Below Ground: Chapter 4 - Soap

[anonymous]

Below Ground: Chapter 4 - Soap (FF,oral,cons,fant)

by Dark Genesis (dante_dd@hotmail.com)

Starring: Michelle Trachtenberg, Leelee Sobieski, Sandra Bullock, Britney Spears

"I've watched over them for a while now, ever since they left Ferumi to find the woman who made them celebrities again. Even after traveling all the way around this whole island, they still wouldn't give up, and now they knew exactly where to go. But I'm still afraid, the warlock might turn on them any second. If they'd face enemies that were dear to him, he would have to choose a side, the ones that betrayed him or the dear memories of the past. I could have gone with them, but I think it would have made Cain feel even more guilty that he felt now, but it was his choice to either tell Leelee the truth, or not."

The warlock and two actresses continued their way toward the east, they left the village of Rowanbranch to finally meet up with the famous Lady LaDermot. Michelle and Leelee had been through one hell of a ride, their way to the east had been the longest way around, with something always getting in the way, the latest delay was to find the council of Kerubia, that consisted of warlocks superior to others, lead by one of Michelle's old friends from the surface, they had successfully found the council and found out the exact location of the writer, in the town of Freez, which only warlocks dared to enter. Well, the stars were with a warlock, that was enough for them anyway, on the path to Freez, there were no other towns and the path was long and dangerous, but fighting off the danger, the party kept closing in on the town high up on the mountain. For two days they walked the rocky path, without sleep or any rest, they just walked thinking that in time they would reach their destination, where they would stay for a long time to recover their strength. But only a day's travel away from Freez, they stopped into a cavern to get some sleep, Leelee was too tired to go on like this, and it wouldn't hurt for Cain or Michelle to rest either.

In the light of the fire, Leelee fell asleep on her blanket in no time. Cain and Michelle didn't sleep, they just sat there, resting their feet from the walking.

"So close, yet so far... we'll make it there by tomorrow, right?"

"What your friend showed us on the map, yeah we should be there tomorrow."

Michelle nodded tiredly and took a blanket out of her bag. "You're not going to sleep, are you?" Asked Cain.

"No, I'm just not gonna sit on a cold rock until the princess over here wakes up." She put the blanket under her and sat back down.

Cain looked at Leelee, her face glowing in the light of the dancing fire. "... Now that I think of it... how is it cold up here?" Wondered Michelle.

"... You're right, it's kind of chilly. Which is odd... the only place I've felt this cold was in the dwelling, and that was after we... well, it was the water."

"Right, but... the air here shouldn't be any colder here than anywhere else, in fact it should be a lot warmer since we're closer to the cocoon that keeps us from frying..." Michelle got up and walked to the entrance of the cavern, looking east toward the mountain they were headed to, seeing the ocean of magma flowing behind it. "I guess we'll find out more about that when we reach Freez, the warlocks might be behind it after all."

"No doubt..." Michelle returned to the cavern and sat down to warm her hands in the fire, the air did seem to be getting colder.

"So... what did you and Amber talk about?"

"Just stuff. What's up there, what's happening up there... pretty much just about the surface."

"... Really? What did she tell you?"

"Nothing that important, things are going well and we shouldn't worry about that place anymore, we live here and there's no way up or down." He didn't tell her about the final fate of the surface, though. It would have just made her worry, and besides she'd know when they would see the rays of the sun shining down on them. She was going to find out, one way or another, but he didn't want to be the one to tell her. "You seemed pretty weird back there... just like in the forest. You tend to get like that sometimes, I just can't figure out..." Michelle was quickly cut off by Cain. "I cheated on her..."

Michelle didn't at first realize that he was talking about Leelee, but once she did... "Are you out of your mind? What the hell were you thinking? No, forget all that, but with who?"

"Claire... Amber... you."

He had done it again, it was like he wasn't even in control of himself, it seemed more like his body was in control of his mind, the brain said stop and the torso didn't give a shit. Michelle looked at him, disappointed in him... and herself. She laid down on the blanket and closed her eyes, escaping the horrible reality into her own mind. Cain didn't sleep, he kept watch for some beast to show up, but he was left alone for the whole night.

Some people did get to their goal and see what they expected to see, and then there were the disappointed winners that didn't get anything, and they were very, very loud.

"Well... what can I say? The guy was mad after all..."

"SHUT UP!" Screamed Britney, sitting on the stairs leading up to a statue of the god of air, holding her head and almost squishing it from anger.

"That shouting ain't gonna help us. There's gotta be something of value in here, besides we were the first ones to enter the temple of air, Brit! Think about what that felt like."

The singer just looked at the bartender angrily, almost ready to claw him to death, but she refrained from that action, settling for getting up, walking up the stairs and starting to kick the statue of the ikarian furiously, screaming words that anyone didn't want to hear. The temple wasn't that different from the one dedicated to water, only some of the murals were different, there was only one door and of course the statue was different.

"Instead of ripping that poor statue apart, why won't you join me in trying to figure out what to do next?"

Hearing this didn't calm the singer down, it just made her worse. "Join you? How about 'fuck you'? I'm not going anywhere with you, where you're headed, or anything that has to do with you! I've climbed a fucking impossible-to-climb-mountain for the last few days just because you said that you have a plan! My clothes are all torn up, my whole body is sore as hell, my throat is hurting from the drought, because you forgot to bring along more water! So NO, get it? No!"

Suddenly the heard a loud sound, like a rock smashing into tiny pieces. A giant gate of stone dropped in front of the exit, blocking it completely. Britney didn't say anything, she just calmly walked back to the stairs and sat next to the bartender.

"Well... you were right about one thing. You're not going anywhere."

Britney sighed and dug up the last bottle of water she had from her bag. "Might as well finish this now, it was supposed to be our only way out, but now that we'll die in here..." She took a long swig from it and put it on the step.

"... How long have we been sitting in here?"

"I dunno... about half an hour maybe?" Calculated Britney.

"No... no, we've been here much longer, 'cause my ass is completely numb."

"Great, real charming, keep that up and you'll end up with a big flock of women..."

"No-no, I'm serious." The bartender got up from the stairs, and walked to the gate. He tried to push it off the exit but like he had thought, it was too heavy.

"That won't do any good... numb-ass..." Muttered Britney.

Suddenly the guy noticed something in the air... a foul stench coming from his bag. He opened the bag and took out a piece of bread. "How old was that bread we bought from that town again?"

"It was fresh, but that can't be the same bread, it should last for at least four days or so for it to go bad and it's been only a day since we bought it."

"Yeah, I noticed that. But it's the same bread and it's rotten..." The bartender looked at Britney, waiting for her to figure it out. "... Meaning... what?"

"... Time's running. Time is moving forward very fast." He looked around and walked to the statue.

"OK, calm down now. I know it's a cliche and all, but please stop using it here. 'Life is short' bla bla bla, what's your point?"

"No, not that. Time is moving much faster here than it is out there, don't you get it?"

Britney wasn't that sure he was that sane either, but she was willing to give him a chance or two. "And you figured this all out from... a piece of bread?"

"Yeah! It's amazing, isn't it? Of course it might mean that we're just going to die more earlier, but..."

Britney didn't care much for the brilliant ideas of the guy anymore, and she wasn't about listening to any general talk from him either, so she decided to lie down on the stairs and with any luck fall asleep until he'd figure out something that could actually get them out.

The next day, the party in the cavern near Freez started waking up. Cain had kept watch all night and wasn't even a bit tired, he was ready to go on, unlike the rest of his group.

"We're not going yet, sit down Cain." Ordered Michelle, taking some bread out of her bag along with a bottle of water.

"I think we should get going right now, who knows what will catch up with us if we stay here much longer."

"Yeah? Well, who knows what's walking behind that next corner, huh? Maybe it's a dragon again, just passing by until it runs into us and turns our bodies into a pile of ash, ever thought of that?" Smiled Michelle, she was definitely getting more hostile toward Cain, unlike Leelee who just smiled at him as their looks crossed.

"... Fine, but we'll leave as soon as she can walk."

"Oh, I could have walked yesterday, I was just a little drowsy, so I thought it would be for the best if we'd rest up a bit before we meet with the lady. We wouldn't want her to see us in a bad shape, would we?"

"... Or we could have just slept at the inn as soon as we got there and went to see the lady as soon as we got up? Didn't cross your mind?"

"Come on, Cain. Don't be so stuck up, what was the difference in sleeping here or at the inn... except for the cold wind..."

"Now that you mention it, I do feel a little cold... which is very unusual..." Leelee shivered a bit as she put the blanket back into her bag.

"I know, I noticed it last night. We should be warmer here than in the north, but instead we're just colder... maybe we should continue walking?" Suggested Michelle. The others went with her idea, it was getting a little too cold, and since the people of the island had always lived in a more warmers climate, their clothing wasn't that fit for a cold wind either.

They continued walking the path toward the mountain, with haste they rushed through the cold wind that was biting their faces, it was so cold that there weren't even any beasts in sight. As the path got more slippery, Michelle and Leelee noticed that it had some traces of ice on it, which meant that the warlocks were definitely behind this, ice or snow didn't normally exist here. Cain wasn't that surprised about the things he didn't know about anymore, but followed his companion's advice in walking more carefully, so he wouldn't fall down the mountain. Finally they had the gates of Freez in their sight, the flat top of the mountain was surrounded by a wall of stone and the gate seemed heavily guarded, but that wasn't the first thing that caught their eye, it was the snow that was falling down from the cloud above the town, covering the walls, buildings and all of Freez in the white feather-like flakes.

"I didn't think I'd see snow ever again... it's so beautiful." A small tear appeared in Michelle's eye, but it was quickly swept away by the harsh wind that blew from the west. "I don't think they're letting just everyone in, let me do the talking." Cain lead them through the blizzard to the gates where the sturdy guard halted them.

"State your business or be gone." The guard grumbled at them, looking pretty much frozen, he'd probably shatter into pieces. "That wasn't very polite, now was it?" Leelee snapped at the guard.

"Leelee..." Cain tried to calm her down.

"No, I'm not gonna take something like this from a guard as low as him, if we want to go in, we'll go in." As Leelee determinedly ordered the guard to get out of the way, Michelle felt like a proud big sister... although technically she would be the little one.

"OK, OK, sheesh. You would have gotten in without the shouting, miss. I just like to know why someone like yourself was traveling this far for..."

All of them were dumbfounded, wasn't he just shouting at them?

"If it's all the same with you, why the tone?" Wondered Michelle.

"If the young miss happens to have her eyes fully functional and her nervous system intact, you'll notice that we're in the middle of a blizzard. Sure it's much calmer inside the walls, but I have to stand out here without a fire or anything."

Cain waved his hand and a rather big campfire appeared in front of the gate. "Ah, thank you, kind sir. Those warlocks inside would have enough power to burn down the whole mountain if they'd want to, but yet they can't spare any of their magical energy to the man who keeps the beasts out of the town, that is if the mountain could burn, yes? Oh, almost forgot, go right ahead." The guard opened the gate and the party stepped into the white town of Freez, escorted by a gust of snow from the blizzard outside. The gate closed behind them and the feeling of cold slowly dissipated to almost warmth, obviously the snow was kept falling down by the warlocks, so no matter how hot it would get, it would keep snowing.

"I think we should find the inn before we even think about going to see Lady LaDermot, agreed?"

Everyone took Cain's advice and it didn't take long to find the inn from the center of town, as they had suspected, it was completely empty. No normal travelers would come this far unless after something very important, like Michelle and Leelee had gone to look for when leaving Ferumi. Cain was more than glad to have been a part of the group, he had learned more about the world, magic and the warlocks than he could have ever found out by reading books. Still he bore the thought about the thing inside him that he couldn't control, he shouldn't be left alone with the lady after they go to see her, if he'd lose control then... he cleared his head out of such things, and fell asleep in the warm bed of the Pink Bunny Inn. In the other room, Leelee and Michelle were fast asleep, but things were revolving in their subconscious... "What was the warlock thinking? What was he going to accomplish by sleeping around, or traveling with us for that matter... why had he gone with us in the first place?" Michelle didn't have any idea, but she was going to take care of Leelee as long as she could, and she wouldn't do something that cruel to her ever again. "Will she go with us? What if she won't and this whole trip has been in vain... she can't refuse, can she? But meeting Cain was definitely worth it. There's no way this has been for nothing."

The snow never stopped, even as the warlocks were asleep the flakes kept falling on the streets of the town, at the southern part of town, a woman was leaning out of the window, looking at the steady fall of the snow, a smile rising upon her face. "Tomorrow... noon. That OK?" She smiled and closed the window, returning to her bed to get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow would be an exciting day.

The next day, the gang was heading toward the house of the soap queen, but stopped just before entering the street she lived in. "Wait a minute..." Michelle stopped the whole party and started smelling the air. "Canine senses kicking in, Max?"

"She didn't have any dog in her, you should watch the show more carefully... smell that?"

Leelee sniffed the air a bit smelling the same as Michelle was, and this was a good smell. "Thinking?"

"Yeah... Italian?"

"Pizza!"

The girls ran straight into a shop where the smell was coming from, leaving Cain on the street by himself. "What the hell is that? Weren't we supposed to go to Lady LaDermot's house?"

"Yeah-yeah, you go on ahead, we'll catch up later!" Leelee shouted from the doorway, quickly pulled back in by Michelle. Cain wasn't so sure about going in to see her alone, in fact he was more frightened than excited, unlike the girls that were burning a hole in their purses right about now. But he wasn't going to listen to them screaming about some food he didn't know anything about, so taking the chance, he walked to the house of the lady. The door was a bit open, almost as if she was expecting them. So he just walked in, stepping into a cozy hall, connected to a living room. The MT was showing old episodes of The Young And The Reckless, finally they had found a way to emulate the live situation they had done in the first place. The lady of the house wasn't in sight, so he kept searching the first floor, only to find a kitchen and a stairway in addition to the hall and living room. He heard some noises from upstairs, so he went to check if the lady was indeed there or gone about her business, just forgetting to close the door. Of course, doing this he was risking a very awkward situation where the lady was just putting her clothes on or something... the second floor consisted only of the bedroom and the bathroom, out of which he unfortunately happened to enter the bathroom first, where he, like predicted, found himself in an awkward situation, with a naked woman in front of him, holding only a rag in her hand. "... I'm sorry, ma'am... I didn't mean to rush into your house like this..." He immediately started explaining the situation, after turning around of course, but the woman seemed more surprised than frightened. "I'm sorry... who are you?" She asked the warlock, doing something behind his back that he didn't see. "Umm, it's Cain. I've come here from Ferumi with my friends."

"Ferumi? I thought we were at far with... Ferumi, you said?" She pushed Cain away from the doorway and walked calmly past him, now wearing a robe, with the rag in her hand. "Yes, Ferumi... are you expecting someone?"

"Yes, but... I don't think the party had a warlock in it. Even a man for that matter... two girls, actually."

"That's funny, I came here with two girls. Maybe we're your party after all."

"Yeah, well... would you please come into the bedroom so I can see who I'm talking to?"

Cain didn't even notice, he was just standing in the doorway to the bathroom, he walked to the bedroom only to find the robe on the floor and a small pool, with the naked woman in it, which made Cain turn around, just out of good manners. "Well, obviously I might also be in the wrong house, I'm looking for Lady LaDermot, I was told that this was her house."

"Yes, I'm Lady LaDermot, and that shy state of yours is mocking me. That's not who you are, turn around."

Direct and to the point, much like the show she had written, Cain did turn around, but unwillingly. "Sit down anywhere you like." He followed the lady's orders and sat down on one of the chairs near the pool. "I'm not very comfortable with this situation, you must see that..." Noted Cain, but the woman just smiled at him.

"You're worrying too much, it might have something to do with... you've cheated on your wife, am I right?"

"... Does it show?" Cain was stunned by the fact that someone he didn't know could hit that close to the.

"Not to the normal eye, but to me, it seems that you're afraid of something. And by the way, that won't work on me."

Now Cain was even more confused. "What won't work and why?"

"Well, not anymore anyway... the mark of Amare Infractus. The one on your neck." She pointed a spot on Cain's neck, he tried to find some mark from his neck but didn't feel anything. He didn't even know he had a mark like that.

"Don't tell me you didn't know you had it." The lady let out a small laugh but settled for smiling at the warlock when she saw that it was the first time he had heard of it. "There's no mark on me, someone would have noticed. This is the first time I hear about a mark on me."

"Well, buddy... it's there, and it ain't coming off."

Cain looked at the woman feeling like he had just been beat up with a hammer. "On the other hand it's completely possible that the other people haven't seen it, since you never knew it existed, but they can still sense it. The mark of the Broken Heart is given to a child at birth, if your parents didn't tell you about it, it's because they were regretting to have ever put it on you."

"... What does it do?" Cain had a thought from the name of the mark what it was, but he wanted the whole story, not just something he thought by himself.

"It's a message, it has a certain attraction to many women, they don't see it, but they can feel it. Of course, your own feelings have something to do with it too. It's usually given to the only child of a family, to ensure that their blood remains strong through the ages, if you know what I mean."

Cain rubbed his neck, starting to feel the mark, now that he knew it was there. Something that small could do so terrible things... "Why won't it work on you?"

"... I have my reasons. Now I'm pretty sure that you belong to the party sent here by Master Bosco of Ferumi, where are the rest, then? No, wait a minute..." She closed her eyes and rubbed her hands together. Weirdly, Cain didn't feel the same thing he had felt with the other women with this one, she was of the outer world like Michelle had told him, but somehow the mark didn't affect her.

"Don't bother trying no figure out why the mark doesn't affect me, you'd just waste your..." Suddenly her eyes opened and a clarity could be seen through them. "Don't tell me that they stopped at that restaurant around the corner?"

"Touché."

"Ah, they won't be back for a while. There's was this guy in LA who made the best pizzas I've ever tasted, luckily he ended up here too so I don't have to eat the crap the locals eat... assuming that you know about the world above?"

"Yes, I found out recently..."

"Must be weird... might be the same kind of feeling I felt when I noticed that I was lying in the street half naked, it's a murder to be teleported somewhere when you're changing clothes. Speaking of which..." She leaned forward and waved her hand above the plate near the pool. The image from the MT downstairs reflected upstairs.

"Been following the show?" Asked the woman.

"Yeah, I've seen every episode. I saw the latest episode in Non-Solis theater, it's the biggest theater that the show has been transported from."

"Yeah, in Ferumi. I hear the people around here have been quite shocked by the fact that the show's over."

"Over? They think that you're cutting out Rufio and continuing with the rest of the cast."

"Oh shit, that's what I was afraid of, that's what happens when you don't state yourself clearly..." She grabbed the clothing from the floor and left the pool, slipping the robe on.

"So... you getting along with us outsiders well..." As she turned around she found that Cain was once again head toward the wall.

"OK, first of all, you have to cut that out, it makes me feel old."

After agreeing that there would be no more turning of any kind, they went downstairs to get some tea. The local tea was much better than on the surface according to Sandra, the name she had stated for Cain to stop calling her 'lady', but she was a little disappointed that there wasn't any coffee down here. Of course, Cain not knowing what coffee was, he didn't have anything to relate with the subject, but in the end they got along pretty well, even with Sandra wearing only the robe. It took a pretty long time for Leelee and Michelle to pull themselves together and get out of the restaurant, although a little nauseous, they still continued to Lady LaDermot's house, but very slowly. Who knows what a little movement in their stomach would cause.

"... So, then there was the episode where Sylvia suspects that Rufio is a crossdresser and buys him the dress, the red evening gown."

"That gown was very inappropriate I specifically noted in the script that the dress was supposed to be pink with some lace on it somewhere."

"... Lace?"

"Ah, that explains it..."

Michelle and Leelee walked into the house, finding Cain and Sandra in the living room, looking very cozy. "... I think I'm going to vomit..." Leelee rushed outside and Michelle didn't even bother to look, but Sandra and Cain noticed them and were a bit surprised about her behavior. "It's not what you think." Both Cain and Michelle said at the same time.

After a few minutes of cleaning up and getting rid of the expensive food that was now a big puddle outside Sandra's house, they got to talk about why they really came here.

"What did you expect? I've been living with rare meat and dirty vegetables for a while now, you must know what that's like."

"Well, actually no, when I moved here this old friend of mine had been running that restaurant way before I got here, I've tasted the local stuff only once and by mistake. Oh, let me check something, do you see a mark on his neck?" Sandra grabbed Cain's head and bent it back, revealing the mark he had on him.

"Hey, you didn't have that before, did you?" Michelle hadn't seen it, even with the incident in the dwelling, which proved that it hadn't been visible before, too bad she couldn't say anything.

"You can see it? Good, now forget about it."

What was the point in that? Both Leelee and Michelle were totally out of it when it came to the mark of Amare Infractus, but would it still work after Cain knew it was there? Well according to Sandra, it should, but who knows...

"Well, now that we've all done some weird things here, we should get to why we're really here. Master Bosco, who you probably know, has invited you to direct the final episode of the show, and you'd have to come with us to Ferumi in order for this to happen."

Sandra went quiet, she knew that they had headed here, but didn't know why. With the war and all it would be dangerous. Michelle started seeing the 'no' rising upon her face, and she wasn't going to take that.

"OK, here's the deal... we've been through hell for a very long time now. We went through every single obstacle we had, and when more appeared, ones that we wouldn't be able to go through, we circled around them, went under, above, and smashed the obstacles into tiny little pieces. If you say no, I can guarantee you... that we'll never leave here, we'll keep harassing and bothering you until you say yes."

"I didn't say anything yet... I'm not going to refuse, no matter what the case, but getting to Ferumi will be a problem. Do you have any connections that could get us through the southern gate?"

"... No, not really... actually we have no idea how we're going to go back. The war between north and west is still active too, and we can't go upstream with the boat, and besides we can't get up the hole we came down from. We're pretty much without a plan."

"That's what I thought, this means that we'll either have to wait for the war to stop, or come up with a different method of going south."

"Even the most powerful warlocks or witches can't fly, the nearest they can do is float. If we could get upstream from the dwelling of the dwarves, we'd most likely end up at the temple of earth, and from there we could dig our way through the mountain." Suggested Cain.

"... There's one more possibility. Sail the magma." Said Sandra.

"Yeah, that's really funny. Oh look, no ones laughing."

"I'm serious, I'll get the books."

She came back with a whole stack of books and she slammed them all on the table. "This will help us how?" Asked Leelee. "There's a reference to a vessel that could stand the heat of the glowing sea, that's the ocean of magma out there. It's somewhere in the legends of Kerubia..." She looked up a book and started going through it, ending up at a page with a picture of a ship. "Here, the Ikaros. It says that the surface of the vessel was made of stone carved from the depths of the island, that could withstand the heat of the lava, the elves cast a spell around it so the heat wouldn't kill the people traveling in it, and... the ikarians created huge wings on it, so it could move across the sea."

"All races, how were the orcs taking part in this?" Asked Michelle.

"Hold on a sec..." Sandra looked up the right row and there it was. "The orcs... they stole it."

"Naturally, gotta love those disgusting faces of theirs. And with any luck they destroyed the vessel by running it into a rock, am I right?"

"No, the Ikaros couldn't be destroyed, the blessing of the elves protected it from all evil, except the orcs of course, it doesn't say exactly where the ship was buried after they retrieved it from the orcs, but it's something about the altar of elements and there's a dragon guarding it. Simple, activate the elements and wait for the dragon to show up, and kill it. Who wants to be the dragon slayer?"

It was the altar near Rowanbranch, the vessel was buried inside the magma in the cavern where they had fought the dragon. Once the dragon would be killed, the magma would flow into the ravine and reveal the Ikaros, thus giving the slayer of the dragon control of it. Too bad that they weren't exactly equipped to kill a dragon, eh?

"I wonder if we could just throw some snow and it and stab it with knives? Would that work?" Thought Leelee.

"No way, the skin of the dragon can't be penetrated by any weapons, it needs to be killed by a magical being, otherwise it's useless to try."

"And my fingers are pointing at Cain, our arch warlock, always ready to face a fire-breathing slimy horror, aren't ya?"

"I'm not touching a dragon."

"Damn, what's plan B?"

"There isn't a plan B, Michelle. Cain needs to kill the dragon or we don't get forward with our story here, of course if Cain would be able to curse or bless a weapon of some kind, we could have some chances in getting it through the dragon's skin..." Suggested Sandra.

"Yeah, but we'd need like a sword or something, and the only one strong enough to wield one would be Cain, so why use brute force when you can conjure up a lightning or something on the thing from very far away?"

"Well, it doesn't need to be that big, it's just the problem with the weapon and the bearer, you see... in order for the weapon to be either cursed or blessed, it must have some significant importance to the one who wields it, and I don't see any weapons on you guys right now."

There the lady was wrong, Michelle did have the dagger of Julio the thief, and it had gotten her out of few very sticky situations, killed the hydra, cut some ropes, gotten her through a thick forest too, but was Michelle strong enough for a dragon?

"No way, I'm not fighting that thing again." Obviously she resisted.

"Come on, it's the only chance we've got. It's either that or we wait for the war to be over. And it'll be over quick, you just do like with the hydra, right?"

"Oh, you mean stick my hand into it's throat that breathes fire and wait for it to chew? Thanks but no thanks, Cain's gotta do it."

"We'd be a lot better off by the two of us, Michelle. I know you don't want us to be working that closely right now, but trust me when I say that it's over, OK?"

Michelle gave Cain a doubting look, Sandra understood the point, but Leelee was still out of it, although she didn't say anything. Michelle dug up the dagger from her belt and threw it to Cain. "Do your stuff, I'm too full to argue. But make sure it's a bless, not a curse, got it?"

"Yeah-yeah..." Cain left the house for the shrine of the warlocks near the inn. A blessing to a weapon could only be given at a shrine like this, once he would be done with it, the dagger would be able to cut through the core of a mountain. After the blessing, the blade was as cold as ice and stronger than steel, the jewels on the handle were emitting an eerie glow and the weight of the thing was feather-like.

"Wow, that was fast." Cain handed the dagger back to Michelle.

"It doesn't take long if you know what you're doing. Are we off right now?" He was about to walk through the door, but was stopped by Michelle's words. "Hold it, there's been a change of plans."

"We're going to stay here for a while. But just as long as it takes for us to get our strength back, remember?"

"... But that was the old plan, what changed?"

"See this new plan is a mix of the two we've had so far, we rest here and then we head for Rowanbranch and acclaim the Ikaros..."

"... Fine, fine... just fine..." Cain did walk out, but he wasn't going anywhere. The blizzard outside was getting rougher by the hour, the defense originally designed to repel the orcs who hated the cold had been intensified by the wind coming from the temple of air. It was still a mystery how the orcs had disappeared, some say that the beings were killed by other races that were tired of their evil and cruelty, some said that they went underground, hiding in their caves in the mountains of the east, but no one knew for sure. It was also an enigma how the Ikaros could be gotten out of the cavern where it was left, the cavern didn't have an exit that big for a vessel to get out of, that's what it looked from the picture, anyway.

After staying at Freez for a few days, they all started feeling much more stronger and getting the strength to face the dragon in the cavern. Of course the mountain of Crows being far away, they'd still need prepare for a long journey before heading out. Since Sandra hadn't left the town in her whole time down there, she was going to need something more appropriate to wear.

"This? It doesn't even look like clothes, it's more like a piece of very thin cloth that was meant for some dancer in a nightclub or something, one of the things I like about this town is that I can wear clothes that actually keep my body temperature at normal." She threw the shirt back to Michelle who looked quite bothered about what she had heard.

"You're gonna die of a heatstroke if you leave the east wearing that thick, furry... coat?"

"Actually it's a bear. Half a bear if to go into the details, and I'm not taking it off until we reach the theater, thank you very much. Besides, we'll still have a few days of traveling to Rowanbranch, right? It's you who's gonna die of something and it ain't gonna be a heatstroke."

"I know we have a long way to go, but when we get out of the east, you're going to need some other clothes to wear, you know? And trust me, sailing through an ocean of magma isn't going to be very chilly. What are you gonna do, strip naked?"

"I strip naked when I want to and where I want to, there isn't a law on this island that forbids it, remember?"

"My advice: try to refrain from it in other parts of the island, you might be mistaken for one of those girls who wear that thin cloth. They usually don't end up that great."

In the temple of air, the few hours they had experienced inside it, Britney and the bartender had been there for days. It started to look like there was no real way out, but they still managed to remain calm and thoughtful.

"Here. You know what this is?" Britney held up a disgusting and rotten piece of bread that she had soaked in water. "This is my opinion of the brilliant idea of yours to come up to the temple, a lump of shit. Here you go." The singer slammed the mushy lump right on his head. The bartender didn't react much, he was too busy staring at the gate that had locked them in. "Wow, I can't believe how calmly you said that. Normally you would have started mauling me into little pieces and mashed them into some filthy porridge that those miners eat."

"Didn't want to waste the oxygen, besides I'm not that good with cooking."

"... No offense to your intellect, but we are in a temple that emits air. And on top of that, I'm not feeling hungry or thirsty, like everything inside me had stopped."

"Nope, that's just because you've been sitting there too long, probably for a few days now."

"... Oh yeah, that's bad."

"Wait a minute... was that intellect-thing an insult?"

"... Yeah, I think it was."

"Shit, I'll punch you when we get out, right now I'm too tired to do anything."

The bartender laid down on his back, of course the stairs were a bit uncomfortable, but it was all they had. It didn't take long for Britney to follow the example, so there they were.

"Ever see that soap that's been going around down here? What was it, umm... The Young And The Reckless?"

"Yeah, a total rip-off. Why?"

"Not much, just that those girls that play Sylvia and Laurel happened to stop by the bar, just a day before you and I quit."

"Damn, you should have told me, I would've gotten an autograph or something."

"Yeah... what happened to you after that gig, I didn't see you anywhere..."

"A dirty old miner dragged me into the back and paid me a shitload of money for a fuck... well that money's gone now." Smiled Britney, the cash had went into the horse and some equipment to climb the mountain, those and food of course.

"Oh... life sucks, doesn't it?"

"Well, that depends on how you take it. Take it with lots and lots of humor, you'll eventually get by."

"... Maybe we should go to the theater together?" Suggested the bartender, Britney gave him a questioning look. "I'm serious, I hear that the last episode of the show is being transmitted from the Ferumi's Non-Solis."

"You would go and watch a soap opera with me?"

"Yeah, definitely. Why don't we go together? It'll at least give us something to aim for when we'll try getting out of here."

"... Oh yeah, that's due too..."

"... Right... we should probably be getting up now..."

"Yup..."

"... ... ..."

As the couple was resting in the temple, another group didn't have a moments peace, locked inside a carriage pulled by two horses, and with a long road from the west to the south.

"I can't believe we're actually going to the theater in Ferumi! Any of you fellows ever watched the show?" The glow in the thief's eyes was irritating the other prisoners, along with his voice. "There was this skilled thief in the show once, a real nasty one, he had impregnated his father's only son's sister once..."

"GUARD!" The desperate cry of one of the prisoners caught one of the guards attention. "How long until we reach Ferumi?" The tears of agony were running down his cheeks but no consolation was coming from the guard. "We'll be there shortly, but your situation isn't getting any better. They got some nice cells in Ferumi too, too bad there's only two of them, and one's being renovated right now, it won't be done for quite a while. But don't you worry, their nice soundproof walls are much cozier than the ones in Rook." The guard grinned evilly, returning back to his seat, leaving the sad sobbing of the prisoners un-noted.

"... I know it's sad, I do. Instead of getting the acceptance of their father to marry, they put him into prison, and then they put the sister walk down the aisle with some doctor what's-his-face, and afterwards the thief hangs himself in the prison! How cruel is that?"

The party that was ready in Freez was going to sleep on more night in warm rooms of the town. Their bags were packed and the only thing remaining was to have the courage to walk out of that gate, and head for the mountain of Crows, where they'd face the dragon, and hopefully, retrieve the Ikaros to travel back to Ferumi before Bosco would get impatient. Michelle and Cain had already gone to sleep, but Sandra and Leelee were still up, checking their equipment at the house. "No, your bag's just fine to travel through the mountains, it's all good." Sandra had asked Leelee to check if there was anything missing from her bag, since she hadn't been traveling much, but of course there were other reasons too to ask her over.

"Yeah, I thought so. Say, what's the deal with Cain?"

"... What about Cain?"

"You know, seems like a nice guy, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, sure... you could say that."

"You two going out yet?"

Leelee didn't exactly feel comfortable with a woman she had just met asking her this kind of questions, but it was pretty obvious that they weren't.

"Not really, it's like a yes and no situation. We never get the chance to do anything together, we're always coming or going."

"Sounds like a pretty standard foreplay, you'll be at the goldsmith's in no time. You have to look out for him though, a catch like that gets easily stolen."

"Not around here. Up there maybe, but at least Cain's had a lot more things on his mind and I can almost guarantee that dating or relations of that nature haven't even crossed his mind."

"Really? Is that why he's slept with three women during your little trip?"

Leelee didn't really have a perfect response for an accusation like that, at first she just thought that it wasn't possible and he wouldn't be so insensitive, but the truth started showing it's ugly face pretty soon. He had the time, he had the way and most of all... he had the right.

"... So what? Like I said, we're not really together..."

"That's what you and him would like to think, isn't it? Just to keep a safe distance in case you never meet again?"

"No, it's not like that. We just never get any time together, we've been apart so many times, the dwelling, the forest... the council..." The obvious started to reveal itself in Leelee's head... he would be completely non-sexual if he hadn't had sex with the outlanders.

"Don't do anything rash, now." Sandra tried to correct what she had let out of her mouth.

"Rash? My best friend is sleeping with him? What rash would I do? Maybe cut her throat with her own dagger, maybe..." She was about to rush downstairs and straight to the inn to let Michelle explain herself.

"It's not their fault, they didn't mean to! They didn't have a choice, you don't know the whole story."

"... You slept with him too, didn't you? And now you're trying to save your own ass, right? Maybe it wasn't Michelle at all, as far as I know it was you all along, you live in a town full of warlocks that could probably teleport you into their bodies or something."

"That isn't it either, would you just listen to me before you ruin all if this?"

Leelee wasn't going to listen for long, but she gave Sandra a chance to explain, and so she did. Leelee listened carefully the story about the mark on Cain's neck, but wasn't that understanding of Cain, or herself. "So what you're telling me is that Cain isn't attracted to me... and I'm just attracted to him because of some mark?"

"I don't think so, but that might be the explanation."

Leelee was feeling a little out of it, since she had thought to have been more than attracted to this guy and now she heard that it might have been because of some mark, and that because of that same reason, her best friend and two others had slept with him when she wasn't around for some reason. So, she felt very unhappy...

"So, this is where it ended... I thought that this was more than just a crush, but... I guess not after all."

"What do you think you'll do now?"

"No choice, I go on with this act that I've been a part of, and I'll go through with it with honor. That's what I'm good at and I intend to keep it that way, I won't tell Michelle about any of this and I won't make any more moves on Cain. I don't care what happens to him after we reach Ferumi, join the council, start a school for warlocks, or get married... I don't care."

Sandra nodded at her, looking relieved. Michelle would have beat her up if she had heard about what had happened in there. But after thinking that, she could recognize the look on Leelee's face, it was more of an invitation than a look actually, she smiled suggestively and closed the door to the bedroom. Sandra was embarrassed a bit, something that she had said was making Leelee do this and she didn't intend it at first... it was tempting but she needed to make sure Leelee was capable.

"Listen, I think you're great. And... maybe in the outside world we would have had something together, I've been like this for some time. But I think you're just confused or..." Sandra stopped talking as Leelee slid down her pants and took her shirt off, revealing her chest and her two plump breasts, her nipples hardening in front of her.

"... Or you would just be taking revenge on Cain for sleeping with the other outlanders... umm..." She started to have trouble talking as Leelee removed the last piece of clothing on her body, her panties. Her pussy looked so tempting as she walked by the pool and towards her bed where she was sitting. "Shit... you should be sure before you do something like this, otherwise it will haunt you for the rest of your life." Sandra backed up a bit on the bed, with her legs spread open for the girl, her skirt showing Leelee only her inner thighs. Leelee licked her lips as he climbed on the bed and started lowering her face between Sandra's legs.

"What I mean is... I don't know, it's you choice. Yeah..." As Leelee went down on her she closed her eyes and laid back on the bed, smiling at the pleasure that was up ahead. Leelee hadn't done this before, but giving some guys blowjobs was some help in this, she stuck her tongue slowly from between her hot lips to her wet cavity, she felt herself getting aroused too, so as she had suspected, she had it in for girls too. Sandra, who hadn't gotten into sex with the locals because of the nature of her sexuality, was more than thrilled with Leelee's tongue that was slowly rubbing the walls of her hole, being without anyone giving her head for years had really gathered the satisfaction into her, since masturbation didn't do it for her. She hadn't worn underwear ever since she got here, most of the time she was remembering the times she's go out and hit on young girls that thought they were gay, she could make them do anything they wanted and got away with it with a few kisses, but she knew that Leelee wasn't going to satisfy for giving head to her. Leelee's lips, moistened by Sandra's juices were pressing hard against her lips that were throbbing against her, she felt her clit pulsating under her nose as her tongue was rubbing against the walls of Sandy's gorgeous crack. The woman started having a convulsion with her head banging against the cloth on her bed and her legs almost crushing the girl's head between them, Sandy's hands were grabbing Leelee's head and pulling it hard against her crotch, feeling her tongue hard against her throbbing clit. It didn't take long, her juices escaped her body and ended up running down on the bed and squirting on Leelee's face, the flowing seemed to be unstoppable and eternal, being without an orgasm for this long was almost a hazard to her own life, not to mention the girl who was licking her.

Leelee just smiled as she felt the woman's juices flood her face, she gave her a few more licks just to make sure she'd be content with the treatment she gave to her. Afterwards she got up and crawled up to Sandra's face, giving her a wet kiss of her cum on her face. Sandra was more than good with Leelee letting her lick her juices off her face, she hadn't done it before since the young girls who had went down on her had almost thrown up after she came, but it was more than good, the taste of her own pussy. And now she was going to taste Leelee's, she grabbed her bare ass and pulled it her waist up to her face, having a look at the innocent body of hers that had avoided women for all these years. Men also though, when she had said that she was a virgin, a lot of people including Sandra had some disbelief toward her, but Sandra was proven otherwise, she put her middle finger inside her young cunt she felt the hymen in the tip of her finger.

"Don't break it, please..." Whispered Leelee, the ecstasy in her voice could be heard easily. "I want to save it..." Sandra smiled warmly at Leelee's decision, even now that she didn't notice it. It was more than honorable to stay as a 'virgin', even when she felt so horny that she felt like now. Sandra moved her hands up Leelee's thighs, pressing her hands against the tender skin of the girl and moving higher slowly. Her buttocks felt like two soft pillows covered with warm blushing skin, she gave them a soft squeeze while closing in on her virginal cave with her mouth that had licked so many young ones. What could be more cool than turn into a lesbian through Sandra Bullock? Nothing, she had said, that's a good pick-up line when talking to wannabe-lesbians, but Leelee was more than that, she was bisexual and now ready to acknowledge it. Leelee took a deep breath as the Miss Congeniality's tongue slid into her privates, and hornily started moving around inside her, but still carefully enough not to break Leelee's proof that she hadn't been fucked yet.

"Ever done anything like this before...?" Sandra said with her voice muffled by Leelee's young flesh. "... Not like this... I once kissed a girl, but that wasn't anything like this..." She grinned, feeling Sandy's warm tongue rubbing her clit inside her. "I tried to do it once with a boy when I was 14... that's the spot, eat me there, Sandy... ohh... the boy came as soon as his thing touched my insides... God!" Leelee grinned again, the woman between her legs was making sure she'd get off on this as much as she herself did, she rubbed her hands all over Leelee's body, from her back to her buttocks that were shivering of pleasure that her wet tongue gave to her cavity of love. She started gasping and shivering like Sandra had before and her first lesbian orgasm was closing in on her, her breasts shook violently with the rest of her body as Sandy gave her the treatment of her life, making her spill her stuff right onto her face. A wide area around her pussy was throbbing against Sandra's face as the cum was still running onto her face, she drank up all the fluid that came out of the crack in front of her and felt happier than ever, she had lesbian sex without the guilty conscience of getting eaten from young girls who weren't sure.

The girl rolled over from Sandra and on the bed, looking exhausted. In the back of her mind she was now even with Cain, but in her brain she had just the best sex she had ever had. Now it was only good to return to the inn, before she and Sandra would submit to a session that would last the entire night.

Leelee returned to the inn feeling much more sure and satisfied. If she was indeed on the free market, she was going to take everything out of it. She sneaked up to the room and crawled into the bed with Michelle, she didn't take her up or shave off her eyebrows, but just went to sleep, getting ready to start the next day as a new woman.

The Ikaros, the vessel that was built for the sole purpose to sail and explore the ocean of magma was at someone's reach in far too many years. It was a shame that the ship hadn't seen the ocean that much, since after it was retrieved from the orcs, the other races were too afraid that they might steal it again, so they had hidden it where they would never look, in their own land. What was to become of the Ikaros after the party would reach Ferumi, was still not decided, but they weren't just going to give something like it away. Of course, they had to claim the vessel before doing anything else...

"So, that's the cave down there, huh..." Sandra looked into the deep ravine, noticing the entrance to the cavern where the altar of elements was. "It's best if only Michelle and I go in first, we'll signal you when it's safe to come down, OK?" Sandra wasn't sure what Leelee would say to that, but she just nodded understandingly. Cain grabbed a hold of Michelle and floated down to the ravine. Sandra and Michelle watched as the couple slid through the air like some damn birds. "That probably doesn't mean anything, does it?" Wondered Sandra.

Entering the cavern where the glowing altar was, Michelle and Cain saw no sign of the dragon. Cain was constantly expecting Amber to conjure up a bridge and some in to help them, but he was wrong to think so, it was for them to kill the thing and she wasn't going to assist, which Michelle understood completely, unlike the warlock. They started walking the shabby bridge toward the altar, engaging a small conversation on the way.

"Would it hurt the witch to come help us with our little problem?"

"Yes it would, and if she'd get killed I would blame it on you. You're the one who slept with her..."

"Wait a second, I didn't sleep with her, she gave a, um... how did you know about that?"

"I didn't I just guessed, what's the thing with that mark on your neck, did the lady give it to you or something, 'cause it doesn't look like a normal hickey."

"I did not have sex with Lady LaDermot, OK? There was something odd about her, that way I mean..."

"Yeah, I noticed that too..."

They reached the altar and the magma under them started to move. "I guess it's coming, load up your spells because we're deeper in it than I thought..." The magma below them started rising up to the altar, and deep inside the burning mass Michelle and Cain could hear the dragon moving slowly towards them, hearing the growl of the beast as it rose up from behind them. Cain started casting his spells as Michelle was protecting him with the dagger that the warlock had blessed. The dragon kept trying to attack Cain, but was clearly avoiding the slightly glowing blade of Dawn that Michelle was pointing at the monster, what they didn't notice the two women walking into the cavern, but not walking to the altar just yet. Unfortunately the dragon noticed them and left the actual danger alone. "Where the hell is it going..." As Michelle and Cain turned around to see what the monster was after, they saw the dragon flying through the air to the ignorant couple that was standing at the entrance of the cavern. "Typical, they're gonna get themselves killed and we'll be sinking into a pool of lava... is it still rising?" Cain looked around and acknowledged that it was still closing in, the heat itself was too much to bare without feeling like ready to faint. "Can you throw that float-thingie of yours on me?"

Cain gave Michelle a long look, but agreed to her plan. If the dragon wasn't caring about them, they'd kill it with one swift move, although a dangerous one. Sandra and Leelee were the bait, and since the dragon was way too big to enter the tunnel, it was desperately trying to crush it's way through. Michelle climbed up on one of the statue's and prepared herself for a long jump, Cain waved his hands and an aura formed below her, giving her the OK to jump. She plunged through the air with the dagger in her hand, ready to sink it into the monster's back, and successfully landed between the red wings of the huge beast. The skin of the dragon was boiling hot, but Michelle could still bring herself to stab the dagger as deep as she could get it, the dragon growled in agony and started writhing violently, sending Michelle into an arch toward the wall of the cavern, leaving her floating above the magma. Cain tried to conjure up a squall of wind to bring her closer to the altar, but he failed and Michelle kept falling toward her death. It was very fortunate that the dragon died before Michelle got too close to the lava, as the life-force of the beast faded away, the magma started flowing out of the cavern, through a portal that the death of the guardian had triggered. Michelle let out a sigh of relief as she noticed that the magma was draining out faster than she was lowering down, unless Cain's spell would wear out, she noticed a transparent dome revealing from the magma from under the altar, that had to be the Ikaros.

"Guys, start dragging your asses down, 'cause the ship looks like it's about to break free!" She could move just enough to get above the ship, but for Sandra and Leelee, the lowering process was more difficult, Cain didn't have enough power to float all three down, only himself. It was easily noticed that the ship inside the dome was moving, as the last magma on the bottom started moving toward the portal, the Ikaros followed the flow. Michelle landed just before it started moving, Cain followed her shortly and looked up to see Leelee and Sandra tied to their roped and slowly coming down. They were way too slow, the ship wasn't under them for long, but almost at the portal that lead to God knows where, it wasn't looking very good.

"Can't you do something?"

"No... we can probably pick them up later somewhere... meanwhile they should worry about getting up, I don't think they're strong enough to climb back..."

So, it was a little help, but they wouldn't survive if she didn't interfere. The ropes were cut loose and the two started falling down, at first making all their hearts pound like crazy, but after falling down a bit, they were sent toward the ship in a slow arch and they safely landed in front of Michelle and Cain.

"Christ, which one of you did that?" Yelled Leelee, being as stunned as Michelle and Sandra, but Cain glanced up to the altar, not seeing anything. Yeah, it was her, even if he didn't see it, but it was her. The magma lead the ship through the glowing portal and made them go through a space-like dimension for a few seconds, after leaving the ship on the magma near the town of Chloros.

So there they were, the first humans to actually sail the ocean of magma, the dome that was protecting them from getting fried in the heat was moving forward with the ship and pushing the steaming mass away from the direction of the vessel. The ship seemed to be controlled by the orb that was floating in the air in front of the cabin. There wasn't much to say, the group gathered around the orb and Cain touched it with his hands, starting to guide the Ikaros toward Ferumi.

Meanwhile at the temple of air, a scream of joy was heard as the gate from the exit broke into pieces in result of pounding it with a block of stone. Britney and the bartender rushed outside, only to be almost instantly frozen. "We're out, baby! Yeah! I'm never climbing on a mountain ever again!" He yelled feeling free as he was released from the place he thought he'd die in. "Phew, boy that was fun. Now off we go!" Britney grabbed his hand and started pulling his confused ass down the stairs.

"Wait a sec, where are we going?"

"To Ferumi, remember? To see the finale of The Young And The Reckless, come on!"

The bartender cursed in his mind what he had promised her, he didn't mind walking around with Britney Spears but he did mind going to a theater to watch some soap. in any case, he didn't have a choice now that he had promised Brit to go. Many were coming to the show and expecting quite a masterpiece, Michelle, Sandra and Leelee would make it in time so the viewers wouldn't have to wait and the Non-Solis theater was up and running, all that was left was the last act.