Chapter 4

While Nathan was worried about everyone on his team, most of all for his wife.

Ariel wouldn't go easily or willingly into anyone else's bed, but she wouldn't do well if she was force and then raped.

Of that he was sure of.

"How far until we reach where my friend who was brought in with me is being held?" Nathan asked Max as they walked.

They had so far gone down countless floors. He had no idea on what floor he started on, just that they started going down.

"Not much further. Once we get pass the last floor we'll reach the final area," said Max.

They reached one floor and when Nathan looked into it he saw a huge room off into the distance that was open. It had work tables in it and what looked to be a throne chair that he could see from where he was.

"What is that room?" asked Nathan as they started pass the door. They were headed to the corner of the floor that was on the opposite side of where they came in from the stairs.

"That's the workroom. When you get too old to work, get hurt and can't work, or you flat refuse to work they bring you here. Have you seen the horrors the King has running around?" asked Max.

"I've met them," said Nathan plainly.

"Those are men who have gone through some form of a dark ritual and are twisted body and soul and now are loyal to the King. There is nothing that can be done for them. The King does it himself so he can bind the men to himself. They are fearless and follow any order given to them by him without question.

"But there are some who either can't be turned or don't survive the process. Those men's bodies are dumped outside of other surrounding cities and towns to keep suspicions away from what is really going on here," said Max.

Nathan stopped and looked at him for a moment.

"Wait, he's a Black mage? And he's a necromancer?" asked Nathan.

"Yes he is, and there is no one to stop him," said Max grimly.

"No, I'll stop him," said Nathan equally grimly.

Max looked at him strangely but didn't say anything.

They reached a hole in the ground at the far side of the room and Max reached for the ladder sticking out of it. He quickly descended and Nathan followed. Hanging around the room at ceiling height were several candlestones at varying height.

Looking around he saw Rory using a pick axe to break up the ground. There was another man using a shovel to collect the earth Rory broke up. Nathan looked around and saw about twenty men working in the small area.

Given the size of the above floors it would take them months to make this area the size of those rooms.

As Nathan took in the area he saw two guards watching the men.

Taking a better look he saw the men were twisted parodies of men. Their faces were wrong and they moved funny. But Nathan was sure it was because of magic.

"Rory! We're leaving!" said Nathan loudly over the noise of the men working.

All work stopped and everyone stared at him. His friend Rory looked up and smiled.

"Bout time you got up and quit wasting time," said Rory with a smile as he took his pickaxe and sunk it in to the ground.

All the men looked confused for a moment as they watched the exchange.

"What are you doing? This will get you put in the work shop and converted into one of those horrors over there. Cut it out," hissed Max.

Nathan didn't say anything but held up his arms so everyone could see the chains. Moving his arms together and then quickly moving them away from each other Nathan snapped the chains easily.

Everyone stared at him when he did that.

"Who are you?" asked the man in awe.

"I'm Aric Griffith and I'm a Battlemage," said Nathan.

"But I heard he was a blonde man," said Max in Awe.

"No, that is someone pretending to be me. But once I find him he'll regret that," said Nathan.

But that was all the time they had for conversation.

The two horrors launched themselves at Nathan. And as they did he ran to meet them in the middle of the room.

First grabbing both by the neck, Nathan then threw one away from himself as he kept hold of the one in his right hand. Then Nathan grabbed that one with both hands and then stood up and brought the horror he was holding down across his right knee.

The snap of his back and the scream by the horror rang out in the small room. Nathan discarded the body away from him as he stood up and faced the remaining horror.

The other horror watched what happened, and then again started for Nathan. But Nathan fired a fireball at the creature as it approached him. Due to the type of magic used to create the horror, the creature went up in flames like dry kindling.

As the other men stared at him Nathan said "We're going to sweep the other floors of any survivors. Anyone we find we set free. Any of these creatures we find we kill to keep them from getting out."

There was a cheer from the men as they followed Nathan out of the hole.

"I hope you know what you're doing Nate," said Rory.

"I hope so as well. We need to find Terrance and the ladies fast," said Nathan as he quickly raced up the ladder.

Kat made it back to the castle.

Not finding Ariel on the above floors she started for the lower levels.

Kat ran into something that stepped right out of her nightmares. It was a twisted man who had a deformed nose, a pinched face combined with wide eyes like a goblin, and it had long ears similar to an elf.

Not even considering the consequences Kat fired off a lightening spell that hit the horror and it screamed in a high pitched squeal. Kat kept it up until she was sure it was dead.

Working her way down the first level past the parody of the guard, Kat started looking into the cells she found there. She recalled that King Schoenfelder said that he was going to put her in one.

Looking into the cells he found men and women in various states of distress. Everyone one of them drew away from the cells as she approached as if they feared what she would do to them. She recognized the look. They had all been sexually abused and they were scared she was there to force them again to enter a world of forced degradation.

"I'm a friend I'm here to help," said Kat as she looked at them all.

Something in her broke and her heart went out to them. No one should be kept like this. No one should be forced to experience the horrors they had to live though.

As she opened the door and reached for the woman inside she saw the woman's eyes go wide in terror. Before the woman could scream Kat dropped to her knees and fired a lightning bolt in the general direction of her eyes.

She managed to get two more of the horrific looking creatures as they raced silently up to her. She hadn't even heard them coming. If the woman hadn't reacted to them she might have been caught unaware.

Once she was sure they were dead, Kat turned back to the woman. The woman was sobbing and curled up in a ball on the floor.

"Shhhhh, it's alright. I'm here. I won't let them hurt you again," said Kat as she held the woman for a minute and rocked her. The woman quieted down and latched on to her for support. The person was an athletically built woman with long brown hair.

The woman's terrified bawling just broke Kat's heart.

As Kat held the woman she could tell that she had been drugged by the wild look in her eyes, the few times she stopped to look at Kat to make sure she was real. The woman had been given something to keep her compliant and manageable and it was messing with her mind.

Kat looked around into all the cells that she could see. She could see that all the men and women there were drug addled to keep them from having any real coherent thoughts.

It took a while but Kat managed to get everyone to trust her enough to come out of their cells. Leading the group quickly up the stairs and out the front door she made sure to release them from the nightmare they had been living.

It took some coaching, and allowing them to hold and touch her to build up their trust in her, but once she got them moving they all ran wildly for the city.

"Someone is going to pay for this. That bastard's days are numbered," thought Kat as she headed back inside to free more people on the next floor from their cells as well.

She refused to let anyone else be a victim of this nightmare.

Nathan and Rory ran into several more of those horrors and other captives they had to free.

Nathan used a mixture of brute force combined with magic to overpower the twisted creatures as the men cowered behind him watching. Nathan was pure death on wheels as he grimly went about using various hand to hand techniques to disable the horrors. Then he used magic to destroy them.

Quickly reaching the second level they ran into Kat.

"Nathan! Where is Ariel?!" asked Kat excited.

"I was going to ask you that! What happened when she was last with you!" said Nathan.

"We were drugged and separated. I'm looking for her now. She's not upstairs because I've already checked. There are nothing but whores and bastards above us, but I stopped the one who are forcing people to have sex with them already," said Kat.

"Kat help Rory get these men out of her. I'll check for anymore and find Ariel while I'm at it. I need you to help escort them in case there are any more of these horrors around," said Nathan.

Kat didn't want to go, but she acknowledged that Nathan's suggestion was sound. She had faced enough of the fast moving creatures that normal people wouldn't have a chance against them.

"Once we get free I'll be back for you," said Kat as she turned and raced for the stairs leading up.

Kat was leading a mixture of men and women to freedom after a long imprisonment. Once the captives were clear Nathan started for the door to the floor he was getting ready to search.

Lord help anyone trying to take advantage of his drugged wife.

King Schoenfelder was examining the other woman who came in with the Earl Pendleton and he was getting excited. After the King found her in the room the Earl left her in he had her moved to the lower levels. He really wanted to enjoy her without being disturbed for anything.

All thoughts of Kat were forgotten the moment he pulled down Ariel's dress. He realized that the red head in the strapless dress was built very well and he wanted more.

He had strapped her down to a table that had a cut out in it so that her legs were spread wide when fastened to it. It was made that way so that he could have sex with his captive, male or female, without having to untie them. It was a way to have his pleasure with them

Once he had finished then Schoenfelder had cut her dress free of her body. She was now only wearing her high cut panties. As he looked at the woman he smiled. Her tight frame and muscle tone was only offset by her flat stomach and large breasts.

While he looked at her he reached over and fondled one of her breasts for a moment, watching as the nipple perked up. He was amazed at how large it was. It was just a touch bigger than the first digit of his little finger. The King couldn't remember anyone he had been with before who had nipples this large.

Liking what he saw, the King leaned over and started to suck on the nipples he had been playing with. He rolled it around in his mouth. The King marveled at the texture and how it felt in his mouth. After a few moments he sat back and blew on them as he watched how tightly they drew up.

Ariel's mind, meanwhile, was trying to revive her so that she could come to grips with what was going on.

As the drug started to wear off, her mind was muddled and confused. But she was aware enough to know that this man wasn't her husband. She wasn't sure what was going on. All she knew was she wanted him to stop. She wanted whoever this was to get away from her.

"Nnnnoooooo stooopppp," mumbled Ariel.

"You're awake? You should still be out until morning. Well I wish I could stop my dear but I can't. I thought your friend took everything I had to give tonight but I was wrong once I saw you naked. Just seeing your body has resurrected my depleted member. Now he wants to come out and play. Just look at it," said King Schoenfelder as he gestured down.

In Ariel's drugged state she could see that the King was naked from the waist down.

" ... stttooooppp..." mumbled Ariel again.

"Didn't we just cover this," said Schoenfelder snidely as he ripped her panties free of her body.

Schoenfelder was surprised by her bald sex, and so he bent over and was closely watching as he rubbed in some of the oil. He used the oil to get her good and moist. The King liked the way her smooth skin seemed to just suck it up as he took his time and massaged it in.

Once he was satisfied with the result he then stood up and got in to position.

Schoenfelder had already lathered himself up with some oil to help him more easily penetrate her, and was getting ready to enter Ariel in one push. He was sure that she would feel even better than her friend, given how tight and firm her rounded muscular body looked.

But he never got a chance to find out.

Just as he touched her sex with his penis the door behind him swung open slamming in to the wall behind him.

"What the Hell!" yelled the King turning before he realized that a large half dressed man was standing in the doorway behind him

Jumping at the sight of him the King scrambled to pull up his pants. He started to wonder what happened to the dungeon guards he had created. They were posted to stop things like this from even happening.

The King had no way of knowing the guards had been long killed.

Since there wasn't anything in the cells on this floor, there were only two guards posted to guard this room. Nathan reasoned that this might be the room he needed to search for Ariel once he reached this floor and gave it a better look. Back when they were escaping they concentrated more on stealth than searching every nook and cranny.

Although now, taking in the scene before him, Nathan's face changed.

Nathan's face went from anxiety, to shock, to anger, then outright rage.

In the blink of an eye his "eyes" went from brown to an intensely bright glowing red. He had just walked pass this room earlier on his way down, but if he had known his wife was in here he would have come here first to set her free. Now he was too late!

Just as Nathan went to leap into the room to kill the man who just assaulted his wife he stopped. He was sure, given the scene he had just witness with the man pressed against his wife, the mother of his children, that he had arrived too late to save her.