Interlude: The Tale of Jastira: Part 3 – The Oasis

Jastira and Berold were heading to the next temple on the map. The sky was just beginning to darken and they were looking for a safe, concealed place that they could rest for the night before they continued on their journey. But as Berold scanned the horizon for an opportune location, he focused on something in the distance and his eyes widened. He pointed and Jastira looked off in the distance. She saw a row of people moving down a road, in their direction. She would not have even seen them in the dimming light but it appeared some of them were carrying wooden torches that were ignited. Berold pulled Jastira behind a thick tree just off the road. They waited from their concealed spot. Jastira heard the group approaching before she could see them from their position. Men were speaking in raised voices, but she could not make out their words. But then as they drew closer, Jastira peered out from the tree and saw them. It was not just men. There was a row of about ten naked women, their wrists bound in front of them, and they were being escorted by what looked like soldiers. A half dozen soldiers, too many for Berold to try to engage himself.

“Keep it moving cunts, we are travelling through the night!” one of the soldiers barked and he lashed out at the line of captives with a whip. It struck the back of one of the women and she cried out in pain. Many of the other captive women were sobbing, clearly distraught at being captured by these soldiers.

“We are travelling through the night? My feet are killing me!” one of the other soldiers complained.

“The high priest said he was departing for the Oasis at dawn. We have to get to him before then. I don’t feel like being stuck here for another few days,” the first soldier responded. “Too much risk we run into orcs.”

The captives and their escorts continued walking down the road, past Berold’s and Jastira’s position. When they had passed, Berold and Jastira looked at each other. “A high priest,” Berold whispered softly. “Probably a cult member. And it sounds like they are taking those captives to wherever their hideaway is.”

“What is the oasis?” Jastira asked.

Berold shrugged. “I have never heard of such a place in Jorshah. Perhaps it is a nickname. The sky is darkening though and we can follow them from a distance by following their torches. They will not see us in the dark.”

Berold and Jastira waited until the soldiers and captives had travelled far down the road and then they began to follow them, the light of their torches making them easy to spot in the dim light. Jastira hoped that they would lead them to this cult hideout, that they would finally get the answers they were seeking, and they could rescue the poor human women and girls these criminals had kidnapped. She thought of the two families they had met on the road a couple days earlier, and wondered if the one man’s daughter was among them. But the thought depressed her. If that girl was among the captives at this hideaway, she no longer had any family to return to. Her sister and mother were now slaves to the orcs in some labor camp, and her brother and father likely killed by those same orcs.

…………….

The guard grunted as he thrust into Nimeroni. She was on her back, with the man on top of her thrusting away, her eyes closed and tears falling down her cheeks as she waited for the man to climax and finish with her. The guard was the latest one to fuck her. The guards apparently took shifts and when the guards switched, the new ones inevitably wanted a chance to fuck their new elf captive.

As the guard groaned and climaxed, he fell limp against Nimeroni. “You are going to make a fine addition to our Oasis harem,” he remarked as he climbed off of her. He hauled Nimeroni to her feet and re-bound her wrists to a post at a bottom of the stairs leading into the city. It is where they kept her when they weren’t fucking her, and while they waited for this Enzorhan that was apparently supposed to take her. Based on the remarks everyone was making about Enzorhan, Nimeroni suspected she was going to prefer bring raped by these guards to being in his custody.

Nimeroni leaned back against the stone post and sighed. She could feel the man’s cum oozing from her vagina and down her thigh. She was humiliated.  And cold.  The air was quite chilly and she wished she had something to cover herself. The desert air had been so hot during the day but now at night it was very chilly.

As she leaned back against the post, she heard someone coming down the stairs. A woman’s voice spoke up. “I brought you some cake that I baked, Henart.”

The guard who had just gotten done fucking Nimeroni, apparently named Henart, smiled and looked past Nimeroni up the stairs, at whoever was coming down them. “Thank you, Aelina” he said in a cheerful voice.

The woman Aelina reached the bottom of the stairs and she circled around to look at Nimeroni. “Oh, a new elf slave? Where did they get her?”

“Some of the cultists got her, in Jorshah somewhere,” Henart replied.

“Those cultists are weirdos, but they sure bring in some nice slaves,” Aelina remarked as she examined Nimeroni. She reached out and gently caressed Nimeroni’s cheek. “I will have fun with you later, slave. You will enjoy servicing me,” she said, in a sweet tone, not matching the perverse intent of those words. She turned back to Henart. “It will be nice to get more elves as slaves. I know many here think it is preferable to keep them as slaves rather than our fellow humans. I don’t mind human slaves, especially captives from other kingdoms, as we did under my uncle’s reign. But others seem to mind, at least some do.”

“Well, I suppose if your father’s and Enzorhan’s plans work, we will have more elves,” Henart said.

“Hopefully they succeed soon,” Aelina said. “Well, speaking of my father, I should not stay long. Father gets mad if I leave the oasis at night, even to hang out just past the gates.”

Henart laughed. “He is overprotective. We are completely safe all the way out here in the middle of the desert. But I understand. And the last thing I want to do is piss off your father. He is the king, after all.” Henart said and winked to Aelina. “I will see you tomorrow, my dear princess.” Aelina leaned in and kissed Henart on the cheek and then she headed up the stairs again. Nimeroni wondered who all these humans were. There seemed to be cultists and soldiers. And now also a king and a princess. And this princess seemed just as thrilled that Nimeroni and others were being kidnapped and enslaved as the soldiers and cultists. Nimeroni wondered where she was, if she no longer in Jorshah. The man and woman had spoken as if this Oasis was not in Jorshah. So where was she?

…………….

The sky was beginning to lighten again. Jastira and Berold had followed the procession of soldiers and their captives all night. Jastira was nervous as the sky lightened. They had been able to see the fire from the humans touches at night, and stay undetected themselves in the darkness. When the sun rose, they would be easily spotted. That would not be too much longer.

The procession had travelled all night down a road. And as Berold and Jastira continued following them, they reached a village. This must be their base, Jastira assumed. As the procession of humans entered into the village, Berold and Jastira drew closer, worried that they might lose them in the streets of the village. As they walked through the streets, Jastira saw no one. It was still the very early morning, so perhaps everyone was asleep she thought. Still, she would have thought she would have seen signs of someone. Lighted windows maybe. Smoke rising from chimneys. But there was none of that. The village seemed abandoned.

The soldiers took their captives to the other side of the village. Berold and Jastira followed them, using buildings to conceal themselves as they tailed the soldiers. The soldiers took the captives to a small building. It was maybe a small home, though it was barely bigger than a shack. One of the soldiers knocked on the door and a moment later, it opened. Two men stepped out. One was in robes. The other, a towering hulk of a man, wore leather armor and was holding a large axe. Jastira and Berold crept closer and crouched behind the corner of an adjacent building, hoping to get a better look. As the drew near, they could hear the soldiers conversing with the two men.

“Ten new slaves for the oasis, High Priest,” one of the soldiers said to the taller of the two men, the one with the axe. “All from Nyllenor.” When the soldier said ‘Nyllenor,’ Jastira noticed Berold give a puzzled look.

“Very good, well let’s get them to the Oasis,” the larger man with the axe said. It seemed he was the one the soldier had called the ‘High Priest,’ not the man in the robes. The smaller man in the robes opened the door and he and the larger man stepped inside. The soldiers shoved the women and they walked inside as well. The soldiers followed, and closed the door behind them. As small as the building was, Jastira thought they would all be quite cramped inside.

“What were women of Nyllenor doing here in Jorshah,” Berold murmured to himself.

“What and where is Nyllenor?” Jastira asked in a low voice.

“Another kingdom, not at all close to Aegor. It would take many weeks to travel there. People don’t travel much over great distances given that the orcs control most of the world. I wonder why these women would have been here?” Berold whispered. He rose and moved away from the building that they had been hiding behind and slowly moved towards the small building that the soldiers, captives, and cultists had entered. Jastira followed. When they reached the building, Berold crept up to a window and ducked down below it. He slowly raised his head to peer inside the window. When he looked inside, he gave another puzzled look. Jastira soon joined him at the window. She too gave a puzzled look when she peered into the window. There was no one inside. The inside was dimly lit with a lantern on the wall and Jastira could see that there was only one room inside the small building. And that room was completely empty of people.

Berold moved to the door and slowly opened it. He left it cracked open for a few moments and listened. Neither he nor Jastira heard anyone inside. Berold opened the door further and stepped inside. He slowly moved around, trying not to make a noise. Jastira followed him and she looked around inside. There was only one door and one window, both in the front of the building. Berold and Jastira had watched the group enter the door and they had seen no one exit. So then where were they?

Berold began feeling around the walls, looking for a hidden door. He then got on his hands and knees, examining the floor. He found no hidden doors or anything else to indicate where the people had gone. “Where did they go?” he asked, bewildered.

Jastira looked at Berold, equally confused.

…………….

It was the morning and the sun was just starting to rise. Nimeroni was tied to the post at the foot of the stairs leading into the city. Yet other guard’s cum was oozing from her anus, the latest guard to fuck her after a new shift had taken over guard duty.

As she leaned against the post, she looked out at the expansive desert around her. There was nothing but desert all around her, other than the giant walled city behind her. And as she scanned the horizon, she saw the approaching procession. When they drew close, Nimeroni saw that it was some men, most of them soldiers, with ten captive women, the women stripped just like Nimeroni and the other captives that had been in her coffle. The men took the captives up the stairs, barely acknowledging Nimeroni as they did. But one man, a very tall and muscular one, and carrying a large battle axe, stopped to look at Nimeroni. “Who is this?” he asked.

“Welcome back, High Priest. She is an elf that Thorne and Wilcock found in Jorshah,” the guard said. “She had this on her and they asked me to give it to you.” He gave the High Priest the map of the temples. “They were apparently looking for cult members.”

The High Priest examined the map and then looked at Nimeroni. “I am Enzorhan, the High Priest of the Cult of Ug’dromon. I was put in charge of our cult after the death of our High Priestess at the hands of the orcs. If you are looking for members of the cult, then I am the best person to find. But before I answer any questions, you will need to answer mine. Why did you have this map and why were you looking for us?”

Nimeroni told the man the same story she had told Thorne and Wilcock, that she was looking for a way to get home to her world and that she and Rogerin were searching for the cult. She insisted that he had given her the map and he had already circled certain temples, and she knew not why. She left out any details about the others also searching for the temples.

Enzorhan smiled. “I am afraid young elf maiden, that I do not think you told me the whole story. But that is OK. I will get your full story soon enough. We have many ways to make you talk.”

Nimeroni glared at Enzorhan.

“You care so much about this map! You are more worried about me, a single elf maiden, than you are with the orc horde that infects your world and threatens all of you, and we elves as well!” Nimeroni snapped.

Enzorhan glared back at Nimeroni. “You are very wrong indeed, slave,” he replied. “The orcs cannot threaten us here. They will never find us. But I would very much like to know why you were seeking us. And soon enough, you will talk. And soon after that you will be transformed into a perfectly obedient and submissive slave. Come elf slave, let’s get you into the city.” He unbound Nimeroni’s wrists from the post and began to drag her up the stairs.

…………….

Berold and Jastira exited the last house of the village. They had searched every house; there were not many in the small village. Like all the others, the building was completely empty. It looked like the city had been abandoned weeks or months ago. The only building that had shown any signs of a presence was the small building with the lit lamp that the soldiers and cult members had entered with their captives and then completely disappeared.

Berold shook his head. “It makes no sense,” he murmured. “We checked that building five times. There were no hidden doors, no hidden rooms, no way of exiting that we could not see. Where did they go?”

“Perhaps it was some kind of magic. They were the cult that opened the portal to our world, were they not? And you said the portal could be opened or closed,” Jastira replied.

Berold nodded. “Perhaps. But I saw the portal to your world once, weeks before the orcs took it. It was very large. Big enough that it would not have fit in that tiny building. Plus, that was the only one portal to your world, as far as I know. And why would they want to take human captives into the elf world? The orcs are attacking your world; it hardly seems like a place that they would want to go and risk drawing the attention of the orcs.”

Nimeroni nodded. “It is clearly something we do not understand, be it magic or something else. Perhaps we should wait here and see if anyone else enters and exits. Is there some place we could wait and observe?”

Berold looked around and then pointed to a building across the street. It was abandoned, and had been one of the first buildings the pair had checked. “We can go up on the second floor and look down at this building from the second-floor window. We can watch and see if anyone comes or goes.”

Jastira nodded. It seemed like the best plan available to them.

…………….

Nimeroni was led by Enzorhan into the city that she had heard the humans called the “Oasis.” She was surprised at how robust and lively the city was. There were hundreds of people milling about in just the areas she saw.

“Welcome to the Oasis, elf slave,” Enzorhan said. “Here we live a life of luxury and leisure, thanks in part to the many slaves we import here. If you are a good and obedient slave, you will live a relatively good life. Certainly, one better than what the orcs would give you. And for your submission and servitude, we will keep you safe from the orcs.”

“You think you are safe from the orcs?” Nimeroni snapped. “You are a fool if you think a city like this can stay hidden from them.”

“We are in a place where the orcs will never find us,” Enzorhan said.

“There are orcs all over Jorshah. Wherever this is, we are not far from Jorshah. I travelled here by foot in only a couple days. Do you think the orcs cannot find a sprawling city?”

“Ah yes, you came from Jorshah,” Enzorhan said. “And most of us here are from there as well. But this is not Jorshah. And it is not near Jorshah. We are now in the middle of a desert. A vast desert. The city is built around an oasis of springs which allows it to survive. But for hundreds of miles in every direction around the city is lifeless desert. The orcs would never think to come here looking for us,” Enzorhan said.

“Hundreds of miles of nothing but desert? I walked here in a few hours from the forest,” Nimeroni said.

“Hush slave. You need not worry yourself about such things now. You are a slave and you need only worry about serving your Masters and Mistresses here in the Oasis. Every free man and woman in this city is your Master and Mistress. There are thousands of free citizens in this city and you will serve all of them.”

As they continued walking, Nimeroni heard the sound of leather striking flesh and the pained screams of a woman. As they turned the corner, on the street they reached a large square in the city. There was a crowd milling about, men and women dressed in fancy clothing. Many were watching a slave tied to a post and being whipped. The slave was screaming in pain every time the whip struck her back or ass.

“I am sorry Masters! I will be a good slave!” the woman wailed. Nimeroni realized it was the brunette that had been locked in the coffle in front of her. She now had a fresh brand on her thigh. Unlike the orc brand on Nimeroni’s thigh, which roughly depicted an orcish dagger, the brand on the woman’s thigh was a simple ‘S.’ Probably for “Slave,” Nimeroni assumed. Nimeroni remembered well her own branding and how traumatic and painful it had been. She pitied the poor woman. Though at the moment, the woman was more focused on the whip slashing into her flesh than she was her fresh brand. The man whipping her ignored her pleas and kept striking her over and over.

Enzorhan also ignored the cries of the slave as she was whipped. He took Nimeroni to the crowds of people milling about. “See the slaves obediently serving?” he asked her. Nimeroni scanned the crowd until she noticed a naked human woman on her knees in front of a man. The man’s cock was jutting out from his fly and the slave’s lips were wrapped around it and her head was bobbing up and down. As Nimeroni continued scanning the crowd she saw another slave bent over a barrel being fucked from behind by a man. And then another slave on her knees, this one in front of a woman. The woman had her skirt hiked up and the slave’s face was pressed in between her thighs, lapping with her tongue at the woman’s crotch.

“You will be quite popular as an elf slave. We only have a few now but if my plans come to fruition, we will soon have many more. Many more indeed.” Enzorhan said. There was another loud crack of leather and the brunette slave screamed in agony. Enzorhan turned to look at her being whipped. “Ah, another new slave,” he said. “It looks like she is learning the harsh lesson that complete obedience and submission is expected of her as a slave. Soon enough, you will learn that lesson. But first, it is time you met the King. The only man in the city I report to. He will be quite thrilled that we have a new elf slave.” Enzorhan continued dragging Nimeroni through the city until the sound of the brunette slave’s pained cries faded.

“Why do you act so cruelly to your fellow humans?” Nimeroni cried.

“Here in the Oasis, we can only survive with the fruit of slave labor. And we can only keep our citizens happy out in the middle of a desert in isolation if the life here is filled with leisure and pleasure that slaves provide. Most of the citizens here were once of Jorshah. We were the only human kingdom that allowed slavery. But you are right. Many people find enslaving their fellow humans repulsive. Which is why you elves will make such fine slaves. Many of the citizens here will be able to swallow it better if the slaves are not humans.”

Nimeroni wondered what the connection was between Jorshah and this Oasis, and why it was that Enzorhan was so confident that the orcs could not find them here. Enzorhan took Nimeroni to the center of the city and to a large palatial building. He took her inside and they headed up a large set of stairs and to the center of the building. There, Nimeroni saw a large throne. Tied upright on two posts on either side of the throne were too blonde slaves. As Enzorhan and Nimeroni drew closer, Nimeroni saw the slaves’ pointed ears and realized they were elves. There was an older man on his knees in front of one of the elf maidens, with his face buried in her crotch, He was eagerly licking at her slit. The elf maiden was squirming and shaking her head back and forth, her cheeks red with shame. She cried out but she was gagged as was the other elf maiden slave.

Another man, who was bald and looked even older than the first man, was standing nearby, leering as he watched the first man performing oral sex on the elf maiden.

But when the man on his knees heard Enzorhan approaching her turned and rose to his feet, wiping his mouth with his arm as he did. “Ah welcome back, Enzorhan. A new slave, I see? A redheaded elf cunt? Perfect! I am partial to the blondes as you can see but I do also love variety. I was just having fun with these two. This one’s cunt tastes even better than her daughter’s.”  The man sat on the throne and then reached up and affectionately patted the ass of the elf maiden he had just been licking.

Nimeroni realized that the two slaves must be mother and daughter. She glanced down at their thighs and saw the ‘S’ brand marking them. They did not have the brand that orcs gave their slaves. Nimeroni realized these two elf maidens must have originally been enslaved by humans, not the orcs.

“This new one still must be broken and trained, and I have some questions for her,” Enzorhan said. “But I wanted you to meet her first.” He shoved Nimeroni forward to present her to the man. “Kneel before your king,” he ordered and he kicked the back of Nimeroni’s knees to force her to fall to the ground. “Meet King Gaviunus of Jorshah, slave,” Enzorhan said. He then gestured to the older man. “And the King’s trusted advisor, Chalinus.”

King Gaviunus chuckled. “Soon she will be much more used to being on her knees. To kneel as a slave and for other purposes” He looked down at Nimeroni. “You will make a fine slave. You know some said my older brother Otto was a fool for opening the portal to your world and telling the orcs about it. On the latter point I certainly agree. He should have never told the orcs about your world or given you as slaves to the orcs. You are too perfect; we should have just kept you for ourselves.” King Gaviunus reached up and pinched the nipple of the younger of the two elf maiden slaves, causing her to cry out into her gag. “Meet your slave sister, named Myantha. She looks a little younger than you but she was a quick learner and is now an obedient slut.” King Gaviunus then reached over to the other older slave’s breast and twisted a large hoop ring that had been used to pierce her nipple. He twisted the ring in a circle, causing her nipple to twist with it, and the elf maiden started thrashing against her bindings and cried out into her gag in pain. “And this here is Almithara,” King Gaviunus said. “She was Myantha’s mother and now they are lovely slave sisters. Your slave sisters. My brother captured these two sluts in one of Jorshah’s earliest voyages into your world. He gave them to me as a gift. Now that my brother is dead and his capitol conquered, the only elf slaves that remain in human hands are the ones we took with us here to the Oasis. I look forward to adding more of you elf cunts to our collection.” The King turned to look at Enzorhan. “Well, have fun with that new elf slave, Enzorhan. I am going to take these two into my private bath and fuck them.”

“Enjoy, your highness. In a few days’ time, this new slave will be quite the obedient little slut,” Enzorhan replied and he pulled Nimeroni back up onto her feet and began to drag her from the room. “Time for you to be interrogated and broken, elf slut,” he growled menacingly.

…………….

Almost three days had passed. Jastira and Berold had seen no signs of anyone entering or exiting the small house. It seemed that wherever the men had taken their captives, they were not returning. And so far, no one else had come to the building. So finally, Jastira and Berold had given up.

“Whatever those men did to disappear in that building, we are not going to figure it out by waiting around here doing nothing,” Berold said.

Jastira nodded in agreement. “We were on our way to the second temple, when we took the detour following those men. We should head to that second temple. Maybe we will have better luck there.”

“Let us hope,” Berold said, frustration in his voice. Even he was beginning to stray from his normally optimistic demeanor. The two exited the building they had been hiding in and left the village. It was time to head further north, for the next temple on their map.

(End of Part 3, to be continued...)