Shadow Dagger Ch. 05

Sophina gasped as Evelyn muttered a few words and held out her hand. What looked like a dozen long, very sharp icicles shot out of her hand. They flew past Sophina's face and struck the wall where Jon had been standing a moment before.

The icicles shattered into hundreds of pieces. Sophina covered her face as several shards of ice shattered on her armor. Several pieces pierced her flesh where the armor did not cover.

Sophina winced in pain and dropped her arms to survey the damage in the room. Ashford stood feet from her, panting in exhaustion. His eyes faded from silver back to their dark brown color. A puddle of water surrounded his feet. Sophina grunted in annoyance that he had magic to protect him and turned to look at Evelyn.Sophina gasped as Evelyn muttered a few words and held out her hand. What looked like a dozen long, very sharp icicles shot out of her hand. They flew past Sophina's face and struck the wall where Jon had been standing a moment before.

The icicles shattered into hundreds of pieces. Sophina covered her face as several shards of ice shattered on her armor. Several pieces pierced her flesh where the armor did not cover.

Sophina winced in pain and dropped her arms to survey the damage in the room. Ashford stood feet from her, panting in exhaustion. His eyes faded from silver back to their dark brown color. A puddle of water surrounded his feet. Sophina grunted in annoyance that he had magic to protect him and turned to look at Evelyn.

She still had her hand outstretched as if she were frozen in place. His eyes were pinched with pain. Several rather large pieces of ice were protruding from her body. She had not bothered to protect herself from her own spell. Sophina felt her heart lurch with pity and took a step toward her.

"Don't move," Ashford warned. "She has warded the floor around her with very deadly magic."

Evelyn's red-rimmed eyes darted toward Ashford as he spoke. She was still in the same stance, her hand outstretched in the moment when she cast her spell. It finally dawned on Sophina that she must be bound with magic. Her suspicions were confirmed when Jon stepped up next to Sophina, his eyes blazing silver.

Jon stepped toward Evelyn. "Don't!' Ashford and Sophina screamed, both for very different reasons.

Jon ignored their pleas and continued to walk to her. He was several feet from her when a fire suddenly sprung from the floor to surround them both in a wide circle. Sophina gasped and stuck her hand out, as though she could grab Jon from so far away.

But wherever Jon stepped the fire shied away. He glanced down and studied the fire, his brows raised in surprise. He lowered his hand down by his waist, his palm facing the floor. He stared intently for several seconds before the flames puffed out. Steam suddenly filled the room, obscuring everything in a haze.

Sophina coughed into her hand and waved the steam from her face. She heard Ashford mutter something and the steam blew away. Jon was standing in front of Evelyn, his Shadow Dagger in his fist.

"No, don't!" Sophina screamed. She moved toward Jon, who held out his hand to toward Sophina without looking. Sophina screamed as she felt something invisible seize her body. Her arms and legs were pinned together. She couldn't even open her mouth to talk.

"Is that necessary?" Ashford asked angrily.

Jon turned toward Sophina and studied her face. Sophina glared at him. You bastard, if you harm one hair on her head, I will end you! Sophina felt tears sting her eyes. She had never felt so helpless in her life.

"Yes, I think it is necessary," Jon finally said. He turned back toward Evelyn.

Sophina could only watch helplessly. Please Ashford, do something! Help her! Her heart was hammering in her chest. She darted a glance sideways to look at Ashford. He was frowning at Jon's back but did not make a move to stop him. Sophina swore vengeance on him, too.

"Where did you learn that spell?" Jon asked, apparently speaking to Evelyn.

Sophina felt her fear give way to confusion. What does that matter?

Jon waved his hand and Evelyn's face seemed to unfreeze. But instead of answering, she spat in his face. Jon wiped his face with his sleeve but did not respond to her provocation in any other way, for which Sophina was supremely thankful.

Jon reached up and lowered the hood from his head. Sophina was surprised; he looked...common. He wasn't exactly young but he didn't appear to be that old either. His face was deeply tanned with just a few small wrinkles around his eyes. His hair was brown and cut short to his head, much like her haircut. He had a thick goatee that contained a small splash of grey on the chin. If Sophina had to guess, she would say he was 40 years old.

"I understand your pain," Jon said quietly, staring Evelyn in the eyes.

Evelyn's face twisted into a sneer. Sophina had never seen such an expression on her lovely face before. Oh Evelyn...

"You don't know the meaning of pain," she spat. "But you will find out before long. I swear it." She chocked back a sob and closed her eyes. Her body seemed to sag, held up only by the magical bonds.

"For what it's worth...I am sorry," Jon said, almost tenderly.

Sophina felt a jolt of shock run through her. She would have never imagined that voice coming from that man.

Evelyn didn't respond but continued to sag in her bonds. Jon stared at her for several moments before sheathing his dagger. He did not move but suddenly Evelyn collapsed to the floor. Sophina felt her arms and legs jerk; she had to take a step forward to keep from falling.

Jon turned to Sophina. He looked troubled. "Sophina, could you please grab Evelyn and follow me?"

Sophina didn't bother responding. She hurriedly made her way to Evelyn. She squatted down next to her. "Come on, Evelyn, let's go," she said somberly.

Evelyn didn't look up and didn't resist when Sophina pulled her arm. Sophina gently pulled her to her feet and flung her arm around her shoulders. Sophina held on to her hand and put her other arm around her waist.

Sophina frowned worriedly at Evelyn's complete unresponsiveness. Her eyes had a faraway look. Sophina had to half-carry her as Evelyn didn't seem inclined to move her feet.

Sophina studied the shards of ice sticking from Evelyn's body as they walked. They were large pieces but it didn't look like they penetrated too far into her skin. Evelyn was lucky to have been standing so far away from the impact.

The icicles in Sophina's body, however, had penetrated quite far into her flesh. She grimaced in pain as she carried Evelyn. She could feel pieces of ice around her armpit and by her knee. Shouldn't these damn things melt or something?

Jon led them down a hallway. Elaborate wall hangings and more weapons adorned the walls. Sophina would have loved to stop and examine everything but her concern for Evelyn outweighed her curiosity.

Jon stopped at a door on the left. He opened the door and let Sophina drag Evelyn inside. It was a bedroom with a huge four-poster bed and several ornate pieces of furniture. Sophina guided Evelyn to the bed and carefully dropped her on it.

"Remove your armor," Jon instructed. He walked to a cabinet by the bed and began rummaging inside. He pulled out a bottle of clear liquid and a pair of tongs.

Sophina grunted in pain as she undid the straps on her chestplate. She let it drop to the stone floor with a dull thud. Every movement she made seemed to dig the icicles in deeper. She had to take her time to take off the arm-guards.

"Stand still," Jon ordered once she finished. He walked around her in a circle, taking note of every piece of icicle. "There is no telling how many smaller shards there are. You will have to take off your clothes."

Sophina blushed. "What? Are you serious?"

Jon nodded. "I need to get every shard. This magical attack has minute traces of poison. If I don't get every single shard, it could eventually kill you."

Sophina's flush deepened. She looked around for a distraction and spotted Evelyn on the bed. She was lying motionless. Her embarrassment drained away as worry replaced it. "What about Evelyn?"

"I will let you handle that. This is a slow-working poison, so don't worry. Your clothes?" Jon nodded at her.

Sophina sighed and turned away from Jon. She grabbed her padded tunic and pulled it over her head and dropped it to the floor. Now that she only had a simple wool tunic left, she hesitated.

Come on, Sophina. There is nothing to be embarrassed about. I doubt if this man even has sexual feelings.

"The sooner the better, Sophina," Jon said from behind her, amusement plain in his voice. The man was enjoying this! Sophina gritted her teeth and pulled the tunic off. She immediately crossed her arm over her breasts before turning around.

Jon nodded at her legs. "I need you to take off everything. You have shards in your legs, as well."

If Sophina was blushing before, it was nothing compared to now. "You want me to get completely naked?"

"Yes," he replied simply.

Damn it! I swore I would never let another man see me naked. Sophina sighed in resignation. This had to be done. She turned back around and undid the straps on her steel leggings. She set them down next to her chestplate.

She felt her face flush with heat as she pulled down her padded trousers. She tried not to think that he now had a good view of her ass. She covered her breasts with one arm and covered the thatch of blonde pubic hair with her other hand.

"There is no need to be modest, Sophina. I will need to get under your arms. Don't worry, I seen naked women plenty of times." He smiled as he said it.

Sophina found that his amusement actually disarmed her modesty. She was too use to soldiers who looked lewdly at women. Sophina's arms shook nervously as she held them out.

Jon gave no sign that he enjoyed what he saw. His eyes narrowed in focus as he examined her body for shards. His disinterest in her nudity made her sigh in relief. She even let her body relax a little.

He stepped close to her, still examining her wounds. "This is going to hurt more than you think," he warned her.

Sophina nodded. "I am use to pain."

"Then get ready." He clamped the tongs on the largest piece of icicle, directly under her armpit. He slowly slid the shard of ice out. Sophina almost screamed at the sudden flash of pain. She had arrows that penetrated deeper in her flesh that didn't feel as bad as this.

Jon glanced up at her. "You still with me?"

Sophina nodded. Sweat beaded on her forehead and was trickling down her back. "Can't you pull it out faster?" she grunted.

He shook his head. "I have to make sure not to leave one fragment inside the skin." He clamped the tongs on another piece, just below her ribs. The pain doubled and this time Sophina couldn't hold back the scream.

"Is everything all right?" a voice asked in concern.

Sophina looked over and spotted Ashford in the doorway. She saw his eyes widen in shock. Her cheeks flushed with fury. "GET OUT OF HERE!"

Ashford fell back against the wall and quickly scrambled away. Jon chuckled as he extracted another piece of ice.

Nine hells! How many men are going to see me naked today?

The thought couldn't concern her for long as each shard of ice that Jon extracted increased the pain. Soon Sophina was weeping. Her skin felt on fire. Blood pour freely from the small holes in her skin. She felt feverish. The room began to sway before her eyes.

"Hang on Sophina," Jon told her. His voice helped her steady herself to consciousness.

He set down the tongs as the last remaining shards were too small. He used his fingers instead. They felt like icicles themselves as he touched her burning flesh.

Sophina tried every mental trick her sword trainer had taught her. She slipped in and out of the warrior trance. The pain would always flare up and shatter each trance. She focused on the memories of her mom singing a lullaby to her every night when she went to sleep. The pain lessened as the peaceful memories washed through her.

At last, Jon extracted the last shard from behind her knee. He grabbed the clear bottle and a rag. He dipped the rag in the liquid and began washing her wounds. The liquid stung but in a good way; it was the pain of healing.

After he finished washing her wounds, his eyes glowed silver. Sophina gasped as he laid his hands on her wounds. When his hands left, the wound was gone. Only the dried blood around the wound remained.

Sophina stared in awe. "That is the most amazing thing I have ever seen! Why didn't you do that from the beginning?"

"I only patched your skin together. I needed to remove the icicles and clean the infection. Otherwise, I would have only closed the flesh around the infection."

She nodded her thanks. The pain was gone. Her body was cooling down. She realized suddenly that she was still naked. "Can I get dressed now?" she asked, somewhat sheepishly.

He smiled. "Yes. And here," he added, handing her the bottle of clear liquid, "you can take care of Evelyn yourself. Just carefully pull the shards out and clean the wounds with this. I will come by later to heal the skin."

"Thank you," she said. She glanced over at Evelyn. "Will...will she attack me?"

Jon studied Evelyn silently for several moments before responding. "No, I don't believe she will trouble us from now on." He stared sadly at Evelyn.

"What do you mean?" Sophina asked worriedly.

He shook his head and smiled; it did not reach his eyes. "We can talk about that later." He left the room and closed the door behind him.

Sophina pulled on her trousers and wool tunic. She walked to the bed and sat down next to Evelyn's head. She reached out tentatively and stroked her face. "Evelyn? I am going to take care of you now, ok?"

Evelyn did not respond. Her eyes were open but they stared lifelessly. Sophina felt her heart clench in worry. What is wrong with her? What did Jon mean that she wouldn't trouble us from now on?

"I am going to undress you now, ok?"

Sophina waited for any type of response but was disappointed as Evelyn continued to stare at nothing. Sophina winced in sympathy as she examined the numerous shards of ice sticking out from her body. She took the hem of Evelyn's robe and very carefully started to push it up her legs.

When she got both the robe and the shift underneath pulled up to her waist, she stopped and blushed in embarrassment. She couldn't take her eyes off the thatch of brown hair between her pale thighs.

I need to get a hold of myself! There is nothing sexual about this...there is nothing sexual about this...there is nothing...

Sophina continued to repeat the mantra in her head as she sat Evelyn up on the bed. Her body was limp and surprisingly heavy. Once she got her into a sitting position against the headboard, she grabbed the robe from her waist and very gently began to pull it up over her head. She was careful not to snag any of the icicles on the cloth.

She dropped the robe to the floor and laid her down on the bed again. Despite her best intentions, Sophina felt heat sweep through her body as she examined Evelyn's nude body.

Her body was pale and creamy. Her breasts were heavy and sagged to the side of her chest. Her nipples were a dark red. Sophina felt her pussy began to moisten at the sight.

She gritted her teeth and refused to acknowledge her own arousal. She grabbed the pair of tongs that Jon left behind and clamped it on the largest piece she could find, which was buried in her shoulder. Remembering Jon's warnings about leaving any sliver of icicle behind, she began pulling it out with extreme patience.

As Sophina worked on removing the icicles, she lost herself in the work. She was no longer aroused at the sight of this beautiful woman's body. That is, until she came to the last shard she could find. It was a small piece that required her hands to pull out.

It was buried in her thigh, right next to her pussy.

Concentrate! This isn't some orgy! Her life is in my hands.

She reached out with a shaking hand and grasped the shard with her forefinger and thumb. Her pinky accidentally brushed against Evelyn's pussy. Sophina gasped and looked away.

Just do it already! Pull it out fast! Sophina took a deep breath and reached back out with her hand. She was careful not to accidentally touch her. She had just pulled out the shard when Evelyn moaned and shifted her legs.

Sophina shrieked as her knuckles collided with Evelyn's pussy. She pulled her hand away but was shocked as Evelyn's hand swooped out of nowhere and grabbed her wrist.

Sophina looked up at Evelyn. She was leaning on one elbow and had her eyes closed. Her grip on Sophina's wrist was tight.

"Daminus, don't go! I need you!" Tears trickled out of the corner of her eyes.

"Evelyn...it's me, Sophina. Daminus...is not here," Sophina breathed. Her heart was beating hard in her chest.

"I need you Daminus," Evelyn whispered, her eyes still closed. She pulled Sophina's hand toward her pussy.

Sophina was too shocked to offer resistance. "Evelyn, it's me! I'm not Daminus!"

Evelyn didn't respond. She didn't seem to know where she was. She brought Sophina's hand to her pussy and moaned as it made contact. "I need you inside of me," she gasped.

Sophina tried to tug her hand away but Evelyn's grip tightened painfully. "Daminus, please....please, I need you. Don't go...please..."

Sophina felt tears sting her eyes. "Oh Evelyn..." she whispered.

She extended her forefinger and slowly sunk it inside of Evelyn's pussy. Evelyn fell back against the bed and arched her back. Her pussy was moist as Sophina's finger slid in and out with no problem.

"That feels so good, my love," Evelyn purred. She was smiling wide, her eyes still closed.

Sophina bit her lip to choke back a sob. She's broken... Her hand acted on its own. She closed her eyes and wept softly.

"Give me more!" Evelyn begged.

Sophina slipped another finger inside her. Evelyn moaned. Sophina laid down next to her and let her fingers continue the work.

I'm sorry Evelyn. I wish I could be Daminus.

Sophina worked her magic with her fingers to make it quicker. Soon enough Evelyn's body began to shake. "Daminus!" she cried out as she came.

Sophina curled up with Evelyn and held her in her arms. Evelyn sighed in satisfaction and immediately fell asleep. Soon enough Sophina will get up and clean her wounds. She will dress her and have Jon come back and heal her.

But, for now, she would hold her and weep for her; because she was too broken to grieve for herself.

***

Ashford sat by the fire and chewed his fingernails. Too many things had happened in the last day for his mind to grasp it all. And now, to top it off, he walked in on Sophina naked. Now he had to battle lust along with every other emotion.

I have never seen a body so...perfect. I didn't know female soldiers could look so good. My God, her breasts were perfect; small yet perky. Her legs were nicely muscled. I didn't know muscles could have such beautiful symmetry. And that blonde hair between her legs...glistening with sweat!

Ashford shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Something wrong?" Jon asked suddenly, appearing out of nowhere.

Ashford nearly jumped out of his chair. "No! No...nothing."

Jon looked at him quizzically as he sat down across from him. Her grabbed a glass of wine and took a sip. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, sorry. So how are those two?"

Jon shrugged. "They will live." He set down the glass of wine and leaned toward Ashford. "Where did she learn those spells?"

What is he on about? "I would assume she learned it in the Emporium."

Jon lifted his left eyebrow questioningly. "Really? I was under the impression that she was of the 5th Tier."