Pirates of Lost Pleasure--Chapter 5-8

Chapter 5: Her Healing Touch

Ingela had made the Frozen Elixir for Jasha and Sumner, as promised, and kept the extra ingredients to replenish her inventory. After splitting the bottle into two vials, it was time to revive their companions.

Walking back toward the Inn, Jasha realized she was beginning to like the cozy little town. Much like Ingela and the nurse she met at the Inn, the people she saw going about their business through town seemed nice. She was always greeted with a smile and a friendly wave from the women, men, and children. What would it be like to finally settle down someplace and live a quiet and happy life?

Of the twenty-six years she’s been alive, she was on a pirate ship for twenty of them. Jasha’s mother was a pirate and her father was a bar-man. Her mother took the man aboard her ship as her personal bar-man and the pair had a daughter, Jasha, the following year. Zarah was born three years after. Never had she lived on land for more than a month. With a half-grin Jasha thought to herself, maybe she would settle into a small town someday.

“Come on, Misty,” Jasha quietly implored, “I need you to drink this.”

With a hand beneath the former bar-maid’s golden hair, she gently lifted her head. Whatever sickness she had was clearly taking a toll on her. Her cheeks were cold to the touch. Ruby red lips had become sapphire. Misty’s eyes remained shut. A heavy feeling gripped Jasha’s heart. What if she was…

“Mm,” Misty groaned as the tip of the glass tube touched her lips.

“Drink,” Jasha said more forcefully.

The icy blue liquid drained from the vial, with little streams running down the corners of her mouth. It took a moment, but Misty’s eyes floated open. She smiled with a mouth returned red and leaned in close to whisper into Jasha’s ear, “that tasted like shit.”

“Well, it’s medicine, so…”

“Thank you, Jasha.”

Her hand still holding the beautiful ex-bar-maid’s head, Jasha lowered her face and kissed her companion. It was a kiss of gladness. Happy to see that Misty was alive and getting well. A kiss of thank you, which Misty’s was not. The blonde woman’s mouth opened and her tongue slid between her heroine’s lips. The kiss was deep. Passionate. Desiring to be so much more than a kiss.

“Misty, you should rest,” Jasha said after pulling away.

The poor girl, she wasn’t ready for that. She was just brought back to good health minutes ago. If Jasha allowed it to go further, she would feel like she were taking advantage of Misty in a weakened state.

Rather than indulge in some much needed sexual attention, Jasha walked toward her end of the room. Her adventure with Sumner had taken a lot out of her. After they encountered the initial group of monsters and gathered some of items they needed, another group of Ice Slimes and Ice Imps attacked. The events left her tired. Exhausted, in fact.

Jasha pulled at the leather side-straps that fastened the fur top to her body. These people apparently never wore underwear, she noted. The fur clothing, likely earned off the back of monsters than animals, left no room for undergarments. After her top hit the floor, she unfastened the belt and dropped her pants; before realizing she still had her boots on.

“This might be awkward,” Jasha whispered to herself. A look over at Misty confirmed that the woman had fallen back to sleep. Naked from the neck down to her ankles, Jasha bent over to untie her boots. If Misty were awake, she’d be getting a very intimate view of her new friend. Jasha looked behind her again, catching Misty abruptly closing her eyes. “Hey, no peeking.”

Misty giggled.

When she lit the night candle, Jasha was reminded, by the pile of clothes on the dresser, that Misty was naked, too.

No. She told herself. It wouldn’t be right to take advantage of her. That kiss though. It was initiated by Jasha, but Misty took it up a notch. The taste of her lingered on the piratess’ tongue. Her line of green pubic hair glistened under the candlelight with the excitement of what could have been.

She lifted Jasha’s legs and moved between them. Misty looked into her lover’s sparkling green eyes. Her smile said, “let me thank you by pleasuring you with my tongue.”

Jasha’s expectant moan replied, “please. I need it.”

Misty was more than happy to oblige. In all her years as a bar-maid, she was most pleased when a woman would hand the bartender money to take her in the back room. Misty loved the taste of a woman; and they usually weren’t as rough as the men.

The taste of this young pirate was even more delectable than any vagina Misty had tasted before. The buxom blonde was not simply a licker, she would devour a woman’s sex with her entire mouth. No crack nor crevice escaped her lustful tongue.

Jasha could hardly stand it. She thought she might blackout. No one, in all her years, treated her pussy like that. This girl was incredible. How did she know all these things?

Chapter 6: Enter the Enemy

The morning consisted of kisses and gentle caresses with last night’s memory playing in their heads. Jasha had never been so thoroughly satisfied. Misty had never been treated with such tender care. Despite being a battle-hardened warrior of the seas, Jasha knew how to treat a beautiful woman’s body.

Before long, Jasha and Misty were dressed and joining Sumner and a newly healed Kira. Sumner smiled at her new friend and fellow adventurer and Jasha smiled back. Despite the perilous way they met, after battling monsters side-by-side Jasha and Sumner felt a bond form. Kira didn’t bother calling Jasha and Misty her enemies, because she knew if weren’t for Jasha she would be dead. The group of two was officially a group of four.

“What can I get for you?” Asked the Innkeeper’s daughter, whom was also the resident bar-maid.

Jasha perused the short list of items. The frozen north had a lively ecosystem which included many different animals—penguins, polar bears, walrus’, and arctic foxes—but, not a single animal product was on the menu. It seemed the people of Crystalcrest ate the monster inhabitants.

“I’ll have the Iced Slime Tea.”

“Very good. And to eat?”

“The…Boneless Bat Breasts?”

While Jasha struggled with the menu, Misty had no problem choosing the Grilled Imp Sandwich with a side of potatoes, and a Fiery Temple. Kira and her lady-servant Sumner shared a meal of vegetables.

The adventurers ate their meal, chatting amongst themselves, when a group of women caught Sumner’s eye. They were big women. Not so much from fat, but from muscle. These were women accustomed to hard manual labor.

“That’s them,” Sumner said softly.

“Them who?”

“The fisherwomen,” Sumner said. “They are the ones that saved us from the sea. I remember, because I opened my eyes for a moment and saw some of those women there. Maybe we should thank them.”

One of the fisherwomen, an older lady with gray hair, noticed them and smiled. Jasha instinctually grabbed for her cutlass. The other fisherwomen, noticing the elder walking toward this group of young ladies, followed behind.

“I’m glad to see you four are doing well,” said the old fisherwoman. “My name is Asterid. My crew and I found you near the port and brought you in.”

“Thank you,” Misty said. “That was very kind of you.”

“Is there something you need?” Jasha asked with suspicion.

“No,” Asterid said. “I just wanted to see how you were all doing. These here are my girls. We fish off the southern coast of Crystalcrest. Not often we see people floating in a pile of rubble.”

Jasha withheld her words. She continued to gauge their sincerity. Years of experience told her that almost every encounter is an unfriendly one. Not with these women. They laughed with each other. Told stories. It seemed their intentions were pure. And so Jasha let Asterid talk to the group.

She told stories of life on the sea. Catching fish for Lauksletta, the capital Syrstad, and exporting to other countries. Everyone liked Asterid. Then a villager burst into the Inn frantically and muttered something about fire and burning.

Asterid stood, and her fisherwoman followed suit, with the crew hurrying outside to investigate. Never one to back down from danger, Jasha rushed behind them.

“Leave us!” Asterid shouted fiercely. “We have nothing you want, Lena!”

Jasha saw a woman dressed in a long dark red gown. A leather bustier cupped the bottom of her plentiful breasts. A crown adorned by rubies rested atop her red hair. The woman was both elegant and sinister.

“You’re wrong, Asterid. I want everything. I want this village. I want the capital up north. And I want your lives.”

With the wave of her hand and an unfamiliar chant, three fire beings dressed in the armor of a knight and holding large swords appeared. Jasha popped the button on the strap holding her cutlass. It was clear the fisherwomen, armed with wooden weapons and nets, would be slaughtered here.

“Jasha, what’s going on?” Misty asked.

“Stay inside,” Jasha demanded. “Sumner, I’ll need your help.”

“Understood.”

The mage took up a stance beside her new friend. Fighting a being made of fire would be near impossible for her. However, Sumner had one spell that blasted ice in a small arc. She’d need to be close to the enemy to use it.

“I’m helping, too,” Kira said with her pair of flintlock pistols. “I need to make sure these still work. This is as good a test as any.”

The Fire Knights marched forward. The group of women stood in their way. Nobody noticed the newcomers, yet. Jasha took a step forward, but Sumner held out an arm to stop her.

“We don’t know what these Fire Knights are capable of,” Sumner said. “Give it a minute. Let’s study their movements and attacks. When we know what we’re up against…”

Jasha had already pushed past her. Asterid gave her ladies a command. Together, they all dropped their wooden weapons and pulled steel swords from looked like a fishing rod carrier. One carrier must be for their actual fishing rods, while this one was holding weapons. The brash pirate was surprised.

Asterid and her crew of heavily armed fisherwomen clashed blades with the Fire Knights. What was once a slaughter, seemed like an equal battle now. One woman was struck down by a knight. Then, another. Despite their strength in numbers, these fire monsters were on a higher level.

Jasha’s cutlass, Reaper, slashed a knight’s pauldron off. Asterid followed up with an impaling blow. When the knight raised its sword to attack, an iron pellet knocked the blade back. The Fire Knight swung its arm and knocked the attackers away.

Kira rolled back, reloading her pistol as she did, and jumped back up to fire another shot. Jasha regained her footing and sliced at the knight’s leg. Asterid was much slower to rise, but eventually she did.

Sumner hadn’t attempted an attack, yet. The mage focused on the ground. She sent her mana through the frozen earth in an attempt to develop a new attack.

Two men attempted to join the fray, until a large fireball from the one called Lena consumed their bodies in screaming agony. Looking around the village-turned-battlefield, Misty noticed the fisherwomen were falling at an alarming rate. The power of these fire-wielders seemed unbeatable. Her friends were going to die.

“How dare you brats interfere! I am Lena the Fire Queen, rightful Queen of Crystalcrest! If you wish to challenge me, you will all burn!”

A fireball bigger than anything Sumner had seen before was forming in the Fire Queen’s hands. The young mage knew it was time to launch her attack.

When the ball of fire streamed toward Jasha and Kira, a large wall of ice sprouted from the ground. A sigh of relief for Sumner. She wasn’t certain it would stop the attack.

Asterid shouted toward her group, or what was left of them, to retreat. Their part in the battle was over and they had little effect. Even with the help of the newcomers, it seemed hopeless.

“Jasha, how are feeling?” Misty asked.

With everything else going on, Jasha and Kira hadn’t stopped attacking a Fire Knight. At least to them, it seemed like the knight was close to dying. Jasha suffered a gash across her abdomen, and another on her left arm. Kira continued rolling and dodging attacks, but she began slowing down.

“Misty, you have to get out of here,” Jasha warned.

“Not yet.”

A yellow-white glow emanated from Misty’s hands. The gash along Jasha’s abdomen had stopped bleeding, then the wound closed. The cut on her arm was healed, too. Misty was a healer?

When the fiery blade came down toward Misty, it was parried away by Jasha’s Reaper. After gaining enough distance for a strong attack, Jasha sliced into the Fire Knight’s helmet. An iron pellet shot the helmet clear off. In an instant, the fire being fizzled into steam and disappeared.

“We did it!” Jasha exclaimed.

“Of course we did,” Kira said as she reloaded for the two remaining Fire Knights.

“Misty, get back to the Inn,” Jasha said. “You’ll be safe there.”

Being a healer unfamiliar with combat, Misty knew not to question her friend’s order. She made a hasty retreat. One obstacle stood in her way.

“Where do you think you’re going, my dear?”

Misty stopped short of the Fire Queen. She stood face-to-face with a woman that could summon a fireball and obliterate her. Nobody else noticed. It took some time, but Lena found a way around Sumner’s ice wall. The frightened blonde turned to Jasha, still engaged in battle alongside Kira. She turned back around and watched fire form in Lean’s hand.

“You look so lost,” Lena laughed, “so scared. You should be. This won’t be a quick or painless death.”

Death. She never considered it before. Misty was twenty-three years old. All of the things she had never been able to do in her life suddenly passed through her mind. Except love. Misty turned back around with a smile and a tear. She did find love. Love was unexpectedly found in a woman that was willing do fight pirates and monsters to save her.

“Jasha,” Misty whispered.

The fireball hurled toward her golden hair. Misty closed her eyes and excepted her fate.

Death didn’t come. No burning. No agonizing screams. Her eyes opened and she turned to face Lena, but instead saw the back of Sumner’s head.

“Lena the Fire Queen,” Sumner said. “It’s over. We’ve defeated the last of your Fire Knights.”

Misty spun and saw Jasha and Kira bent over in exhaustion after having dealt the last two Fire Knights their final blows. The battle had ended. The heroes won.

At Sumner’s feet a ball of ice shattered.

Whether the four were enough to defeat her or they were too exhausted to fight anymore, Lena knew she was outnumbered and even a group of tired enemies might get lucky. Live to fight another day. She stepped back and waved a line of fire in the ground. From the line rose a wall of fire not unlike Sumner’s wall of ice.

Pursuing the evil Fire Queen was impossible. She was gone.

Chapter 7: Sunshine after Rain

Hours had passed. Exhaustion set in. Lena the Fire Queen had fled the port town with only devastation left in her wake to remind the villagers she was there. It took all day to repair buildings, gather the dead, make funeral pyres, and try as they might to go about business the same as any other day.

“Five women. Five strong, hardworking, self-sacrificing women,” Asterid lamented. Her eyelids were heavy with sorrow. The gray hair she wore tied back, was loose.

The village came together to grant these fallen heroes a proper funeral. Five small wooden boats were carried to the sea, where they were tied and awaiting their passengers. Jasha, Kira, Sumner, and Misty all helped to carry the women that gave their lives in defense of their home.

“Asta Brandvold, Ingrid Mostad, Signy Tvedt, Vandrad Tanek, and Joreid Trygstad. I pray the goddesses take you all through their heavenly gates and into everlasting paradise. What you have all done for us this day will never be forgotten.”

Attendants lit the pyres and cut the ropes tied to the docks. Off into the sea they floated. Heroes. All of them.

○   ○   ○   ○

In an effort to cheer everyone up, Jasha met with the resident chef. He was kind enough to provide her with the ingredients and help in any way. Everyone in the village was nice. That’s why the pain of loss hit her even harder. They didn’t deserve to suffer so.

It took an hour, but Jasha’s Special Brew—a heavy drink that she often made on special occasions.

“Just try some,” Jasha said. “It’s my special brew.”

“I’m sorry, I try not to drink alcoholic beverages,” Kira replied dismissively. “I prefer a clear mind and when I drink I get a little…silly.”

“One sip.”

“Fine, just one sip.” Kira drinks a sip from Jasha’s mug and places it back on the table. “Not bad.”

“Thank you. It took me years to master. I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere, because I want to talk to you.”

“Fine.”

Jasha walked away to speak with the chef again. She wasn’t gone long, she thought, before returning to where Sumner and Kira sat. Jasha picked up the large carafe to pour the bubbly contents into mugs, but found it almost empty. “Sumner?”

“It wasn’t me,” the mage whispered as she nodded toward her master.

“Kira, did you drink any more of this?”

“Mmm,” the Red Princess nodded as she reached for another mug. “Is good.”

“This was supposed to be for everyone. Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” Jasha asked.

“Enough?” Kira shoots back another gulp. “Enough a what?”

“Of MY drink. You said you only wanted a sip, now it’s gone. So is the entire carafe. You didn’t have the decency to tell me you were drinking the whole...”

“I’d not drink…dranked much? I haven’t dranked much…or is it drinked?”

“Drunk.”

“A little,” Kira laughed.

○   ○   ○   ○

Last night was tough and they hoped to drink away their sorrows. It didn’t work. It never worked. Jasha slept with Misty and Kira with Sumner. A victory sallowed by tragedy. Jasha felt angry, with a strong desire for revenge. Misty cried in her arms until she fell asleep. Kira replayed the battle in her mind, trying to figure out a better strategy. Sumner wondered if it was her fault they died, perhaps if she were a better mage…

The sun had risen and morning was here again. The four ladies came together in the bar downstairs and ate breakfast as they had the previous morning.

“I think I’m starting to like the Iced Slime Tea,” Jasha said.

There was a little chuckle among the group, but little more. Words couldn’t express their sorrow and regret. And so they remained in somber silence.

A young woman dressed in elegant garments walked into the bar. She looked around as if searching for something or someone. Asterid walked in behind her and smiled at the foreigners while pointing them out her guest.

“Hello, are you Jasha Raine?” The woman asked Misty.

“No…”

“I’m Jasha Raine,” she said with her fingers caressing the hilt of Reaper.

“Jasha Raine, Misty Viola, Kira Emille, and Sumner Ashe,” the woman read off a scroll. “Queen Amelina Aasen requests your presence at Syrstad Castle to honor you all for your heroism in the face of grave danger. Do you choose to attend?”

“I’ve never had much luck with authority,” Jasha said. “What if we refuse?”

“Jasha, it’s the Queen,” Kira said with excitement. “We’ll gladly appear before her majesty.”

“Like hell—”

“Jasha,” Misty whispered, “I think we should see the Queen. She might need us to slay the Fire Queen.”

Slay the Fire Queen? That was a nice thought. She would love the opportunity to avenge the five women that were killed. 

Chapter 8: True Queen of Crystalcrest

The travel from Lauksletta to Syrstad was no nearly as unpleasant as Kira assumed it would be. That sat in a long carriage with a fire—covered to prevent a fiery mishap—pulled by a large woolly beast known as a polbar.

The land between the small port town and the capital of Crystalcrest was not a barren wasteland of snow as the group had expected. Viewing the passing land through the small glass window, they viewed a cornucopia of life. Birds that flew high and dived low. White-furred deer that frolicked about the snow banks, and the large cats that stalked them. An occasional human encampment, with people huddled around a campfire.

At times the snow would fall freshly on the land. Other times the skies were clear. Wind drifted along the snow banks, bringing with it a soothing whistle. Crystalcrest was a beautiful land.

“What do you think the queen wants?” Kira asked.

“To thank us, like Erna said. We did drive out the fire witch.”

“Lena, the Fire Queen,” Sumner repeated softly to herself.

“She’s not the queen, Sumner, she’s a witch.”

“A mage…like me.”

The carriage became quiet for a moment. Sumner hadn’t stopped thinking about Lena the Fire Queen ever since their encounter. The woman was a powerful fire-wielding mage; the same school of magic as Sumner. Not only did she possess the power to command fireballs and walls of flame, but she summoned three Fire Knights. Her power was greater than anything Sumner had seen before.

Kira looked into the troubled brown eyes of her attendant. She seemed to take it harder than anyone. Was it because of the explosion she caused on the ship? Maybe it was the fact that her magic was ineffective against the fire witch. Sumner Aesh was said to be a young mage with great potential, when her father presented her with the young lady nearly a decade ago. Maybe he was wrong.

“We’re coming up on Syrstad now,” Erna Bergesen said. “We will be going straight to the castle to meet with Queen Amelina. After our meeting, you will be shown to your quarters to rest for the night.”

○   ○   ○   ○

[the heroes meet Queen Amelina, who thanks them and informs them that Lena the Fire Queen has appeared recently and claims to be the rightful heir to the throne. Queen Amelina can see that Lena wants to destroy the land as they know it and she must be stopped. She tells the heroes about a way to stop her]

Chapter 8—Inside the throne room, the ladies step forward and meet the kind-hearted Queen Amelina Aasen. The Queen praises the heroes for standing up to the evil Fire Queen that showed up in Crystalcrest recently. They talk about recent events, as well as the fabled __ Icicle. The heroes are tasked with traveling to Ormheim Cave and retrieving the ___ Icicle to stick into Lena the Fire Queen.

○   ○   ○   ○

“What are you doing out here?” Jasha asked.

Sumner didn’t say anything immediately. As she gripped the balcony railing, her eyes scanned the bustling city below. All of these people, she thought, relied on them to defeat a powerful enemy. This time if they failed, they would all be destroyed and these innocent people would cease to exist.

“Do you think we can do it?” Sumner asked.

“Do what?” Jasha asked with the grogginess of exhaustion. “Oh, you mean defeat Lena?”

The mage turned to her new friend. It must be obvious to the green-haired pirate that Sumner had been crying.

“I’m worried we might fail.”

“Then, we won’t.”

“How do you know that, Jasha? Just a few days ago I almost killed Lady Kira—”

“And me, and Misty. Go on.”

“My biggest fear is being responsible for lives. I left school and became a vagrant, because I failed a test that killed three of my classmates. Lady Kira’s father took me in, after seeing how I cooked my food on the streets, to protect his daughter and—”

“You have protected her—”

“Let me finish. Please. If I fail, Kira will die. Now, if I fail, Kira, Misty, and you will all die. Soon, if I fail everyone in the land of Crystalcrest may die. Lives hang in the balance of my successes and failures. Honestly, I don’t know if I can do this.”

Jasha could feel the young woman’s pain. She could sense the depth of her sorrow. She watched Sumner’s eyes well up with tears, before the mage could turn and hide her face. Failure was always an option; always possible. Jasha knew failure well.

“Sumner, have I ever told you about how I ended up stealing your ship?”

“You’re a…pirate,” Sumner sniffed and sobbed.

“I had my own ship. I had my own crew. We sailed the seas, plundered what we wanted, and we were damn good. One day Captain Whitebreast and her ship emerged from an early morning fog and launched a surprise attack on us.

“Her first mate, Karissa Klit, boarded our ship with a crew of bloodthirsty pirates. They decimated our numbers. My strongest women were killed, the men were forced to walk the plank into shark-infested waters, and in two hours I was the only person left alive against a multitude of sword-wielding, pistol-packing, pirates.

“I challenged the first mate, Karissa, to a duel. She had me in a submissive position three times, but refused to deal the final blow. After being thoroughly defeated, I was given two choices: hand over my ship or die on it. I surrendered my ship. Gave up, just like that.”

“You’re not really helping.”

“I’m not done. I ended up in a bar in Fleshampton. I tried drowning my sorrows in alcohol, until I noticed a young lady being victimized by mindless brutes; your crew, I believe. After dispatching two pirates with Reaper, I took Misty and we fled to the docks. Not a day removed from being forced off my ship, when I decide to commandeer another ship. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“You’re not a very good pirate?”

“Umm, I did steal your ship while you were on it, after chopping up your crew and evading their subsequent chase. I’d say I’m a damn good pirate,” Jasha boasted. “My point is, I could’ve said ‘fuck it’ and gave up; let Misty be tormented, forget ever being a pirate again, and drink away my sorrows until I died. My ship was taken. I did fail as a pirate. I lost many lives. However, I didn’t give up. I saved Misty’s life and grabbed another ship. Don’t let fear prevent you from doing what you’re meant to do. I’m a pirate, I was always meant to be a pirate. You’re a mage, with a ton of potential, and you’re meant to continue being a mage. We need you and we all believe in you. Sumner, you are one of us.”

Sumner turned around, dried trails of tears running down her cheeks, and she smiled. Being needed. She always wanted to feel needed. She always wanted to feel like her life had a purpose. Lady Kira was her purpose…is her purpose.

“Thank you,” Sumner said as she approached Jasha. The mage kissed her lips. Jasha parted them. Sumner’s fingers worked the strings holding her purple dressing gown on. Jasha followed suit, unclipping the notches of her black corset.

“You’re beautiful Sumner. I hope Kira appreciates that.”

“She does appreciate my attractiveness,” Sumner replied meekly. “I pleasure her whenever she likes.”

“What about giving someone pleasure when you like?”

“I’m doing that right now.”