First chapter to be edited. Let me know how you guys feel about it.
MATURE WARNING: graphic sadism
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Drip, drip, drip. Slow drops of water fell in the large tunnel, softly echoing in the darkness. Constant, unbroken peace in this underworld, consisting of tunnels that spread under the land. Few dared to travel through though, as many things lurked in the dark.
The tunnels traversed the entirety of the continent, which stretched for miles across between two massive oceans. The world of Riftera was a beautiful and deadly paradise for the adventurous and bold. It had a wide range of environments on the surface: forests and deserts, caverns and mountains, lakes and oceans. The underground was just as varied, comprised of caverns, tunnels, and underground lakes that held a beauty all their own. With all that beauty, however, there existed many dangers, and few walked the tunnels at any time.
But today, the soft echoes were broken by the sounds of movement. Out of the darkness, a group appeared. Not a typical group, in fact those who would have lived through an encounter would wonder how and why this group even came to be. Three dark elves, obviously nobles by the way they carried themselves, being led by a tall Minotaur, with scaled wings, and a short gnome. While not an unusual group normally, the two leading did not have slave collars, a norm of the dark elf rule.
The gnome walked to the left of the minotaur a little behind him. He walked with a swagger few could afford to have in the under tunnels, wearing a wide brimmed hat on his head and a ruby ring on his finger.
The dark elves walked at the rear of the group; two females and one male. They moved cautiously, keeping an eye on both the tunnels and the two in front of them. It was obvious this was a new relationship between the two groups.
The minotaur paused at the end of the tunnel, breathing in deeply as he observed the fork in front.
“Brutus, smell anything?” said the gnome.
“Hmm, sniff sniff, hmph.” The minotaur sniffed some more and knelt to talk to the gnome.
The two conversed for a while, and were soon interrupted by a growl from one of the elves.
“What’s taking so long Valgrim? We do not like to be kept waiting.” The female dark elf said angrily.
“Have no fear Magus Saharra.” said Valgrim, “Brutus has found the hydra scent, fresh this time.”
The dark elves had employed the duo of Valgrim and Brutus to track down some hydras for their family. Dark elf politics as they are, hydras would make good pieces for their fighting force. The duo were famous for their success and infamous for making sure they got what they were promised- and not a new slave collar.
Their current employers were Saharra, a demon summoner named Scald, and a half-elf alchemist named Meridia. Valgrim wondered for a moment how the alchemist was in such good relations with her full-blood brethren, but quickly pushed it out of his mind. Alchemy was wonderful for revenge; don’t need to think too much about it.
He pointed down one of the tunnels. “Seems there’s a nest a few hour from here down the left tunnel.” He said, “Seems to be lot of them too. I'd be willing to bet that at least a few can breathe fire or ice."
At this, the dark elves gave off an aura of excitement, finally their prize was close. The group had started at one of the dark elf cities and had traveled through for a little over a week now, dodging threats and killing for food in order to get to their destination. It was hard knowing how time passed when underground, most settlements had a heat stone, but the tunnels held no such luxury. Making fire to keep away beasts was a challenge as well, for very little burned underground. The surface was a mystery to those who lived in the tunnels, many would never see it, and the few that did described it with a mix of wonder and fear.
Valgrim turned to Brutus and nodded, the big guys seeing this began moving down the tunnel. They had worked together long enough to understand each with minimum talk, which kept complaints about wasting time down from their clients. And what clients they were too: slavers, murderers, back stabbers, and traitors made the majority. Few could afford "sightseeing" in a world where everyone was out for himself. Valgrim sighed, unconsciously rubbing this left wrist, the ghostly feel of slave chains still ever present. That's how he met Brutus when escaping, so he couldn't completely rule out the bad experience. Though he still grimaced over the memory of his lost tool....
{Flashback}
Dark, always dark. His room held no light, a tomb was his prison. He lay on the floor, unable to move from his pain. He didn't groan, didn't complain. He would not give them the satisfaction of knowing they had hurt him.
He knew it had been a terrible idea, knew he should have escaped while he could. No, he had chosen to fight, chosen to put his life back into their hands. Her hands, and she would never let him go again.
Deep in his thought and pain, the door opened, flooding the room in soft light that burned his eyes. Light was unnecessary in the tunnels when everyone could see in the dark, only disciples of the gods used them in their houses to read their scriptures and show their influence. Two sets of hands were felt, unbuckling the chains that binded him to the floor.
They dragged him out easily, for he hadn't weighed much before his imprisonment and had been starved. They dragged him up the winding stairs from the dungeon, his legs hitting each step and spiking pain. He made no sound, made no noise.
They came to the door at the top, taking him into lavish halls decorated with rare fabric and art. They took him through it, still too pained to appreciate the sights before him. Coming to their destination, they waled into a dark, stone room lit only by a singular light that illuminated a stone table with chains.
They hoisted him onto the table, and chained him back up. He watched them, noting their slave collars. He held no feelings of hatred toward them, for they could not control their own actions without suffering.
When they finished, they left the room through the door, and closed it behind them.
He only had to wait a little bit before he felt another presence in the room. He felt her as she entered, but no door had opened to let her in. He felt her smile, sadistic and warm, but he saw no face.
She walked around him, slowly, like a beast stalking her prey. Her nails trailed over him, sending sensation up to both of his heads. She quietly giggled in the low-light, a laugh that pervaded his very soul.
She stopped right in front of him, looking down. She raised her hand, a whip forming of darkness, and with a few twitches shredded his pants and shirt.
She looked down on him and giggled again, girlish and infernal.
"Kukuku, such a wimpy d^%k this one has." a priestess said, whipping her weapon on the floor. She disappeared and he felt her hand on his ear, stroking it softly. She whispered, "What would it take to make it bigger I wonder?"
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She came into his sight again, moving a single nail down his chained arm.
He put on the best rueful grin he could and said, "Well, maybe if I saw something I liked it would be presentable. If only their was a young elf to please this old gnome, too bad bewitching hags are all I have in front of me."
She pouted, seeming sadden by his words, but her nail dug deeply into his arm, tracing a trail of blood. She reappeared on his other arm, holding it gently against her impressive bosom.
"Why do you reject me? I know what you want, what you need." She moved her hands up down down his arm, letting hints of her breasts appear as they caressed him. "You need only ask and I am yours, we can have everything together."
He moved his head, looking at the light behind him. "You are not as you were, though corruption seeps though your veins, you still keep the light. Why?"
She giggled again, her head appearing between his legs. She slowly crawled up his body, her dress slowly becoming more revealing as she laid her head on his chest. "Light creates shadows, there must always be light so shadows exist. They contrast so well." She caressed his manhood, his physical desires betraying his mind. She whispered into his ear, "Be my light to my shadow." Her hands began stroking, slow and seductive.
Valgrim looked her in the eyes, purple and loving. "Your shadow would pollute me, overcoming the light and plundering me into the darkness. I have no desire to be with you, Shtika. Leave me and return to your darkness!"
Hearing the term used to describe her, the laugh was quickly replaced by a glare, then just as quickly gone, a smirk-which dominating her face. Her violet eyes lost their warmth, replaced by sadism and hate.
"Look at it now, not so small after all. I wonder how many have felt it's pleasures, pleasure that has been denied to me." She watched it, her hands still moving up and down, teasing him. "With my pleasure denied, you shall not have it either."
She locked eyes with him, "You are mine." She hissed.
Valgrim did not give her the benefit of his screams as the chains grabbed his arms, pulling them tight against the stone. He stared her right in the face as she took out her curved, jagged dagger. He watched as she twirled it seductively against her bosom, close and closer, raising an eyebrow when she paused to examine her dagger.
"Oh, almost forgot the poison, can't have a priest fixing that." she said wickedly as she enchanted the jagged barbs. "Now, lets see how long your silence lasts."
To his benefit, he didn't scream until he lost consciousness.
{End Flashback}
Yes, life sucked sometimes for the little undergnome priest, but like his people he quickly replaced the painful memories with thoughts of profit. This little excursion would not only bring in a hefty amount of gold, it would give him some allies with important dark elf families that would come in handy. Can't have enough favors when people were liable to kill you for being in their sight. Plus, Brutus could really pack away the meat, emergency funds always ran out when he got hungry.
Continuing down the cave tunnel, the group soon came across a large cavern, filled with glowing mushrooms and a nest. The cavern had many outcroppings from the wall, filled with crushed eggshells and hydra droppings. The mushrooms grew unopposed from the ground, using the droppings as food. Valgrim knelt down and examined some of the shells.
"How many Brutus?" He asked.
"Many, hmgh." Brutus replied, kneeling and taking note of the many tracks in the area.
"What did he say?" Scald asked arrogantly, his tone leaving no doubt as to what he felt toward the minotaur.
Valgrim kept his eyes on the nest. "He said that there were a lot of hydras in this nest." He replied, noting the direction of the tracks.
"Oh, so in other words more than the number of fingers on his hand, heh heh." Scald declared, with Saharra laughing at this. Valgrim didn't bother informing them that while Brutus couldn't speak the same language as the elves, he was no idiot, in fact, he was one of the smartest beings Valgrim knew. No point giving clients free knowledge however. Pride was cheap in a world where words were coin.
"I estimate there to be 50-60 younglings, and 100-130 parents." he said, "Quite a number, and a few of them can probably wield fire, ice and acid. How many babies did you want again?
Saharra donned a contemplative look, "How many could you two deal with?"
"The younglings, no problem. I would not recommend fighting more that 25 adult hydras a day, in groups no bigger than 5." He responded casually, "Fire breathing Hydras should really be avoided at all costs if possible. This also depends on how much magic we have to use without resting."
Saharra turned to her two companions and discussed among themselves. Scald gestured wildly, and the half-elf merely nodded a few times. She turned back abruptly, "50 Gold per youngling, 100 for any that have a breath attack and 250 for any fire Hydras. If you make sure we don't have any injuries, another 250 gold."
In his mind, Valgrim snorted. With those terms, even if the elves went unharmed through the battles, a mysterious bruise would appear when getting payment and they would be thrown out.
"Double those bounties and don't worry about rewarding for lack of injuries. I'll even cook the hydras for you so you don't have to eat Brutus's cooking again."
Saharra narrowed her eyes, but at the mention of Brutus gave an involuntary shudder. The duo always made sure the clients tried some of his cooking, it made sure they had something else to bargain with during expeditions. That, and Valgrim was a master chief himself, he noted the tiny hint of drool in the dark elf's lip before she regained her composure.
"So in other words, you expect one of us to be injured?" She asked coldly raising an eyebrow with a dangerous tone.
Valgrim took the veiled threat in stride, bowing deep and removing his hat, "My dear lady, you are paying us for capture, not comfort. If we focus on making sure nothing bad happens to you, we get hurt, and when we get hurt, we can't protect you on our way back to your fair city. In a hunt like this, never trust the hunters that guarantee safety, they will kill you for the advance payment and will never be seen again."
Placated, Saharra nodded, "Agreed, now hurry and find them."
"Done and done." he bowed, and turned to Brutus, "Come on old friend, time for another adventure."
Valgrim nodded, and motioned to Brutus. Following the tracks, they found another tunnel out of the cavern. At the end, hints of daylight came from the curve. Motioning to the dark elves, they headed down the tunnel, moving toward the bright light that was the surface.