Knights dark and light

Christina opened her eyes and immediately closed them again at the harsh light. She held her hand out to block the sun from her vision. She felt the sand underneath her and the stinging heat of the air around her as she slowly pushed herself off the ground and onto her feet. She looked around her and was met with an endless desert in every direction. She quickly surmised that this was the other world they were sent to. She then noticed how the desert’s heat seemed to be touching her bare skin and how she stood atop the sands on bare feet. She looked down at herself.

She touched her clothing and felt the distinct patterning of scalemail, smooth concentric plates lined up like the scales of a dragon. Only they didn’t make up a suit of armor. They made up a bikini. She found herself wearing a skimpy outfit of metal that seemed to her a mockery of any practical suit of armor. She blushed at even the thought of being seen in such an embarrassing outfit.

“What does this even protect?” said Christina to herself, “Why make it out of metal? Do the people of this world really wear such things?”

Just as she was speaking out loud from the assumption that she was alone, she heard some slight shuffling behind her. She turned around and saw another scantily clad girl squirming around in the sand. She had short black hair and pointed elvish ears sticking out through the raven strands. It was Daelana.

Relieved to see someone with her in the desolate land, Christina immediately rushed over to her. She kneeled down at the dark knight’s side as she tried to get up. Christina put her arms under Daelana’s shoulders and lifted her. Daelana groaned and closed her eyes as she adjusted to the light. She then squinted at Chirstina.

“Christina?” said Daelana, “Where are we?”

“I don’t know,” said Christina, “Whatever world they sent us to seems to be a rather barren one.”

“Hey,” said Daelana, “Why do I feel so… uncovered?”

Daelana then looked down at her own body. Christina followed her line of sight and took a closer look at her clothes. It was another bikini but this one was made of leather with fur trimming the edges. She also had leather belts holding the whole outfit up. She looked like some sort of wild barbarian. Daelana sighed as she saw it.

“Of course we’re dressed like this,” said Daelana, “Seems like you got a humiliating outfit of your own.”

“Uh, yeah,” said Christina, blushing harder.

Daelana softly pulled away from Christina’s support and walked on her own. She struggled up a dune as her feet dug into the sand that started spilling downhill like water. She reached the summit and looked out at the horizon. She simply saw more desert stretching out far into the horizon. Things did not look good to her. Christina looked at her expectantly, hoping that she’d figure out what to do. Daelana turned back to her.

“We’re supposed to find Malgor, right?” said Daelana, “Guess we should pick a direction and start walking.”

“Are you sure?” said Christina, “What if it's just more desert no matter how far we travel?”

“Better than staying here,” said Daelana, “Besides, they wouldn’t have just dropped us in an empty desert. That wouldn’t be entertaining for them.”

“Oh, right,” said Christina.

It came rushing back to Christina that this was all just a game at the end of the day. Despite the near cosmic power held by the gamemasters, it was all for the purpose of idle entertainment. Bending the universe to put on a play. Regardless, Christina didn’t have any other ideas and preferred that Daelana was taking the lead. Daelana began walking across the land and Christina followed behind.

The two trudged across the dunes as hot wind started blowing. Christina did her best to bear the heat that she really wasn’t a fan of. She desperately hoped the whole world wasn’t like this. Sweat dripped over both of their bodies. Visible droplets rolled down their exposed stomachs and made their skin glisten under the sun.

“Hey, Daelana,” said Christina, “Do you want to talk?”

Daelana looked confused. “Talk about what?”

“You know…” said Christina, “About… well…”

Christina fumbled with her words out of fear or embarrassment. It was enough that Daelana could tell exactly what she was thinking of.

“You want to talk about him,” said Daelana, “What he did.”

“Yeah,” said Christina after a long pause.

“What is there to talk about?” said Daelana.

“Well, we’re the only ones who… you know… I mean besides Tyra,” said Christina, “I’d normally talk about it with Angelica but… she doesn’t understand.”

Daelana stopped in her tracks, a solemn look on her face.

“She hasn’t been through it herself yet,” said Daelana, “She hasn’t suffered like we have.”

“Yeah,” said Christina, “I mean, if you can even call it suffering.”

Daelana turned to face Christina, a mysterious glare in her eyes. This caused Christina to panic, thinking she had offended her. This made her remember what Daelana could do when she was angry.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” said Christina, “I didn’t mean to say that you didn’t suffer or anything! I just… what I meant was…”

“You’re right,” said Daelana, “It wasn’t suffering. That’s the worst part.”

Chrisina went silent as Daelana stared out into the landscape.

“On my first night with him, he told me of how much he despised me,” said Daelana, “Said that were we in our old world, he would’ve had me stripped and whipped before the armies of darkness, tortured to **** as the villainous crowds cheered on my pain. And I now realize that that end, spending my final moments in agony and humiliation, having not achieved my vengeance, I would’ve rather faced than what I ended up facing that night.”

Daelana’s fist shook.

“Because then I would’ve had the dignity to tell my ancestors, my family, my beloved dead that I had tried my damndest,” said Daelana, “I could’ve told them that I at least became such an ire to our enemy that he had made my demise so bitter. That I had suffered, surrendered dignity, and died but all for them and the cause I swore. But I didn’t. Now I must tell them that in my darkest moment I laid with the enemy, and I enjoyed it! That’s the worst part: he doesn’t let you hate it! He doesn’t **** you, he makes you **** yourself! Debase yourself! Tell me, how can I face the family I lost again when they see me give myself to their killer like that?”

Daelana breathed heavily as Christina watched her ramblings in awe. Out of energy and overcome by heat, Daelana fell to her knees, her face lost in bitterness and confusion.

“So you’re right,” said Daelana, “The worst part is I can’t truly say I suffered.”

Daelana looked at the ground blankly. Christina hesitated to approach her. Not only her fear of what Daelana could do in an unstable state kept her back, but also the fact that she knew this game was slowly driving everyone apart. She felt like she couldn’t confide in nor comfort any of her friends. But something changed in her. She realized that she didn’t need general words of platitude to reach Daelana. For the first time ever, she could truly understand the mind of the dark knight. She approached her and sat on the sand next to her.

“On my first night, I was wracked with fear,” said Christina, “I felt like a sacrificial lamb, offered at the alter to appease the dark lord. I don’t think I would’ve ever been ready, but perhaps if it did go the way I thought, if I was ravaged and brutalized to an unfathomable degree, perhaps I would’ve found solace in martyrdom. Perhaps I could’ve kept my dignity. I couldn't have prepared for what truly transpired. That I would’ve been taken into the dark lord’s embrace like a lover, that I would’ve felt comfort in the arms of the great enemy. Yes, it is almost worse like you say that the lamb was not sacrificed but instead chose a new shepherd.”

Daelana looked over to Christina who met her gaze. Daelana looked surprised, never expecting to connect so much with the paladin of light whose motivations always seemed to contrast with her own. Daelana chuckled at the irony of it, which caused Christina to smile, seeing that she had successfully lightened the mood.

“Well then, what are we to do?” said Daelana, “We have no one left now. Our ancestors and our friends have surely forsaken us for what we did.”

“Maybe,” said Christina, “Even our leader Angelica subtly irks me for it. My best friend thinks I’m a slut.”

“Angelica is a fool,” said Daelana, “She doesn’t want to win. She just wants to be right.”

“And you?” said Christina, “Do you want to win?”

Daelana turned inwards to her thoughts. It was a serious question for her, and one that had to be answered here and now. Hesitation would answer for her as she would stagger behind the challenge and be doomed to eternal slavery. In truth, she didn’t know how she felt about any of it anymore.

“I don’t know,” said Daelana, “You?”

Christina also took a moment to think. She felt fairly comfortable being in the lead in points. But that only made her think further and further into the future. How much longer would she be willing to put up with this? How much farther could she truly go? Would she truly be happy being a wife of Malgor once everything was done? Her points seemed to suggest so. Was that the truth?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clomping across the sands. The two girls snapped out of their contemplation and stood up. They looked towards the sound and saw two men in the distance coming towards them. Daelana readied an offensive stance as disarmed as she was while Christina stood meekly, not sure what the intentions of the strangers were and not wanting to risk bloodshed if it could be avoided. The two men reached the girls and stood with their arms crossed, smiling. They seemed to be well equipped with scimitars at their sides.

“What do we have here?” said the first man, “What are you girls doing out in the desert?”

“We’re lost,” said Christina, “We’d be grateful if you could point us in the direction of civilization.”

“Not to worry sweetheart,” said the second man, “We’re a day’s travel from the city of Ardaan-kel. It’s East in a straight line from here.”

“Excellent!” said Christina, “Are you heading there?”

“We are!” said the man, “And we’d be happy to escort you.”

The man then reached behind his belt and pulled out a set of chains and manacles that were attached to a metal collar. He smiled as he opened the collar up with the distinct sound of clashing metal and gestured it towards Christina who looked at it in fear. She had no weapons and in her state of undress she felt extremely ****.

“Please sir,” said Christina, “We mean you no harm! Let us work together to find a city!”

“We know you’re harmless,” said the man holding the chains, “That’s what’ll make you good slaves to take!”

The man continued cackling as he approached Christina. She backed up but saw no way out. She trembled as the man got closer and started holding the collar out to her neck. Then all of a sudden Daelana came lunging out from the side, screaming as she tackled the man to the ground. The other man jumped back in shock as Daelana climbed on top of the man holding chains, raising her fists in the air before bringing them down and pummeling him into they ground. One after another, she relentlessly brought her knuckles up and down, smashing the man’s nose and scattering blood with every hit.

The first man finally got over his shock and ran to aid his companion. He grabbed Daelana by her face and tried to pull her off of him. She responded by biting the man’s hand. He screamed and tried to pull away but Daelana kept her jaw clenched and refused to let him go. The man she was on top of took advantage of her distraction and brought his fist to her face, punching her hard enough to knock her off of him and to the ground as her jaw unclenched and the other man reeled back, nursing his hand. The man on the ground got up, furious and ready to take ****. He drew his blade but the other man protested.

“No!” he said, “She’d more valuable in one piece! Beat her a bit, but don’t damage the goods!”

The man angrily sheathed his sword. Daelana tried to get up. But before she could, the man ran up to her and delivered a swift kick to her groin. She howled in pain and fell to the ground. But of course, the pain came with an extra bit of pleasure and she writhed from that too. Soon, both men were mercilessly kicking her as she curled up on the ground. Each impact to her body made her start to moan more and more. She clutched herself, feeling so much agony and ecstasy that she could hardly move. Christina watched on, wanting to help but knowing it would be suicide to attack without any weapons like Daelana did.

Soon, the kicking slowed down. The men assumed that with the severity of the beating they had given her she would’ve surely been knocked out or severely weakened by now. Little did they know that the transformation’s effects kept Daelana awake and focused, hazy with pleasure but very much awake and even desiring more.

“Alright, let’s haul the bitch back to the boss,” said one man, “You get the blonde one.”

The other man nodded and started towards Christina. Christina panicked, realizing she might be too late to try anything. But as the man who stayed with Daelana looked over at the paladin with lurid thoughts running through his head, Daelana got back up and instantly delivered an elbow to his face. He went tumbling to the ground and rolled down a dune as his scimitar came loose from his belt and fell off, kicking up sand as he went further down. The other man heard and instantly turned back to Daelana who was already running at him. He freaked out and threw a punch out at her as she approached. It connected with her face and she reeled back, but this time he noticed the moan of pleasure she gave as the blow landed. He stood confused as Daelana turned her bloody face back to him, not hindered at all.

The two began brawling, throwing punches at each other with reckless abandon. Blows landed on their faces, their torsos, and even lower as they brutally scraped. But as each blow weakened the man, they only encouraged Daelana who with each blow felt an enormous sense of satisfaction as her loins burned with passion and fueled her strikes. The man was confounded as he grew more tired and saw that his attacks had almost no effect and that each offense he made spurred her on more and more. Soon, Daelana began overtaking him until one mighty blow from her knocked him to the floor. She then let herself fall down atop him. She pulled her sweaty hair back with one hand as she drew his sword from his belt with the other. The man started trembling under her.

“Is that all you can muster?” said Daelana, “The pain you dish out isn’t even the best I’ve felt.”

“What the fuck?” said the man.

He had barely gotten those words out before Daelana had plunged the sword into his heart. She remained stoically menacing as blood flew onto her face and body. The man sputtered some gushes of blood before slowly dying. The other man who had rolled down the dunes had finally recovered from the blow. He scrambled to his feet, reaching for his scimitar but finding it not at his belt.

“Fucking bitch!” he yelled, “Fuck damaged goods! I’ll kill her! My sword! Where’s my…”

He looked up the dune he had fallen down to see Christina holding his own blade readied against him. Her face betrayed an unusual anger from the holy warrior. The man looked into her raging eyes and knew exactly what would happen. He tried to turn and flee but Christina chased after him, screaming wildly. Flying downhill, she swung the blade and with one clean swipe she took off the man’s head from behind. It went flying and bounced across the desert sands as the body flopped to the ground, spilling blood profusely from the red stump she had made. Christina stood breathing heavily, holding the scimitar in both hands, and recovering from her bout of fury. She then looked back up to Daelana who got to her feet with her own blade in hand. Christina quickly climbed the dune back up to her.

“What was all that about?” said Christina, “They didn’t even know who we were and they attacked us out of nowhere.”

“Thought it was pretty obvious,” said Daelana, “They’re slavers. They wanted to sell us to that ‘devil queen’ they were talking about.”

“Slavers?” said Christina, “What kind of world have we been dropped in that slavers are the first people we meet?”

“Very fitting knowing the gamemasters,” said Daelana, “Grab what you can from them. They said there’s a place to the east. We can try to get there.”

“Wait, if they’re slavers, won’t there be more of them there?” said Christina.

“What choice do we have?” said Daelana, “The only other option is more desert, and even if we only stay for two days I don’t want to spend those days starving and dying of heat stroke.”

“Oh…” said Christina, “Alright, fine.”

Christina went back to the man she killed and started searching his corpse while Daelana inspected her own kill. She knew that they likely had a long and painful journey ahead of them. She only hoped that Malgor would be heading in the same direction as them so that they could end this game once and for all.