3 comments/ 15309 views/ 3 favorites Dragon of the Karst Ch. 01 By: MaitressedeSoie The Karst was certainly beautiful from above. The park was well-maintained, with carefully marked paths taking visitors past sinkholes and cave openings and natural springs. Next to the parking lot were professionally-created explanation boards explaining how the karst had formed in geological terms and its importance to the local ecosystem. It was prepackaged wilderness at its finest, and any other day would have been crawling with people out to commune with nature in large groups. But today it was overcast and cool, the late March day more like winter than the first day of spring. Hyori should have been studying for her final exams, working industriously as the rest of the city seemed to be doing today. She was a good student who had studied hard all year - she'd listened to her mother that far - and she knew she'd be fine on the next day's psychology exam. Psych was a soft science anyway. She could afford a bit of solitude. The big cave mouths held no interest for her, somehow. They stank of too many visitors. It was the little ones, next to the spring that welled up unfrozen some two hundred metres from the path, that fascinated her. What mysteries lay beneath the rocks here? Of course she'd read the placards, and knew that the tunnels and caves of the karst had been well-explored, but she still preferred to consider the possibility that the explorers had missed something. The mossy rocks were still icy from the dregs of winter that held on in the shadowed grove. Carefully she placed her booted foot, wincing a little as the boulder shifted beneath her. Catching her balance, she decided to risk taking her hand off the branch she was using for support, in order to check that her cell phone was still in her pocket. Hands free, perched on the unsteady rock, she reached for it. And began to slide. Down the slippery lichen, past the edge of that boulder and onto another, sharply angled, she should have landed in the icy runoff from the spring; even at this time of year there was liquid there. Instead, she found herself wedged between that boulder and the next one, in a crack that may have been a cave opening. It widened, though she couldn't figure out why it should, and she slid down into it, the daylight disappearing above her with an almost audible pop. She was falling, grasping at air, her eyes dilating as she searched for any light at all, her voice catching in her throat so she could not even scream. Seconds, minutes, hours - she lost all sense of time as she fell, until eventually the wind of her passage slowed and she felt herself come to rest on solid rock. "And so the karst gives me the first taste of spring," said a voice from the darkness. It was a woman's voice, deep and melodic and raspy all at once, and it held notes of greed and amusement that made Hyori shiver. "Stand up, girl. I can't see you when you're crouched like that," the voice commanded. Not knowing exactly what else to do, Hyori obeyed, still not trusting her voice to ask who the woman was. Once on her feet, she looked around, to be met with a pair of glowing amethyst eyes that might have been right next to her or a football field away; she had no frame of reference to help her decide which. "Obedient, I see. What is your name, girl?" the voice asked. "Hy- Hyori," she answered, and stopped in confusion. What form of address should she use for this person she could not see? The voice hissed. "You will call me Mireu, girl, and you will not forget again," it said. There was a touch on Hyori's back and suddenly her skin burned as though she'd been hit with a flaming whip. She cried out and curled in on herself, waiting for the aftereffect of pain to set in so she could think again. In a moment it came, a flood of gentle warmth, and she straightened to look at the eyes. The voice chuckled. "Oh, you will be fun to play with, girl," it said. The voice seemed to like manners. Very well then, thought Hyori. She folded her hands together in front of her and bowed, as she would to her Korean relatives. "If it please you, Mireu, why am I here?" she asked. Humility had never come easily to her, but she infused her words with all she could manage. Mireu laughed, sending more shivers up her spine. "You are here, girl, to help me, and to be helped by me," she said. "Other girls have come, and have helped me, but I have never before offered the deal to them that I will offer to you. They were not worthy of it, but you - you have power singing in your veins. You can be so much more than a week of meals." There was a burst of light so bright as to blind her; as she covered her eyes and blinked in confusion, it settled into a dim bluish glow to which her eyes adjusted quickly. When she looked up again, the amethyst eyes were gone and in their place was a woman, sitting about ten feet away in a carved chair. The light was in the palm of her hand and cast a meagre glow over the two of them. Hyori had a sense that the walls and ceiling of the cave were so far away that even a much brighter light would have left them shrouded, but it didn't matter. She was too transfixed. Skin glowed green-gold, and Hyori was uncertain whether or not that was a trick of the light. Long, straight limbs reposed on each other, gleaming and graceful, ending in gently-curved feet with carved toenails shaped more like talons. Her fingernails, tapping on the wood of the chair, were filed to points and painted turquoise. The curves of her naked body were displayed as Mireu leaned forward, her breasts nearly touching her crossed knees, her collarbones standing out in stark relief before rising to a shapely neck. But it was her face that captivated the girl. Oval-shaped, full-lipped, with round eyes that receded in a Western way she hadn't expected, though she couldn't say why, the brow lifted in amusement at being studied, Mireu was the most stunningly beautiful woman Hyori had ever seen. "Do you like what you see, girl?" Mireu asked. "Yes, Mireu," Hyori answered, not even considering that one would usually prevaricate at such a question. "Stand straight, girl, so that I may return the perusal," the woman ordered. Hyori obeyed, mentally cataloguing her own body. Short, not at all lithe though not fat either; solid, really. Good hair that fell down her back in waves, currently fastened in a trim braid. A symmetrical face, neither ugly nor beautiful, the face of a girl boys didn't look at twice. As Mireu leisurely examined her, she felt a hot flush in her cheeks. "You'll do nicely, girl," Mireu finally decided. Cursing herself for a weak fool, Hyori decided it was time for some of her usual directness. "You mentioned a deal, Mireu?" she asked in a businesslike tone. There was another burst of pain on her back, and she cried out again. How had Mireu done that without moving? "I will present the deal in my time and you will await my pleasure," Mireu said in a conversational tone as Hyori panted in reaction. There was silence as the girl regained her composure, then Mireu remarked, "This is not the best place for a deal. You need a taste of what the deal entails before you are ready to accept or refuse. I think I shall play with you a little bit before making my offer. You'll be a diverting toy for as long as you last." Gracefully she uncrossed her legs and stood, moving toward the rock on which Hyori stood in a few long steps. Her fingers brushed Hyori's cheek, and the girl's knees started to melt despite her anger. Mireu laughed. "You will be fun to play with, my little toy," she murmured. Her hands slid over Hyori's shoulders and the backpack slid off onto the rock with a soft thud. Why was she permitting this, Hyori wondered, but even as she tried to call upon her usual strength of will, the next touch drove it out of her. Mireu's hands moved under the girl's shirt and lifted it gently over her head. Hyori lifted her arms as it moved and the shirt followed the backpack, exposing her plain cotton bra. Mireu put her hands on the girl's shoulders and turned her to face the other way, and Hyori felt her bra being unhooked and slid down her arms. She shivered, but not from cold. Warm hands slid over her back, under her arms, and cupped her breasts from behind. She moaned. Warm breath on her neck made her flush as the hands became less gentle, kneading her flesh and rocking her body as she whimpered. Her eyes drifted closed under the influence of the tidal wave of arousal that rose up from deep within her, unfamiliar but welcome. The hands moved and Hyori barely noticed as they travelled down her arms, caressing and exploring. Lost in a wave of sensation and confused at her lack of willpower, she was unprepared for the smooth leather that snapped itself around her wrists. By the time she had pulled herself out of her haze enough to notice what was happening to her, her wrists were pulled behind her and fastened there. The cuffs fit her perfectly, as though they were a part of her skin and she simply hadn't noticed them until now. Experimentally she tugged and reached, still fighting the haze; whatever connected her wrists together, she couldn't reach it or budge it. With the corner of her mind that sat back and watched what happened to her, she wondered why she wasn't panicked yet. The hands returned to her breasts, and she lost her train of thought again as her knees buckled and she was held up only by their pressure. The gentleness was gone now; hard pressure made her gasp, and nails scratching her sensitive nipples made her writhe. She was aware now of Mireu's breasts against her back, her nipples erect, her skin warm. Distantly, as though down a long tunnel, she heard her captor remark, "So responsive, my little toy. We shall have to see what you think of the rest of my ministrations, if simply playing with your nipples can bring you to your knees." With that the hands left her breasts, so abruptly that their absence caused an ache Hyori couldn't name. In moments, they returned to her body, this time placing another length of leather around her neck. Hyori arched, trying to give more access to the questing hands, wordlessly begging them to touch her. They didn't, instead fastening the collar quickly. Then the hands moved to her arms and she was turned around again to face Mireu. A snap, and a leather leash was attached to the collar. Mireu smiled into Hyori's half-closed eyes. "You'll need to pay attention to where you step, girl. Your balance will be off. But it's not a long walk." With that she turned and tugged on the leash. Hyori stumbled behind her before catching her footing. Keeping her eyes on the floor in the dim light which seemed now to be floating over their heads, she managed not to fall as they moved away from the rock where she'd landed. Thirty steps through the impenetrable darkness, encased in their pool of light, and they came to a tunnel. "I will leave you to make your way through this on your own, since I must take another route," Mireu told her, releasing her wrists and refastening them in front of her before the girl could offer the slightest token of resistance. "If you go on your knees, you should be able to get through with no problem, even with your wrists bound. I'll be waiting for you on the other side. Do not delay, girl. You would never get out of here without my help, so like it or not, your future is with me." She leaned closer and whispered in Hyori's ear, "I suspect you like it just fine, don't you?" Then she spun Hyori toward the low rock tunnel. The light went out, leaving the girl in total darkness and sensing that she was now alone. She shivered with cold and loss, and considered with her suddenly-clear mind. She had an idea now of what Mireu meant by playing with her. She also knew Mireu was right: she would never get out of here on her own. It was a rational, scientific decision, then: the only way out was through. As she sank to her knees and placed her bound hands on the rocks in front of her to find the passage, she pushed aside the knowledge that she was lying to herself. Mireu's touch was the only reason to continue. Dragon of the Karst Ch. 02 She emerged from the tunnel after what seemed an age but was probably closer to five minutes, judging by the number of times she'd moved each knee on her crawl. Only once had she needed to crouch down lower and worm through on her belly, but it had been a terrifying moment. What if she got stuck here? Nobody would ever know what had happened to her. It was with huge relief and gratitude that she spotted the light around a bend in the tunnel. The tunnel sloped gently downwards but got taller at the same time, so that by the time she got to its mouth, she could have stood upright. Briefly, before turning the last corner, she considered. Would her captor prefer her to crawl or walk? She brushed the stones off her palms and went back to crawling, knowing the answer. The tunnel opened into a cave perhaps twenty feet in each direction, strangely symmetrical for what looked on the surface like a natural formation. The ceiling ranged from ten to about fourteen feet above her head, showing the natural variation she'd have expected, but the floor was as flat as a patio deck and the walls were not much rougher. Her mind catalogued these details while her eyes took in the contents of the room. The centre of the room was dominated by a huge wooden X shape, with iron rings at each of the four points. Not far from that was a piece of furniture reminiscent of the horses she had once jumped over in gymnastics class, though this one had a sharp angle where the padding would have been on those. Around the room were benches, stockades, and other devices Hyori couldn't name. Along one wall was a row of wooden cabinets, closed. She did not have time to wonder at their contents before Mireu swept into the room. She was still gloriously nude, and in the brighter light of the big room, it was clear the greenish glow to her skin had not been a trick of the light. She smiled at Hyori, a predatory look, and the girl shivered. In two steps she had crossed the room. She took Hyori's chin between two fingers and forced it up until the girl was meeting her eyes. "Did you enjoy your little trip through the tunnel, toy?" she purred. Not waiting for a response, she pulled her captive to her feet, unlatched the girl's arms, and pushed her toward the X, catching her by the elbow when she almost lost her balance. In moments, Hyori's arms were chained to the iron rings at the two upper points of the X. She could see the locks this time, but it was clear that even if she could have reached them, it would have done her no good. The padlocks appeared to have no keyhole, and she wondered if she was stuck there forever. She tried to crane her neck around to see what Mireu was doing behind her, but a sharp slap on her cheek dissuaded her. "Your curiosity has already gotten you in trouble today, toy. We will need to work on curbing that." Hyori wasn't quite sure what that meant, but she didn't have time to think about it. Mireu's hands were once again on her breasts from behind, working the nipples and bruising the soft flesh with each pass of her talon-like nails. She moaned and twisted, wondering why she wasn't protesting. Mireu next moved her hands to the waistband of the girl's pants. She ran her hand inside them, caressing and kneading Hyari's ass until she squirmed. Then her hands moved to the front and Hyari felt the button being undone and the zipper lowered. When her pants fell off her hips, she came back to herself and stopped moving. "What's the matter, toy? Not pleased with my little game anymore?" She screwed up all her courage and said, "Why are you doing this to me?" Her voice, normally forceful to the point where her mother despaired of making a lady of her, now came out on a note halfway between a plea and a moan. Inwardly she cursed. Where was her forthrightness when she needed it? Mireu stepped back, and the touching stopped. Despite herself, Hyari craved it, and had to force herself not to move her ass towards those devilishly provocative hands. "So, perhaps you're not just some power in a pretty body," Mireu remarked thoughtfully. She leaned in close, her mouth at Hyari's ear, not touching her. "You fell into my lair on a day of power, and that makes you mine," she whispered. "I can do anything I want to you and you can do nothing to stop me. But you're not just any fresh offering. You're the descendant of a witch of my own people, and that means we can help each other, you and I." The tips of her nails brushed Hyari under the leather collar, then raked downwards. Hyari cried out as the nails scored her back in four long tracks, wondering if she were now dripping blood. "But before we can do business, you need to understand your place in this deal. You see, I hold all the power, for you are untrained and bound by my magic. You will have the choice as to how long you serve me, but not how, nor whether to serve. Think on that as I use you for a day and a night, for at the end of that time, you will have a choice to make." Her captor took a step back, then reached down to tug at the pants around her ankles. "Kick these off, toy, or you will have nothing to wear should you choose, tomorrow, to go back to your world," she cooed. Back? Hyori perked up, and without another thought, kicked off the pants. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mireu place them, crumpled, into one of the wooden cabinets where her shirt already resided, but she dared not turn her head to look more closely. The feel of the lash on her back startled her. Her eyes widened and she gasped as its tails wrapped around her body, covering her from breasts to ass in delicious sting. "Let's see how you do with more than a single stroke, shall we?" Mireu cooed. "When you're ready for me to stop, you are to call out "red," but be warned - I will stop this only to start something else." With that she laid the flogger on hard. Hyori's world narrowed. There was her body stretched taut on its frame, her torso stinging from the leather tails, and a growing wetness between her legs. All else was lost in a haze of pain and pleasure. She hung slack from her chains, writhing with each stroke, tears streaming down her face, praying for it to stop, praying for it to go on forever, moaning and growling and mewling each in turn as the whipping went on and on and on. When her moans had slowed and her squeaks quieted, the whipping stopped. Hyori barely noticed, lost in the all-consuming waves of pain and pleasure, until a cool cloth was draped over her back. Gently she was patted, each gentle tap causing a renewed spasm, a faint echo of the flogger itself. Behind her, she could hear Mireu's noises, the click of her clawlike nails on the floor, her grunts of satisfaction at each tiny expression of pain from her captive, her harsh breathing, until finally the cloth was removed and Mireu leaned her chin on Hyori's shoulder. "That was a lovely meal, my toy," she cooed. "And I am pleased that you did not call red. For that, I will grant you a boon. You may ask anything you like, so long as it does not involve going free." Hyori fought the fog in her brain. A boon? She got to ask for something, and Mireu would give it to her? "May I lie down, Mireu?" she asked. Her captor laughed. It was not a pleasant sound, and the girl wondered if she'd played into this terrible game. But how could lying down be worse than hanging from these chains? Before she could come up with a way, Mireu's hands were releasing the chains that held her up. She would have fallen had her captor not supported her as she got her feet under her. Her weight supported again, her hands were once again pulled behind her back and fastened there. Muscles long immobilized screamed in agony and she cried out. Mireu ignored the reaction, snapping a leash on the collar and tugging on it. Shakily, still crying, she followed where the blue-green beauty led. It was only a few steps to a narrow bed. Mireu pushed her face-first onto it, and Hyori fell with a gasp. Next her feet were pulled up and she was turned so her head was toward the head of the bed. Despite the pain in her arms and torso, she began to relax; it was so good to feel her weight supported by the mattress! But her relief was short-lived, for Mireu was not about to let her off so lightly. Her wrists were released and she was flipped over in one fluid motion. Before she could grasp at her freedom, one hand was fastened to the side of the bed; in a heartbeat Mireu was around the bed and repeating the tie on the other side. Next Mireu took her feet and moved them until the soles were together, forming a diamond with her legs. A couple of twists with some twine and her big toes were joined together. Hyori was beginning to realize her mistake: she was lying down, but her bondage was just as strict as it had been before. Mireu had granted her boon without giving her the rest she really craved. Mentally she made a bet with herself as to where Mireu would focus her attentions next. She did not have long to wait. Her captor climbed onto the bed and sat on her toy's feet. Hyori gathered her energy to lift her head, and caught her breath at the beautiful form that was tormenting her. Mireu's skin was not just turquoise; it was almost iridescent, refracting light with each movement, giving the illusion of a diamond-studded hide with the form of a lithe, athletic woman. Their eyes caught, and Mireu smiled, holding her gaze. The questing fingers at her cunt were almost a surprise, for all they'd been anticipated. She moaned again, squirming against the exploring hand. Nobody had ever touched her there before. Gentle hands caressed her labia, pinching and rubbing. Her hips rocked against the building pressure as the hands circled and rubbed at her clitoris, and she began to pant as fingers entered her and began to tickle. The angle changed. She barely noticed until Mireu's mouth closed over her nipple and began to circle it with her tongue, nipping and biting. She writhed and moaned. The tempo increased, a pounding rock beat in her cunt, a strumming guitar at her clit, until finally the pressure crested and she burst into a thousand pieces. Her drifting mind snapped abruptly back into her body when Mireu began to crawl up her. "Was that your first orgasm, toy?" she purred. Hyori shook her head but didn't speak. Mireu frowned. Grasping her captive's chin in her taloned hands (where had the talons been a few moments ago?) she ordered, "You will answer me when I ask you a question, toy." "I - I have made myself come before, Mireu," Hyori admitted. "But never like that, am I right?" The triumph in her voice made it clear she already knew the answer, so Hyori gave it to her. "No, Mireu. Never like that." She nodded in satisfaction and continued her climb, sitting up as she got to her captive's neck and continuing to slide, until she was over Hyori's mouth. "I gave you a sampling of what to do, toy," she purred as her hands stroked the girl's hair. "Now you get to do the same to me - with your mouth. If you do well, perhaps I will grant another boon." Hyori hesitated. Mireu's smell was pungent in her nostrils, sweet and sharp and enticing, but very unfamiliar. A sharp slap to one breast brought her attention back to her captor. "I gave you an order, toy," Mireu reminded her, as she grasped one nipple between two talons and started to cut. Hyori cried out, and while her mouth was still open, Mireu positioned herself above it. Hyori began to lick, gingerly at first, then with increasing fervour as she realized how much she liked the taste. Her tongue circled Mireu's clitoris, and her captor moaned. Encouraged, she kept up that motion, flicking over the hardening bud with her tongue. Gently she sucked, then when Mireu's moans became whimpers, she did it again, biting and sucking by turns. Mireu's whimpers rose to higher and higher pitches as her body gyrated on Hyori's tongue. Finally Mireu shuddered and cried out, spasming over and over again as she gradually sank to lie down next to her captive. They lay there for several long minutes, not moving. Hyori couldn't, and Mireu seemed disinclined. Finally the strange woman rolled over Hyori and off the bed, standing in one fluid motion. She untied the twine that held Hyori's big toes together, then detached each wrist from the bed, locking them together in front. Then she pulled the girl off the bed. "You have done well, toy. I have fed on your energies more than on any girl before you. This time you get a real boon, and I will choose it." She led her hostage to the other side of the room, to a long, low cage made of metal. The floor was covered with padding of some substance Hyori couldn't identify, and the bars at the sides and the top had regular slots of different shapes, none big enough to fit through entirely. This she opened at the short end, indicating to Hyori that she was to enter. Wordlessly the girl sank to her knees and crawled in; the cage was too low for her to sit up in it, but just barely long enough to lie straight. Had she been even an inch taller, she would have had to scrunch her body to fit inside. She wondered how many of her predecessors had spent time in this cage with the purpose of making them as uncomfortable as possible. When she was fully inside the cage, Mireu threw a blanket in with her and then closed it. As she was dealing with the blanket and trying to cover herself, her captor locked it. "Rest, my toy," she crooned as one talon scraped down Hyori's thigh through the bars. "In a few hours, you will serve me again, and then we shall discuss terms. For now, rest." The lights dimmed, and Hyori settled into the thin padding with a sigh. Her eyes drifted shut. Dragon of the Karst Ch. 03 Chapter 3: Of course there's a catch. There's always a catch. Hyori awoke to a metal clang and a sharp tug on her wrists, still locked together. She glanced blearily toward the head of the cage to discover that it opened like the other end did, and Mireu was there. She was looping a chain between her prisoner's wrists, around the chain that linked them. She looped this in turn around a vertical bar to her left and locked it there. Hyori didn't test its strength or her range of movement; she was certain that the first would be great and the second small, blocked as it was into a tiny square between vertical and horizontal bars. Mireu noticed that she was awake and smiled at her. Hyori didn't smile back, simply watching warily as the strange woman moved down the cage and stopped near her ankles. Two short lengths of chain and two keyless padlocks later, and Hyori's legs were spread, one attached to the top of the cage and the other to the bottom, her feet flat against the short end through which she'd entered. Next, her captor came back to the head of the cage and affixed a huge hook to it. A turn of a wheel on the wall, and the head of the cage was pulled off the floor and lifted until it was standing upright. Hyori faced her captor through the bars from her new position, standing in considerable discomfort on the iron bars of the short end of the cage. She did not have enough slack at her ankles to move her feet even a few inches, but the bars were spaced so close together that she would have been standing on them regardless. The cage was narrow, so she could bend her knees a few inches but no more. "Now, my toy, it is time for some decisions," Mireu said conversationally. She caressed Hyori's hip through the bars of the cage, and the girl sighed and moved into the motion. "You have two choices." Mireu stopped, waiting for something. Hyori finally asked, "What are my choices, Mireu?" "The first is what happened to the other girls who fell into my lair. I drained them and let them go after about a week. I understand the hospital was able to save the life of one of them." She let that sink in a moment. Hyori shivered, then asked, "Mireu, could you explain how you drain energy? I don't understand." She heard the plaintive note in her voice and inwardly cursed it and her plight, even as her eyes followed the curve of Mireu's luscious breast. "So much ignorance of your heritage, child! What was your mother thinking? Or maybe she doesn't know, herself? I drain your energy two ways: one is by causing you pain, and the other is by making you choose. When you choose between two types of pain, of course, the greatest energy is released. The other girls had no magic, so choice didn't work on them. Only pain was of any value to me, so they gave me their pain." Her hand slipped between the bars again, this time holding something Hyori couldn't quite see. A moment later she gasped as a tiny vice gripped her right nipple. As Mireu moved to run the chain attached to the clamp around the bar of the cage and towards the other nipple, she continued, "Your second choice is to serve me for a year. You will come to me every night when I call you. Sometimes I will keep you for all the hours of darkness; sometimes only for a couple of hours. But the call will not be one you can refuse, and it will come every night without fail." The chain tightened, tugging her breast toward the bars, and Hyori leaned forward against her arms to lessen the strain. Mireu continued, "I will not drain you completely; you will still be able to maintain a life in the outside world, though you will be tired often. At the end of the year, I will reward you with riches beyond your wildest dreams." The clamp snapped onto her left nipple and she whimpered. She shifted her weight forward onto the balls of her feet, and succeeded in getting some slack in the nipple chain, but realized that the position was going to put intolerable strain on her feet in short order. She held the position anyway as Mireu stared at her avidly, obviously drinking up her energy released by the painful choice. "You have one hour to decide. At the end of the hour, you will choose, or I will choose for you." She moved to the cabinets along the facing wall and removed a large hourglass, which she turned onto the table. Then she gracefully lowered herself onto the bed, where she proceeded to fondle her breasts and cunt, masturbating to the sound of Hyori's gasps and whimpers of pain. The sands trickled as Hyori thought. A week, and it could all be over. She'd recover in hospital for a while - surely she was strong enough to survive? - and then she'd be fine. Just a week. She looked at her captor, and could not look away. The blue woman was fascinating and tempting; Hyori found herself wanting to explore that exotic body and serve that dominant will. If she served for a year, she'd be rich enough to pay off all her parents' debt, rich enough to buy her family the house they'd dreamed of in this new land, rich enough to study whatever she wanted to study. It would cost her a year, and some strength, but wouldn't it be worth it? Sharp spasms of pain began shooting up her legs from her feet, and she shifted involuntarily. The tug at her breasts was agonizing, but for the moment her feet were more important and spreading her weight on them seemed to help. She bent her knees a little and screamed, realizing that the chain on her nipples was attached high enough to make bending another painful choice. She straightened, hoping that would help. Her nipples were going numb now, but every time she moved, spasms of pain flickered through them and over their surface like lightning. It was only a few minutes before she had to rise to her tiptoes again to relieve the pressure on her breasts. Tears began to course down her cheeks. She closed her eyes, trying to stop moving, constantly trying to relieve one pain by causing another. Everything - Mireu, the hourglass, the choice before her - faded to nothing against the backdrop of brilliant white sensation. The feel of Mireu's hands at her breasts brought her back to herself. She had barely a second's warning before the clamps were removed and white-hot agony coursed through her body from her nipples. She screamed as Mireu grasped her breasts and kneaded them. Slowly the pain subsided, and she hung by the chains at her wrists, too spent even to hold herself upright in her cage. "Time's up, toy. What is your decision?" Mireu asked. Hyori didn't have to think. She knew she wouldn't survive a week of this. "I will serve you for a year, Mireu," she answered. The last thing she heard as her vision went black was Mireu's low, triumphant laughter. Dragon of the Karst Ch. 04 Blindly she stumbled through the snow, her house slippers soaking wet, the legs of her pyjamas soaked through and muddy. She barely saw the branches that slapped against her face as she raced to answer the call that was tearing her apart. Finally she flung herself at the hole in the ground where the cave had opened up the day before. It remained closed, and she banged her fists bloody against the rocks, screaming in desperation, too far gone even to realize that if anyone saw her, they'd probably call the police. After a few minutes, her energy from the day already low, she lay down and wept. Gently she caressed the rock, her eyes screwed shut, willing the cave to draw her down as it had before. "I thought you might figure it out if you tried hard enough," a dry voice said above her. Startled, she opened her eyes. The hard, slightly-frozen ground of late winter was gone. In its place was the room she'd been in the night before, now only dimly lit from a source she couldn't pinpoint. Mireu lounged on the bed just in front of and above her. She wore nothing but her turquoise scales that passed for skin, and Hyori caught her breath at the glistening sight. "So I have only to will myself here, and I will be here?" she hazarded. Her voice sounded strange in her own ears, probably from all the screaming. "Indeed. You have magic, girl. It is tethered to mine, but you have it nonetheless and you can use it to get to me. In fact you must, or you will kill yourself trying." She smiled lazily. "Now kneel before me like a good slave. No, not like that. You will wear no clothing in my presence." Hastily Hyori complied, piling her soiled pyjamas nearby and returning to kneel in front of Mireu. Inwardly she seethed a bit; was she to take a full year of being ordered about every night? Would she ever again stand up for herself? "If you survive this, you will have the option to stand up for yourself eventually. Just now, you must serve. That was our bargain, and you found out just now what happens if you try to resist my call." Mireu's taloned fingers traced the outline of each of her nipples, and she shivered and gasped at the pain from the bruises the night before. "Now, my toy, I want to see what happened in your day to make you resist my call." Her mistress put two fingers on Hyori's left temple, and the strange room disappeared, replaced with the events of the day. *** She awoke to the feel of snow under her cheek. She was dressed in the clothes she'd been wearing when she fell into the Mireu's cave, now torn and soiled. She rolled over and cried out in pain as her many bruises came into contact with the rocks on the ground. She gingerly got to her feet, discovering her hiking boots next to her feet. Looking around, she realized it was about noon, and she had been lying near the path by which she'd come to the karst. Slowly, on feet still bruised from their adventures in the cage, she made her way back to her car in the parking lot. She drove home in a daze. Had it really happened? The bruises said it had, but the reality of Mireu was already starting to fade. As she unlocked the side door, scraping her feet carefully on the mat and then removing her boots, she was halfway to concluding that it really had been a dream. Her mother's screams brought her sharply out of her reverie. Over the course of hours, Hyori explained that she was fine (a lie) and that nothing bad had happened to her (also a lie.) Her mother cried, and phoned everyone they knew to say she was home and all right, and only then took a good look at her. Her eyes widened and she backed away from her daughter, now lying on the couch. "You're marked," she said simply, making a sign of protection against her. Hyori felt the sign land on her skin and burn there for a moment before she brushed it away absently. "What do you mean, marked? Mom, you're being crazy. Can I go take a shower now?" "It won't help, child. You're marked by magic." The older woman began to pace, thinking. "I don't expect you to tell me what really happened. I doubt you can. But let me protect you. I - I know a little bit of magic. Please?" Intrigued, Hyori consented, and her mother spent the next hour rigging charms around her, saying incantations in Korean, and generally behaving very strangely. Hyori was too tired to care. She let her mother do what she wanted, and in truth slept through most of it. When her mother was done, she left Hyori sleeping on the couch. At dinnertime, she awoke to the smell of rice and a touch on her shoulder. Hyori came to the table and ate and ate. Then she went and slept again, making an excuse about studying for her exams to get out from her parents' prying questions. It was much, much later when she felt the pull. At first it was just a dream. She was walking through the woods of the karst, thinking about how lovely it would be to see Mireu again and serve her. Gradually it grew more insistent. The charm her mother had hung around her neck began to burn in earnest. The sigils drawn on her skin itched, and she got up to take a shower and get rid of them. It didn't work, and by the time she was dry, she was grabbing the nearest clothing - her discarded pyjamas - to leave the house. She made it to the side door - and found her mother waiting for her. "You are not leaving," she said simply. Hyori didn't argue. She simply grabbed her father's cane by the door and hit her mother over the head. Then she stepped over her mother's prone body and left the house, not even stopping to lock the door. *** She awoke from her daze to Mireu's triumphant laughter. "So your mother knows a bit of magic after all, does she? I doubt she'll interfere with you again." Hyori gasped. "Did I kill her, Mireu?" she asked, dreading the answer. "Oh, I doubt it very much," her captor said. "No, you'll go back there in the morning and sleep the day away, and other than to feed you, your mother will never acknowledge you. You bested her magically as well as physically by breaking her charms. She may try to make you leave her house, but she will not attempt to keep you from coming to me again." Mireu gracefully unfolded herself from her bed. She brushed her hands around Hyori's neck and a collar appeared there. She snapped a leash onto it and led Hyori crawling toward the furniture at the other end of the room. "I won't be using you tonight - much," Mireu told her. "I have plenty of energy from yesterday and you are nearly spent still. Squat on your heels and raise your hands." Hyori complied, and felt a heavy object settle on her shoulders. A heavy wooden yoke such as those used for oxen was being settled on her shoulders, and even as she figured out what was happening, pieces closed around her neck and wrists to hold it there. The wood was a solid three inches thick, keeping her head up and preventing her from turning from side to side more than a tiny bit. It was attached to the ceiling somehow, but she couldn't see the mechanism without turning her head. She pushed up on the yoke, and succeeded in moving it a few inches before stopping and trying to rest in her crouch again. The yoke did not move, and she hung there, her knees half-bent, neither kneeling nor standing. She let her chin rest against the wood in despair, only to realize that the edge closest to her chin and the heels of her hands was sharp. She pushed herself to her toes so her chin would not rest on the edge, and considered her predicament. "Every time you push up on the yoke, it will come to rest in a new position and you will not be able to lower it again," Mireu told her. "I suggest you think carefully before you relieve the strain on your back and legs by pushing upwards. Obviously, you'll also have to consider how much strain your chin and hands can take if you allow the yoke to take your weight." She moved to a table nearby and turned the hourglass over. "One hour to feed me, my toy," she purred as Hyori's thighs began to burn. The girl's world narrowed. She withstood the pain in her thighs as long as she could. Then she allowed her chin to rest on the yoke for a moment. Yelping in pain, her head shot up straight again, and she pushed with her thighs to move the yoke a bit higher. This improved her situation for a few moments, but it was not long before her thighs renewed their protest. She was settling in to endure this new ache for as long as she could when Mireu reappeared between her and the hourglass. "Time to add to your torment, I think, pet," was all she said as she clipped nipple clamps onto Hyori's breasts. The captive yelped, then quieted as the numbness began to set in. Mireu drank it all up before attaching the chains on the clamps - to a ring on the floor in front of her. They weren't tight enough to pull yet, but the very first time she pushed up on the yoke, they'd begin to tug. Hyori whimpered. She concentrated on flexing the muscles in her legs, first one, then the other, relieving the strain briefly on each. As even that became unbearable, she slowly began to push up again. Even though she was prepared for it, the pull at her breasts made her scream. Mireu laughed, and it seemed to Hyori that she shimmered with the power she was drinking in. When Hyori's screams had quieted to whimpers, Mireu approached her again. The girl braced for the new pain, but it did not come. Instead, Mireu began to caress her labia. Silky fingers rubbed and separated the folds, finding the sensitive bud of her clitoris. As her legs began to wobble from the strain and she realized she'd have to push up again soon, Mireu's fingers entered her and she moaned with need. Without thinking, she began to move, only to be reminded forcefully that she could move up, but not down. Now nearly upright, she willed herself still as Mireu caressed her, driving her slowly toward orgasm while her thighs and breasts screamed at her to release them. It was no use. As the wave hit her, she rose off Mireu's fingers and found herself on tiptoe, spasming uncontrollably on the most powerful orgasm she'd ever had. Mireu laughed as she panted. "You've done well, toy," she remarked. "I'll grant you a boon, of my choosing. You shall spend the rest of the night on the bed instead of in the cage." With a clink of metal on metal, the yoke opened. Hyori was so startled that if Mireu hadn't caught her, she would have face-planted on the floor; as it was, with Mireu catching her by the chains at her breasts, she somehow found the strength to stand and relieve that pressure. With her last ounce of energy, Hyori followed as Mireu led her by her breasts to the bed. Once settled, Mireu removed the nipple clamps and drank in her pain when she yelled again. Then her captor attached a chain to her collar and another to some cuffs that went around her ankles. With an almost gentle pat on her aching breasts, Mireu stood and left. The lights dimmed, and Hyori slipped into sleep, dreaming of iron chains and iridescent scales.