Remember... Ch. 05

"I'm Tenais," said the short lithe blonde.

"And I'm Kera," said the other, a skinny raven haired elf.

The exchange of pleasantries seemed normal enough, but Mark could feel the anxiety in the air, whether it was from the elves or himself.

Falalie showed him to a chair, then returned to the side of the other elves. "Mark, we need your help," she began. "Amanda has been kidnapped."

A cold chill went down his spine. Mark remained silent, his face betraying no emotions.

"She was taken on Wednesday, right after we found you," Falalie continued. "Ellisa and Linae are missing as well, although we have reason to believe that Linae may have betrayed us. We have searched her room a few times already, but we haven't found anything that could help. We also have not received any demands for a ransom. Regarding the attack, we were ambushed in the middle of the fifth ward. A group of rogue mages and some hoodlums attacked us-"

"Why are you telling me this?" he interrupted. "You should be telling the city guards this. If the rogue mages are involved, the Society would probably like to know as well. They might be able to help you."

"We have done so. However, I believe you may have access to other resources around the city that we do not. I hope that you care enough about our lady to be able to help us," she looked at him evenly. "I hope I am not wrong about how you feel towards Amanda."

"My feelings for Amanda have not changed in the least, but I don't see how my position as a merchant can help you. I can certainly buy some influence within the palace, but-"

"Mr Raven," Falalie shook her head. "I'm almost certain that you're not who you say you are."

Mark frowned. "Yes, so Mari tells me. Who do you think I am, then?"

"I think I only began to understand this yesterday, but there have always been many things that I've had my doubts about: You have enough influence to obtain ten Rancerian riders to escort our lady here from Crielere; not an insignificant force, or a short distance. I don't know how the outpost commander could have justified this even with a healthy bribe.

"You managed to get the Royal Guard instructor, Captain Banks, to train Amanda privately at the White Keep; and you somehow got a new magic instructor from the Society within a week or two of your return, while we've been requesting one for months. I don't care how rich you are; this kind of influence is not normal for a simple merchant.

"And finally, Amanda obviously knew that there might still be someone out there after her; yet she felt safe enough to go out into the city with you, alone. This has always worried me... until Wednesday. I think you figured out that we were following you almost immediately after you left here. You proceeded to quickly lose us, somehow. If it wasn't for blind luck, we would've never found you two. Then, when Ellisa threatened you, our lady said that you saved her life. I don't think she misspoke, or meant it as a metaphor."

The other elves turned towards Falalie with surprise. "When were you going to tell us this?" Kera asked.

She glanced at them and shrugged, then turned back to Mark. "I don't know, nor do I care what you really do, Mr. Raven, but I do care about what you can do to help us find Amanda. Please, helps us. Help Amanda."

Mark narrowed his eyes as he remained silent for a long, tense moment.

Finally, he stood up. "I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, Falalie, but I'm still just a merchant."

Her head dropped as she closed her eyes and sighed.

"However," he continued, "I will see what I can do to bring her back to you."

Falalie smiled as she looked up. He was looking at her, his eyes showed just a hint of a smile.

"Thank you."

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Amanda had no idea how much time had passed since she first awoke in her cell.

All she knew was that there had hardly been a moment when there were not some number of men raping Ellisa.

After Ponytail left the first time, the other men took off two of the charms from the collar, and had Ellisa beg them to rape her. She tried to resist, but the collar and the abuse she had already suffered had weakened her. She lasted thirty seconds.

Amanda initially screamed at the thugs to stop, but it only seemed to encourage them to do more and more perverse things to Ellisa, just to get a rise out of her. The only thing she could do was to turn away from the scene and remain quiet. It seemed to have worked, as they eventually forgot about her, and stopped going out of their way to do even worse things to her guardian.

Perhaps it was the shock, or the fear, or even simply having been kept awake by Ellisa's moans and screams of pleasure, but eventually Amanda collapsed in exhaustion. Her sleep was not comfortable, or even very restful, but when she finally woke, the room sounded mercifully quiet... almost.

There was a quiet moan coming from nearby.

Amanda opened her eyes and looked around. There were no men in sight. There was, however, someone in the cage next to her cell. She gasped. Amanda knew who it was, of course, but she didn't want to believe it.

Ellisa sat in the cell against a stack of hay, facing Amanda. Her eyes were closed as she moaned quietly. They were definitely moans of pleasure. Pleasure caused by her own hands, which were bound next to her sex, at the apex of her spread legs. The collar around her neck held five charms.

Amanda whimpered at the sight.

Ellisa's eyes suddenly snapped open. "My lady!" Her hands stopped as well, covering her sex with what little sense of modesty she had left. But almost immediately, the effects of the collar could be seen on her face. Her eyes constantly threatened to glaze over, or roll up to her head as waves of pleasure assaulted her.

"Ellisa!"

She bit her lip as she struggled to think. "I'm so sorry I wasn't able to protect you," she moaned as her fingers resumed their assault on her sex.

"It's not your fault, Ellisa! We will get out of this. Falalie and the others will look for us! Just hang on!"

Her guardian's eyes fluttered as another orgasm wracked her body. It was a moment before she opened her eyes to speak again. "This collar is... changing me. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep fighting this... No, my lady, don't cry. I will protect you from them. You will be safe."

"The woman that was here said that I would be safe. They won't touch me," Amanda sobbed.

Ellisa shook her head as she moaned again. Her body was starting to tense. "No... no. She had left some time ago, with Linae. Beware of the... the leader... The long-haired man..." she gasped and shuddered as another orgasm coursed through her. It was a few more seconds before she was composed enough to speak again. Her voice trembled. She was barely holding on to coherent thought now. "I will try to keep him occupied, but he may still come after you. He does not plan on following the orders. Be strong, my lady. Be strong..."

Amanda only nodded. She watched her guardian's eyes roll up into her head, claimed by self-inflicted pleasure. She laid back down, covered her ears, and tried to sleep. It did not come easily.

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It was just past noon when Mark had arrived in the Providence district, so named because if anywhere in Astrin needed some divine help, this was it. The irony was not entirely lost on the locals here, as they seemed to strive to make themselves even more deserving of their district's name. As he walked through the streets, Mark was certain that if it wasn't for the sword hanging from his waist, a few groups of men would've tried to mug him. Fortunately, he didn't have to wander very long before he found the short, scrawny man he was looking for.

"Eh! Rook! Long time, man!" the man grinned as he embraced Mark.

"How's it going, Evan?" Mark smiled back, patting him on the back.

"Oh you know, it goes, right? Can't complain, can't complain!" Evan said happily.

"Damn, you're really upbeat today. Did you just fuck forty two virgins or something?"

"Nah, I wish. The boss just knocked over this fabric shop over in Jita, one that I cased like two weeks ago, so I just got like an extra bounty for it. It's fucking sweet!"

"Yeah? Right on! Don't blow it all on hookers this time though." Mark laughed.

"Aww dude, don't remind me, alright? Fuck, who knew pussy could be that expensive!"

"At least you're not married. That shit'll bleed you dry in a second."

"True dat," Evan nodded. "Anyways, I haven't seen ya in a fucking long time. Why ya coming back to this dump?"

"Listen, I'm looking for some people to do a job for me."

"Yeah? What kind of job? You've got some fine people right here, ya?" the short man frowned. He thrust out his chest indignantly.

Mark looked around, and leaned into his ear. "No offense, man, but I'm looking for freaky people. You know. Magic lightning mindfuck shit. You know what I'm saying?"

The little man's eyes went wide. "Oh shit. I see. You want the fucking Rogues? Dude, what the fuck are you doing, man? Those guys are bad karma, I'm telling ya! If those guys in pointy hats at the Society finds out you're even thinking about talking to them, you're proper fucked, you know?"

"Yeah, well, I just gotta make sure they don't hear about it, right?" Mark waved dismissively. "Anyways, you know where I can find them? Or know anyone who's hired them recently?"

"Uh," Evan thought for a moment as he stroked his messy beard, but shook his head. "Nah man. I don't think I know anyone who could get you talking to the Rogues. I can ask around if you want?"

"What? No! You want word getting to those Society fuckers that I'm looking for Rogues? What did we just say about not letting them find out?" Mark scowled.

"Oh yeah. Right. Well, I don't know what to tell ya, man."

Mark frowned. "Damn. You haven't heard of anyone else hiring them for anything?

"Not around here, man. You can try asking around the southern gates? Or maybe even the docks?"

"Alright, thanks man," Mark said as he tossed him a small bag of coins. "Don't mention this to anyone, alright? I don't need the Society coming down on my ass."

"Yeah, I got it." Evan nodded. "I don't need them coming down on mine either."

Mark nodded as he began to make his way to his next contact. He had already searched the fifth ward for clues, but the heavier presence of guards still investigating the incident had driven most of the people he knew there into hiding. The guards themselves seemed to know little beyond the basic facts, and none of them recognized any of the dead kidnappers. Mark was beginning to suspect that maybe they were not from Astrin at all.

If they're not from Astrin, then where are they from? He questioned. Hek? Mamet? One of the houses? No... he frowned. They would not so openly deal with Rogues like this inside Rancer and risk losing favor with the Society... would they? Or perhaps the kidnappers had already taken her outside Astrin?

Mark quickened his pace as more and more worrying scenarios formed in his mind. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was being irrational, he knew. The city guards are already on extra alert to check any form of transportation going out of the city, and the Society have been extra careful about monitoring people using Jump or Gate spells. He knew in all likelihood that Amanda was still in the city, but still... it worried him.

Even before he had gone through his entire list of contacts, it was already easily apparent that no one had heard of this group that had kidnapped Amanda. A few knew of the kidnapping, and had mentioned seeing some Rogues, but there were scant details as to where they might be. The sky, as if reflecting his mood, darkened with rain clouds. It was not a good beginning for his search.