Tender Mercies

The creature in question turned to the others and grunted out something to them that she couldn't hear. Then all eight of them charged across the stream towards her. She tried to get to her feet and run, but she tripped on the robe and heard it tear as she fell to the ground. Struggling again, she made it to her feet as the creature grabbed a hold of her robe from behind. She opened her mouth to scream but was stopped short when it's hand closed over her mouth.

Grabbing each of the orcs hands, she pivoted so that the orc flew over her shoulder and slammed into the ground. Another one grabbed her before she could do anything else to it though. Refusing to give in to her panic, she stabbed her heel into the orcs instep. It howled in pain, then had the breath knocked from it's lungs as her elbow hit it in the abdomen. It released her and hopped back. Taking her chance, she again tried to run. The first orc on the ground grabbed her leg on her way past though, tripping her. The others then surrounded her.

The orcs spun her about and began grunting quickly to each other. Alesha was still able to understand what they were saying because of the magic of the robe, and she wished that she hadn't been able to do so. One held her while another pulled out an evil looking dagger and used it to cut her robe free from her. Twice in one day, Alesha found herself stark naked in front of strangers.

She was crushed against the ground and held under the rotting breath of one of the orcs while it worked at its breeches. In a few short seconds to terrifying to remember, She felt the orc grunt in victory and she felt it's hard member press against her. She fought and twisted against it, but her strength was no match for the brutal rapist. She shrieked in agony when the orcs manhood violated her, tearing her maidenhood in a vicious thrust.

Her will was broken, she lay limp under the orc as it rutted against her, sliding faster as it lubricated itself in her blood and juices. The pain and the shame seemed somehow distant to her, and her mind floated in a haze. Dimly she realized that the orc no longer held its hand over her mouth, and that her shriek might bring help. She nearly chuckled at the thought of help, and realized it did not matter to her.

Her attention focused as the orc raping her grunted again and thrust into her even harder, then filled her with its evil seed. The warmth inside of her was a counter-point to the cold feeling that grew in the pit of her stomach. She looked at the orc as it climbed off of her and vowed then and there that it would pay for what it had done to her.

Another orc took it's place as soon as it was off of her, and she laid there helpless, thinking that perhaps if she let them have their way with her they would let her live so she could exact her vengeance. The orc groped at her breasts, squeezing, pinching, and scratching them while it used its cock to batter away at her wounded sex. After a few excited thrusts, it found the entrance it sought and plunged deeply into her, sending shocks of agony anew into her.

In no time she felt another warm splash of liquid. The body on top of her stopped moving and collapsed on her, crushing her under its weight. She realized that it did not get up from her, and after a few more seconds of coherent thought she further realized that the liquid had splashed across her face, throat, and chest, as well as inside of her. She brought her now free hands up to touch the liquid. Looking at, she realized it was the orcs blood.

She grabbed the orc and rolled it off of her, gritting her teeth as it pulled free of her. Once the orc was off she saw that six of the eight orcs lay dead or dying. Another soon joined them and the remaining orc had started to run away. Kelnozz pulled a dagger from his belt and threw it, ending the orcs flight in a grunt followed by the crash of it falling into some bushes.

The elf walked up to the wounded orc and pulled his dagger free from its hamstring. The orc turned to see him, then tried desperately to crawl away from him. Kelnozz raised a sword and prepared to end the wretched creatures life.

"Wait!"

Kelnozz and the orc both looked back to Alesha, who had risen from the ground and now walked towards them. A look of determination was on her face, and combined with the blood on her upper torso and surrounding her lost virginity, she looked to be an angel of doom.

"Stake him to the ground," She demanded, towering over the orc.

"Got any rope?" Kelnozz asked, keeping the orc from moving by placing a foot upon it's chest and keeping his sword at it's throat.

Alesha turned to the slain orcs and glanced them over. She saw a couple of them carried a length of dirty and torn rope. Moving quickly, she pulled the rope free from their corpses and returned to Kelnozz.

"You want them tied up, you do it."

She nodded, strangely silent, but then sank to her knees beside the orc and began tying it up. After a few minutes she was finished and the orc had it's arms secured behind it's back and each leg tied to a tree, spreading them wide. Kelnozz put his sword away and sat down on a nearby rock to watch.

"What are you going to do?" He asked curiously.

"This is the one that raped me first," she explained, as if that was enough.

Kelnozz nodded, figuring she wanted to slowly kill it. He was concerned when he saw her pull the orcs breeches back down. His concern changed forms when she grabbed a fist sized rock in her hand and raised it above her head. The orc's mouth opened in a silent scream as her hand descended and crushed it's testicles. With a mixture of amusement and pity, Kelnozz saw the orc pass out from the incredible pain that Alesha had inflicted on it.

She stepped back and glared at the orc for a while, still no emotion evident on her face. She moved to the stream and, cupping her hands, brought some of the cool water over to the orc and splashed it on it's face. The orc awoke sputtering, then immediately grimaced in pain and began breathing heavily.

"Give me one of your knives," Alesha said to Kelnozz, still staring at the orc.

Kelnozz frowned. Instead he hopped off the rock and picked up a discarded short sword one of the orcs had carried. He handed that to her instead.

"Good idea, this is dull and rusty," She observed, examining the weapon as though she knew what she was looking at.

Kelnozz bit back his chuckle and watched as she again knelt down by the orc. She took his flaccid member and placed it on the ground between his legs. Touching his ruined sack caused him to whimper in pain. With one hand holding his penis to the ground, the other brought the tip of the short sword to rest on the base of the orcs manhood. Slowly, she pushed, making the orc scream in agony at first, then once it was mostly severed, it again passed out from the pain. Seeing her sport done, she finished the dismembering quickly and left it there on the orcs chest.

Alesha returned to the stream and did her water trick again to the orc to force it awake. When it came to its senses this time its eyes were watering in pain and it moaned constantly. She slapped it hard across the face to get its attention then spoke to it in it's own language.

"I hope you die, asshole! But maybe I'll get lucky and you'll live. You'll never do to anyone what you did to me though, and you'll live forever in pain and ashamed. It won't make it up to me, but it helps."

Kelnozz was surprised by her. He kept his chuckle to himself that time too though. Alesha used the short sword again to sever the ropes that bound the orc. As soon as it was free, it cupped it's hands to it's ruined groin, then howled in agony again at the pain the contact with it's swelling genitals caused. It stumbled to it's feet and in a crouch, tried to run away from them.

"Teach me how to use this," Alesha said after a few moments of silence.

"You want to be a warrior?" Kelnozz asked checking the bodies of the orcs for any coins or other valuables.

"I thought that the self defense class I had taken was enough to keep myself safe. But it wasn't. I've nothing left now. I want to get some of it back!" She looked at Kelnozz and saw him looking back at her.

"Tell me everything of this world. This isn't a dream, and if I can't go back, I'm going to succeed here," She explained to his questioning look. "I was a 22 year old little girl earlier tonight. I'm different now. Things that used to matter to me don't now. Going to college or becoming a doctor doesn't matter to me anymore, since I'm stuck here. I suppose I should be thankful to be alive, since my hair dryer falling in the tub would have killed me, but I want more then to be alive. I want revenge. My life was ruined, everything I wanted and hoped for is gone. Somebody or something is going to pay for that."

She was talking more to herself then she was to him, but Kelnozz listened raptly. Much of what she said made no sense to him, but he had encountered beings from other planes of existence before, so he was not bothered by it.

"Clean yourself in the stream, then we'll head back to the camp."

She nodded and walked back into the stream. Finding a deep pool, she knelt down and was able to fully immerse herself. Coming back up, she worked her hands through her hair and over her skin rapidly, trying to scrub the blood and grime and other filth from it. After furiously scrubbing until her skin was raw, she finally gave up and came ashore. Her manner seemed to have softened, and she looked as though she had been crying. Kelnozz politely ignored her puffy red eyes as she stood before him.

"I'm ready."

"Do you want to steal some of the clothes from the orcs?" He asked her gently.

"No, I'll get something else from that tower."

Her voice seemed drained and empty. Kelnozz nodded, realizing she had endured a lot better then many would have. He led her slowly back through the forest to the camp. As they grew closer, they saw a flickering light ahead. They realized it was a fire. A very large fire. At that realization they began to run. Leaving the edge of the forest they saw the wizards tower engulfed in flames. Alone between them, a figure was silhouetted by the firelight. It turned when it heard them and their fears were put aside as they saw it was Nordan.

"What happened?" Kelnozz asked.

"Went in the tower to search for some gold, took the sword that demon snake bitch dropped before we slew her, then I started going through the wizards stuff. I grabbed a couple of books and saw a ruby fall from the ceiling."

Kelnozz brightened, hoping some of the books had been saved.

"Remember that mage we fought back in those mountains near Land's End? I thought it might be the same kinda thing, so I got the hell out of there. Got lucky, no sooner then I left the door it blew up. The fire is from that," Nordan explained.

"And the books?" Kelnozz asked.

Nordan nodded to a bag filled with the tomes on the ground nearby. He noticed Alesha was naked again, and that brought a smile to his face.

"What were you two doing?" He grinned lecherously.

"She found a group of orcs before I found her," Kelnozz said, glaring at Nordan to shut him up. "Oh." Nordan said, catching Kelnozz's look and not pressing the matter.

"What am I going to wear?!" Alesha asked, realizing that her stolen wardrobe of wizard robes had just gone up in smoke.

"Nothing," Nordan said, grinning again.

"Don't be so worried, feel how warm it is? It's cool right now, normally it is warmer here. Many people go nude in part or in full here. Not much protection in a fight, but someone like you could use that to her advantage," Kelnozz explained.

"What do you mean?" She asked, not catching on.

"You're a beautiful woman, one of the best I have ever seen," He said to her, heading back towards the campfire. "And now that you're not trying to hide yourself from us, you're acting much like the people here do."

Alesha blushed and self consciously moved to cover herself. She realized it was useless and gave it up, but now that she was fully aware of it again she was again self conscious. "Thank you, I think. But um, I mean... Well, you guys have seen me a couple of times now, and you've helped me, but won't complete strangers try to do what those pig-men did to me?"

"Those were orcs," Kelnozz offered.

"Oh, some of them might try," Nordan said casually. "If you let them."

Alesha looked at the hulking barbarian and nodded after a moment to show she understood. "Well then, I guess for now this is my outfit. Until I get money and new clothes, that is."

They retrieved the bag and returned to their campfire to eat the now cold rabbits. Kelnozz rifled through the contents of the bag and pulled out the weapon that Nordan had mentioned. It was a very finely crafted katana with runes etched along the back edge of the blade.

"Here, this will work much better then that orc sticker you have," Kelnozz handed the sword to Alesha. "And you can sell that other sword and have some money for food or clothing."

She took the weapon and was surprised at how light it felt in her hands. Prior to that night she'd never held a weapon of such sorts in her hands before, yet this one seemed to fit in her palm very nicely. It was even warm to the touch. She recognized the design of it a moment later from several bad movies she had seen in her life.

"This is a katana!"

Nordan grunted and Kelnozz looked at her curiously, wondering why that excited her.

"No, I mean, this is a katana! Something from my world... are there Japanese people here too?"

"Japa-what?" Nordan asked, tossing the bones of his dinner in the fire pit.

"Don't think so," Kelnozz said, equally at a loss to explain what a Japanese was. "Katanas are used primarily by the elves, both light and dark. The demon probably got it from a light elf as repayment for some favor it needed."

"Oh," She said, disappointed.

"Hey, I don't have that robe on and we can still understand each other!" She exclaimed, excited. "And I was able to talk to that orc after I'd lost my robe too!"

Nordan looked at Kelnozz and saw he was only half listening. "Maybe the magic from the robe was permanent," He offered, not being sure.

Thinking about it, Alesha lay back on the ground and stared into the beautiful night sky. A night sky filled with strange constellations. Tears again filled her eyes as she drifted off to sleep.

Kelnozz continued to examine the books in the bag, being careful not to try and open them if they seemed magically guarded. At long last he sighed contentedly and placed them all back in the sack.

He looked around and saw both his companions asleep and most of the night gone. Figuring sleep a lost cause at that point, he remained awake and on watch, paying close attention to watch Alesha. He knew she would have to learn much by the time they made it back to Sanctuary or she would be in trouble as bad as what the orcs had done to her. Or worse. Nudity was common, but beauty such as hers was nearly unheard of.

A few hours later Nordan snorted and woke up. Letting loose a belch, he nodded to Kelnozz then rose up and walked a few paces away from the dead fire pit. Dropping his breeches, he began to relieve himself.

"Oh God, I didn't need to wake up to that!" Alesha swore quietly, staring straight at Nordan from an angle that allowed her to see him quite clearly.

Nordan looked at her and winked lewdly, which drew a grimace from her. Kelnozz chuckled and rose up to begin readying their gear for travel.

"OW!" Alesha almost screamed as she tried to stand up.

"What's wrong?" Nordan asked, returning to pick up his pack.

"Damn I'm sore!" She cursed, cupping her hands over her belly protectively.

"Can you walk?" Kelnozz asked, helping her to her feet.

"I think so," she said after taking a few steps and trying to stretch out a little bit. "But not to fast please!"

They nodded and finished gathering their gear in preparation for heading back to Sanctuary.

"What am I going to do with these?" Alesha had picked up both the katana and the short sword.

"Carry them," Kelnozz said, hiding his amusement at her discomfort.

Her mouth hung open for a moment as she digested that, then finally she snapped it shut, realizing that being pretty would get her nothing in this world. Her parents had been wealthy enough and their station high enough that she'd never had to do much in the way of work, other then keeping herself in shape, and now she discovered that she was about to get a hard lesson in humility.

They set off soon thereafter, setting what felt to Alesha to be a pace meant to drive her into the ground. By the ease with which Kelnozz and Nordan walked she could tell they were used to going faster. Gritting her teeth against the pain in her loins and her feet, she vowed that her first purchase would be a pair of shoes.

"If we cover enough ground, I'll start showing you how to use that blade when we camp tonight," Kelnozz offered to her in what he hoped would be encouragement.

"If I'm still alive," she muttered back to him, but forced a smile of thanks on her face anyhow.

"Tell me of religion here," Alesha said, trying to get her mind off her discomfort.

Nordan chuckled and quickened his pace to scout ahead while Kelnozz was left with the task of educating the girl on the workings of Viconia. Inwardly he groaned, it was going to be a very long day.

Chapter 3

Under the calm surface of the Swiftwater Sea a school of fish swam lazily, sunning themselves. Smelling danger in the waters, they came to attention and dived for the safety of the depths. To late to do any good, a shark passed through the waters they had inhabited merely seconds before. Undaunted, it swam on in search of new prey.

A few minutes later the shark caught the scent of blood in the water. Growing hungrier, it knifed quickly through the water. It was to be rewarded as well. Few other predators swam through the waters yet, allowing it to pick the tastiest of the morsels. Seeing one form still thrashing on the surface, the shark circled it once then darted in towards it and sank it's teeth into the morsel. More a snack to the great shark then anything else, it gulped the dying seaman into it's gullet nearly whole.

"Sharks down there," A sailor called out amidst the fury of battle.

"Feeding time!" Nordan said with a grin. The pirate he battled turned to flee from the insane barbarian. Not quick enough, he felt himself picked up from behind by Nordan and, with a heave, found himself flying. The flight was short lived, for soon he was swimming. Panicking, he floundered in the water trying to stay afloat. Unable to swim, his desperate gasps brought as much water as air into his lungs. He was saved a death by drowning when another shark came upon the scene, it's razor sharp teeth biting him cleanly in half.

Elsewhere on the grappled ships, the fighting was equally fierce. The lines grappling the ships together had been severed, allowing them to begin to float apart. Many pirates had already crossed over, however. Nordan had leapt atop the pirate ship to take the fight to them, leaving him hard pressed amongst the remaining pirates. Kelnozz would have joined him, had he not been concerned for Alesha in her first large battle. She stayed back trying to remain hidden behind the defenders on the forecastle of the merchant ship. Kelnozz kept an eye on her while easily dispatching anyone that came too close to him. Still, the chaos of battle occasionally saw her putting her newly earned skills to use.

"You're a pretty one!" A pirate snarled at her, admiring her body as he slipped through a break in the defenders. Kelnozz saw him out of the corner of his eye, but he was hard pressed against three of the attackers himself.

Since arriving in this strange world nearly a month past, Alesha had come to terms with never seeing her family or friends again. She had accepted being ravaged by orcs, though she still had nightmares of it at times. She had even grown accustomed to the majority of the strange beings that inhabited Viconia, though she had been told she had seen only a fraction of them all. Having frequented topless beaches where she came from, she was even able to deal with how little thought or concern people there gave clothing. She had to admit that it was hot enough most of the time that her own outfit was more a blessing then anything else. But what she could not get used to was the lust filled looks she was given because of how she looked. She did, however, learn to use it to her advantage early on.