, but while he spoke his eyes burned into
the other three. “Princess,” he said, “so good of you to
return. You must introduce me
to your friends.”
Vanora did not reply, returning his gaze without
flinching, but he caught the hint of fear in her
eyes. The two silver-haired beauties
were another matter. There was
something undeniably mysterious about them from their gleaming waist-length
hair to their brilliant blue eyes, and pointed
ears. The fourth woman was equally
intriguing. Her golden skin almost
seemed to glow and her dark almond eyes exuded an inner
strength.
Noric tensed in
excitement. “Turning these
three to his dark cause would make him unbelievably
powerful. He would not rule just
a kingdom, but the neighbouring kingdoms as well, and after that who knew
how powerful he might become.
“And,” he mused eyeing the three beauties, “the job
of making them his would ever so pleasurable.”
“Bind them,” he ordered, “and
take them to the chamber.” His
guards grinned. They did not
have to ask what chamber. It
was the same one he always used when “interviewing” his
victims. He then back turned
to Vanora. “You princess,
are most welcome. I need you
to cement my hold on your people.
How convenient that you should return of your own
accord.”
“You are a monster, Noric,” Vanora
replied. “I will never cooperate
with you.”
Noric rose from his
chair. “I have ways of
overcoming such resistance, and in your case I am looking forward to applying
them.”
Vanora took a step
backward. “You wouldn’t
dare. I am of royal
blood.”
“Escort the princess to her
room. I will join her there
later.”
Noric watched as Vanora was led from the
room. “You have done well,
Black Dragon,” he said, turning to the dark-haired woman who stood just
a few feet away. “This more
than pays for your petty betrayal.”
The Black Dragon smiled, revealing her needle
sharp teeth. “Thank you
master,” she purred. Her
devotion to Noric was complete.
Never again would she be jealous of his other
women.
Brother Almornos stared blankly at the bars
of his cell. He was deep in the
dungeons of the castle. His back
hurt abominably, but he had received no treatment for his
injuries. He had no idea why
Noric had brought him to the castle.
Why had he simply not killed him?
Could it be that the evil sorcerer thought he might be of some
use?
He forced himself to stagger to the bars and
peer into the dimly lit corridor, lit only by the light of a single flickering
torch. It did not seem to be
guarded. If only he was not so
weak from the flogging he had received he might be able to escape, but he
doubted he would be able to make it out of the dungeon without
help. Resignedly he lowered himself
to the floor and waited. There
seemed little else he could do.
The magician moved toward the trembling form
of the helpless princess. Vanora
was trying to be brave, but it was clear that she was
terrified. More than anyone else
she feared the evil wizard. Her
treatment at Khan’s hands had been brutal, but she knew that he was
no more than Noric’s tool. Now
she faced the master himself. He
was rumoured to be in league with the devil and if the women who served him
were any indication, that was probably very close to the
truth.
“What do you want of me?” Vanora
asked, fearing the answer she would probably
receive.
Noric studied the
princess. In spite of her obvious
terror and the fact that she was dressed in men’s clothing the dark-haired
beauty was undeniably attractive.
He would have enjoyed converting
her. However, she was probably
more valuable to him the way she was.
He needed her as a link to the throne and changing her into one of
his demonic disciplines would probably not sit well with the
masses. In order to win the complete
support of the people he needed someone who was still
human. Still, there was no reason
why he might not enjoy himself. He
took a step toward her.
“Get away from me,” Vanora
said. She did not retreat, but
instead struck out at him. It
was an action he should have expected from the princess of a nation steeped
in the warrior tradition, but it caught Noric
off-guard. Her fingernails scored
four jagged lines down his cheek before he caught her hand and twisted her
arm behind her back.
“Wildcat bitch,” Noric
raged. “I’ll make you
sorry you ever did that.”
Vanora twisted in his hands, but although
only in human guise, Noric was too
strong. Twisting her arm high
on her back he forced her face down on the bed and then while she kicked
and grunted in a frantic effort to escape he bound her wrists, tearing off
strips of her clothing to complete the
job.
Vanora shrieked as Noric took
her. It was much worse than anything
she had experienced. In spite
of his rather emaciated appearance, Noric’s phallus was unexpectedly
large. It was like being taken
by a horse and her screams of agony could be heard throughout the
castle.
Noric grinned savagely as he finished the
princess. He had enlarged himself
just a little. She needed to
be taught a lesson and he could think of no better way to do
it. The next time he demanded
sexual satisfaction from her she would think twice about defying
him.
Che Sha stared at the dead eyes of her captors
and shuddered. Sweat beaded her
body. Never had she felt such
fear, but she attempted to control her terror as
Sha
Zhu had taught her. The
problem was it was
Sha Zhu that terrified
her. The object of her apprehension
stood just a few body lengths away, a sardonic smile playing about her
lips. Slowly she let out a
breath. She was securely shackled,
her wrists chained to her ankles and her naked body bent backward over a
heavy wooden beam. The rough
wood cut cruelly into the small of her back as she struggled to
escape. Beside her, shackled
identically over the same beam were Vayasha and
Shasara.
Other than
Sha
Zhu’s ghastly female companions there was no one else in the
room. It was a large chamber
and had once been used for something more civilized than the brutal torture
of captives, as was evidenced by the fine furnishings that took up part of
the floor space. However, certain
alterations such as the wooden beam Che Sha and her companions were stretched
across had been recently made.
Chains hung from the walls and ceilings and blood splattered the
floor. The stench of vomit and
dried blood almost made the young women gag, but appeared to have little
effect on the five ghoulish women who guarded them.
They appeared to be waiting for
something. None of the ghost-skinned
women had spoken a word since they had forced Che Sha, Vayasha, and Shasara
into the room and stripped and shackled
them. They simply stood and watched
their helpless victims, apparently deriving as much pleasure out of watching
them struggle to escape as anything else.
By turning her head Che Sha could see the vulnerable forms of the
two Silvani girls who were chained to either side of
her. Both of the elven rangers
were attempting to remain calm, but the agitated rise and fall of their bosoms
told Che Sha that they were as close to whimpering in fear as she
was. There was, however, nothing
to do but wait and wonder what was going to become of
them.
The opening of the door drew their attention
like a magnet draws iron. The
wizard who commanded the five women stepped into the
room. He looked at the three
women and smiled. “Well,
my beauties,” he said, “it is time for us to
begin.”
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