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From: t'Sade <for-contact-email-look@tsade.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} {t'Sade} Puppy Mill [56/65] His Grave (FF)
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Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2012 07:10:03 -0400
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On her way to work, Merrie was kidnapped off the streets of Franome City
by a thriban named Bass. It didn't take long before she found out her
fate: to be broken, trained as a puppy sex slave, and sold to the
highest bidder. But, what started as a journey of terror became
something else when she found magic in her submission and a destiny that
went far beyond a mere slave.

Puppy Mill 56: His Grave
by t'Sade

As Merrie remained locked in the cage, starving to death, someone has
finally noticed Kine's mansion enough to investigate. But, what do the
three guards have in mind, besides looting?

(FF)

**

Merrie could barely move. It had been days, if not weeks, since the
battle. She had to turn off the time-keeping spell, not because she
couldn't use it, but the depression grew when she could count the
seconds of being trapped in a cage, left to slowly starve to death. She
hadn't eaten since but the pain in her stomach had long since faded into
a lethargy that weighted her down. She couldn't even twitch her ears or
her tail. Everything was limp and she had no energy to move.

She stared out into the porch, seeing nothing and feeling even less.
There was no hope left, no reason for living. Shadows danced in her
vision, swirling around like mist in the morning. She couldn't focus on
them, though, because it brought the painful memories of her master's
death to her mind. She just let them swirl around her, tickling her skin
with the lure of a world she used to love.

Her attempts to kill herself had failed. Merrie tried too many times and
now she couldn't separate reality from fantasy. She knew that Bass had
raped her repeatedly, tortured her, and broke her. But, she couldn't
remember if she hated him or loved him. She was convinced that she hated
him, but her body grew slick at the memory of being impaled. In the haze
of starvation and despair, she struggled with a love that couldn't
possibly be true.

A fly landed on her nose. She crossed her eyes to stare at it. It
fluttered its wings. There were others hovering over the corpse of the
paladin and the other attackers. She reached out with her mind to snuff
it, just as she did a thousand times, but nothing happened.

She was dying.

Her breath came out in a long wheeze and she resumed staring at the
wall, seeing nothing and waiting for the inevitable.

"I tell you, Gom, I haven't seen this place before."

"It looks old, though. Been here for a few years at least."

"Do you really think I missed something like this every day for the last
ten years?"

Merrie frowned, trying to determine if she was hallucinating the male
voices drifting in from outside. She had never heard either of the men
before, but that didn't mean anything. She had been hallucinating for days.

"Well, want to go in?"

Shadows blotting out the sun coming through the cracked windows. Merrie
shifted her eyes to watch the movement; she didn't have the strength to
lift her head from the ground. But, as she watched the shadows, she
realized that she wasn't hallucinating. Someone was coming for her.

Fear spiked inside her, quickening her sluggish heart. They were coming
to finish the job.

She tried to whimper, but her parched throat wouldn't make any noise.
She ran the repulsion runes across her mind, but they refused to focus
and faded away. She was exhausted and there was nothing to pull, not
even when she was about to be attacked.

Gom hissed sharply as they turned around. "Damn, it's the vigilant."

Through the haze of her pain, she remembered that sergeants in the city
guards were called vigilants. She held herself still, waiting to see if
it was paladins or someone else about to invade her home.

A new person walked up. "Why aren't you patrolling?" It was a woman with
a rough voice. Her silhouette was slightly overweight with small breasts
and short hair. Her cloak fluttered in the breeze.

"Well, Vigilant Tai," said Gom politely, "we didn't remember this place.
So me and Fang decided to check it out."

"What, you think this building just showed up? It has an overgrown
garden and it's rotting. This must have been here for years! Now, stop
screwing around and get back on patrol!"

"I swear," said Fang, "I haven't seen this mansion before."

The woman turned to look at the window and leaned into it.

Merrie forced herself to turn to look at her.

Tai had dark, reddish hair and a scar on her face. She rested her hand
over her eyes as she peered inside. "Do you smell that?"

They sniffed. "No."

"It's rotting meat or a corpse." She stepped back and Merrie heard the
rasp of a sword being drawn. "We're going inside."

"Um, begging the vigilant's orders, but---"

Tai turned on Gom. "Shut up, draw your sword, and follow me."

"Shouldn't we call it in?"

"No, we aren't," snapped the vigilant. She stalked around the porch, her
shadow sliding along the broken glass.

Gom looked at Fang. "Why isn't she calling it in? I thought she was
fucking the dispatcher."

"Gail? Snick said they broke up last weekend."

"How can a chick as pretty as Gail ever sleep with---"

"Gom! Fang!" snapped Tai, her voice on the other side.

Merrie turned as the female guard stuck her head into the gaping hole in
the side of the porch. The tip of her sword hovered in the sunlight
before she stepped into the porch.

Tai was broad-shouldered and short. Her hair wasn't as short as Merrie
first though, but it was close-cropped on the sides but longer on the
top and back. It had been pulled back into a thick braid that hung over
her shoulder and down to the compact breasts straining underneath her
tight shirt. A few strands of gray hair ran along her red braid, but
otherwise she looked in her mid-twenties.

She turned and looked around, her eyes sliding over Merrie without
seeing her. She had a deep scar down her cheek and a matching one across
her left eye. Both wounds were puckered and old, but it didn't look like
a knife slash but something else.

"What do you see, vigilant?"

Tai's gaze stopped on the paladin's corpse. "Someone got themselves
killed." Her boot crunched on the shattered wood. "Damn, it was a
battle. I see four... five bodies."

Gom, a dour-looking man, peeked in side. He pointed to the paladin.
"Hey, I've seen that symbol. That's the... the..." He turned away.
"Fang, who was that church that's been pissing off the herald last week?
The loud bitch in white that was holier-than-thou all up and down the
quarters? Remember?"

"Lemetri?"

Merrie flinched at the name.

"Yeah, Lemetri!" Gom snapped his fingers, "That's the paladin they lost!"

"How did they lose a damned paladin?" muttered Fang. "And how did he end
up killed?" He peered over at the paladin. "Fuck me, something ripped
this guy's chest out. I don't see a heart." He gulped. "I don't see
lungs or any other organs either. He got torn up from the inside."

Tai groaned and rested her face in her gloved hand. "Fuck me with a
sword, this shouldn't happen in my territory. Fang, can you call it in?"

Fang stuck his head in. He was in his mid-thirties and balding. "Begging
the vigilant's pardon, but we trusts can't talk to the dispatcher, only
hear her." He smirked. "So, unless you want me to go wandering back to
the guard house, it would be---"

Tao groaned again. She sheathed her sword. "Fine, I'll talk to her...
the dispatcher. You two... look around and see if there are any more
bodies."

Fang and Gom looked at each other. Gom cleared his throat.

Tai stopped at the edge of the porch. She glared at both of them. "Fine,
you can loot while I waiting for the others. But," she waggled a finger,
"you both owe me a quarter of anything you fence, do you hear?"

"Mind if we use Young Margret?"

Tai waved her hand. "Don't get caught. I'm going to call it in." She
jumped off the porch and headed outside. "Damn it, there's two more
bodies in the bushes! Looks like some animal tore them apart though."

Gom and Fang looked at each other. Gom said, "I'll take the second
floor, you loot the first?"

Fang pulled out a bag and handed it over to Gom. "Good hunting."

"It's time to get a bonus."

They both stepped over the rotted corpses and headed further into the house.

Merrie sighed and closed her eyes. She was nobody, not even worthy of
their attention. She wished they would go away and let her die in peace.
She wished she could shade the cage, but there was nothing left to cast
spells. She was exposed and vulnerable. Her only hope was to remain
still until they left.

"Never fucking sleep with guards," muttered Tai as she stormed back into
the porch. Her boots crunched on the broken glass of the artifact
lantern. "Yeah, right, she'll 'report it as soon as a glorious comes
in.' She could be licking the glorious out and would say that around the
damn woman's bush. Fucking telepaths."

Merrie cracked open her eyes, remaining still but curious. She didn't
have the energy to move, to do anything.

Tai kicked at a knife and it spun off, bouncing off the empty cage for
the pack.

Merrie shifted her head slightly to watch the blade spinning on the
ground outside of the cage. There was a stain below it from where Tamin
and the other was killed by the paladin's spell. She fought back the
sob, desperate not to make any noise.

Slowly, she closed her eyes. She tried to erase the memory but she felt
their deaths in her heart. The pain was too much as she tensed up,
fighting the urge to move while the guard was nearby.

Tai's boots scuffed the ground. Faint vibrations shook the floor.

Merrie felt her close. The hair in the back of Merrie's neck rose up
with the feeling that she was being watched. She strained to keep
herself still, running through a simple spell to freeze her body, but
the spell faltered.

"What kind of fucker would do this to such a pretty girl?" Tai was close
enough her breath washed over Merrie's skin.

Merrie forced herself to remain still, but her heart pounded loudly in
her chest. She silently prayed that Tai would go away. Her mind ran
through the shade spell again but the runes crumbled in her mind.

"Fuck," whispered Tai dangerously close, "she was beautiful."

Merrie tensed at the closeness and intimacy of Tai's voice. She could
picture the woman crouching down in front of her, looking at her limp
body. Merrie wished she could push her away so she could just die alone.
But, any hint of movement would ruin that. She held her breath and waited.

"Fucking bastards. She is too young to die like that. Why would they put
her in a cage?"

Merrie's heart stopped when she felt Tai's hand caress her cheek. The
touch of the guard's rough hand felt like a brand against Merrie's skin.
A tremor ran through her body as she fought the tears and to hold
herself still.

"Fuck me with a sword," Tai gasped, "you're alive!?"

Merrie froze, berating herself. She had given up. She didn't want to be
found. She desperately tried to force a spell to push Tai's thoughts
away, but she couldn't focus on the runes.

The hand cupped her cheek as Tai rattled the door to the cage. "Hold on,
baby, I'll get you out." The door shook harder and the cage shifted
underneath Merrie.

Her ruse ruined, Merrie opened her eyes and watched as the guard tore
through the porch, looking for something. She stopped at the gaping hole
in the side and grabbed a pipe. Grunting, she tore it out of the wall
with a crack of wood. Patting it in her palm, she returned to the cage.

Merrie lifted her head to watch as Tai forced the metal pipe into the
padlock.

Tai looked down and smiled. "Just give me a few seconds." She bore down
on the padlock, the simple device that prevented Merrie from saving her
master. The metal lever she was using bent, but she twisted and bore
down even harder.

With a ping, the padlock hit the ground with a thud.

Merrie stared at it and then began to cry. If she could have done that,
her master would have been alive. If someone had just broken the lock,
she could have saved her pack.

Yanking the door open, Tai knelt down to reach in for Merrie. Her hands
were rough and calloused. Scars ran along both sides of her palms and
down her arm.

Merrie saw Tai reaching for her and something snapped. She didn't want
to be pulled from the cage, she didn't want to be saved. She cried out
and pulled back. Her limbs were weak as she flinched from Tai.

"No, no, cutie, I'm not going to hurt you." Tai's voice was soothing,
like talking to a beaten puppy.

Merrie flailed out, her severed arms thumping against Tai's outstretched
hands.

"Come on, girl, it's okay. It's okay."

Cowering in the back of the cage, Merrie tried to pull away. She didn't
want to be pulled into the light. She wanted to be in the dark and to
die. She didn't deserve to live, not after losing the pack and her master.

Tai whispering soothingly, then lurched forward. Merrie cried out, a
whine, when she felt the powerful hand grab her hair. Without giving her
a moment to respond, Tai hauled her out of the cage, kicking and screaming.

"No, no, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

Merrie's knee caught Tai in the face, but the guard just grunted and
pulled her closer.

Tai wrapped her arms around Merrie and yanked her close, crushing the
screaming bitch against her chest and holding her tight. "Come on, I
won't hurt you. I would never hurt a pretty girl like you. Come on, relax."

Merrie sobbed and shook her head. Her mouth worked to say words, but the
only noises came out were whimpers and whines. She struggled to escape,
but as she flailed around, she grew aware that she couldn't escape the
muscular arms holding her. They weren't Bass, they weren't her masters,
but she couldn't escape.

Her body grew flush with sensation of being trapped. She raged against
herself, trying not to let the heat of being dominated override her
suicidal despair. She wanted to break free, she couldn't give in. She
couldn't surrender to anyone but her master.

"Calm down, damn it!" Tai whispered loudly against her ear.

Merrie screamed as she felt the heat ran long her body, a ripple of an
orgasm, weak but as sweet as the first sugar treat of summer. It was a
command and she fought against it with all her might. But, she was weak.
She had been starving for a week. And the rush of being ordered was too
hard to resist.

"Calm down!"

Merrie's will cracked. With a sob, she melted into Tai's grip and
slumped against the warm body of the guard. The tears wracked her body,
pushing her further into a spiral of despair.

Tai held her tighter, whispering in her ear. "There we go, girl. There
you go. Just calm down."

Merrie opened her mouth to cry out again, but she couldn't. Sobbing, she
rested her head on Tai's shoulder.

The guard stroked her hair, whispering wordlessly in a soothing rhythm.
She rocked back and forth.

The pain was still there. Being wrapped in the arms of another just
brought it back and she sobbed at the ache that burned inside her. She
couldn't stay, not with Tai, not with anyone else.

But, for a few minutes, she could pretend.

The guard's heart was pounding hard and the warmth surrounded Merrie. It
brought back the memories of Bass and how the thriban held her close.
Merrie wanted to fight, but she couldn't. With another sob, she melted
further into Tai's embrace, clutching to the guard as she shook violently.

"It's okay, it's okay. Old Tai is going to take care of you."

Merrie sobbed and clutched tighter. She breathed in the smell of sword
oil, musty clothes, and smoke. Through the padded shirt, she listened to
Tai's heart, the steady thump of another being.

The gaping wound of her missing master flared into agony. It tore
through her senses, not hurting her physically, but yanking her into an
abyss of despair and pain. She wailed out in agony, clutching Tai, but
that only made it worse. The very presence of the woman holding her was
somehow tearing her apart.

Tai said something, but Merrie couldn't hear over a fresh wave of pain.

Merrie tried to push away, but Tai held her closer. Every passing second
tore at Merrie's mind, threatening to rip it in half.

(What did those fuckers do to her?) It was Tai's thoughts inside her.
And with the woman's mind bursting across Merrie's senses, the agony
became a lighting-hot whip across her mind. Every thought and pulse of
emotion was a whip against the hole in Merrie's soul.

She cried out even louder, flailing to escape the intimacy of Tai's
thoughts.

(Another panic attack?) Tai clutched at Merrie, pulling her tight to her
chest. "I won't hurt, I won't."

But every thought in the guard's head was a slash of agony across
Merrie's mind. The emotions pummeled her, bringing back to the fresh
pain of losing her master again and again. She tried even harder to
break free but the weak thumps of her arms again didn't even loosen the
grip the woman had on Merrie.

"Come on, just calm down. No one will ever hurt you again. I promise,
I'll take care of you."

Tai tried to grab Merrie's arm, but then froze. In her mind, the shock
rolled across Merrie's thoughts like thunder as the woman focused on the
severed end of Merrie's wrist. "Fuck me with a sword, what did they do
to you?"

With the onslaught of Tai's shock, Merrie tensed until her muscles
screamed in agony. Her body shook violently as she felt the woman's pity
slam into her. Shame and humiliation rose inside Merrie and she cringed
away.

"No, no, it wasn't your fault." Tai pulled Merrie close, her arms like
steel around Merrie's weak body, but the disgust and pity was thick in
her thoughts. She hated the men who had ruined Merrie.

Fresh tears ran down Merrie's face. She cried under the force of Tai's
emotions, like someone grinding her into the ground. Merrie closed her
eyes and tried to bring up her shields. She had forgotten the feeling of
being wrapped in tight leather and bound into place, not with her master
able to pierce it so easily, but as the dog outfit buckled into place,
the agony lessened.

Gasping for breath, Merrie screwed her eyes even tighter and focused on
the shields. Her pussy and ass clenched as she pictured dildos being
shoved into it. Her mouth trembled as she remembered when it would like
to have a cock inside it, strapped around her head and forced into a
shaped muzzle. With every passing moment, Tai's thoughts grew easier to
tolerate and soon they were nothing but nails against her skin, painful
but not agonizing.

With a whimper, she opened her eyes. While she was replacing her
shields, Tai had brought her to one of the bathrooms on the other side
of the house and put her in the tub. Hot water lapped at her thighs as
it poured past the heating rune and splashed on the bottom. The stopper
wasn't in place and the blood-streaked water circled down the drain.

"There you go," whispered Tai. She knelt on the side of the tub and was
rinsing Merrie off with a washrag. "That isn't so bad, is it?"

Merrie sniffed and looked up at her. She felt broken but at least with
her mental shields in place, it wasn't agony that tore that through her.
Just a crippling despair and loss that would never be replaced.

Tai smiled and swirled the rag in the water before cupping Merrie's chin
to wipe away the blood. "I was worried all that blood. I thought that
they had stabbed you in that nasty old cage. But," she brought her hand
to Merrie's shoulder, soaping up the gore with the rag, "but I haven't
seen any wounds."

Even through the shields, Merrie could feel some of Tai's thoughts. They
were hazy and drifting, but Merrie could feel not only the growing
protective affection Tai felt for her, but also the first curls of lust.

Tai's eyes flickered down, watching the water as it dribble down
Merrie's front and sluiced along her breasts. As the caked-on blood
melted off her skin, the sight of Merrie's hardening nipple brought a
fresh wave of guilty lust across the guard's thoughts.

Merrie felt a blush of her own, responding to Tai's even through the
pain of her telepathy. She squirmed in place.

Tai looked up. Her lips were parted and a blush on her cheeks. She made
a show of rinsing off the water before going back. Her hands were firm
as she wiped away the vomit and blood, bringing Merrie's shivering,
naked body back to the air. As she moved, Merrie could feel her
pointedly not looking at Merrie's wrists and ankles.

Finally, Tai spoke, "Did any of Lemitri's men hurt you?"

For a sick moment, Merrie considered nodding. But, she shook her head.

"Did the guy who own this place do it? Did he hurt you?"

Merrie shook her head violently, sobbing at the same time.

Tai pulled back, frowning and not believing her. "He didn't? Are you sure?"

Merrie nodded hard. It brought up a wave of dizziness and she clutched
to Tai for balance.

"Oh, I could have sworn with the cage and your..." Tai glance down at
her arm. She gulped, "... were you born this way?"

Merrie shook her head.

Tai said nothing for a long time and focused on cleaning Merrie. The rag
worked along Merrie's front, circling around her breasts, and down to
her stomach. The hesitant lust was still growing inside her, filled with
guilty and spiced with pity.

"You were a slave?"

Merrie didn't know how to answer. She gave a little shrug. She was a
slave, but she couldn't imagine her life without her master. By the time
she was sold, she wanted it as badly as anything else.

Tai's breath grew deeper as a storm of lust and hunger rose inside her.
Tai wanted to comfort Merrie and pull her from perverted world she was
imagining. It never occurred to her, would never occur to her, that
Merrie was part of that world. "Don't worry, girl, Tai will take care of
you. You won't ever have to do those things again. And I won't sell you."

Merrie closed her eyes and let out a soft breath. Even though Tai's
fantasies of saving Merrie from an imaginary hell, Merrie couldn't stay
with the well-meaning guard. She didn't deserve to live, much less find
comfort. Even if she did, it would be an empty lie. Merrie's needs had
been awakened at the mill. She needed to be dominated and beaten, fucked
and punished. She reached out with her mind looking for any of that in
Tai, but she could only find compassion and a need for love.

"Turn over and let me get to the rest of you."

A tiny order that left a little thrill coursing through Merrie's veins,
but it was the most that Tai could give her. With a long sigh, Merrie
rolled over, splashing in the tub, and braced herself.

"Fuck me with swords, they gave you a tail too?" Tai's disgust was a
bitter glare in Merrie's thoughts.

Merrie's cheeks burned with humiliation. She was beautiful, her master
said so, but she didn't feel it with Tai. She closed her eyes and
stopped hoping. She had to escape the mansion, find some place, and end
the pain.

The washcloth felt good against her skin, though, as Tai finished
scrubbing the days of dried blood and vomit from her skin. Merrie spread
her legs to give Tai access to her ass and pussy, where the geas had
torn her open.

Guilty lust burned brightly as Tail scrubbed the washcloth between her
legs, working the soaked, slick fabric along her ass and the length of
her slit. She gulped as she scrubbed Merrie, the lust burning. She
"accidentally" let one finger slip away from the cloth to test Merrie's
reaction.

Merrie, reading her mind, couldn't help but let out a soft moan. The
finger felt good against her clitoris. It was an empty pleasure and
without love, but her body grew hotter with the sensations.

When Merrie didn't flinch, Tai stroked her finger back and forth. Guilt
burned inside her as she did, but so did the lust. Her thoughts seeped
through Merrie's shields, painful and raw. (Please, please, to the
swords, let her be into girls. I would give anything. Please, please?)

Merrie left the hope and desire burning inside the guard. She wanted to
fulfill it, to give her pleasure, even though she felt nothing for the
woman. She rocked her hip forward to give more access to the fingers
caressing her heated sex.

(Swords, she's letting me. I'm fingering her. Oh, please---)

A high-pitched bell ran out. Both Tai and Merrie jerked from the suddenness.

Merrie frowned, she didn't remember a bell like that in the house. It
ran out again and she realized it wasn't from the mansion. It came from
inside Tai's head as a telepathic connection was forged with her.

(Attention, Vigilant Guard Tai,) it was a woman's voice, filled with
stern hardness, barely hidden jealousy, and disapproval. The thoughts
were strong and powerful. It came with a name and an image of a slender
blonde sitting at a table. Gail.

Tai's emotions turned to frustration and guilt. She yanked her fingers
from Merrie's pussy as she sat up.

(The Church of Lemetri are sending a contingent of church soldiers to
take custody of the domicile. They are led by Paladin Golid. Your group
has three tasking orders. Order one: Pull back no less than one hundred
meters and protect the house from all intruders. Order two: detain any
persons of interest within the premise or surrounding and deliver into
the paladin's custody. Order three: ensure the contents of the domicile
are assigned to the paladin's custody, effective immediately. Any
deviance will be punished. That is all.)

Merrie tensed as she heard the orders sinking in.

The guard tensed and gave Merrie a guilty look. "Hold on, I-I need to
talk to the guys really quick. Can you," she looked around at the
bathroom, "stay here?"

Merrie nodded, looking innocent as possible and pretending she didn't
hear the order. There was no question that Tai knew that Merrie would be
a "person of interest" but already there was a storm as Tai wondered if
she could hide Merrie before the paladin got there.

As she watched the guard rushing out of the room, Merrie considered her
options. She could let Tai sneak her away and hide her, protect her from
the paladin, and then care for Merrie maybe for the rest of her life.
But, it would be unrequited love. Tai could never be a master for Merrie
and Merrie didn't deserve to live without her true master.

There was only one way to stop the pain, to end the agony. She had to
kill herself. She stared at the edge of the tub as she rolled the idea
through her mind. It would end the pain that gnawed at her insides,
slashing every time she experienced an emotion or a thought. She missed
her master so much that she couldn't wait to be with him, even in spirit.

She smiled through the tears. She could finally do it. She didn't have
to use the geas, just find some way of ending her life. There was an
entire city out there: she could jump off a bridge, crawl in front of a
wagon, or even throw herself into the river.

A decision made, she crawled out of the tub. Water sluiced off her body
as she landed on the rug. She caught sight of herself in the mirror. She
looked like hell. Her breasts had shrunk with starvation and they hung
limply from her chest. Fading bruises covered her body and she shook
without realizing it. Her right ear was broken and hung limply against
the side of her head. It ached, but so did the rest of her.

Merrie could see why Tai wanted to protect her. She sighed and crawled
to the door, cocking her one good ear to listen. Tai's voice was at the
stairways, talking sharply to Gom and Fang.

In the opposite direction was her master's room. Merrie bit back a sob
at the realization. It tore at her heart as she was reminded of what she
had lost. She couldn't live without him. There was no way she could
survive with so much pain tearing her heart. She had made a good choice.

With morbid dread, she crawled out of the bathroom and down the hall.
She had to see his room one last time, to take one last look. She hoped
to find something of his, something she could take with her when she
ended her life.

The room was empty and peaceful, but the memories were ripping at her
very being. She sobbed to herself, her body shaking and the tears
rolling down her face. Crawling in, she took in the mussed up bed and
the smell of her master and Rimmy that still clung to the air.

Barely able to breathe, she circled the bed, unsure of what she wanted.
She found an open wardrobe and peered inside, the memories crushing her
more than the still air. Through the tears, she caught sight of the dark
cloak her master wore during his jobs, the cloak of shadows. With a
gasp, she grabbed it with her mouth and tugged it down. It flopped down
over her head, surrounding her in his scent.

Memories crashed into her, tearing into her soul. Her entire life had
been centered around him. The pleasure that he gave her, the little
commands he insisted she obey, and the punishments when she deliberately
got in trouble. She buried her face in the cloak, choking on the cries
that ripped out her ruined throat.

"Baby?" Tai's voice drifted down the hall.

Merrie gasped and shoved the cloak into her mouth, to gag her. She
curled up on the floor of the wardrobe and shook, wishing it was a cage
like before and she could never escape.

The bathroom door creaked open. "Damn," Tai said and the disappointment
radiated from the guard. "Come on, girl, I won't hurt you, I promise."

Merrie forced herself to stop crying, using a spell to clamp down on her
emotions. The little pleasure she got from Tai's fingering was enough to
power the energies. It activated with a popping sensation and the tears
stopped instantly.

She could feel her pain eroding at the spell and the despair leaking
through the cracks. Merrie only had a few moments before she was sobbing
again. Feeling the tears cooling on her cheeks, she pulled the cloak to
her chest. When she realized she couldn't carry it, she slipped it
around her neck and pulled the clasp tight with her teeth. It would look
foolish while she was crawling, but she couldn't leave without something
of her master.

As she moved, she planned out her next move. Getting out of the mansion
would be hard, but she had just enough energy that she could afford a
few seconds of repulsion. Her destination was a bridge about a kilometer
away. Her master had once paraded her outside in the sun one day and it
was a fitting place for her end.

The spell sealing her emotions cracked with her reminiscing.

Pushing out of the wardrobe, she crawled along the floor. The cloak
slipped off her side and hung heavily on her side. She didn't need it
for long and she just suffered with pulling it along.

As she was coming around the bed, something caught her attention. It was
a glint of something dark underneath the bed. It drew her attention and
she crouched down to peer at it.

When she recognized the shadow-stone engagement ring, her spell
crumbled. Despair ripped at her through and the tears began to flow
again. She continued to plummet into despair, further than she had ever
gone before. The suicidal thoughts rose up but they were crushed by the
darkness that consumed her entire world. There was nothing left. If she
could have stopped her heart, she would have.

The door to the room flung open. "Baby!" Tai rushed inside, filled with
concern and compassion.

Merrie snapped her head up. From somewhere deep inside her, below the
despair and devastation, energy boiled up and calligraphic runes slammed
across her mind. She barely recognized the domination spell as it
exploded from the cloud of darkness in her mind.

Tai froze in mid-spell, her eyes glazed over and her muscles locked into
place. Her shields were stripped away in an instant and every moment of
Tai's life was laid bare to Merrie's mind. She could rewrite it or
destroy it. She could make Tai her slave just as she was the slave. She
could make her pack again, using the broken minds of Tai and the other
guards. It would just take a little of the power now rising up inside her.

Panting, Merrie reeled back. She shook her head as the darkness invaded
her thoughts, snuffing out all the hope and joy. There was nothing left
for her, not unless she took it. She wanted to kill herself, to kill
everyone, to lash out and take the world with her into choking darkness.

She shook her head, trying to force the thoughts out. She couldn't
destroy. It was wrong but she was a bitch, not a harbinger of
destruction. She had the power and the ability to kill any one being in
her life, but she was powerful enough to include the entire city with
it. It was a spell her master used when he was dying and it hovered in
her thoughts.

Fresh tears on her face, Merrie crawled around the frozen Tai. She
reached out and held Gom and Fang, both of which were trying to sneak
out the back door before the paladin came. They were already planning
their share of the loot, but she crushed that with a thought. She forced
them to drop the bags on the ground.

Anger boiled inside her. She struggled with herself as she crawled down
the hallway. Her limbs made whispers of noise. She wanted to tear
everything down, to send the mansion and her master's grave to where the
Lord of Shadow was waiting. She would die with the rest of the city, but
it would be a small price to pay for sweet oblivion.

She stopped at the front door. She could feel the Lord's presence in the
Shadows, beckoning to her. It was a shadow in a shadow, a curl of
darkness formed of alien thoughts. It was watching her, waiting.

Merrie shook her head. (I,) it was agony to project to the alien
intelligence on the other side, (I can't do that.)

It didn't response, but she could feel it paying attention to her.

Sobbing from the agony, she tried to clear her thoughts. The despair was
everywhere, yanking her into a darkness she couldn't escape. It wasn't a
matter if her not killing herself, but simply how many people she would
take with her. Shuddering with the effort, she pushed open the door and
crawled to the porch.

The air was warm and moist. At the gate of the mansion, people were
staring curiously inside. The shade that protected the place had been
stripped away and there was nothing to prevent looters from stealing her
master's life and paladins from destroying it.

She couldn't lose her master. Even with her suicide on her mind, she
couldn't bring herself to destroy the mansion. It was their home for
years. It was his for many years. It was where he cried, he lived, and
loved. If she killed everyone, then his grave would be destroyed in the
results.

Closing her eyes, she brought up the shade spell. It was a calligraphic
mix of runes and poetry, a combination of her own magic and the spells
passed down by her master's master. Fixing the runes inside her mind,
she channeled her despair through it. The spell began to darken inside
her, turning pitch black as it grew ready to release. When Rimmy taught
Merrie the spell, it was just a little spell designed to be layered on
top of itself, thousands of days made a spell a thousand layers thick.
But, it wasn't enough. She needed to protect her master's grave from
ever being found again.

Merrie opened her mind and let new runes inscribe themselves into her
thoughts. She added more spells into it, crafting a brutally elegant
spell that would prevent anyone from every seeing the mansion again. It
would not only repulse people coming close, but it would burn the very
memory of the place from the minds. No one would ever remember it, no
one will every destroy his grave.

It was hard to keep in her mind, but she didn't care. She forced herself
to power the spell, forcing more power until it was a shadow burning
itself in her mind. Ice-cold power filled her, sinking into her bones
until they ached.

The spell released with a rush. The sun above her turned into a black
orb as shadows burst out of the gardens and the house. It rose up and
swallowed the mansion, sucking it from the sight and memory of the city.

Blood dripped from her nose as she anchored the spell deep into the
ground. The air was icy and choking. The shadows of the World Tree
turned into pitch-black streaks across the yard, places were the veil
between worlds was thin and delicate.

The repulsion was too much for a single house. It burst out from the
mansion grounds and rushed out into the rest of the district. She could
feel lives trapped in the darkness, like a fly in amber, caught and
choking. They would never escape, they would never see the sun again.

A flare of energy shone brightly in the darkness. It was a telepath
looking for her lover even as the district was swallowed in shadows.
Merrie watched as Gail tried to find Tai, dread and concern resonating
from the questing tendril. There was love in Gail's thoughts, love and
passion and regret. It was a mere shadow of what Merrie felt for her
master, but it was as bright as a firefly in a thunderstorm.

It broke Merrie's despair. She watched as the telepath searching for her
lover even as she was frantically ordering guards to the district.
Images flashed across Merrie's thoughts, of the dispatcher center in
chaos as the blot of darkness was visible even across the city and from
the royal palace.

Merrie closed her eyes and pulled back, letting the spell sink down into
the bones of the city. She needed to hide the house, not making it
visible. Through the connection, the blot faded and everyone's eyes slid
away from the home. The district became somewhere else, a place the
world had forgotten.

Merrie caught Gail's probe.

The woman froze, both in mind and body. Merrie saw her own reflection in
Gail's thoughts, the darkness in the shape of some terrible hound
holding Gail by her throat. It was death and it was Merrie, some
horrible force that Gail couldn't comprehend. The differences between
them was more than Merrie could imagine. Merrie's thoughts were alien to
the telepath's, just as the Lord of Shadows was to her.

Guilt slammed into her, despair that she was killing the woman who had
saved her from the cage, and then killing her lover. It redoubled as she
realized how easily she was going to sacrifice the district inhabitants
for her own sorrow.

Merrie reached out and connected herself to every living being in the
district. They were blind, frightened, and dying. The Shadows were
sucking the life out of them and it would be moments before their souls
would burn away like her master and Rimmy.

She ran through a portion of the uplift spell---careful to avoid any
bonding aspect---and slammed it through the telepath's probe. In the
dispatcher center, Gail suddenly screamed as her body glowed with power.
Her mind unfolded and crystallized as Merrie gave her the spells needed
to save her lover and everyone else.

Bringing everything together, Merrie connected every living being in the
district to Gail. At the same time, she gave a single command,
inescapable and overpowering. (Save them and forget.)

Power flowed through Gail as she slumped back. A moment later, mental
bell rang out across the city, followed by a command to every guard in
the city's employ. It was Gail's voice that cut through her mind.
(Attention all city guards! Attention all city guards! City-wide
emergency has been declared for the ...,) the thought faltered as Gail
tried to remember the district's name, (... fuck this, obey the
following tasking orders.) Gail's mind split as she began to give out
simultaneous orders to every guard, her mental voice overlapping as she
guided the guards to save the survivors of the district.

Merrie stopped paying attention. She slumped forward on the porch and
crawled down. She was dead inside, a despair to great there was no more
hope, no more love. She crawled down empty streets of the district as
she planned out her death.

There was a bridge at the border between the district and the next one.
Her master had taken her there once, on the few trips out of the
mansion. He had pulled back the shade and everyone saw her as herself, a
naked woman on her knees. It was exhilarating as they fucked under the
bridge next to the rapidly flowing river.

It was an appropriate place to die. Setting her jaw tightly, she crawled
down the tiles. Around her, the shadows whipped around as they swallowed
the district. It was a place of darkness in Franome City, a place that
time would forget. Her master's grave would stand forever, a reminder
that she had lost so much in a single night.

Rain splattered down, icy and cold. It iced over underneath her feet and
clung to her hair. She felt the sting along her skin, as if her body had
been rubbed raw. It barely registered and she continued to crawl down
the middle of the cobblestone road as she was pounded by the rain.

A few streets over, she saw a group of guards braving the darkness. They
were rescuing a young girl and her puppy trapped in her house. One of
them was holding a golden flame to push back the darkness. The others
were fighting to keep up as the shadows reached for them.

Merrie looked away. Not all of them would make it. She could feel
something rising out of the Shadows, a deadly intelligence taking
advantage of the thin barriers between the worlds. It wouldn't be able
to escape the district, but it would protect her master.

When she came out of the darkness, the sunlight hurt. It was raining
outside, but the water was warm and sluiced down her body. At the far
end of the bridge, crowds were milling around as the guards gathered.
None of them were looking at her or the district; their eyes refuse to
acknowledge the world in front of them. They just knew they had to be
there, because of the orders that Gail sent to each one.

A guard pulled a sobbing man from the district. There was blood pouring
off both of them and the guard was missing his arm. Something had torn
it off and the man's agony was raw against Merrie's senses.

They both stumbled past her. She didn't exist in their world anymore,
she was nothing.

Merrie watched them for a moment, then crawled to side of the bridge.
Below, the river was bisected by light and dark. On the shadow side, the
waters had become a raging river of black foam. In the light, it boiled
and shifted. She knew it was deep enough to kill her.

Merrie crawled to the edge. She closed her eyes and---

//A hand grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back. Old fingers
grabbed her around the waist and hauled her off the side.//

//Merrie opened her eyes. She was no longer at the bridge, but in her
grandfather's porch, standing at the black void where the farms used to
be. There was nothing in front of her, no sparks of light, no fields, no
grass. Just oblivion in all directions.//

//Devastated, she struggled to escape and leap into the darkness. She
had to go, she couldn't live without her master.//

//Her grandfather pulled her back, dragging her to the safety of the
kitchen.//

//"No!" she cried out, thrashing harder. She reached out for oblivion,
desperate to feel its embrace.//

//"I will not let you, my love."//

//Tears ran down Merrie's cheek. "Let me go!"//

//"No," came the whisper, "I can't."//

//"Let me!" She tried to lash out with a spell or fist, but nothing
came. She clawed at the ground, the ends of her wrists dragging
uselessly over the bricks. The sharp edges cut her arms and bright blood
stained the bricks, but he kept pulling her away.//

//The kitchen door slammed shut, blocking her from oblivion. Merrie
broke free and flung herself to the door, but she couldn't grip the
handle. Her useless hands slipped off the handle. Sobbing, she pounded
on the door, hoping she could somehow break it down.//

//"Why, why!?" she screamed.//

//"I can't let you kill yourself," said her grandfather.//

//"There is nothing! He's gone. I lost him!" Her voice was shrill
against the walls.//

//"I can't, little one."//

//"Why?"//

//"Because I was programmed not to. Haviston cast it to make sure you
could survive long enough to bond."//

//Merrie turned on her grandfather. "I bonded! I was happy! You know
that! And I lost him to... I couldn't do enough." She slumped to the
ground. "I wasn't good enough to protect him. It was my fault."//

//Oblivion howled silently right outside of the door.//

//Her grandfather knelt down next to her. He set down a bowl of tea and
rested his warm hand on her back. "I know, but not this way."//

//"I don't deserve to die."//

//"I know," he said sadly.//

//"Then let me die!"//

//Her grandfather shook his head. "You must survive."//

//Merrie's tears splashed on the floor. "I already bonded, there isn't a
reason to protect me anymore."//

//"If you are here, then I need to protect you."//

//She looked up helplessly. "I don't have anyone. I'm alone."//

//"You have me."//

//Shaking her head, she pushed at him. "You are my memories and
Haviston's spells, nothing else."//

//"You have me," he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "But,
no matter how bad your life becomes, I can't let you do this."//

//"I-I could destroy you."//

//He smiled. "But, you won't."//

//"W-What do I do?"//

//"Live."//

//"How? There is nothing left." She clutched at his leg, trying to find
some comfort in the grandfather who only lived in her mind. He was warm
and comforting, like a blanket that she curled underneath as a child. In
a flash, the blanket was there, draped over her body. It was the same
texture and scent, the same feeling when she was a little girl, curled
underneath it as a storm raged outside.//

//Her grandfather swept her up as a little girl and held her to his
chest. "Stay as long as you want. Come back when you need. But, I will
not let you go to your death. I cannot, I will not. Even if I wasn't a
spell, I love you too much to let you leave."//

//Tears burning her eyes, Merrie looked up at her grandfather. "Will the
pain ever go away?"//

//"No. No, it won't."//

**

Comments on my stories are the drugs that fuel my writing. I'm sure the
same is for all writers, so if you like a story, don't hesitate to send
even a quick note because that will fill me with warm, squirmy feelings
for days.

http://tsade.com/
http://tsade.com/contact

If you happen to like it, I have a couple hundred stories of all types
and themes on my website, including my BDSM fantasy novel: The Mummy's Girl.

http://tsade.com/mummy

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