Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter 7: Wild at Heart, part I



   "Well, here we are!" Fel shouted in excitement and clapped her hands as
they were passing through the city gate.  "Nargath- the biggest whorehouse
in the whole wide world!" Niu kept looking around herself anxiously.  Never
had she seen such a big town.  Or such poverty.  The sides of the road were
filled with homeless people who all looked horrible.  Many of them were
clearly starving to death.  The strict laws of the city kept them from
begging, so they just tried to look as miserable as possible in the hope
that someone would take pity on them.

   Of course, Fel hated the sight.  "What a fucking mess!  I really have to
talk to Liry about getting rid of this scum.  Seeing this disgusting bunch
really doesn't get me in the mood...  And they fucking reek!  Don't you
think so, Niu?" Niu slightly nodded as an answer.  Surely these people
stank, but their putrid smell still was nothing in comparison to one of
Fel's farts.

   A little kid stood in front of them and looked at Fel with big eyes. 
Her clothes were all ragged and torn.  She clearly was one of the homeless
folks.  Fel snarled at her.  "What's up with you, little shit?  Are you a
whore?  Trying to sell your skinny little ass to us?" The girl took a while
to comprehend the question, then she shook her head in denial.  Fel's eyes
darkened.  She lifted her right foot and fiercely kicked against the
child's head.  One could hear the distinctive sound of her cranial bone
breaking when the leather boot hit her temple.  "Then why are you wasting
our time?  We're here to lay some whores, nothing else!"

   Niu's face became flushed as Fel declared so openly what they were
planning to do here.  Of course, Fel's behavior caused a lot of passersby
to stop and look what happened here.  The kid which Fel had kicked was
lying on the ground lifelessly.  Bright red blood came out of her ears and
her nose.  There was some commotion going on between the girl's folks. 
Some of them were enraged by Fel killing one of them so nonchalantly.  Niu
prayed for them that they wouldn't try to attack Fel.  She would probably
make use of the Azure Spirit to annihilate them within a heartbeat.

   Finally, one of the town's guards arrived.  It was a tall green-haired
woman who wore an iron harness and held a long halberd in her hands.  While
Fel wasn't fazed at all, it frightened Niu enough to make hide behind Fel's
big ass.  To Niu's (and some of the bystanders') surprise, the guard didn't
seem to mind the killed waif at all.  She addressed Fel.  "If it is true
that you are only here to get involved with whores, then I suggest you
leave town, stranger.  Prostitution has been declared to be illegal in
Nargath six months ago and..."

   Before the guard could finish her speech, Fel had gotten so close to her
that it looked like she was going to hug her.  Fel smiled at the
green-haired guard.  She really found this dutiful behavior cute in a way.
"First of all, sweetie: I'm not a stranger.  My name is Fel and chance
brought it about that I'm an old friend of your superior, the councilor
Liry." Without bothering about the dozens of people watching them, Fel
grabbed the guard's ass.  Although her upper body was heavily armored, the
guard's buttcheeks were virtually naked.  "...so don't worry, my cute
little guard.  If you feel like putting me in chains after I've committed
my crime, be my guest.  Or maybe I'll be the one putting you in chains...
that could be even more fun, don't you think so?" The guard gulped as Fel
whispered these words into her ear.  She was only lucky that her armor
covered enough of her front side to conceal the raging hard-on she had
right now.

   "Bu- but it's not like we're punishing the suitors...  it's the
prostitutes we're punishing, so I'm afraid that you won't find anyone
willing to..." Fel laughed and soundly slapped the guard's ass.  The
green-haired woman was becoming more and more embarrassed to be treated
like that in front of so many townspeople.  "Punishing the whores?  I like
that!  That makes the whole business even more exciting in a way!" The
heavily blushing guard shook her head.  "I think you still don't
understand! This is not a trivial offense!  We've been fighting really hard
to make this city prostitution-free for the last half year.  Let me show
you what's happening..."

   The guard led Fel to the town square.  She mainly did this to get rid of
the crowd that had been staring at them for a while now.  Niu followed them
closely.  She was conflicted by feelings of fear of what happened in this
town and jealousy towards the guard who was wax in Fel's hands by now. 
There was a big crowd at the town square.  A mass of people had gathered
around an elevated stage where a public punishment took place.  To Niu's
shock the ones being punished were children who were not older than
herself. The guard explained: "To handle the massive problem of child
prostitution in Nargath, it had been decided that harlotry is punishable by
death for anyone, even if it is committed by a child." To Niu's disgust,
Fel gave her a wink.  "Didn't I tell you?  Nargath is famous for its
whore-girls!  I'm sure we'll find one that's right for you."

   Niu could hardly avert her eyes from the horrifying ceremony that took
place in front of them.  She counted twelve little girls who had already
been hanged.  All the ropes were wound around one thick wooden bar from
which the dead little bodies were hanging.  The killed girls were
completely naked and their backsides had been severely thrashed.  Another
six girls were still waiting for their execution.  One of them was already
naked and currently being whipped by a guard.  The girl's miserable wails
could be heard on the whole town square whenever the whip hit her bare ass.

   Niu wondered what this girl must have been feeling at this moment. 
Being whipped in public must have been a nightmare, but she knew that she
would die as soon as the whipping ended.  Niu felt like she had to throw
up. She gathered all her courage and approached Fel.  "Hey...  Now that we
know that we won't find any prostitutes here...  can't we leave this town?"
Fel pretended to be disappointed by Niu's statement.  In reality, she was
in high spirits from seeing this public execution.  "Oh, you faint-hearted
little girl!  Do you really think the world's capital of harlotry could be
disassembled by some puny hangings?  I tell you, the fact that they're even
using such measures is proof enough that the back streets of Nargath are
still filled to the brim with whores!" The guard let out a resigning sigh,
confirming what Fel just had said.

   Fel took a closer look at Niu.  "Jeez, you're really pale, Niu.  Well, I
guess we don't have to watch this if it spoils your mood.  Let's find
ourselves some place where we get something to eat, drink, smoke, a bath
and then a good fuck!" Fel knew her own mind.  "I'm sorry, but we'll have
to leave you, my cute little guard!  Keep up your good work!" Once again,
Fel smacked the guard's wobbly ass.  But since there was no one watching
them right now, she didn't seem to mind...

   A little later, they found themselves in a hedge-tavern where the city's
dregs gathered.  The buxom blond waitress had a broad smile on her face as
she slammed two huge beer steins on Fel's table.  "Something else I can get
for you two?" Fel gave her a dismissive look.  "If you're trying to hint at
something- no, you fat fuck!  Neither me nor my comrade wants your saggy
ass!" The woman blushed all over and there was some laughter in the room.
"No...  I- I only wanted to ask if you want something to eat." Fel took a
swig from the stein.  "Actually, yes- we want that.  Bring us some fairy
sushi...  and make sure that the rice isn't all blood-soaked and mushy!"

   The waitress found it harder and harder to keep up her smile.  "A
fairy...  what?" Fel let out a long sigh and emptied the first stein.  "You
really have no idea of cuisine, do you?  You pull out a fairy's wings, cut
off her arms and legs and skin her alive.  Apply a little salt and stick it
on a rice ball.  Done.  And like I said, don't let the rice soak up too
much blood!" The waitress was trembling by now.  Niu managed to stay calm
since she had already seen Fel eating such things numerous times. 
"F-Faeries?  The little women living in the forest?  Could...  could it be
that you're making a joke..." Fel slapped her across the face.  Then she
downed the other stein.  "Two more of these!  And something to nibble that
tastes at least remotely like a fairy's raw flesh!  Now get your fat ass
moving!" There was more laughter.  Everyone liked to see some abuse.

   Fel lit her pipe while she was waiting for the waitress to bring more
beer.  The tobacco she had acquired on the town's market place didn't taste
like much.  Niu could read it off Fel's eyes that she was getting more
irritated with every passing minute.  She prepared herself mentally for
seeing some brutal killings in the near future.  To her surprise, something
else happened.  So far, none of the guests that had arrived after them had
dared to come to close to Fel's table, but now a woman in a gray cloak
suddenly sat herself across from Fel.  Her face was hidden under the hood,
but Fel still managed to recognize her.

   "Hey, Liry!  What brings you to.." Fel shouted out, but the other woman
tried to hush her up as quickly as possible.  "Shhhh!  Could you please try
not to scream out my name so that everyone can hear it?  I don't want any
rumors to pop up about a councilor visiting a tavern to meet a bounty
hunter..." Fel interrupted her.  "Ex-bounty hunter!  Don't group me with
that scum." Niu could now see the other woman's face.  To her surprise,
this councilor didn't seem to be more than sixteen years old.  She was very
pretty.  Her face was framed with deep black curls.  "You changed
professions?  I can't believe what I'm hearing.  Don't tell me you've had a
change of heart." Niu was amazed by how uninhibitedly this woman was
talking to Fel.  Then again, she was some kind of powerful politician... 
The waitress came back with another two steins and a plate of snacks,
little meat-filled dumplings.  One could still see the red imprint of Fel's
hand on her cheek.  Liry immediately hid her face.  "Nothing for me."

   Fel took a handful of the supplied dumplings and stuffed them into her
mouth.  Then she washed them down with a huge gulp of beer.  Liry let out a
sigh.  "Even if you're not a bounty hunter anymore, you certainly still
have the manners of one..." Fel snorted.  "I'm still wild at heart.  If
that's what you're getting at.  But killing people for money gets really
tedious after a while.  Also...  how should I put it..." Fel leaned over
the table towards Liry as if she was letting her in on some secret.  "Don't
you ever feel like there has to be something more in life than all this...
trivial stuff?" Niu was speechless.  She would have never thought that Fel
had any ambitions beyond boozing and whoring.  It was also unclear whether
she was serious or just joking around.  Fel continued.  "I really feel like
I'm cut out to accomplish something greater in my life.  It would be a
shame if I waste my precious youth by hunting down people because others
are too lazy to do it themselves."

   Liry sighed while the woman who had just proclaimed to seek a higher
purpose in life continuously sucked on her pipe, drank beer and stuffed
herself with dumplings.  "What do you plan then?  Becoming a warrior of
light?" Fel gave her a look that was much more serious than Niu would have
expected.  "I said that I'm changing professions.  Not that I'm following
in my mother's footsteps." She downed the fourth stein in total and belched
loudly.  "Rather than that, I'm going to rescue that fucking princess... 
what's-her-name?"

   Liry had an idea what Fel was talking about.  "Princess Elea of the
Vaner Kingdom?  The one who's been abducted by the Witch of the Twilights?
Wow...  I would've never expected you to be such a romanticist..." Fel
laughed.  "Fuck that.  Whoever rescues that princess gets to rule over the
whole kingdom.  Now that's something worth accomplishing!  Also, I hear
that the princess herself is quite the extraordinary piece of ass..." Liry
gave her a tired smirk.  "You really have a way of sullying people with
your words...  Well, I hope that you know that the queen of the Vaner
Kingdom has lost three armies while trying to recapture her daughter.  And
another few hundred adventurers who have tried that have died in horrible
ways...  or are still being tortured to this day in the witch's dungeon."
Fel shrugged.  "Is that so?  Well, then the Witch of the Twilights is
overdue for a good spanking anyway."

   Liry leaned back in her chair.  This conversation clearly didn't go the
way she had expected it to go.  Then again, she really shouldn't expect
anything out of a conversation with Fel.  She sighed.  "And here I came in
hope of being able to offer you a job...  Quite well-paid, I have to say."
Fel looked up.  She immediately felt her heart beating faster and her
muscles tightening.  Although she had given up on it, the thought of
killing someone for money still managed to excite her.  "A hit?  Well, I
told you that I'm not a bounty hunter anymore, so I'm most likely not going
to do it.  Still, I guess I won't mind if you tell me the details..." Liry
giggled to herself.  "Very well.  But we can't do that here.  Come to my
mansion at midnight."