Tender Mercies

The pirate advanced on her, noting her drawn katana but not paying it to much concern since she didn't hold it in a very threatening way. His eyes kept being drawn to her naked upper torso, however, quite fascinated by her large and well rounded breasts. Alesha thrust her chest forward, waiting for her attacker to make his move.

He stumbled forward, lowering his own sword momentarily. She struck then, her katana slicing up and across. The pirate laughed at how easily she was fooled into thinking him distracted. He batted aside her sword and leapt into her with his body. She could do no good with her katana in such close quarters, but his cutlass was designed for it.

Alesha still had one weapon, her body. Always a strong believer in a woman's right to defend herself, she had trained early in life in such maneuvers. Not as addled this time as she had been against the orcs, she was ready to defend herself properly. She dropped her useless sword when he held his cutlass against her naked belly.

"What 'ave we here?" He spit out, grinning lecherously and sliding the tip of his cutlass upwards from her belly towards her cleavage.

Kelnozz finished off the last of his attackers as Alesha was being threatened by the pirate. He turned to help her but was beset by yet another pirate, keeping him away. He fought furiously, leaving the pirate at first stunned by the display of swordsmanship, then disarmed. With a kick to the pirate's chest, he stumbled off the foredeck they were standing on and fell to the main deck of the ship, quickly lost in the milling bodies that fought for advantage.

Spinning about again, he saw Alesha's foot raise up and her heel connect with the pirate's chin. He stumbled backwards, dropping his scimitar so that he could raise both of his hands to his battered jaw. He spit something out at her and charged towards her, blood running out of his mouth.

Before Kelnozz could get there to save her, he discovered she hardly needed saving. She grabbed his hands as he rushed her and fell to her back on the deck. Her foot in his stomach, she launched the pirate directly into the railing. His head cracked into the solid beam, but it held. Uncertain as to his fate, She leapt to her feet and stood over him. Knocked senseless, the pirate stared up at the beautiful woman that wore only a loin cloth and weapons belt.

"Am I dead?" He mumbled, thinking this an angel sent to fetch him.

"You'll get to that in a minute," She said, grabbing onto his arms and pulling him up to hang over the railing.

The pirate realized she was about to dump him overboard and he screamed. Then he screamed again at the pain in his jaw. He fought against her, trying to kick back. Alesha chanced letting him go for a moment and drove both her hands into the man's spine, dislocating it badly and making him stiffen in pain. He screamed again as the water then rushed up to meet him, as well as the waiting jaws below.

"Well done," Kelnozz said, offering Alesha her dropped weapon. "Next time try using the sword, it works better."

Alesha blushed and took the blade back. "Thanks," she mumbled.

Kelnozz grinned and opened his mouth to say something when Alesha's eyes focused on something behind him. He began to turn about when a giant hand clasped over his shoulder. Another hand grabbed his thigh and before he could do anything, he was lifted bodily into the air. Looking down he saw a giant of a man holding him above his head.

"Put away your sword, little girl, or the elf goes for a swim!" He demanded, a playful tone in his voice.

Alesha hesitated a moment then reluctantly knelt down and put her sword on the deck. The large pirates grin disappeared when she lunged forward though, driving her palm into his groin. The pirates eyes crossed and he collapsed to his knees with a mighty, "Oof!". Kelnozz fell to the deck himself, rolling away from the pirate.

He rose to his feet with a sword in each hand, but stopped to see that Alesha had kicked the man again, stunning him with a heel to the forehead. He teetered back and forth, his eyes fighting to refocus. She retrieved her katana again and prepared to take her first life with it. She hesitated, and in that moment he regained enough of his wits to roll clear of her and regain his feet. He drew a mighty two handed sword and grinned at her again.

"Good fight, wench! I can't wait to make you nurse my injuries later!"

Alesha blanched while Kelnozz snarled and leapt in at him. With his great sword he parried both of Kelnozz blades and his strength set the elf's hands to ringing. Before Kelnozz could recover he had advanced on Alesha. She held the sword in front of her in a defensive posture Kelnozz had taught her.

Ere any of them could make another move, a shadow fell across them then passed away. Surprised, they glanced at what could have made it and saw a giant tentacle had emerged from the water and towered above them. Five other tentacles wrapped around the pirate ship and were squeezing the life out of it. The sound of rending wood proved what would be it's eventual fate.

"Kraken!" Cried out across the deck. Men on the doomed ship leapt off, wishing to face the merchant defenders or the sharks instead of the kraken. Then the ship was torn asunder, parted in half at the middle.

The three of them watched in horror as both halves of the ship began sinking rapidly in the water. The krakens tentacles disappeared momentarily, but then reappeared around the sides of the merchant ship. Alesha screamed then, causing both Kelnozz and the pirate to turn to look at her. One of the tentacles had wrapped itself around her and was raising her up to claim her as a snack.

"I wasn't done with her yet!" The pirate said, running towards her and brandishing his great sword. Less then a step behind Kelnozz also ran toward her.

Side by side, Kelnozz's swords and the pirates hacked at the rubbery tentacle. The tentacle shuddered and released Alesha, quickly disappearing over the side of the ship. The two men looked at each other, breathing heavily. After a moment of silent understanding, they nodded to each other and turned to Alesha.

Alesha looked at the angry red marks the suckers on the tentacle had made on her skin, but ignored them as more important things made themselves apparent. The ship rocked and swayed as the kraken attempted to dispose of it. She got back to her feet and looked at the two man towering over her. Seeing some strange sort of agreement, she paid the pirate no heed.

"What now?" She asked Kelnozz.

Kelnozz looked about, unsure of what they could do against such a mighty creature. "We fight!" He said, running towards where the nearest tentacle was grappling the ship.

The pirate and Alesha joined him, running towards it and hacking at the rubbery limb. Their blows did little damage, but with all three of them hacking at it, soon they cleaved it in half. The attached portion slid back into the water, retreating to protect itself from further injury. All over the ship men were hacking at the tentacles, but even a severed one would soon return from the depths to attach itself again, bloody and raw stump being the new end.

The creaking sounds gave way to sounds of cracking and tearing wood. A large section of railing was torn away mid-ship. Then a mast was toppled over, breaking off just above the deck.

"Abandon ship!" The captain cried out, blood gushing from a wound in his forehead.

Sailors, both merchant and pirate alike jumped overboard, feeding the growing frenzy of sharks below. "What do we do?" Alesha asked, knowing she should be afraid but somehow acting calmly in spit of it.

"Lifeboats!" The pirate called out, looking about as another section of the middle of the ship collapsed.

All three of them looked about, but none of the lifeboats that remained were in any condition to be seaworthy. "If we jump, the sharks get us. If we stay here, they still get us sooner or later, that or the kraken.

"I've heard of krakens taking prisoners," the pirate said, "the longer we live, the longer we have a chance of getting away."

Kelnozz nodded, looking about for any last minute ideas. A widening crack was appearing in the middle of the ship now. He motioned for them to follow him and he ran to the forecastle door. He opened it and motioned them inside. Securing it behind them, they ran in further and ducked into the captains cabin.

The ship shuddered and split in two, like it's companion ship earlier. Unknown to them, the kraken's ten tentacles wrapped around their half of the ship and pulled them under the water. They descended deeper and deeper, stumbling back and forth with each burst of acceleration. Water leaks sprang from the walls, ceiling, and floor. Before long the water had risen to their chests.

They heard a muffled grinding noise and felt the ship jerk beneath them more violently. The movement ceased, however, and they knew they had come to a rest.

"What do we do now?" Alesha asked, struggling to keep her head in the few remaining inches of air in the cabin.

Kelnozz was likewise treading water to breathe, and looked about nervously. "Well, if the water gets much higher, we open the door and take our chances."

The pirate was standing on a chest in the room and managed to not need to swim to breathe as he was already very tall. He grunted agreement and drew out his great sword in preparation.

"How are you going to swim with that in your hands?" Kelnozz snapped at him. The pirate muttered something under his breath but put his sword away.

"How can you tell what's going on?" Alesha asked.

Kelnozz realized her terror must be complete, she was human, she couldn't see in the dark. "I'm an elf, I can see in the dark."

Alesha remained quiet, not wanting to waist her air with words. They quietly swam in the cabin, waiting to see what happened next. The water did not continue to rise. Long, terror filled minutes past before they noticed the water had instead began to lower.

"Be ready!" Kelnozz hissed suddenly.

Alesha was about to ask him what he was talking about when she heard the noise. Someone or something was outside of the door clearing the debris so that it could be opened. In the darkness Alesha could see nothing, but by carefully feeling about she oriented herself towards the door.

Someone or something beat against the door, trying to force it open. All of the water in the room pressing against it prevented that from happening though. Soon the inhabitants could here what sounded like axes striking it. The water level in the cabin was slowly draining, but enough remained when the axes broke through hinges on the door to send it and the companions rushing out the doorway.

They bowled over 3 humanoid forms searching the wreckage on their way out. They came to rest in the hallway outside the cabin, but were coughing up water and unable to make their escape in the darkness. Grabbed by scaly hands all about them, they were bound with sodden ropes and carried away ere they could mount any resistance.

"Who are you?" Alesha asked, hugging her arms to herself for a sense of security and to hide her nudity from the strange man caged with her.

"Garet," He grunted, paying no attention to her.

"Where are we now?"

The pirate with her looked around the small room they were locked in. It was roughly 20 feet square, with a chamber pot in one corner and ledges carved out of rock on the other walls sticking a foot out. A glowing green lichen covered the walls, casting a faint ambient light about them.

"In a cage," he said gruffly, moving to examine the stone that their captors had pushed up against the doorway into their room.

"Why?" Alesha asked.

The pirate sighed and turned to her. "They're probably saving us for food! Now shut up wench and let me think!"

Alesha's eyes grew wide at his rebuke, but she kept her mouth shut. She sat back on one of the ledges and stared into space, thinking. Since she had been brought to Viconia, one bad thing after another had happened to her. First arriving naked and defenseless, then being raped by orcs. Then forced to walk nearly 50 miles in two days by the only people she could begin to call friends with no shoes or clothing. On top of that two grueling hours of practice each day with the katana she had acquired. Then a week spent in a small and dirty town filled with drunkards and ruthless cutthroats in which she was constantly on the defensive. Sure, lots of other men and women were partially or totally naked, but it didn't make her feel any better.

Her first positive feelings began when she'd managed to sell the short sword she'd gotten from the orc that had taken her virginity and buy some clothes. Not much, a pouch, boots, and a loin cloth, which offered little protection. Still, the scant modesty she appreciated. She also acquired a scabbard for her katana in that deal, but had since lost the sword and the sheath. Still, the two weeks they'd spent in the town called Sanctuary had allowed her minor wounds to heal and for Kelnozz to train her how to use the sword, as well as explaining the realities of the new world she found herself in.

Thinking of Kelnozz, she found herself wondering more and more about him. In spite of his elfin looks, she found herself attracted to him. Still, his aloofness kept him distant. Nordan, their other companion, certainly let her know time and again what he would enjoy doing with her (or to her), given the opportunity. She steered clear of him though, preferring to spend her time with Kelnozz, who seemed to bear no interest in her in that way whatsoever.

She had learned that the lack of concern over clothing and the sexual interests of Viconia resembled the ancient history of her own world, both Roman and Grecian, from what she remembered. She had seen whores of both sexes being used by both men and women, making her wonder if Kelnozz's lack of interest in her was due to his preference for boys. Not having the courage to ask, she had never said anything to him about it though.

Before having any chance to observe his behavior and find out, she had been set upon by some drunkards. Her scream had brought Kelnozz over in time to slay one and send the other running. Searching through the corpse, they learned that Alesha's attacker had been none other then the son of the ranking master of the thieves guild in the town.

Knowing their lives forfeit it they stayed, they found Nordan busy drinking his reward and caught sail within a couple of hours on a ship heading for the Northern part of Viconia. Along the way they had the misfortunate of being laid up for a few days by becalmed seas and then attacked by pirates as they took a shorter and more dangerous route to make up for the lost time.

Alesha's train of thought was dispelled when she heard her latest companion grunting with exertion. She saw him struggling to move the rock blocking them in the cave, to no success.

"What's the point?" She asked, her voice defeated. "I mean, if you open it, that will just bring more those scaly looking things in here to lock us back up or kill us!"

With a final useless push, Garet turned to face her. "I'm not going to die down here, woman! And those scaly things are called lizardmen!"

"Look," she said, raising to her foot and advancing on him menacingly. "I've been attacked again and again today, half drowned, nearly eaten, and now you want me to shut up? I've had it with this damn place, I want to go home!"

Garet looked at her and started laughing. "Aye, we'd all like to go home."

Alesha knew he did not understand what she was talking about when she said home, but it could not help her from starting to laugh too. Before anything else could be said, the rock was moved away from the door with a loud grinding noise. Two lizardmen waited outside the doorway and two entered; all of them had tridents and spears.

The two of them were led out and taken to another cave. This one had no rock in front of it, but it was under constant guard by two lizardmen. Inside of this room they found a small community of people. Mostly human, a few elves, a halflings, and a dwarf made up the group. This cave had the same lichen along the walls and ceiling that the larger underwater cavern outside had, as well as their prior cell. It had what appeared to be several rooms, however.

The lizardmen left once they were in there, allowing them to talk to the other prisoners. The others were dressed in varying states, though mostly they wore less then even Alesha did. Of both genders, they had the pale and hopeless look of people that had been kept prisoner for a long time.

"New victims," A man said, grinning madly. "Welcome to our humble home."

"Where are we?" Garet asked, surprising Alesha.

"Who knows?" He cackled, then beginning to laugh insanely.

"Somewhere under the Swiftwater Sea," One of the tired looking elves said. "In the lair of the kraken."

"What are we doing here?" Alesha asked slowly. "Are we... food?"

"Maybe," The elf said, staring off out the doorway into nothingness.

"They keep us here to work and to breed. Sometimes they come and take some of us away and they don't come back." They saw that the speaker this time was a middle aged woman that was nursing an infant. Even the babe seemed depressed and indifferent to it's surroundings.

"Ha! You made it!"

Alesha looked up to see Nordan stride powerfully into the room from one of the other caves theirs connected to. "I thought you dead!" Alesha cried, comforted to see him and throwing her arms around him gratefully.

"Bah, not so easy to kill me," He said, surprised at her affection but smart enough to enjoy it while he could. "I clung to the other ship as it sank, finding an air pocket and riding it out. Didn't realize that giant squid had a hold of it 'til it was to late!"

"Is Kelnozz here too?" She asked, looking about again.

"I thought him with you," Nordan responded, losing some of his good humor at the prospect of another fallen companion.

"He was in the ship that sank with us, but it was dark and I couldn't see him, then the lizardmen captured us and I didn't hear from him anymore either."

Nordan grunted, cheering up a little. "That elf has a way of getting himself lost at times, I'm sure he'll show up. Now who's this?"

Alesha turned to Garet and said, "He's one of the pirates, name is Garet, looks to be a relative of yours from his size!"

Indeed, Garet looked, if anything, larger then Nordan. Like the barbarian, Garet was obviously also from the same genetic pool. They eyed each other warily for a few minutes before Nordan offered his hand and said, "We are enemies no longer, will you call me brother?"

Garet remained uncertain for a moment before offering Nordan his own hand and saying, "Aye, Garet of Clan Laughingwolf be my name."

"Nordan of Clan Helmsmasher."

And like that, the two of them were fast companions. Alesha wondered at how they could do that, but had to admit the circumstances were hardly ordinary and teamwork seemed their only hope.

The three of them prowled around the cave complex looking for any means of escape. Other then the depressed prisoners, they found nothing. As time passed, they began to realize that they were getting depressed as well.

"What do you eat and drink?" Alesha asked one of the prisoners.

"What they bring us...either fish or some of the mushrooms and seaweed that they make us farm. There's an underground river in another cave that we get water from twice a day." He responded, stretching himself out on the ground and preparing to sleep.

"An underground river?" Garet asked, his interest piquing.

They looked at each other, the same thoughts mirrored in their eyes.

"Get some sleep, tomorrow they put you to work," The man said, closing his eyes and dropping off.