Nalcara's Shackles Ch. 04

Then

The farmer frowned as the eight horsemen thundered into his yard and cast a glance to his wife. He was a large man, heavily muscled from years of hard work, with tightly clipped blond hair covered by a straw hat. His wife was also quite imposing, though her strength came from her days as an adventurer and guard. They were both armed; he with a stout club at his hip, she with her longsword.

"Halrod!" The leader called, as the gang pulled to a halt in a threatening semi circle. "Do you always arm yourself when you do chores?"

"Dangerous times, Durn." the farmer replied. "The bandits that killed my sister are still on the loose. Can't be too careful."

"True, I suppose." The new sheriff said with a scowl. "And where are your children?"

"Don't know." said the wife. "We bid them run and hide when we heard a mob poundin' down the road. Dangerous times."

"Fine then. I'll get right to the point." said Durn. "Where is your niece?"

"What do you want with her?" Halrod asked. "Her mother's dead. She's just a girl. She'll cause no problems."

"Oh, but a young girl like that, all on her own?" said Durn with a lecherous grin. "And such a beauty? She could get into trouble alone. We just want to... make sure she's safe. Right boys?" There was a round of chuckles from his gang.

"Well, she ain't here." said Halrod, with a frown.

"You sure, farmer?" Durn's second asked. He drew a dagger and started cleaning his nails. "I mean you're her only family that she has. Where else would she go?"

"She was here. " The wife said. "Not an hour ago. We told her she couldn't stay and sent her on her way to the port."

"Well that's a shame." said Durn. "I really want to find her. I might just have to have a look around... Just in case." Around him, his men began drawing weapons.

The farmer's wife was faster and her sword was drawn in a flash. "Idiot! I thought sheriffs were supposed to be smart. I did you a favor, sending her that way." She glanced at her husband who clenched his jaw tightly. "The road is straight with nothin' but fields on both sides. No place ta hide. Even if she sneaks past you and makes it to the city, it will take her days to find a ship that'll take her. You want her? Go get her."

Durn spat in the dirt. He knew his boys could take these farmers. But he also knew they were no pushovers. How many would he lose in the process. Not worth it if the girl wasn't here. "Fine then. Thank you for your assistance, Sheara." He glanced at Halrod, who stared, fuming at his wife. Good enough for him. "Lets go, boys." As the gang turned and thundered down the road. Durn smiled, wondering which one would be sleeping in the barn tonight.

Sheara finally turned and met Halrod's gaze as the sheriff's party disappeared over the next hill. They glared at each other for a moment before she spoke. "You're a better actor than I woulda thought, Oaf."

"Helps in keepin' you happy, Shrew." Halrod replied. The glare lasted another second before their demeanor broke and they relaxed into relieved grins, releasing held breaths. Together they turned and went into the house.

Inside, they went to the kitchen and to either side of the table. Together, the lifted the table, along with the section of floor it was attached to, revealing a compartment underneath. It was not large, but there was plenty of room for the four occupants it concealed, especially since three were so small.

"Are the bad men gone, Papa?" Seven year old Ginny was already clambering from the cavity before here question was answered.

"Yes. Your mother frowned and scared them away for now." Halrod reached one arm down and hoisted nine year old Lara upwards with ease. "I think one of them might have wet himself." The girls giggled and Sheara demonstrated the aforementioned expression.

Last out was Burt, five years old and clinging to the back of a tall girl of perhaps twenty. She was slender with delicate features and long blond hair similar in color to her uncle. The girl wore a simple blouse, a calf length skirt, and sturdy leather shoes She set Burt down on the kitchen floor and gracefully levered herself out of her hiding place. "Were they here for me?" she asked.

Halrod slowly raised his eyes to meet hers. "They were. Your aunt is right. You can't stay here. It isn't... safe." He dropped his gaze to the floor.

"But... why?" The girl did what she could to keep her voice steady. "What do they want?"

"Mostly, I think, to sully your mother's memory." replied Sheara with her trademark frown. "But men like that don't need an excuse to do awful things." She heaved a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, Terra. Your mother was my friend long before she was my sister. I would do anything I was able to help you but..." Her eyes flicked from Terra down to Burt, at her side. "I can't just go adventuring any more. I can't protect you all."

Terra had followed her aunt's eyes. "I... understand." She knelt to retrieve the two bags containing the belonging she'd managed to recover from her former home and her traveling cloak. "Where should I go? What should I do?"

"South." Halrod replied. "Take the river road." He went to the oven and reached behind it, pulling out a small pouch that jingled as it moved. "There is an inn across the bridge. If you leave now, you'll make it just after dark. Take this. If we could spare more..." He glared at the floor. shame written large on his face.

"Out the back then." Sheara said, as Terra took the pouch and wrapped her arms around her uncle. She stepped forward and hugged her niece tightly. "Stay to the fields and off the road until you cross the county line. You'll be fine. Your mother raised you well."

Terra released her aunt and looked over the people in the room. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but though better of it. Instead she turned, slipped out the door and was gone.

Now

A sturdy cabin materialized seemingly out of nothing. Sarah ran through the pouring rain to the door, slipping inside and slamming the portal shut behind her. She took her dripping cloak from her shoulders, revealing her relatively dry traveling clothes underneath, along with the tiny, green figure clinging to them.

"It never rained that hard in the forest!" exclaimed Jix. "I doubt I could have even flown in that!" She released Sarah's clothes and took flight, diaphanous wing beating rapidly. Her trajectory appeared to be toward one of the four sets of bunk beds that was included with the 'secure shelter' spell her companion had cast. She only made it about a foot, however, before the tether that more often that not, bound her to the mage, stopped her. "Really?" Jix said with an ill concealed grin. "Could you let some out, please?"

"I'm sure it did rain this hard in the forest." replied Sarah. "The trees just blocked some of it." She hung her sopping cloak up on a peg by the door and bent to remove her muddy boots. "Let some of what out?" She asked innocently.

"The leash." Jix answered

"Who's leash?" Sarah grinned impishly as she set her boots aside, and used a cantrip to clean the floor.

"Our leash!" returned Jix. "You're just as stuck by it as I am." Jix could feel Sarah's playful mood though the spell-bond. The human had come a long way since the spell was first cast. She was still more comfortable with Jix alone than with other sentient beings. There was still fear, and the occasional nightmare, but the improvement was marked.

"What's your freedom worth to you?" asked Sarah. They knew from experimentation that the tether could be made long enough to give them independent run of the cabin. "Once I loosen the leash, you have all the power. What's in it for me?"

Jix rolled her eyes, grin still fixed in place. "Fine, human. What's the game tonight? Do you want to put away all my clothes away and leave me naked? Force me to pleasure you? Cast that spell on me that makes me do what you say all night?" She felt a surge through their empathic link at the last suggestion. "Ugh. Me and my big mouth."

Sarah laughed. "Maybe a 'suggestion' that you grab your impressive boobs and don't let go. That will have to wait though." She walked further into the cabin, noticeably unimpeded, suggesting the tether had been loosened. "I want to work on enchanting that haversack for a little while. And we should start a fire and get something to eat."

"Very well." sighed Jix. I could use a little exercise anyway, after being stuck so close to you all day. Maybe twice through basic form."

"Don't wear yourself out too much." Warned Sarah. "I don't want you falling asleep with me tied down again."

"Oh heavens."The atomie snickered. "We certainly wouldn't want that. You sleep chained up anyway, mostly."

""I do." agreed Sarah. "After I've prepared for it. I really had to go. And it was chilly without a blanket."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Jix, retrieving her sword. "Maybe three times through the form, just to make sure I'm good and tired. I do love it when you squirm." She then zipped away to the far side of the cabin as Sarah stuck out her tongue at the fey's retreating back.

As the pair went about their business, the weather outside intensified. They could not see any lightning in the tightly closed cabin, but thunder shook the small structure repeatedly and the rain pounded down harder than ever. Sarah went about lighting a fire in the magically provided fireplace, leaving the 'unseen servant' that also was provided by the spell to tend it. The sale of enchanted goods Sarah made kept them supplied with gold so she spent some time each day doing so. They spent and hour or so at their own pursuits before Jix returned to her companion.

"So I was thinking." Said Jix as she lit upon the desk Sarah was working at.

"Oh?" Sarah inclined her head and quirked an eyebrow at Jix.

"Yeah, so you want to tell me to grab my boobs so I'll get stuck like that tonight." Jix preformed the action, grabbing her chest and pulling her loose fitting top tight across it. "Like this. But if I do that, it blocks your view. So I thought maybe my butt." She released her hands and slapped them on the seat of her tight fitting leggings. "But you like looking at that too. So what about like this?" She moved her hands to her hips just above the top of her leggings. Then she did a slow pirouette, turning her back to Sarah and throwing a glance over her shoulder.

This was a show for her, Sarah was certain. Jix had become a little addicted to feeling Sarah's positive emotions through the spell and was learning just which buttons to push. Not that Sarah was complaining. She opened her mouth to reply, something about needing to see the pose with out clothes to get a good picture when a resounding ping echoed through her mind.

Jix could feel the panic just before it washed over her companion's face and immediately took flight toward where she left her sword. "What is it?" she asked, her playful demeanor gone.

"The shelter's alarm, in front!" Sarah hissed, scrambling for her bag. "Something's out there!" She pulled out a wand and spun to face the door with it at the ready. "In this weather, it can't be..." Before she finished something collided with the door and began pounding on it.

"Please!" came a stricken cry from beyond. "Please! Help me! I'm lost! I'm wet and so cold! Please let me in!"

Jix, sword in hand, turned toward Sarah. She could feel the Mage's anxiety. "It might be a trick but... we can't leave some one out there who needs help. Not in this weather."

Fear of whatever was on the far side of the door flooded through Sarah, but the fey was right. If she abandoned someone in need, she'd be no better than the people she was so afraid of. "N-no we c-can't." she took a steadying breath and offered a weak smile to Jix. "Looks like no sleep for me tonight." She moved toward the portal, taking up a position in front of it, aiming her wand. "Ho-hold on!" Sarah yelled. "Are you... alone?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm alone!" came the rather emotional reply reply. "Please don't leave me out here!"

"We're going to open the door." called Sarah. She cast a glance to Jix, who nodded and moved and hovered along side the door. Once she was ready, Sarah had the 'unseen servant' abandon is post at the fire and move to open the door. At Sarah's command, the 'arcane lock' sealing the passage loosened briefly and the door swung open, permitting a gust of cold wind and a sodden figure to tumble into the small cabin. A large, dark cloak covered the shape completely but the wet cloth clung to a slim, humanoid frame and the voice is seemed to use was that of a somewhat relived female.

"Oh gods! Gods thank you! I thought- I thought I would die out there. In this storm!" The presumed girl sank back onto her haunches, supporting herself with her arms. "It was so cold and wet and dark. I couldn't see anything until lightning flashed and I saw you house..."

Jix exchanged a glance with Sarah as the human moved to help the servant close the door against the howling wind. "Who are you?" The fey asked flitting around to what she assumed was the front side of their guest. "What are you doing out on a night like this?"

"My name is Terra." The girl replied. "Terra Blackshield; my mother's name." She sat back, reaching up to peel her hood back as she did so, revealing blonde locks plastered to her head. "I'm out because i have nowhere to go. I was chased from my home by..." Terra looked up to Jix and blinked. She wiped at her eyes and blinked again. "Are you... a fairy?"

"I..." As she replied, Jix felt a jolt of amusement from Sarah and sagged in the air. "Close enough." She sighed. "My name is Jixia Bramblehome and this is my companion, Sarah Wright. Now that introductions have been made, maybe we can get you warm and something to eat. Are you hungry?"

The grateful expression that spread across Terra's face was all the answer required.

All of Terra's belongings were drenched. Soon the girl sat by the fire with only a blanket from one of the bunks wrapped around her while her worldly possessions hung out to dry around the hearth though she did keep one heavy satchel close to her. Sarah busied her self cleaning up the puddles from Terra's dynamic entry, leaving Jix to play hostess. "So this law man chased you from your home?" She asked as Terra devoured the remainder of the two pheasants Jix had killed the previous day. "What did he want with you?"

"He wasn't... I mean he didn't..." Terra stammered before recovering. "My mother was the sheriff before him. My aunt thinks her killed her to take her job, but we have no proof. I don't know what he wanted me for, but my aunt said... it would be bad."

"I see." replied Jix. "I weep for your loss." She watched as the girl practically inhaled the leftover meat. Fortunately Sarah had used magic to strip it from the bone or the skeleton might have been eaten whole. "When was the last time you ate?"

"A d-day. Maybe two." Terra flushed, embarrassed. "My uncle gave me some money, but I used the last of it a week ago. One inn let me work for some food and sleep in the barn, but wouldn't let me stay. I've been sleeping outside since then."

"And then this storm." said Jix. "We were lucky. Sarah got the cabin up just as the rain started."

"Got the... cabin... up?"

"Sarah is a mage." said Jix. "She made this cabin with magic. It will disappear tomorrow. Hopefully the rain stops by then. I can't even fly in weather like this."

"So you are travelers?" said Terra. "I thought this was your home."

"My home was destroyed." Jix stated flatly. "Some evil humans summoned demons to my forest. Then some 'good' humans came and burned it down."

"Oh. I'm sorry." said Terra.

"That's how I met Sarah." Jix went on. "I was fighting a demon and it knocked me out. She found me and took me from the forest before it burned." Jix expression darkened. "Then the 'good' humans arrested us and tortured us for a while before deciding we weren't bad."

"'Good' humans? Arrested you?" Terra was a little taken aback by Jix mood shift.

"Some church or other. They thought Sarah summoned the demons, or helped to. And since I was with her..." Jix shrugged. "They treated us poorly for the most part. Sarah still doesn't like people."

"She doesn't like... people?" Terra glanced at the mage who, while she kept her back to the proceedings was still within earshot.

"They make me... uneasy." Sarah added quietly without turning around.

"So we mostly camp." said Jix. "We have this shelter. We're good hunters. Well, I'm a good hunter, and Sarah can shoot magic so we do all right."

"The meat was delicious." replied Terra, casting a glance at Sarah as she worked. "Where are you traveling to?"

"We're going south." said Jix. "Sarah tells me but I can't remember human places."

"Andoran." Sarah supplied quietly.

"Yes, that." said Jix. "She showed me on a map once. It's near the big water. But it looks like there's forests there too, so it should be nice. Where are you going?"

"I... don't know." said the girl. tearing her eyes away from the Mage. "Aunt Sheara told me to go and I did. There was never really a plan. Right now, I'm just looking for a place to stop for a while." She turned back to Sarah. "Do I make you uncomfortable?"

Sarah flinched (a telling reply in and of itself) before glancing over her shoulder. "Yes." she said. "Don't take it personally."

Jix almost tried for their guest's attention again, but stopped herself. Sarah was uncomfortable, but she did not feel the stark terror that human interaction in the past had caused. Perhaps it was because they were together. Perhaps it was because they'd rescued this girl. Perhaps it was because she was unarmed and nearly naked. Either way, while it might not be pleasant, this might be good for her companion. Just in case, though, Jix kept at the end of their tether, lest it get any shorter.

"Why did you let me in, then?" pressed Terra. "I mean I'm grateful you did, but..."

"I would be a hypocrite if I didn't." replied Sarah, still not turning to face the girl. "If I didn't help someone in need, I'd be... just as bad as I think everyone else is. My mind knows that not everybody is like that. You're probably not like that. But I can't bring myself to believe it." She turned her face back toward the 'unseen servant' dutifully soaking up the puddle on the floor with several blankets.

"I'm sorry." said Terra. "Will you be all right with me here?" She glanced nervously toward the window. Though shuttered, the storm was still making it's presence known.

"I'll make do." said Sarah. "I probably won't sleep very well, but I'll be fine." She must have realized what was on the girl's mind, adding, "We won't make you go back out in this."

"Thank you." Terra sighed audibly with relief. "I'm sorry though. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. Is there any..?" Her eyes dropped to the bag by her feet and lit up. "What if I was locked up? Like to one of the beds? I have some shackles that fit me!"

"I suppose that might..." Sarah began before the words caught up the her. "Wait, what?" She finally turned to look at Terra, also seeing Jix's confused expression. "You have what!?"

"Shackles." Terra replied with a bright grin. She stood, scooping the satchel by her feet up as she did. "A pair for my hands and a bigger pair for my feet." She went to the lower of one of the four bunk beds. There she set the still sodden bag on the floor and opened it. Inside was a tightly wrapped oil cloth, which theoretically might keep it's contents dry. Unwrapping this, The girl produced two pair of gleaming, mostly dry, metal restraints. One set was smaller with perhaps an eight inch chain; presumably for her wrists. The other set was larger, with a roughly eighteen inch chain. It was these that Terra grabbed and started weaving the chain through the footboard.