Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="GodOfCheese" data-source="post: 1593185" data-attributes="member: 19170">Zara, Milo, and More BondageZara smiles, certain now in the knowledge that she has heard Chloe’s voice.  She closes her eyes, focusing her ki and concentrating.  There!  Bending her legs back as far as they’ll go, Zara feels the bonds on her wrists loosen slightly.  Working all four limbs in careful concert, Zara verily arches over backwards so she can get enough slack to slip her left wrist free of the vicious wires.  Her eyes never stray from Milo and his slug companion, whose combined attention is focused on Milo’s spellcasting.  Zara still can’t discern whether the spell is being cast correctly or not, but assumes that since the Halfling is still mumbling and reading the scroll, his mistakes (if any) must not be too significant.  Mindful of Milo’s distraction, she seethes quietly, ever closer to her revenge.Still holding it behind her back, Zara flexes her left fist experimentally and feels sensation tickle back into prickly fingers.  When she’s adjusted to it, she carefully feels the contour of the wire around her wrist.  Probing the loops, she finds no knot.  It must be tied at my feet.   The warrior tightens her right hand, flexing her wrist muscles alternately, feeling some of her flesh harden and expand, and leaving other surfaces recessed.  She methodically probes each surface, slowly turning the loops to align the bundles with soft spots on her arms.  These, Zara knows, will pass the comparably thicker portions of the bonds more easily than less yielding surfaces, like her wristbones or knuckles.An abrupt change in Milo’s speech patterns captures Zara’s attention.  He takes a deep breath and waves his arms wildly, producing what at first appears to be a duplicate of himself.  Zara squints and, looking again, sees a shimmering oval shape hovering in the air before Milo.  The effect is very shiny, almost reflective, and is oriented like a wall-mirror suspended at a convenient height before the tiny man.Milo speaks a single, incomprehensible word: “Eillenarthilax*.” In response the surface of the “mirror” seems to ripple and contort, darkening to blackness.  At first, Zara thinks that the mirror has vanished, but realizes under further scrutiny that it’s still there.  The effect is visible only because it is much darker than the surrounding air, like a hole in the darkness.When Milo resumes speaking, it is in a language Zara realizes she can understand—the long hisses and snaps of the draconic tongue, which Zara learned during her training at the Crescent Moon monastery, so long ago:  “Mighty predator of the abyss, thy wings and spines are legend.  Thy dread maw consumes armies of the brave!   Thy flaming nostrils immolate the heroes of the world!  I call to thee in ritual from this sufficiently dark place with a meager sacrifice: a maiden pure to whet thy infernal appetites, and the promise of many more should I thy terrible favor merit.”He pauses and looks Zara up and down.  “You are pure, aren’t you?  It seemed like a safe bet**.”A distant hiss emanates from the darkness.  Milo’s face ripples and dances slightly to Zara’s eye and he looks at the orb.  He’s sweating, and Zara quickly realizes why.It is suddenly very, very hot in the dark chamber.* pronounced "ee-yell-enn-ARR-thih-lacks"** Milo's implication is that Zara's looks preclude the possibility of her being anything but "pure", an insult that goes over Zara's head and also shows how little he really knows her. </blockquote>

Verification