Legacy of Dreams: Freedom

by Thomas J. L. Green

  “Two more pairs and we go to trying rooms,” the woman ordered the shop assistant as she went through the shoes.

  “Yes, madam,” the shop assistant answered.

  Luna was still paralyzed when the woman left.

  She just ignored me? I want to fall through the ground all the way to hell and be eaten by a demon in there.

  Luna went on to wander through the shop. It took hours before she found a couple of dresses and a few pairs of shoes she wanted to try. She went through the shop to the trying rooms, saw one that wasn’t marked as occupied and walked in.

  Why are there so many dresses thrown around inside here?

  “So you like to peak… hmmm?”

  The strange looking woman was behind her. Out of nowhere. Luna whirled and froze in her tracks. The woman was naked aside from having shoes and was striking a pose that was making Luna see everything that counts.

  “Looks like you do, virgin girl, now why don’t you show me what dress you picked?” she asked softly as she locked the door of the trying room.

  What? Wow! What? How? Wow? Upps? Eh? How? What?

  “What is it, do I have something on my crotch?” she asked innocently as she walked a bit towards Luna, pushing her crotch in front of her face while spreading her legs wide.

  No! Yes! Maybe! How? Why? Wow! What? Where? Why? Yes! Maybe! I don’t know!

  “Looks like someone just found out that she’s into girls,” the woman whispered into her ear after leaning in.

  No, of course, yes! No! Maybe! No! A little! Yes! No! No! No!

  “Or are you a boy actually? Or something in between? That would be fun,” the woman said and then crouched in front of Luna, unbuttoning her pants and pushing them down.

  Luna leaped back instinctively and finally regained her senses while the woman went to sit down on the couch in the middle of the room.

  It’s not my fault girls smell better! And I am not into girls. Or am I? I don’t know. Maybe? What do I do? I mean I do like to eat girls but not in the way girls like to be eaten. What do I do? What do I do? Is it wrong? Was I originally a boy? Is it just a phase? But I do like Raven. Do I like both? Or none and just lie to me? What do I do?

  “Are you going to start trying clothes or just stand there with your pants half down?” the woman jabbed again.

  Right, she is still there and I need help picking a dress. And DAMN look at that body of hers, how am I supposed to not stare? That chiseled map of muscles under the skin that doesn’t have a single imperfection or hair on it is simply mind-blowing.

  Luna! Stop it!

  Look how smooth she looks!

  STOP IT!

  “Could you at least cover yourself?” she asked her.

  “I could,” the woman smiled as she spread her arms wide on the couch and arched her back, “but you like what you see,” she slowly spread her legs as wide as she could have. “Feel free to keep staring; women love to be appreciated.”

  I should run. I want to see her more. Plus James and Jean were great at teaching me how to kill, but nobody ever even tried to teach me how to be a woman. Not that I would want them to. Jean the businessman and James the monster… just the idea of them helping me pick a dress feels completely ridiculous.

  “I’m Luna,” she whispered shyly.

  “Iowen,” the woman answered, “now let’s see what you have so I can tell you how to wrap it,” she commanded.

  “I know how to dress myself!” Luna cut back.

  “Yes, you seem to be an expert in keeping your virginity intact. But you came here to do the opposite, haven’t you?” Iowen responded sharply.

  Ouch! I mean she’s right, but still… ouch!

  “I have an offer for you, Iowen, you will help me get whatever I need and in return, I won’t bite your pretty head off the next time you insult me,” Luna smiled sweetly.

  Not that I would want to. Wait, why don’t I want to? She is clearly young and attractive; normally the monster inside would be salivating all over itself when seeing her. Come to think of it; she doesn’t really feel like a human. I mean, she has the shape and the general look, but she doesn’t smell like one. Actually, she doesn’t smell at all. Interesting.

  “Alright, virgin girl, you got yourself a bargain,” Iowen smiled poisonously.

  She is so doing this out of boredom.

  “Now undress!”

  Strange, I actually don’t feel I will regret this. That doesn’t happen very often.

  Luna started undressing.

  “Make a show out of it!”

  “Why?” Luna asked back.

  “To learn how. This is how you send your man the message that you want to do something with what’s underneath so he should pay attention to it, the way you undress looks like you got struck by diarrhea,” Iowen explained.

  Thanks, James, drilling me to dress and undress as fast as possible is really working out well!

  Luna tried, but she didn’t even need to hear the comment to know how bad that was.

  “AHAHAHAHA!” Iowen burst into laughter, “what the hell are those underpants? Virginity protector three thousand?”

  “They are comfortable!” Luna protested.

  And they hold pee, so I don’t wet my pants when a fight gets too long.

  … glorified diaper, that’s what it is.

  Alright, Iowen, you got a point.

  “Off with them!” she commanded and Luna complied.

  “Now the rest!” Iowen continued.

  Seriously, nothing? No comment? I am half naked already!

  Luna swallowed down the embarrassment and undressed the other half of her clothes.

  “Bandages around breasts, seriously?”

  It makes movement easier... alright, alright, not going to fight back.

  “Who the hell gave you those scars?” Iowen asked, suddenly angry.

  Right, those will take a while to heal off completely.

  “Myself,” Luna cut back.

  “Don’t lie to me!” Iowen’s voice was hard as stone.

  Hey, that’s partially true! But how do I explain them? I don’t. There is no explanation. The truth is impossible to believe and any lie I can think of doesn’t make any sense since the scars are obviously made with design in mind and a lot of them are in places I cannot reach myself. That the design was to cut my muscles so they can grow might be true, but is simply not believable.

  “I don’t know how to explain them,” Luna conceded.

  “How about you just tell the truth?” Iowen shot back instantly.

  “You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”

  “Touch me,” Iowen said.

  “What?”

  “Touch me!”

  Luna walked to her and touched her hand.

  Cold! She is colder than ice... how?

  “You aren’t the only one who’s weird,” Iowen smiled sadly, “now speak!”

  Alright… that actually helped.

  “My body wouldn’t grow by itself, the only way to make it is to break it and stop it from returning back to how it was,” Luna whispered, not knowing how to put it better. Suddenly, she felt so bare, so vulnerable.

  Iowen was silent.

  She sits there like a statue made of ice. No emotion, no expression, nothing.

  “I am not the first person you have met with this, am I?” Luna asked.

  “No. Try the first dress.”

  “Please tell me,” Luna insisted.

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “Wouldn’t you want to know if there was anyone like you?” Luna didn’t let her escape.

  “There was a boy where I came from, a demon raped his mother and he inherited the demon’s regeneration when he was five. He wouldn’t grow since,” Iowen said softly.

  “What happened to him?” Luna pressed on.

  “His parents had him burned alive till there was nothing left but ashes. He was screaming for eleven hours before the regeneration finally gave up so he could die,” Iowe
n added her face and voice ice cold.

  And he was someone dear to you. I am so sorry. Oh and James, thank you for not burning me alive, in retrospect, I really appreciate it.

  “I am so sorry,” Luna tried to apologize.

  “Anyway, for what do you need the dress exactly,” Iowen changed the topic sharply.

  “Tomorrow’s festival,” Luna answered, glad she didn’t have to face what she said earlier.

  “No shit. What do you want to achieve with it?” Iowen continued.

  "A few months back, I have met and lived with a man. He sees me as a little sister, I want more,” Luna explained.

  Annoying little sister. Annoying. Little. Sister.

  Because that’s exactly how I had treated him.

  “Now you got me curious, how’d that happen?”

  “I saw him more as a chained beast than a man for months,” Luna admitted.

  “Okay…that’s really bad.”

  “I know,” Luna frowned.

  “Alright, technically speaking your legs and ass are glorious, face is pretty and the remaining third of the body will need to be wrapped well. The back needs to stay hidden and there isn’t much we can do with the sorry excuse for breasts anyway,” Iowen explained the strategy.

  Glorious… pretty… glorious…yea, I can live with that. I guess my stupidly long legs have some other use than to run fast. Glorious indeed.

  “That almost sounded like you would like to do something,” Luna smiled as she posed a bit.

  “I would bend you over a table, tie the useless upper part to it and have my sweet fun time with what you got from the waist down,” Iowen smiled and Luna turned red.

  That sounded awfully lot like a proposition.

  “But I don’t have my things here, so maybe another time.”

  That’s a good thing, I guess? Why do I feel disappointed?

  “Your things?” Luna asked.

  “Thick silk gloves and cover so I don’t freeze your love hole when I’m playing with it.”

  Errr… what? Eh?! Sure! Wait! Maybe? I don’t know! What do I do? How? What? Why? NO! Yes! I don’t know…

  Iowen enjoyed Luna’s self-implosion for a bit and went to search through the dresses.

  “What main color?" Iowen asked.

  “I don’t know” Luna breathed, “black?”

  “What color does he like?”

  “White,” Luna realized.

  Iowen smiled and tossed her a white dress coupled with a pair of black-red shoes with very high heels.

  “I don’t think these go together,” Luna doubted.

  “That’s the point. You want his eyes to get caught on the shoes, so they get stuck on the ass as they go up,” Iowen grinned.

  Luna put on the dress, didn’t even bother to not blush.

  The dress is so tight! How am I supposed to walk in these shoes?

  “Alright, looks acceptable.”

  Luna checked herself in the mirror.

  Yea, that’s actually sort of nice. Kinda slutty, but I guess that’s the point because nothing less would pierce his thick skull. Even this might not.

  “I have no idea how to walk in these,” Luna admitted.

  “Now we need to move before they close. We meet tomorrow after lunch and I will teach you how to walk, arrange your hair and put some color on those lips,” Iowen concluded.

  “What underwear do I wear with this?” Luna asked, knowing she has nothing fitting.

  “None.”

  Iowen dressed up in her armor and went to gather a pile of dresses, shoes and jewels.

  For how many people is she shopping?

  Luna carefully changed back and folded the dress. She froze when she saw the price tag.

  Oh. Shit, I can’t afford that. Hell… I can’t afford even one sleeve from this.

  “Just put it on the pile,” Iowen commanded her when she noticed Luna’s panic.

  Thank you. Just… thank you.

  Iowen grabbed everything and strolled through the shop. At the cashier, she just dropped a bunch of gems and told the woman to keep the change.

  That change is more money than I have. And damn, seeing how much she has just spent… I don’t think I have spent this much money in my entire life.

  Luna wordlessly took the dress and shoes from Iowen.

  “Does he have a suit?” Iowen asked her.

  “No,” Luna realized.

  “We will get it tomorrow,” Iowen smiled and turned a different direction.

  “See you tomorrow, virgin girl.”

  “Thank you.”

  15

  Salazar

  Count Salazar d’Ielle of Xona was having a good day. The trip to Grimdawn went better than expected and, judging by the messages he has received by his couriers, everything was going well.

  Exactly as planned.

  Their entrance to Grimdawn was also smooth. There were so many people flooding in that a group of travelers on horses was perfectly unnoticeable. He was surprised that Katherine was alright with him traveling on horseback with just the fifteen of them, but he guessed that the idea of moving incognito was appealing from the security point of view.

  After all, that’s the whole point of this. Nobody except the high council knows I am on the team and I know who all three of the traitors present in my council are, so it would be easy to track any problems back to one of them.

  Over the journey, he managed to get a good idea of the team. The royal guard was the same as in the past ten years, so there was not much to explore there. It was still fun to watch them squirm when he just put his sleeping bag under a tree and announced he is sleeping there instead of going to the inn two hours of travel ahead. The look of confusion and surprise was golden.

  I can’t wait to see their faces when we arrive.

  Otherwise, the team looks good. Mark is careful and greedy, so he will want to make sure they make it out alive to cash out the reward. Linda and Ludwig are from a village that got burned out by slavers over a decade ago… they won’t mind absolutely anything I am planning to do. Yvonne is so sweet I would lick her, literally, but this isn’t the place for that and countess d’Ielle would sure love the story of the father of her three children going wild with a young adventurer. Nah, I can’t afford a scandal like that. Zacharias is fun; he wants to make things burn and is interested in little else. I hope he survives. I have a job of his dreams for him.

  The city was full of people; they had a hard time passing through it. Out of nowhere, a man appeared walking straight next to Salazar. Nobody else noticed him.

  I love how he does this.

  “Want to play a game, count?” the hooded stranger asked.

  “Always, which one?” Salazar replied with a smile.

  “Palai says.”

  “You have my curiosity.”

  “Palai says that you want to strike a cool pose while moving the curtains.”

  “Now you have my attention.”

  “Who the hell are you? How did you get here?” Katherine shouted at the stranger after finally noticing him.

  “Be at ease, Katherine, we know each other,” Salazar smiled.

  Katherine didn’t seem to be at ease at all but understood and kept her distance. The others realized as well and looked more than surprised, but followed the signal from Katherine to give them space to talk privately.

  “What does Palai want in return?”

  “To arrest Mr. Leker when the opportunity presents itself.”

  “I will have extra uncomfortable shackles prepared for him. How is the Order doing?”

  "It's bored, but armed to the teeth. How’s your army?”

  “I haven’t made that public… but it’s doing fine, thank you for asking,” Salazar made an uncomfortable smile.

  “Getting ready to conquer the world?”

  “Just protecting my city.”

  “Riiiight… do you have a name for the kingdom?”

  “Kingdom of Eternal Fire, it shall have a red flag
with golden Palai symbol on it,” Salazar smirked.

  “I see the plan to make Palai the official faith of the kingdom is still hot,” the man evaluated.

  “Indeed! The idea of you and your army solving all our problems is just too tempting to pass.”

  “Not afraid I will coup you for power?”

  “Why would you? To become a king? Such position gives you nothing from what you desire,” Salazar laughed.

  “Here I thought you were more interested in actually ruling a kingdom than being its king,” the stranger retorted.

  I am working on it and you, my friend, are not going to like my solution one bit.

  “We all need to retire one day... plus what’s the point of forming the first kingdom after The Upheaval if I don’t get to be its king?”

  The stranger disappeared as unexpectedly as he appeared. It took almost a minute before the others realized he is gone and closed the formation around Salazar once more.

  “Who the hell was that?” Mark asked.

  “An old friend of mine,” Salazar smiled.

  “Out of personal curiosity, where is the inn where you shall be staying?” Mark continued asking.

  “You will see,” Salazar cut him off.

  They were approaching the arena. Salazar put a half face mask over his face and pulled a hood over himself. On one hand, he was pleased to see he wasn’t recognized. On the other hand, he wished he was more famous. Well... I am here to fix that, aren’t I?

  They entered the arena after registering by the team name and heading to their designated cells. Salazar noticed the tension increasing in the team and started to savor it. Wait for it…

  They headed through the maze of cells, seeing monsters and teams mixed in a spectacular show of chaos. The organizers were trying, but there were only so many cells which could fit in large monsters and they weren’t all at one place. They finally found their cell. One large room with sixteen stone beds.

  “Dips on the left corner,” Salazar announced as he threw his backpack across the room.

  The others froze in place.

  “I hope you didn’t think I would leave my team in a cell while I seek a comfortable bed in a luxurious inn. I would be offended if you thought so low of me,” Salazar grinned as he headed into the barren room.