Chapter 3

Over the next few days, Strides-Tall explored the boundaries of her "freedom", and found that she was free to do more than she had expected. There seemed to be almost nothing in the way of security, but the area the elf was housed in was still sealed off after a fashion, her explorations always leading to red-tiled corridors.

Strides-Tall only ever saw Mashilahantradar when the Dyal wanted to see her, and there was little communication. Normally, Strides-Tall would have been thrilled to spend all her time naked but for boots - her dreams come true - but the "Mistress" refused to provide the elf with any clothes, and that "nudity by force" spoiled the experience.

She knows how to take the pleasure out of just about everything, thought the elf. There just must be some way out of here...

More determined than ever that she was not going to be Mashilahantradar's play-thing forever, Strides-Tall started to become more bold. She began testing the red floors, throwing some pieces of food or pebbles from the Dyal's lush, tropical indoor garden down those corridors to see what would happen. There were no explosions, no flashes of lightning, no ceilings descending to crush intruders flat...

Strides-Tall remained wary of the floor, and did not even risk setting foot upon it. It must be red for a reason, she told herself, even though she could not provoke a reaction of any kind. She experimented with breaking the vertical plane of the boundary between the ordinary floor and the red floor, using a small plant taken from the garden as a live test subject, but again the forbidden area revealed none of its secrets.

The moment of decision came when Strides-Tall risked her own body as part of her experimentation. She swept her hand over the boundary, in and out of the red-floored area, then put her hand over for increasingly extended periods, up to over a minute, with no ill effect. Time to start being Strides-Tall the Adventuress again, she decided, and clambered up onto the moulding "hand rail".

Tip-toeing along, bracing herself with her hands against the overhang where the wall met the arched ceiling, Strides-Tall started to inch her way into the forbidden corridor. Even if I only find storerooms, it'll be worth it, she thought. Some tools and other handy bits and pieces would be good. The "Mistress" helped herself to everything I brought with me, except my boots.

The girl's hopes were abruptly dashed, her triumph all too soon turning to disaster. Arriving at her first doorway, Strides-Tall saw there was no handle, no keyhole, not even any indication of hinges. Even when she took a closer look, floating in front of the door using her levitation powers, there was no way to tell if it was really a door, or a wooden panel bricked into the frame...

The only thing the elf could discern was that powers akin to what her people called "magic" had been used on the wood. Strides-Tall knew the aura of elven powers well, having tracked down many magic-rich artifacts in her time, but this energy was greater, more complex, and included elements beyond anything she had encountered before.

The only other source of such feelings she had so far encountered was Mashilahantradar - possibly the only being alive who could open the door. And it'll be no big surprise if all the other doors work in exactly the same way, she told herself, looking across the passage to the next door along. That, too, just as she had expected, was a featureless wooden surface with an identical aura of strange power.

Strides-Tall floated back to her perch, uncertain how, or whether to proceed. There's no point in going on if it's all like this, she realised. I could be genuinely stuck here...

Mashilahantradar's secrets gave the elf no opportunity to feel sorry for herself. She had hardly regained her precarious perch when the silence was broken by distant clicking noises, much like the sounds of many pairs of high spiked heels tapping on the scarlet tiles. "Mistress" and some friends?, wondered Strides-Tall. No...it doesn't sound right. It's all...out of step...

Strides-Tall's mind froze for a moment as something nightmarish scuttled out of the gloom. The creature was as big as a horse. It was what her people called a "sting-tail", whilst humans knew them by the less meaningful term "scorpion", and the girl had seen many during her adventures - but never anything this big. The crawling beast was an almost translucent straw colour, except where the segmented tail became the jungle-green body of a writhing, hissing serpent and the front limbs, normally ending in sharp pincers, turned into powerful human arms, each wielding a wavy-bladed sword.

There was nowhere to hide for even the highest point of the arched ceiling was well within reach of the monster's hissing tail. Knowing she could not glide fast enough to get away, Strides-Tall had no choice but to run.

The elf dropped to the floor, forgetting her fear of the scarlet tiles. It did not even register in her mind that nothing happened to her as she touched the floor and started running for her life. The clicking of the tips of many armour-plated legs fell behind quickly, but the gap did not last. At least once, Strides-Tall felt something part the air at her back. She did not know if it was a sword, or that fearsome snake-headed tail...

A few strides away from the end of the red tiles, the elf's feet were swept out from under her. Sliding on the smooth floor, Strides-Tall sprawled half across the boundary, and tried to make the most of a momentary hesitation on the monster's part, but before she could crawl any further, a powerful hand grabbed hold of her ankle, and started to pull her back.

Strides-Tall glanced back over her shoulder, despite telling herself not to, and saw the snake-headed tail arching forward to strike...

"Let her go."

The elf looked forward again, and her view was dominated by the long glossy black boots of Mashilahantradar, stark and alluringly shiny against the background of her snow-white hair.

The monster continued to pull the elf into the tail's range, and the Dyal spoke again, pointing towards the creature. "Let...her...go!"

A jagged flash of green lightning jumped the gap between her and the monster, striking the snake's head between the eyes. Hissing and chittering, the monster released the elf and scuttled backward.

Strides-Tall scrambled over the boundary and past the "Mistress". The Dyal made no attempt to retreat, nor did the creature try to pursue beyond the edge of the red-tiled area.

"The guardians will not venture outside the red patrol area", informed the winged sorceress. "As an added precaution, all the doors there will only respond to me. You risked your life for nothing, girl."

Mashilahantradar spun round, her near floor-length white hair whipping in Strides-Tall's face. "However, that does not negate what you have done", the Dyal snarled. "You disobeyed me, and must be punished."

The sorceress snapped her pale wings out wide, and extended them around the kneeling elf. Strides-Tall felt the air ripple against her skin like water, and her "magic-sense" was momentarily blinded, but both ceased when Mashilahantradar retracted her wings, revealing an entirely different location - a dimly-lit chamber, with furs on the floor and leather all around...

Mashilahantradar pushed Strides-Tall to the floor with one foot before the elf could properly get her bearings. The Dyal described a circle in the air with her finger, and cold metal appeared around the elf's throat, forming a snug, narrow silver collar.

"You are clearly going to be a rather troublesome pet", purred the winged woman. "So be it. I welcome the challenge..."

A chain appeared, stretching from the collar to Mashilahantradar's open hand. Strides-Tall tried to get up, but her captor stepped on the chain, pulling the girl down to the floor again. In a display of strength none would have expected from her, the Dyal then proceeded to drag her "pet" across the floor, over to a low, leather-covered stool, and it was all Strides-Tall could do to grab the chain, and stop the "Mistress" from breaking the girl's neck.

With her captive now lying next to the stool, the Dyal sat and, grabbing her by the collar, hauled the elf across her lap. "Escape is impossible", growled the sorceress. "Disobedience is intolerable..."

A open hand, gloved in glistening plastic, came down hard across Strides-Tall's bare behind, and the elf let out a quite involuntary yelp, partly from the pain, and partly out of sheer surprise. Her flesh was still hot and stinging when the hand descended again - and again, and again...

 

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