I apologize in advance for this chapter and probably the next. I wasn’t exactly in the lightest of moods as I wrote this, and it kind of headed for the darker side of things. If you don’t already know, I sort of make things up as I go along, following some main plot points I’ve prepared in advance, but otherwise letting things run according to how my imagination comes up with stuff. I honestly had no idea what was going to happen this chapter before I wrote it, and while I think it turned out well, it gets pretty R-rated. If that is going to offend you or you have a lot of trouble with reading hard situations, you may want to skip to the next chapter.

Fair warning given.

-Tas

Part 11

Ilos, Day 9

“Well what have we here Durthan? A pretty little bit all alone on the road?”

“It does indeed seem that way Bort.”

Voices penetrated whatever foggy haze my mind rested in.

“Say, what city is that over there Durthan?”

“It looks like Travant to me Bort.”

Light pressed against my eyelids, and I could feel the ground under my legs where I was still kneeling.

I guess I fell asleep.

“I think the kind thing to do would be to escort the young lady to the safety of the city, don’t you think so Durthan? We wouldn’t want her getting hurt now would we?”

“That certainly sounds like the gentlemanly thing to do Bort.”

There were sniggers all around me from what sounded like… nine men, not including the two speakers.

Surrounded huh? I sighed, scrubbing my eyes with my hands before looking up.

There were two men in front of me, and both of them showed the same reaction upon seeing my face. Their eyes widened, and then this disgusting greedy smile spread across their features. I flagged them as enemies immediately, along with the men surrounding me.

Absently I noted that I didn’t feel anything; no fear, no anger at their leers, no curiosity at why they wanted to escort me to the city, nothing. I wasn’t in the serenity of the Stillness, it was more of just a numb, lethargic feeling, as if I just couldn’t be bothered to care.

I stood, brushing off my leggings, and faced the two men that seemed to be leading, Bort and Durthan most likely, though I didn’t know which was which. “You were saying something about going to the city Bort?” I asked the two of them, tilting my head to the side.

The taller one on the left widened his smile in what he seemed to think was a disarming way. “Yes my lady. My men and I couldn’t possibly leave a young pretty girl like yourself out here all alone. There are all sorts of dangerous creatures about.”

I really don’t feel like fighting right now… Regardless, I still canvassed their weapons and equipment.

Two men with bows and rough leather armor, eight with swords and iron chain link armor, two of those with shields, and one with a spear and leather. Nothing in their stances or items to say I couldn’t kill them pretty quickly if I wanted to. Take the archers first with daggers, one to the throat each should do, then the spearman and both of the shields before they can recover and get their weapons out. A bunch of swordsmen wouldn’t be any issue unless they got me surrounded and severely injured, and that’s not going to happen.

I shrugged and nodded, “Sure. I’ll go with you. I’m Aria by the way.”

“Good then, come along.” Bort answered shortly before turning his back to me and moving away.

The men made a rough ring around me as we traveled the last bit of the journey towards Travant. They walked quickly, enough to make me jog to keep in the center or else have one of the ones in the back try to feel me up. I felt positive that they were total scum, but I just couldn’t summon the will to give them a good beating for the touching they attempted to do. At least they seemed mostly focused on surroundings rather than me unless I drifted into range. I guess Bort, who was leading, really wanted to get to the city as soon as he could and was pressing the speed. He’d started sweating, though it wasn’t nearly hot enough for that, and kept glancing back at me nervously for some reason, a total one-eighty from the cocky self-assured attitude he’d displayed earlier.

“Why are we going so fast Bort?” The spearman, Durthan, asked, low enough that I shouldn’t have been able to hear from where I was. The focus I continued to exert on hearing and seeing the smallest things was starting to pay off, my senses were growing sharper little by little.

“She’s strong.” He whispered back. “I’m having a lot of trouble holding her, and I don’t think she even knows what’s going on. We need to get to the city before she makes any sort of effort to resist.”

“What? That little thing? You’re kidding.” Durthan took another look at his partner, sweating and white as he was, and seemed to reconsider. “We could still take her if she tried to bolt, and-“

“Shut up Durthan! She can hear us, I can tell!” Bort hissed and picked up the pace as we drew up to the city’s gate.

I met Durthan’s eyes when he looked back at me, tilting my head slightly now that I was kind of curious. He paled and dropped his gaze, running to catch up to his friend.

I wonder what that was all about. Holding me how? I could easily escape from this ring and nothing they could do would stop me, even if the guards up on the wall got involved and helped them. We passed through the open gate and into this warm, relaxing atmosphere. Well whatever, I’ll find out eventually.

Bort was breathing heavily, but he seemed relieved more than anxious now. When he turned to face me his cocky attitude was back full force. “Tell me girl, are you a champion?”

“Yeah.”

His greedy grin sprung back wider than ever before, nearly splitting his ugly face in two. “You hear that boys? We got a champion! We’re going to be filthy rich with this one!”

His men sent up a cheer after they got over their surprise, though it didn’t drown out the other voices.

“A champion?”

“Woah, she’s gorgeous!”

“Is that Bort?”

“How’d he get such a catch?”

I blinked at the crowd that suddenly surrounded us. How did I not notice all these people?

“I’ll give you a gold par for her right now!”

“I’ll give you two!”

“Five!”

Frowning, I turned to Bort. “So they’re what? Bidding to see who I help first?”

“Ahh, yes! Yes, of course, that’s what they’re doing. There are so many in this city that have needs you see, and they’re willing to pay for someone to take care of them.” His eyes darted, as if trying to come up with the words to say. “Since I found you first, I would have first privilege to, ah, ask for your, ah, help.”

“I see, but I don’t-“

“One gold fault!”

That shut me, and everyone else, up right quick. A gold fault was not something that one came across every day, hell, I’d never even seen one. All of my earnings and equipment in the beta and the time I’d spent up till now would probably only amount to five or six gold marks, and a gold fault was a hundred of those. This man had just offered nearly twenty times the money all my time in Ilos amounted to.

I could barely see the speaker above the bodies surrounding me, and that was because he was on a horse, or else whatever platform he was standing on was making tired horse noises. “The Duke offers one gold fault and an invitation to the men who found the champion to attend a feast with him. Do any wish to contest?” After waiting for a few seconds for a reply, he climbed down from his horse, vanishing from my sight until the men around opened a path for him. He was dressed in livery, but certainly wasn’t your normal messenger boy. Mid-age, he had some grey in his hair and carried an air of authority that I normally associated with nobles, not servants. Without further discussion, he dug out a coin about as big around as my fist with the city of Ilos stamped on it in excruciating detail and handed it over to Bort, who looked completely dumbstruck.

“You and your men will come to the mansion in one hour’s time, washed and in your best clothes. The Duke will provide your entertainment as well as all the food you can eat.” The messenger spoke briskly, then without waiting for any sort of acknowledgement grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards his horse.

I wanted to break his grip and snarl that I could walk, but that just seemed like too much effort, so I just ended up straddling his horse and hanging on as we galloped to the mansion/palace that occupied the center of the city. The place was rich, almost unbelievably so, and had a tower behind it that seemed to be covered in gold and overlooked the entire city.

This Duke must really have something he needs me to do, and the rewards will likely be phenomenal! I don’t remember him being this rich, or the tower, but I’ve never been inside the place, so maybe he was just hiding it inside in the beta. Or maybe it was always there. Why can’t I remember?

We stopped at the stables the Duke kept at the place and some stable boy ran up to take it, leaving the messenger free to grab my hand again, rushing me off to someplace else. The hallways were lined with incredibly ordinate tapestries and small niches where vases and candles crafted with exquisite care rested. A few servants scurried past me and my messenger guide, who was still pulling me along, carrying objects to and fro at almost a jog.

Why is everyone in so much of a hurry around here? The air feels so… comfortable. I just want to walk slowly and look at these tapestries. Why am I here anyway?

The man led me to a heavily gilded door and stopped. “Please go inside, remove all of your current clothing, and wash yourself. Clothes have been laid on the bed for you, please put them on after you bathe. The Duke will send for you in a little while.”

“Hmm? Okay.” I answered tiredly, quickly scanning the room for enemies. Tired? But I just slept… didn’t I?

The room was small, containing little more than a large mirror, a bed with some sort of clothing laid on top, and an incredibly ordinate rug. There was a closed door on the opposite side that I assumed led to the bathroom. I absently wondered what exactly they were having me change into as the messenger shut the door behind me. Regardless, I followed his instructions, stripping off my Hunter’s Garb and Comfortable Traveling Boots, as well as my socks. It took a minute or two to remove all the knife sheathes I had secreted about my body under my normal clothing, ending up with quite an impressive pile of weaponry strewn about the floor. I hesitated a moment before removing my rough, hand sewn underwear for the first time since I’d gotten to Ilos. He did say all of it.

Storing everything but my concealed throwing knives, their straps, my socks and boots, and my belt with its inset Storage Gem in my inventory for the moment, I took a second to wiggle my toes a few times on the incredibly soft rug. This was probably the first time I had taken my boots off that hadn’t involved switching them out or sleeping, and it felt wonderful. I turned to examine the clothes on the bed, but the mirror caught my eye. There was a naked girl there. She was short, probably an inch or two under five feet, with hair so black and luxurious it reflected an almost blue color that flowed down her back, coming to a stop just above her butt and kept back out of her eyes with a hairpin in the shape of a wolf head. A gold necklace with a blue crystal pendant dangled just above her perfectly formed breasts, which weren’t large, but suited her frame perfectly. Her skin was a slightly tanned but rosy color that was as soft as satin and without even the trace of hair below her eyebrows. There were a pair of what looked like bracelets on her wrists, one made from pure white light, the other from the deepest black shadow. She had the curves of a full grown woman, yet looked young, having a vulnerability that was offset slightly by the tarnished studded silver bangle that rested on her upper left arm. Her irises looked like they were made of yellow-gold, but seemed dull compared to the clarity I’d seen there before.

In the mirror I saw… me. And it didn’t bother me at all. When I looked at that reflection I saw me, not some girl whose body I was in, not some stranger, just me, Aria Nitidus. Did I think this was a big deal?

Abandoning the mirror, I walked to the bathroom entrance and opened it, a soft flowery scent drifting past me as I stepped through and closed the door. Inside was another small room, probably half the size of the bedroom, and was dominated by a massive copper bathtub inlaid with ordinate silver designs in the middle of the room. The floor was decorated with small tiles in varying colors, smooth enough to please the eyes but rough enough to give a good grip, and the walls seemed to be made of the same thing, if glossier. I touched the water with my fingertips, the warm scented water calling to me like a siren, and climbed in even bothering to remove my jewelry. Leaning my head back against the side, I felt my eyelids slide almost closed as I relaxed, letting out a slow breath. Some indeterminable amount of time passed as I soaked there, reveling in the feel of the steaming water against my skin. It was only after the heat began to fade that my eyes drifted open again, tracking to a small wash rag draped over the side of the tub, along with a large fluffy towel. Blinking, I glanced around the room for another entrance. Were those there before? I didn’t hear the door open, so they must have been. I don’t really need to actually wash though, any dirt that gets on me vanishes after a short time.

Shrugging to myself, I ignored the rag and climbed out of the tub, grabbing the towel and wrapping it around myself, basking in its softness. It was big enough, or I was small enough, that hanging from my shoulders it almost brushed the floor. I dried off slowly, reluctant to leave the warm room, but I had no idea how long I’d spent in the bath and the Duke could send someone any time. Dropping the towel on the floor, I walked back into the bedroom and went to go examine the clothes on the bed.

There were three pieces of fabric and an open metal belt that seemed like it would click together in the front, all in the same dull grey, and all formless. I could tell that they were supposed to be panties, a bra, and a sleeveless dress, but it looked like someone had just taken a glance and cut out some grey felt in the same general shape. I slipped them on, and they were as ill-fitting as they looked. The underwear hung on me, barely staying on, and the dress trailed several feet on the floor. I sighed, disappointed for some reason, but slipped the belt around my waist and clicked it together, leaving almost a foot of gap. I dropped the belt, planning on using my own clothes, when everything changed.

No longer did everything droop like it was made for someone two feet taller and twice as wide as I was. The bottoms fit snugly, and the bra held everything in place even when I jumped, surprised. The dress trailed down to mid-calf, flaring out a little bit, but it was divided up the middle for free movement and the top part was snug, the belt serving as the divider between the top and skirt. Everything was incredibly soft, the dress caressing my skin as I moved, and it was all the exact same color as my hair. Even though it fit perfectly and covered me completely, I still felt practically naked, which confused me for a moment until I spotted the daggers strewn across the floor. I’d felt that same sort of vulnerability when the beta ended and I was no longer allowed to carry around things to protect myself with, and it seemed that it had taken a much shorter time to develop the same feeling again this time around.

My hands roamed over the now black metallic belt, examining the front for a moment before I found the catch that opened it. It came off easily enough, but nothing changed, the clothes and belt retaining their form and color. I took the dress off as well, placing it on the bed, but even that had no effect. Whatever magic changed the clothing, and it had to be magic of some sort, it didn’t look like it would be turning them back. Putting the issue on my rather long and constantly growing list of questions about Ilos, I took a few minutes to strap my daggers on in a way that they would be invisible under the dress. Slipping the dress back on and clicking the metal belt closed, I buckled on my other belt and sat down to put on my socks and boots before standing to check myself in the mirror and make sure none of my weapons showed.

With the black clothing, the girl in the mirror looked absolutely stunning. There was something about the items that really accentuated the curves she had and emphasized that air of vulnerability. I had the kind of beauty that people would leap to protect, even if they didn’t know me at all, and it really showed with the dress on. Oddly enough, the leather belt I had buckled on at an angle over the metallic one, the iron bangle on my upper arm, and my boots gave me a slightly dangerous look as well. I wasn’t sure how that worked exactly, vulnerable and dangerous seemed like they wouldn’t mix, but it was the most apt description I could come up with.

A knock at the door broke me from my thoughts, and after confirming that none of my blades showed I moved to open the door.

That same noble-messenger-servant guy was standing there, tapping his foot impatiently. “Come on, come on, the Duke and his guests are waiting for you.” He admonished, seizing my wrist again and pulling me along, not even noticing when his hand went through my Shadow bracelet.

I had to jog to keep up with him, and though it may have seemed hard to run in a dress, it really wasn’t. The divided skirt allowed full freedom of movement, making jogging along with the man much easier. We traveled through a couple of rich and mostly identical looking hallways until we reached a massive gilded door. The thing must have cost an enormous sum to get into the Duke’s palace, not to mention creating the thing, but the messenger only grasped the door and pushed. It swung slowly open to reveal a grand hall full of men eating and drinking at long tables with another table on a dais with a throne behind it. I scanned the room more out of reflex than anything else, noting the exit into what looked like a kitchen to the side, the door supposedly hidden in the shadows behind the throne, and the guards standing next to what I assumed to be the Duke on the extravagantly made chair. There were forty three men in the room along with some number of barely clothed, or sometimes completely unclothed, waitresses that rushed in and out of the side door, keeping everyone supplied with drink. I spotted Bort and his men sitting at the end of the table to my left, closest to the Duke.

It took mere seconds for me to be the center of attention, standing framed in the giant doorway, the servant-noble having vanished down the hall.

“Ah! Here our honored guest arrives!” The Duke exclaimed, standing. “Behold the beauty of the champion Aria!” He let me stand there for a moment, unsure of what to do, while the men in the room drunkenly cheered, raising their wine glasses, before he beckoned to me. “Come here girl, and let me see you.”

I walked forwards as the guards moved the table in front of the throne to the side allowing a clear path to the Duke. As I approached, I began to see why he was rich and why everyone followed him. He was an imposing man, large and easily 6’4”, but had little fat on his body. The silken shirt he wore was so clean it was practically new, but was tight enough to show off his sculpted chest and abs. I hesitated for some reason at that thought, most of the way there already, but he just waved me forwards again smiling the most wonderful smile I’d ever seen and speaking in this deep voice that seemed to fill me.

“Come here Aria.”

He was simply too wonderful to resist. I moved forwards, thoughts about the man filling my head. I wanted to do whatever he wanted me to do. I wanted his touch. I wanted to be near him. The noise and voices all faded out as I approached, his hands reaching out to touch me. I pushed myself into them, allowing his caress to sweep down my sides, missing my knives, and cup my ass, then slide back up the same route to cup my breasts. It felt so good, I wanted more, pressing closer to him, smelling his scent. I wanted to worship him. He slid one of the straps of my bra off first, pulling the dress down enough to reveal the painfully hard nipple and tweaking it with his thumb. Pleasure jolted through me, a heat spreading throughout my body at his touch. My hands came up, shaking violently, and tried to remove the other strap, to get all of the suddenly stuffy clothes off of me.

“Stop moving.”

The simple command jolted through me, and I stopped trying to do anything. There were voices in the background, all making lewd suggestions, but I ignored them. The only thing that mattered was in front of me.

He took out a whip from behind the throne and swished it through the air. A cat o’ nine tails, it had sharp metal pieces attached to the ends of the nine lengths of leather that extended from the handle. The man laughed, and struck me with it again and again, the metal leaving small scratches across my skin, but not damaging the dress whatsoever. Even his strongest swings could barely penetrate my skin. It didn’t matter, if he smiled I was happy.

Some of the men in the background yelled. “Take her already so we can have our turn!”

“Kneel.”

My knees gave out, and I dropped to the ground in front of him. He began unbuckling his belt, stepping back because I was so close. I wanted him, more than anything I wanted him, but he told me to stop moving, so I couldn’t have him.

“Look at this Barsath, a champion, eagerly waiting to fuck me.” I heard dimly, the words not totally clear because it had nothing to do with him wanted me to do something.

“Yes my Lord, surely you are the best leader in all of Ilos to have even champions kneel to do your bidding.” A voice spoke from behind the god in front of me.

He leaned over to pull down his pants, and behind him there was a man dressed in fancy robes. Another jolt ran through me, this one of fear. Mage! Spirit Shield, Sures!

There was a resistance, and then I felt something sever. The Stillness washed over me.

And everything changed.

Gone was the captivating and imposing god, replaced by an older man that had not aged well, his hair unkempt and grey, and his gut sagging enough to almost cover his manhood. The clothes he wore were stained heavily with wine and food. The throne behind him was a simple wooden chair, and he smelled of rotten things and a body much too long unwashed.

The mage Barsath’s eyes widened as I leapt backwards, the force of my legs carrying me a good twenty yards backwards, halfway to the entrance, and I scanned everything as I passed through the air. The men at the tables were eating bread and drinking water, and everything had reverted to bare stone. Gone were the glorious tapestries and the golden candlesticks, replaced by a pitted stone floor and walls with beautiful women chained along the sides. All of them were naked, cut, and bruised, yet still staring at the Duke with rapturous eyes. Everything was of poor quality, about to fall apart, yet none of the men seemed to notice.

I landed silently in a crouch, fixing my bra and dress and then opening my inventory to retrieve my quarterstaff and long knives. There was still a strong pressure against my Spirit Shield, a spell that blocked spirit magic from affecting the mind, and it was draining my mana at a slow but steady rate. The bands of Light and Shadow on my wrists vanished as I closed my inventory, my quarterstaff in its holder on my back and my long knives in my hands.

The Duke was just returning to a standing position, his eyes tracking from where I had been to where I was now, the mage by his side still reeling from my sudden movement, the men at the tables turning to look at me, noticing there was something going on.

Things were suddenly clear.

Bort’s words. ‘I’m having a lot of trouble holding her, and I don’t think she even knows what’s going on.’

The warm, relaxing atmosphere once I stepped through the gate.

The reason I’d not seen a single woman in the city until now.

The bidding for the right to own me.

The gold crown, an illusion like everything else.

The rush to the palace where the Sprit spell was stronger.

The hot bath to relax me and make me more susceptible and have me smell nice for the Duke.

My sudden blind acceptance of my body and situation.

The clothes to make me as pleasant to look at as possible for the men.

The throne room where the mage could enter from behind the chair and work his spell over me and likely the other women in the room.

The men calling for the Duke to take me so they could have their turn.

My jaw clenched. The feelings that had swept through me mere moments ago were still fresh in my mind. My eyes hardened. A blazing fire of rage burned through me, filtering through the Stillness until it was cold as the grave.

I locked eyes with Barsath. The man who mindfucked me. And I saw it in his eyes that he knew.

Every man in this room was dead.

Every man that tried to stop me was dead.

Every man that owned a woman in this city was dead.

But before I burned this city to the ground, before I destroyed whatever could make this Spirit spell so powerful, Barsath’s body would be lying in a pool of his own blood.