Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. The Solitary Arrow by Mack the Knife Part Eight Hyandai did as Sorcha commanded. She disrobed and crawled up onto the table. She tried to avoid the stains and chunks of unidentifiable stuff, but was unable to do so completely. Sorcha's long, delicate fingers gripped the manacle next to her right arm, and clamped it over the elf's slim wrist. She then adjusted the chain it hung upon. She repeated this with the other arm, smiling sweetly as she worked. Her black hair caught the light that came from two lamps near the door, on either side. She then took one of the ankle manacles and locked it into place above her small foot, then the other. After adjusting, she was completely helpless and open to Sorcha's gaze. The witch examined her pubic area, poking and touching with her clever, slender fingers. She slid two of them into the elf's womanhood, wiggling them around inside her, and causing Hyandai to move her hips to try to evade them. "Be still, elf." Said the sorceress. "Do that when a blade is within, and you'll never have to worry about pregnancy again." "I will try." The elf said, looking down with angry eyes. Their gold had flattened to a hot bronze color. Sorcha chose a long, very thin blade from the tools on the man's harness. She said. "You had better do more than try, my dear." She used two fingers to open her tiny labia apart, and then, with almost casual carelessness, slipped the blade into her. She felt it's sides as it moved into her private places. There was no pain, and she did not move. Sorcha pulled the blade out, and stabbed it into the fat man's arm, and left it. He groaned and twitched, but made no move to take it out. She then took one of the nastily barbed little hooks with a cutting blade attached, like evil scissors and, widening her fingers again, but farther this time, pushed the vile-looking device into Hyandai's vagina, and then up into her violated uterus. Hyandai felt pain this time, and bit her lip to avoid moving or crying out. Tears fell from her eyes and she let out a whimper. "You're doing quite well, darling." The sorceress praised her uncharacteristically. "One would think you've done this before." She added, again, ensuring the pattern stayed established. The scissors twitched inside her, and a sharp pain lanced through the her entire body, and she gasped. "He's an orc, and orcs fight for their miserable lives, even in the womb." The witch said, smiling. "Unlike some races, who let themselves be led by vague fortunes into danger and folley." Through gritted teeth, Hyandai said. "I knew what I volunteered for, and it is a just cause." "Oh?" Sorcha said, stopping for a moment. "And that is why you ran so quickly as your betrothed was cut down?" She asked. Then her voice grew loud and filled the tiny, horrid chamber. "The mighty scribe and her true sculptor, braving death and destruction to save the clan." She sneered. "You have proven your weakness, should you not now go home and lick your wounds?" The elf winced at these remarks. She feared returning to her lands a failure, after they had placed such hope in her. There was another, even sharper stab of pain, and Hyandai had to work hard not to try to move her pelvis from the probing fingers and the serrated hook. "There, I got a piece of him that time." She said, grinning. She started working around inside her womb again, here and there, tiny movements could be felt inside herself, and then a stab of pain, then more movements. Hyandai dared not look down, she did not relish the idea of seeing her own blood. Sorcha pulled the hooked scissors out of her and again stabbed them into the man, this time in the leg. He groaned louder and almost fell, then regained his footing and stood. Sorcha said. "Well, now we need to hang you up to clear him out." She unhooked the feet, and then the wrists. "You were lucky to have found him so early. Else I would have had to cut him up inside you and pulled out the bits, one at a time." Hyandai rubbed her wrists, surprised at the speed of the procedure. "That is all there is of it?" She asked. The witch turned and looked at her. "You want I should just lay you out for a while, inflicting random pain?" She smiled beautifully, her teeth flashing. "I can do that if you prefer. Knowing you, you might like it, at that." As she lowered one of the manacles over the pit with a small winch, she said. "You have martyr's syndrome, that is one of your problems, among many others." She shrugged. "You want people to know you're a good person by showing them how much you'll hurt for them." She lowered the other manacle. "Stand up and hold up your arms." Hyanda quietly complied. She clamped the iron circlets around her wrists. Then pulled in the tension out of the chains. "Ok, step off." The witch said, pointing over the hole. Holding her breath, Hyandai stepped over the little sill and the manacles caught and bore her weight just before she reached the first of the inward-pointing spikes. The witch lifted her with the winches until she was hanging with her feet about four feet from the floor. The witch grabbed one ankle and clamped another manacle attached to the wall to it, then the other ankle followed. Her legs were spread painfully. "I will return later. There will be music soon, to soothe you." She said, and walked out, slamming the door with a dull clang. Hyandai hung there, her wrists were already hurting, this was going to be a long wait, she knew. The man stood stock still near the table. His arm and leg bled somewhat, but seemed to not phase him. What had that woman done to him, other than the obvious, which was horrid enough, she supposed. She felt blood trickling down her thighs. A twisted bit of humor in her head said `I wish I'd stop bleeding from there. For just a day or two.' There was a warm air rising from the pit, and it reeked of rotting meat and other foul odors. She looked down into the black maw. She knew she was not really seeing it, but she imagined flashes of glistening movement down there, and the stare of tiny eyes. How many unborn children lay in that foul pit? She asked herself. "One more after today." She muttered to hear herself talk. Then she heard something. It sounded like talking. Then she realized, that small and tinny, she could hear Harlen's voice. -- "I thought it would take longer." Harlen said. Watching Sorcha enter the room. She waved negligently at the door. "Why would it? It was but a few days of growth, still pea-sized." She said. -- That bitch had somehow made it where she was going to be forced to listen to Harlen making payment. She tried to not hear it, but in the absence of other sound, it was all there was to hear, save the labored breathing of the fat man. -- Sorcha said. "It gives me more time to collect on my debt." She said, touching Harlen's arm with her fingers. They were cool and soft on his skin, and he felt the sharp nails she had, carefully trimmed and manicured to perfect little wedges. "I have all night with you, as per our agreement." She said as she moved her hand from his arm to his chin. "And I plan to make the very most of it." She went to the salver and poured two drinks. "Please, drink." She said. "It may make it more bearable for you, poor man." She handed him a half full chalice of crystal-leaded glass. "I promise it is not poisoned." She took a sip of her own, and Harlen finally took one off of his. The taste exploded in his mouth, and almost made him cough. The witch turned from him and walked over to the water, slipping off her sandals as she stood by the side, then dipping her foot into the pool. "Come, bathe with me." She said. Harlen slugged back the drink, finishing it in one gulp, then sat on a low bench, and removed his boots. He had decided to get this over with, and if in water, so be it. She watched him and her eyes flamed with interest. "No. Let me undress you." She crooned. "I will enjoy that more." She walked back to him and put her arms around him, pressing herself to his chest. Harlen took a deep breath, and refused to allow himself to enjoy the embrace. She looked up to him. "Hold me, for tonight, you are my man, please try to act as if you care." Harlen muttered. "It will be but an act, but I will do as you order." He put his arms around her, and she nuzzled his chest with her head. She reached down and slowly ran her hands over his buttocks and then back up his back. Her hands were under his tunic now, and he could feel their soft, cool, soothing touch. She smiled at the small movement she felt in his pants. "You may not like me, but your manhood does." She said, looking up at him. -- A single tear ran down Hyandai's cheek as she listened, her face one of absolute blankness. Harlen was trying so hard, she could tell, to stay loyal to her and perform the act he was required to, at the same time. -- She lifted off his tunic, and he lifted his arms to let her do so. He looked down at her impassively. She touched his chest, running her fingers over his nipple, then down the crevasse between his pectoral muscles. She continued to his navel, then put both hands on his shoulders and said. "Kiss me, and make me believe you like it." He grabbed her by her waist, and pressed his lips to hers. The lips parted and she felt his tongue slip between them. She sucked his tongue, and nibbled at it, and then gave him hers. His hands pressed on her back, and kneaded the small of it. His organ swelled inside his pants and she felt it with her stomach. She let out a small moan, and sighed as the kiss ended. "Very convincing." She said, grinning at him. Then she stepped back and unfastened his belt buckle. His pants slipped down his legs to the floor, exposing his organ to her. "Nice, Harlen. It's better you relieve yourself with me first. You'd likely hurt that waif if you get carried away." She said, as if she were doing him a favor now. She looked at him, taking a step back. "You are a very handsome man, my lover." She said. She then lowered the straps off her shoulders of her dress. It fell to the floor, revealing a long, sinuous, perfect body. Her breasts hung firmly on her chest, and drooping just enough to indicate that they had some mass to them, their nipples dark and pointed. Her pubic mound was shaven and smooth, and the lips of her labia tightly packed beneath it. Her arms and legs were long and strong looking, with tight muscles fine shape. Her body had the classic hourglass form, with wider hips and shoulders and a very narrow waist. He skin was flawless, and the color of fine white marble. She raised an eyebrow at him, as if waiting. "You're very lovely, too." He said, there was little emotion in it, but she caught his eye moving over her and smiled anyway. "Sweet of you to say, Harlen." She said, walking back toward him. She put her arms around him and he took her in his. She pressed his manhood against her belly and felt it twitch. Sorcha kissed his chest, then licked her way to one nipple, kissing then biting it gently, causing his breathing to change pitch slightly. Then she moved her hands to his thick hair and pulled him to her for a long kiss. She grabbed his pole with one hand while they kissed, and he moaned softly into her mouth. "I'm not that bad, Harlen." She said. "Really, I just want to please you." She slipped down his chest and took him into her mouth. He felt her warm lips engulf him. It contrasted with her cool hands, and the moisture was soothing. She took him down to her hand, and then started sucking, and moving her head back and forth. He looked down and she watched up at him. Her icy blue eyes were full of chill and promise. Her black, silky hair smoothly flowed as she moved her head, and it looked like a waterfall down her back on a moonlit night. The sound of the real waterfall behind him made the illusion perfect. He felt heat in his organ, and it spread throughout him, and he flushed pink from it. His eyes watered a little as he blinked. She let his pole slip from her mouth and smiled up at him. "You're impressive, another man would have spent already. Now, feed me." She started up again, drawing him down to the back of her mouth, and then pulling back, increasing the suction. He reached into the black water, and pressed on the back of her head, pushing her down onto his throbbing member. Her eyes smiled again as he started pushing back with his hips. He groaned as his orgasm shook him, and his knees bent before he could recover. She never slowed though, the semen dribbling from her mouth and down her throat as it simply happened. He felt the pleasure shoot through him, and hated it. She continued to suck and move her head, even when his hand fell away. His hips kept pushing, though, as if they had their own mind. Her other hand came up and massaged his testicles, kneading them gently and wrapping her cool fingers around them. The cock in her mouth twitched, and pulsed warmly, she slid her soft tongue over it. She took him from her mouth and kept massaging his shaft with her hand. "You are used to this, though, aren't you?" She said, teasing him. She stood up, still holding his swollen organ, then lead him to the bench. She turned away from him and moved her feet to almost three feet apart. She bent at the waist and placed her elbows on the bench, presenting herself to him. Her ass and pussy were perfect, and she was quite obviously aroused. Clear liquid dripped from her, and ran down her smooth legs. "Sample something she's not given to you yet." She said, parting her labia with two fingers. "Take me fully, and give me what is, for this one night, mine." As he got behind her, she said. "And for this night, that is yours, as well, remember that." He positioned himself at her opening, and her fingertips played over the head of his cock. "You need not be gentle, my lover, I am a real woman, take me as hard as you please." She crooned back to him, then laid her head onto the bench, nearly folding herself double. He bent his knees and pushed the head into her. He felt it stretch to accommodate him, and he felt the moisture and heat engulf him. He slowly pushed inward, feeling inch after inch if himself becoming lost in her. She moaned, and pushed back a little, forcing him deeper. Then he plunged the whole of it into her. Slapping her rear with his pelvis and causing her to gasp with pleasure. He moaned as he felt her muscles at her entrance contract around him, and push him out slightly, he shoved back, seating himself firmly into her, and they both moaned at the same time. -- Tears flowed down Hyandai's face, hearing him pleasure this wicked creature, and then hearing him begin to let himself enjoy it, she was not a jealous woman, and jealousy was not what she felt. Had it been a kindly woman, or deserving, or decent, she would not really be angry at all. But Sorcha was a evil, vindictive thing, and was doing this only to hurt her, and it worked. She was upset that he, right now, was enjoying a pleasure of that woman, that she, herself, had not granted the man she loved. -- He grunted with each thrust, getting more and more aggressive with each trust. "Yes. Harlen. give. me. your. anger." She said as his manhood slid into her and his legs and stomach and hips slammed into her rear and legs, forcing the air from her with each push and impact. He groaned as he felt another orgasm fill him, then pour out of him in a wave, shaking him to his feet and causing him to nearly fall over her back. His come poured into her, and she received it to her womb. She gasped when she felt it. "I feel your seed, my lover." She said. "Warm and slick, and most welcome." She reached back with one hand and petted his hair. "How pent up that was, my lover." She soothed. "You really needed that release. I could feel it." Sweat was running off his brow and from the tips of his bangs. It dripped onto her back, and beaded on her oiled skin into tiny mirrors. She slipped off of his still engorged cock. "You will have many chances tonight, Harlen of Morrovale to spill your seed deep into me. I will accept it from you, and let it fill me." She smiled and caressed his cheek with her still-cool fingers. She started to step down into the water and beckoned to him. He followed and she swam back from him as she reached the depth of it.T It came only to his lower chest, but he swam after her, and they met under the waterfall. They stood, the water pouring over them. She kissed him again, and giggled when he nuzzled her neck and kissed it. "Now, you're starting to play your part, my lover." She said. His breathing was faster now, and somewhat labored. She gasped as he lifted her in the water, and pinned her to the wall of the pool. "Already another time?" She asked, mock dismay in her eyes. "If you insist." Harlen lifted his mouth from her neck. "I do." He said, and pushed into her. The water had pulled away much of her lubrication, but he forced it into her, and she gasped as it spread her open. -- The elf, dangling from chains, not far away, cried openly and harshly, her face twisted in hate for the creature seducing her man, taking his seed, and stealing his kisses. -- "Playing rough this time, are we?" She said, and drug her sharp fingernails through his scalp. He gasped and pulled his head back, exposing his neck to her. She dove in with her teeth and bit his throat, gently dragging her teeth along it. His groan this time was deeper, and more real. She exhaled a little with each thrust of his thick cock, and folded her legs around his waist. She was now moaning gently with each push into her, and she had forgotten his neck, instead simply holding him with her hands on his head and shoulder, and her feet pressed into his back, pulling him into her more forcefully. He started grunting with each thrust and she knew he was about to have another climax. "Give me your come again." She said. "I will never tire of receiving it to me." She clamped down with the muscles of her vagina, and he came almost instantly after that, yelling into the air, and forcing himself deep into her with his last few thrusts, eliciting loud moans and yelps from her. She felt his organ twitching inside her again, and felt his seed spilling into her warmth. "So much." She said. Usually a man is fully spent after two times, and just comes dryly after." She smiled sweetly to him. "Your need must have been great, indeed." She kissed him, gently and lovingly, and he returned it. "Fear not, I will ensure to leave you drained enough you will be able to wait a very long time." Her muscles flexed and twitched around his still embedded cock, and pulled on it, and massaged it back to life, it came up again, much to Harlen's surprise. She sighed as his manhood slowly refilled her. "You are a stallion!" She said excitedly. "And after three times already?" Her body writhed against him and she moaned as his organ regained full proportions. "You may dislike me, my lover, but your body seems to differ in opinion." -- Hyandai's rage made her shake, and her sadness made her weak. She felt the blood on her legs drying and the small pieces of meat falling out of her with sickening slowness as her shameful position held her open to the yawning pit. She wished she could slip these shackles and fall into it with the unholy spawn that fell from her. She looked down as pieces of herself and her child fell down the hole, imagining distant wet noises of it hitting, and maybe of tiny twitching of little muscles trying to find security again. -- She was really quite sensual, Harlen admitted to himself, and damn talented in some areas. He was enjoying it, and he hated that. Those muscles inside her and the coy cinnamon scent was driving him upward, and he was again ready to ride her again. "Not in the water this time." He said, and pulled her off his upright pole. He carried her to the bed and laid her upon it. She slid back and laid down. He crawled up onto her, and between her bent knees. "So much energy, Harlen, you will surely make your woman happy." She said, putting her arms around his waist. He aimed himself into her, and pushed in with one smooth stroke. Her wetness was amazing, and her muscles immediately began kneading him again. He began to lay into her, and pounding in and pulling out fast. She moaned as he picked up tempo, and began to give her hard fast strokes. She arched up to him and put her long, perfect legs around him. "Ride me, mina'mael, and bring me to that high place." She said. He redoubled his efforts, slamming his pelvis into hers with enough force to make a loud slapping sound and move her up the bed an inch or two. After a minute of this she felt her own orgasm taking her, and filling her. She tensed her back, and gripped him hard with arms and legs. When she came, it was like a white fire burning through her, and she yelled with a passion, and released rage, and vented hatred. She groaned after, but kept her arms and legs around him, then started helping him again. "My lover." She said, lifting herself to kiss him as the thrust into her and she bounced up with each impact of his pelvis and piercing with his cock. "Your seed is mine again, I feel it coming to me." She said as his orgasm approached. "I happily greet it and I welcome it to my body. Give me what you have brought." He yelled when he came this time, too, losing his control and yelling "Sorcha!" As he exploded into her. His toes dug at the blankets, trying to gain purchase to push himself deeper into her, and his hands clamped onto her shoulders and forced her down onto him. He slowed after he spent into her a third time, and a fourth if you count the quick first time into her waiting mouth. So muscular and controlled was her entrance, that when he pulled forth, not a single drop of his seed came out, despite him having fed it three times to her. -- "Damn you, you bitch!" Screamed Hyandai at the blank walls, hearing her ugly voice bounce back at her made her flinch. She screamed incoherently, then yelled. "Get your talons off my man!" The man in the leather harness twitched a bit at that, and turned his head toward her. He tilted it slightly. "You can hear me?" Hyandai yelled loudly. He slowly nodded, as if trying to remember the motion after long neglect. "That bitch is bedding my man." She yelled. She did not expect the doomed man before her to really care, but it was telling someone, and that felt a bit good. The man felt about himself and found the table. He felt the top of it and then found a somewhat clean spot on it with his fingers. He pulled the sharp narrow knife from his arm and dropped it on the floor. Blood dripped from the wound, and he dipped his finger in it. His hand found the spot again and he began to write, clumsily, and very poorly, but he was writing. She looked hard at the letters he spelled out. It said "OLD CRONE." He waited a moment, then smeared his hand into the blood on his arm and blotted out the writing. He then knelt and felt around to find the knife, and with infinate patience slipped it back into the hole she had made in stabbing him with it. Hyandai cried at the amazing will it must have taken to defy the Sorceress like he just had. She yelled. "Thank you." To him. He nodded. Then he held up one hand in the air, fingers upward and the other hand back and finger down, his mouth open as if singing. She saw his tongue was missing, to the root. A sound like someone being strangled emerged from him, with nothing to modulate it. She looked at him a moment, then asked. "You want me to sing?" in a loud voice. He nodded enthusiastically, and sounds came from his throat that sounded happy, somehow. She smiled in pity for the wretch, and cried, too. "I will do so." She yelled. -- Sorcha rubbed her swollen and tender labia with one hand while she closed her legs. She rolled to the side and said. "Lie by me a moment, and rest, my prize stallion." She said. He laid down, but found he was not tired. "You are a masterful lover, Harlen." She said, cooing over him, and smiling wide. Her hand ran down his chest and belly and fondled his, for the moment, flaccid manhood. "I've never been taken that many times in a row by one man." She said, her eyes far away. "Either you really, really needed that, or you find me more desirable than your mouth will admit." She said, teasing him. "Which is it?" He thought for a moment. "I suppose the former." He said. "Though I admit that I find you more pleasurable than I would have thought." He smiled at her. She beamed, and kissed him, long and deeply, giving him the measure of her tongue, then taking his. "I am glad to hear it." She said. "You attracted me from the start, with your muscles and your will, and your loyalty." Hyandai tilted her head back and let forth her elven voice. She relaxed herself, as she did not even need to try to stand, she was not moving anyway. She increased her volume to accommodate her audience of one. The sound filled the chamber, even setting one of the chains to vibrating in harmonic sympathy. At first she had thought to sing a sad song, to suit her mood, but this man needed none of that, sadness he had aplenty. She instead sang a song of joy, the song elves often sang at a elder's two-hundredth birthday, or at a child's first. The Song of Your Day, it was called, and tried to recall all the joys that were common to all, and could be enjoyed by all. As she sang it, she wept, and she rejoiced in its beauty. The man looked rapt, staring directly at her, having found her face by the sound of her voice. His eyes were blind, but he knew where she hung. A smile was on his abused and tormented face, and he wept, she could see, tears ran from the corners of the plate where they were not totally secure, tears with blood. She let this happy ballad take her, and she listened not to the sounds coming from another place, she only heard the words she uttered, and the joys of life she summoned from beyond those filth-stained walls. It struck her then what was being done wrong, not just by herself, but by all the elder race. She saw it clearly now, and she saw the answer. Her voice redoubled with that epiphany, and it reverberated through the room, and many of the chains now hummed along, providing a metallic counterpoint to her perfect pitch. -- Harlen kissed Sorcha again, passionately and willingly. She was beautiful, and definitely wanted him, without hesitation. He felt himself rise again, and he could almost hear lovely music in his ears as he did so. The sound was beautiful and, though terribly faint, filled his mind for a moment. It lasted only a minute or two, but it was lovely. "That was pretty, how did you do that?" Harlen asked the witch. She smiled at him. "Do what?" She asked. "I thought I heard music, in my mind or very faintly." He replied, kissing her again. She nodded. "I suppose it was just the time to hear music." She said, as she hugged herself to him, and looked worriedly at the door. He said. "I've another type of music I wish to hear now, your sighs." Slid between her legs and she smiled. "That tune, I'll play all night for you." She replied, opening herself to him. As he entered her with a loud moan on his lips, she pressed to his ear. "And for as long as you like after, if you wish to stay." He grunted as he measured her depth, then said. "I cannot stay, but after I take the elf to her wood, I can return, perhaps." He said, smiling down at her. The witch nodded. "That would be very kind of you, to see her safely home." She said. "You are a dear man." She kissed him, and pulled him into her. "Now, be kind, and dear, and bring me safely to my climax, my stallion." She said, and he obliged. -- Hyandai no longer wept, hanging in those chains. She was no longer wroth, either, at the witch or at her man. She simply bided her time. The fat man was still standing, but had applauded loudly her song, and smiled happily now. -- Through the night, and with Hyandai listening, they made love over and over. He took her in every way the two could imagine, and she accepted him into her. She cooed over him, and he was now fussing over her, complimenting her and caressing her. She kissed him and he kissed her. They took pleasure in each other and gave it to one another, as well. It was a very long night, and they did not sleep until the sun brightened the sky of morning. -- Hyandai even fell asleep before that time, relaxed now in her heart. When the metal door opened, the witch stepped in. "Good morrow, elf." She said in a lofty, self-assured voice. The elf, her eyes clear, and her mind sharp said, "Good morrow, Sorcha." She looked around. "I heard you enjoying my man." She smiled sweetly. "I have much to look forward to, I think." The witch looked at her oddly. "Do you? My understanding is that you will be going home now." She said, giving her an icy stare. "And you will need a couple of days to mend from my tender ministrations, just enough time to ride home." Tossing her hair back, Hyandai said. "This is probably true. But there is the future." She said, smilingly. The witch released her ankles, and looked up at her. "Your night sounded eventful. I heard you serenading my man here." She said, poking the fat man. He started, as if he had been asleep on his feet. Hyandai said. "I know not how eventful hanging in irons can be for one, but I did feel the urge to sing, if your man heard it, he acted like he was deaf." She regarded the man in leathers. Sorcha started to crank down Hyandai and when she was just over the height of the rim, she reached out and pulled the elf to the edge, then hit a button. She fell to the floor as the chains instantly lost all tension and she fell forward onto the gore-covered tiles. The witch released the manacles and helped the elf to her feet. "Well, stand, I must make sure we got all the little devil out of you." She said. Hyandai opened her legs with pins and needles through them and her pained arms. Sorcha stuffed two fingers deep into her sore opening, and felt about, then pressed them deeper still. Hyandai gasped as she probed something very sensitive. "We got it all, or should I say them all." She said. "You're lucky, orcs don't come in singles." She said. "You had three of the brutes in you. It must have been one impressive specimen that tore your hole apart." Hyandai ignored the comment, and smiled sweetly at the witch. "It is over now, and I will not dwell there any longer." She said, happily. "I thank you for your services, Sorcha." She bowed low. Sorcha blinked a couple of times, then opened the door. "Dress and come out when you are ready." She said, and led the fat man out, pulling the cord that twisted and separated his sagging testicles. The elf did as told, and quickly donned her clothes. She opened the door and stepped into a small room, bereft of furniture and sparingly lit. Harlen was standing in a outside doorway, the midday light pouring through it. He was speaking quietly to Sorcha. They both looked over at her and then spoke some more. Hyandai walked toward them, with her head high, and a bright smile on her pretty face. "Good morrow, my love." she said to Harlen, who was somewhat bemused, but smiled back. "Good morrow, Hyandai." He said. She giggled. "Sorcha told me you performed admirably last night, thank you." She said. "I know it was harder than giving up simple money." Harlen blinked, then said. "Well, sure, it wasn't so bad, I guess." He looked at Sorcha who looked just as confused as he did. She took his hand, and started out the door. "Ooh, I almost forgot something." She said, turning about. "Sorcha made me promise to tell you something." She grinned widely at Harlen. "A small thing really." She inhaled deeply. "I need to let you know, that since I was in your mind that once, I can reenter it any time I like." She said, giving him a hard look, then a hateful one at Sorcha. "You can what?" He said, looking startled. She nodded. "It does not really matter, though, because it sounds like you will be taking me home, then coming back here." She giggled. "So I will not be seeing you much, I guess." Harlen looked stunned. "How did you..." "Sorcha has a loose tongue," Hyandai said, smiling sweetly, "among other things." She cast a glance at the witch that could have frozen boiling oil. "You can read my mind?" He said, sounding worried. She grinned. "Yes. Like NOW." She said, and leapt into his head. She forced herself into it, shoving his will aside like a sack of feathers. His will had been weakened by Sorcha somehow, she felt his soul and pushed it out towar those golden eyes, her eyes, elven eyes. Harlen felt his mind pulse as she entered him. The there was the sensation of falling, and he saw nothing before him but a beautiful shade of gold, and he fell into it. Suddenly he was in Hyandai's body. He felt her pain in her womb, and her aching arms and legs. His heart broke for her, and what she had suffered while he took pleasure in Sorcha's soft body. He turned to look at Sorcha and nearly screamed. That was no beautiful girl, but a twisted woman, if woman it was. She was withered beyond years, and had a hateful visage of black eyes that glittered with malice. She looked stunned, if he could read any expression on that inhuman face, with it's fangs and lidless eyes. "You deceitful elven SLUT!" Screamed Sorcha. Lunging for her body. Hyandai, in Harlen's powerful body, but possessed of an elven quickness of thought, smashed a fist into the crone's chest, sending her reeling back into the room. Harlen, in Hyandai's body, pulled the door shut. Hyandai then rammed a dagger through the handle and into the jamb. With a glance at one another they both ran. They both ran as hard as they could, and they did not slow for the full mile, hearing the wailing of rage and anger behind them. As they slowly padded onto the road, both breathing hard, they looked at each other and fell into their arms. Harlen looked at himself. "Now this is weird." He heard Hyandai's voice say. Hyandai looked down at him and said. "It is indeed." she heard him say. "I was not sure it would work." "Am I going to be able to get back into my head?" He asked her. "Or did we just switch roles permanently?" He said, looking somewhat worried. "I don't think I'll make a good woman." She smiled down at him. "Nor I a man." She giggled. Causing Harlen to laugh. She said. "Give my your eyes." Harlen said. "One moment, my lover." And pulled himself down and kissed himself, and not gently. Then he let his head go. "Okay. I just wondered." He looked downward. "Damn, but that feels odd." He said. Hyandai got a very odd expression on his face. "Yes, yes, it does feel odd. How do you walk when it is like that?" "Nevermind that, get me back where I belong." He said. She giggled again. "Okay, okay." She then stared into his eyes, or her own, it was all very confusing. She jumped back into her own eyes, pouring herself into them like water. As she felt her mind filling, she pushed on Harlen to go back to his own mind, and fall into the blue ones. He went, willingly enough, but left a kiss on her mind. They both wiped the blood from their noses. Then Harlen said. "Ok, now what was that about mind reading?" He asked. Hyandai grimaced. "I can read you mind when I look into your eyes, if I wish." She said resignedly. Harlen said. "Oh." He thought for a moment. "Okay." Shrugged, then walked toward town. "That is all?" She said, slightly peeved. "Okay?" She chased after him. "Yeah." He said over his shoulder. "There's nothing there I would ever mind you knowing." She smiled happily. "I am glad to hear it." He put his arm over her shoulder, smiled at her, then kissed her. "You can know anything in my head, and I offer it freely to my lover." He said. "What about Sorcha?" She said, mockingly. "I think, perhaps, we will talk about that another time." He said, looking at the sky. "I hope you don't hold what a witch made me do against me." She put her arm around him and hugged him close. "I do not." She said. "I feel sorry for her, in a way. She tried to ensorcel your mind. But I had already been there, and she tried to win your heart, but I already had it." He laughed. "Well, I still would rather not think about it for a while." He said. They walked toward Morrovale, with more bounce in their steps than either had in many days.