Message-ID: <53464asstr$1144390201@assm.asstr.org>
From: Shalon Wood <dstar@pele.cx>
Subject: {ASSM} New Age Dawning 2 (Ff rom fantasy viol blood)
Lines: 283
Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2006 02:10:01 -0400
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Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
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Standard disclaimers apply; this story may or may not contain, in any
given part, graphic depictions of lesbianism, homosexuality, group sex,
bdsm, underage (teen) sex, magic, occultism, violence, and biting 
sarcasm.  If you're underage, or if for any other reason it's illegal 
for you to read this, or you're disturbed by the content, please don't 
read it.

Archived at http://pandora.pele.cx, and we've got a web-forum at
http://playground.pele.cx/forums as well, for discussion of both
Pandora and our other stories. 

Comments *greatly* appreciated.

Enjoy,

Velvet
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Adara twisted, trying not to land on the girl. She succeeded, but the two
of them were rolled over and over more than once as the ground shook
wildly. Finally, the tremors ended, and only a fiery glow in the sky showed
where the tower once was.

The girl sat up, rolling off of Adara. "Sorry," she said, looking dazed.

Adara shook her head. "No problem."

The girl just sat there in the dirt, blinking, her dark hair falling about
her like a cloak. "We're out of the tower," she said, her tone holding
disbelief. "It's gone. _He's_ gone."

Adara nodded.

Bright green eyes looked at her in confusion. "So... what happened? Why
aren't I dead? Why... you're... you _were_ his guard, why did you let me--"
She broke off, swallowing hard and looking a bit ill. "Why did you let
me... kill him?"

"He deserved it," Adara said simply.

"I... I can't say I disagree, but _how_? What's happened to me? I died, I
know I died!"

Adara shrugged. "Don't know."

The girl looked miserably at the ground, rubbing at the drying blood on her
arms. "I don't know what to do now," she said quietly.

Adara shrugged again. "Live."

The whispered answer was almost too quiet to hear, "for what?" She shivered
in the chill air, then straightened up, seeming to draw a bit of strength
from somewhere. "I'm Rhishandri Dei. Who are you and why did you save me?
I... I don't think my family would pay much of a reward for my return, but
they might."

Once more, Adara shrugged. "Adara. Didn't like what he was going to do to
you. Couldn't stop him."

"So you know what it is he did?" Rhishandri asked eagerly. "What he... made
me?"

The woman shook her head regretfully. "No. Just knew he was going to kill
you."

Rhishandri looked down again, shoulders slumping. "He did. I thought he
did. I'm not sure anymore." She took a deep breath. "Well. I... I seem to
be alive. And I owe you. I'm not certain my family would pay for my return.
My father did take the Mage's gold for me. But... I am still a virgin, so
still worth something as a bride, so they may, especially since the Mage
won't be coming to reclaim his... property." She shivered, then asked,
"Will you take me to them?"

Adara tilted her head, looking at the girl, and asked, "Why go back?"

"I... what else could I do?" she asked, looking confused. "I have nothing,
not even clothes. I haven't any skills beyond those of a lady. I have no
way to even buy food, let alone repay you for your help, unless I--" She
blushed, ducking her head, then continued reluctantly, "Unless I were to...
to sell my body for coin."

With a snort, Adara grabbed the bag. "Here." She unfolded the cloth,
splitting the items quickly into two piles, and motioned to one of them.
"There."

Rhishandri stared at it for a moment, then shook her head, pushing it back
towards Adara. "No. I didn't earn this. And even if I did, no one would
ever believe it wasn't stolen. I doubt I would survive long in gaol. A girl
alone... one like me, not a warrior like you... with no one to speak for
her, has only one place in this world. I... that's a place that scares me
enough that I'd rather go back to my father's home and take whatever
husband he finds for me than live like that." She sighed deeply. "I don't
know what else to do."

"You earned it," Adara insisted. "You killed the bastard."

The girl shuddered at the reminder. "They would still say it was stolen,
that I could not have earned it honestly, and that is the truth. At best, I
would be imprisoned, possibly indentured as a laborer for the rest of my
life. At worst... they would take my hands, and I would be reduced to
begging for every scrap, unless I could find a way to bring about my death
sooner."

Adara snorted again, amused at the girl's innocence. "You don't show it all
at once. Just a little."

Rhishandri looked at the pile again. "Even the smallest piece is worth a
noble's ransom, even for only the gems themselves, never mind that they
glow with magic."

Adara shrugged. "No one bothers me..."

Rhishandri grinned, suddenly looking like the young girl she was. "I bet
they don't! They wouldn't dare. And fighters, mercenaries, always have
strange items, especially these days. My father's men were always bragging
about the loot they got from their battles."

"See?" Adara nodded. "No problem."

The girl shook her head. "I'm not like you. I don't think I could look like
a mercenary even with full armor and a knife between my teeth."

Adara grinned. "Just look dangerous."

Rhishandri sat in the dirt, tiny and naked and surrounded by hair, and
laughed. "Easy for you to say!"

Adara shrugged. "Learn how." Then she smirked. "Bend iron. That'll do it."

The girl sobered. "I'd forgot about that. But... that would get me hunted
and killed, not just feared. There are few creatures who can look like me
and still _do_that sort of thing, and all of them are... evil. Everybody
knows that."

"Use a staff. Strong enough, even without training."

"To do what?" Rhishandri asked. "Fight everyone who tries to kill me? I may
have to, or something like it, if I can't hide this strength."

Adara shook her head. "After some fights, word'll get around that you're
dangerous. Then, no more trouble." She grinned, revealing sharp teeth.
"Except for idiots who want the challenge."

Rhishandri looked down. "I... I've never fought anyone. I don't even know
how to start."

"Use the staff, knock the sword out of their hand. Easy."

"If it were that easy, people wouldn't be willing to pay others to do it
for them."

Adara shrugged. "Most aren't as strong as you."

The girl still looked skeptical. "My father's weapon's master isn't strong,
either. He's this little half-ForestFolk man, not much taller than me, and
not strong enough to lift a great-sword, and yet he's never been defeated.
Strength isn't everything."

Adara grinned again. "True. But it's a start."

Rhishandri shivered again, then wrapped her arms around her knees and
sighed. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's not your problem. I shouldn't bother
you with it." She sighed again, tiredly. "I hoped that my father might have
had a reward for you, so that you would be repaid for helping me, that is
all. I... I don't even know if I could go back, anyway. I _did_ die, I'm
sure of it. His other... creatures... collapsed. I may do so, too." Her
tone was odd; half afraid, half hopeful, as if it'd just be easier to cease
to exist.

Thoughtful, Adara studied her, then shook her head. "If you did, something
went wrong. He couldn't control you."

"I couldn't control me, either," the girl said woefully. "I... barely
remember what happened, but I... all I felt was rage and... and... hunger,"
she finished in a frightened whisper.

"Hmm," Adara said. "Vampire, maybe. Or related, anyway."

Rhishandri licked her lips, tasting dried blood. "That's... sort of what
I'm afraid of. If... if so... I can't go near my family. I can't go near
_anyone_. If I lose control again, I may hurt someone. _Kill_ someone.
Someone not like him, someone who doesn't deserve to die."

Adara looked at her for a long moment, assessingly. The girl was no older
that thirteen or fourteen, she judged, and even if she hadn't admitted to
it, her soft skin and delicate little body marked her as pampered,
protected nobility as plainly as if it'd been branded on her forehead.
Despite her efficient dispatching of the necromancer, she was quite
obviously no killer. Even if her new nature made it a necessity, she wasn't
the type who could handle it easily. She would probably, Adara decided
after a moment's thought, end up dead, either through unwillingness to do
what needed to be done or by her own hand. Or, even worse, she'd end up
some Mage's toy. Adara frowned. "Hmm. Yeah, problem," she murmured.

The girl's lips firmed resolutely, and she shook her head. "I'm sorry; I'm
doing it again. It's my problem, and I'll just have to deal with it. You
saved me, and I thank you. I wish you'd take all of this, though, because I
do owe you, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay it. Then... "
She trembled as she spoke, obviously frightened, but her spine remained
straight, her little chin tilted up stubbornly. "Then you should leave me
and get far away. I don't know when... it.... might happen, or what I might
do when it does."

Adara couldn't help but laugh. She looked so stubborn, so determined to do
the right thing, even though she obviously had _no clue_ how she was going
to survive. It was... cute, really. "I'm not worried," she said with a
smile, then looked deliberately thoughtful. "I guess you could stick with
me for a while, if you want."

She didn't miss the quick flicker of absolute gratitude and relief that
passed across Rhishandri's face before the girl shook her head and said,
"N...no. I might hurt you. He was a powerful Mage. I don't even know what
he might have built into me. I'll be fine alone."

The woman chuckled. Sure she would. And she was just shaking like that
because she was cold, too. Right. "I'm not worried," Adara repeated.

"You're... you're strong. Amazingly so. But if I'm a..." Rhishandri
swallowed hard, her eyes full of fear. "A monster, I might do anything. You
can't be awake 27 hours a day. How could you possibly trust me?"

Adara admired the girl's determination, but she wasn't going to abandon
her. It would be like tossing a kitten in a raging river. So she needed to
show her that her sacrifice wasn't necessary. She held up one hand, palm
vertical, and said, "Hit me."

Rhishandri blinked, shocked. "What?"

"Hit me." She moved her palm, motioning to it with her other hand, to show
the girl what she meant.

The girl licked her lips again, and this time little fangs showed plainly.
"If you really want me to, I guess... " Hesitantly, she struck Adara's
palm. She was obviously pulling her blow, but still connected with more
force than a human could manage at full strength.

Adara's hand didn't move. "You can hit harder."

Rhishandri, a bit startled by the force of the first blow, tried again,
carefully but harder, and Adara's hand still didn't move. Her eyes got
huge, glittering green with little gold flecks in the moonlight. "How?" she
asked.

Adara smiled. "Not human."

"I can see _that_, but you're alive... you're warm. So you can't be a
vampire." She met Adara's eyes nervously. "You... don't look like a demon."


Adara grinned. "Not. Like a vampire, but different." She stood, walking
over to a nearby tree. "You'll need a staff," she said, as if their
traveling together was already decided. She found a  branch about two
inches in diameter, snapped it off, then snapped off the other end, and
held it out. "Here."

The girl stood up, shivering again as she exposed her body to the chill
wind. She hesitated a moment, then took it, accepting Adara's help along
with the make-shift weapon.

"Mmm. Try not to hit things too hard," Adara said thoughtfully. "Might
shatter. Somebody jumps us, I'll enchant it."

Rhishandri held it, awkwardly, never having held a weapon in her life.
"Very well."

Adara tied the sack of loot back up and slung it over her shoulder. "C'mon.
Let's get to town."

The girl took a few steps, following her, then stopped. "Um. I'm naked and
covered in blood. People will panic."

Adara nodded. "We'll find a stream," she said reassuringly, and they
started towards the dim glow of the nearby town.

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If you like this, you might want to take a look at Strange Love, an
e-zine of sf/fantasy/paranormal erotica. The first issue is on sale
now for $2 at:

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Take a look!

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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