Chapter 12

Astl'Aar was in the process of reaching forward to tear Strides-Tall's top off, when a shout from one of his men drew his attention to what was now standing behind him. He hardly had time to register what he was seeing - a seven foot-tall, reddish-skinned woman with glowing yellow eyes and bat-like wings growing from her head - before she returned his earlier "compliment".

Her slap not only took the Dyal clean off his feet, but Strides-Tall distinctly heard bone break.

Spitting blood and teeth, the Battlemaster sailed through the air, off the stage and face-first into one of the columns. The Dyal dropped to the floor, landing crumpled into a lifeless heap at the foot of a pillar now awash with his blood.

Two of the other Dyals dropped their weapons, and ran. A third leapt onto the stage, a long, slightly curved sword raised above his head in both hands, but he was stopped short when Raven grabbed his breastplate, driving her gloved fingers into the metal with frightening ease, lifted him off the ground, then hurled him up at the ceiling. There was a sickening thud, and the sound of splintering bone and rending flesh, then the broken Dyal fell back to the stage, followed by a shower of plaster dust and small pieces of ceiling.

The remaining Dyals fell into disarray. One was buried under a pile of outraged customers, and pummelled senseless despite his armour. A second, desperate to escape, started slashing with twin short swords at anyone who got in his path, but his frantic rampage ended when Sshraada appeared, and cleaved the warrior in two down the middle from neck to navel with a blade longer than the Dyal was tall.

The last Dyal, knowing she was beaten before she began, threw down her weapon and knelt in surrender, but Raven was having none of it. Those great and fearful wings extended with a sound like a whip-crack, and the dancer took to the air, hovering over to where the Dyal cowered, then kicking her right under the chin. The winged warrior's head jerked back sharply and, her neck snapped, she fell to the floor, dead.

Quickly, the customers spilled out into the lobby, leaving behind broken furniture, broken Dyals, and those of their number who had been wounded. Only one able-bodied visitor stayed behind, a young man who was quite unable to move as long as Raven was present.

"I...I thought you were incredible before", he murmured when she landed in front of him, "but...but now - you're beautiful..."

Raven frowned, then turned away, drawing the dark mass of her wings back into herself. Her skin started to go pale, returning to its former colour, and she slumped into the nearest chair, apparently exhausted.

Strides-Tall hurried down to see how the dancer was. "You okay?", she asked when she reached Raven's side.

The dancer was now slumped forward, gloved elbows resting on booted knees, her head down as though she was recovering from a fainting spell. "Yes - doing that does tend to sap my strength, that's all..."

The elf was stunned by Raven's unconcerned manner. "Do - do you know what happened?", she spluttered. "What really happened?"

Raven managed a weak smile as she raised her head. "I remember it all", she said. "I didn't expect the wings, though. They were almost an afterthought last time, but this time they appeared right at the start. That's what really took it out of me. I'm sure it wouldn't have been anything like as draining otherwise."

"I can't say I was happy to see you...change like that", admitted Strides-Tall, "but I'm certainly glad you did..."

The elf was on the verge of coming to terms with the transformation when one of the Dyals that had tried to run at the very start was dragged into the room by two particularly large and powerful human guests. "Stay away from that one!", shrieked the Skywolf, struggling to keep clear of Raven. "She is 'tkla'Aa! She will destroy you all...!"

***'tkla'Aa...?***, queried Strides-Tall telepathically, in the back of her mind afraid of what the answer might be.

***It's Dyaleen***, answered Raven. ***It means 'demon'. That may not be far from the truth...***

This is definitely one seriously messed-up world, the elf decided, there and then. I get the feeling I'm not ever going to properly understand it - but until I find a way home, it's all I've got, and I'm better having...people like Raven on my side than against me...

Strides-Tall pulled herself up a chair, and sat down. It was not exactly an ideal set of circumstances, but Lord Serpentine's kingdom had long since revealed that it never did anyone any favours for free. The adventuress just had to thank whatever spirits were listening that she had it this good already.

Oh my, this gets better and better...!

In a secret chamber in her jungle palace, Mashilahantradar watched as Strides-Tall's triumphs and ordeals unfolded before her in the depths of a sphere of the clearest colourless crystal, mounted on a claw-like stand of black metal. She had seen everything that had transpired since the elf's kidnap by the Skywolves, either as it happened or as a magical recording, and many exciting and surprising things had been revealed to her as she spied on her former pet. Wonderful...Astl'Aar is dead, the girl Raven is revealed to be something quite fascinating - and powerful, thought the albino sorceress. Add to that the fact that my lovely Pretty is quite happy to enjoy her body, and I couldn't be more delighted.

Strides-Tall might no longer be on Mashilahantradar's leash, but the Dyal could still toy with her living plaything. The kidnap had been planned in advance, arranged in secret meetings with the Skywolves, whilst others had been psychically manipulated into steering the elf along the course the sorceress had laid out for her. All she needed now was for Strides-Tall to follow Skylla's advice, and start treasure-seeking again, and Mashilahantradar could arrange all manner of exciting little surprises for her wayward pet.

"Even though you are far, far away, little Pretty, you can still bring me great pleasure", purred the Dyal, stroking the flawless surface of the sphere and imagining it to be Strides-Tall's smooth skin, long silken hair and high glossy boots. "We are destined to have so much fun together..."

Strides-Tall's first night at The Phantasia had a string of consequences, most of them rather unwelcome for one party or another. Drasheel called the girl in to his office early the next morning, even though the club was closed for the day, and demanded an explanation for why Dyal warriors were convinced she was their property. She did her best to explain, and apologised profusely, herself ashamed to have brought her new employers so much trouble. "Just don't let it happen again", ordered Drasheel at the end, and Strides-Tall escaped without a lasting blemish on her record.

Things went rather badly for the Skywolves as well. The survivors of Astl'Aar's party were swiftly jailed on charges of disturbing the peace, assault and attempted murder, the Traders' Guild of Freeport having more than enough evidence to decide their guilt, and the Dyals' ship was impounded and sold to provide compensation for the club and its wounded customers, despite objections and threats from the Skywolves' ruling council. The remaining warriors, now without a vessel of their own, were escorted onto the next ship out of Freeport bound for Dyal territory, and warned never to return.

"Oh, they'll be back", warned Ashyra, as the girls relaxed in a restaurant midway through an unexpected shopping expedition, afforded by the temporary closure of the club. "Even your usual everyday variety of Dyal is quick to swear vengeance if they feel they've been wronged."

"And are you sure you want a girl who's already upset plenty of Dyals living under your roof?", queried Strides-Tall.

"If they were paying rent, we'd have the Dyals themselves!", joked the Shaelin girl, but the elf found it hard to laugh. She had had her fill of Dyals, and would be glad never to see one again.

Talk of rent reminded Strides-Tall of something Skylla had said the night before. If there was a market for her adventuring skills,and there certainly seemed to be, with pirates and other criminal types making off with rare and precious things almost every day, and often bringing them to Freeport for conversion into less conspicuous currency, there was no sense in letting her talents go to waste, especially if someone was going to pay her for making use of them.

Strides-Tall's search was still to bear fruit by the time she got home, but that did not disappoint her unduly. She was quite happy to continue at The Phantasia for the time being, for it gave her plenty of time to work on improving her powers in preparation for future adventures, and after dinner, she did just that, sitting cross-legged in mid-air until she could no longer support herself.

It was during one of these exercises that Strides-Tall had a visitor knocking on her bed-chamber door. Still levitating, she floated over to the door, and opened it to reveal Raven, smiling a little uneasily. "I see you're practicing with your powers", she said. "Would it be all right if I joined you?"

The elf had made just such an offer, before learning just what Raven meant by "powers", and felt she could not go back on the deal. If I help her, and steer her away from turning into a complete monster, there's less chance of me becoming the next victim of our resident 'tkla'Aa, she thought, and beckoned the black-tressed dancer inside.

The two women sat on the floor, legs crossed, and Strides-Tall reached out with her thoughts to make contact with Raven's mind, hoping to engage in a particularly intense form of psychic communication that the elf's people often used to teach others, or exchange extremely complex ideas. She found Raven was most receptive, and accepted what was almost a locking-together of their minds.

Slowly, Strides-Tall started to rise from the floor, levitation made next to effortless by Raven's calming empathic influence, whilst the focussing effect of Strides-Tall's psychic powers enabled Raven to transform easily, without needing the external emotional stimuli that had previously triggered the change. Together, they explored inner depths neither knew they had, depths that ensured that, on emerging from their shared trance, neither would be quite the same again.

 

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