She responded in a soft, casual voice. "I have simple fire, fireballs, Slow as Molasses, and Hover for thirty seconds."
Joss waited a moment. "That's all?"
"Yes."
"Wow. Okay. I expected more," the witch said. "I always thought your reputation was unwarranted. Gift your spells to me."
"I don't know how."
"Just say, I give you blah blah blah spell, and it will transfer from you to me."
"I give you Simple Fire," Asha said, and felt a rush of coldness leave her. "I give you Fireballs." Another rush of coldness. "I give you Slow as Molasses." A more intense rush of coldness flowed outward, followed by Joss sucking in a sharp breath. "I give you Hover."
With that last rush of coldness, Asha felt a strange sense of emptiness. She realized Joss had truly destroyed her. She was now nothing but a helpless slave. Even if freed from the collar's magic, she'd be just as helpless and vulnerable.
A tiny hint of fear crept in.
"Ha-ha! I've stripped you of all magic," the witch crowed. "God, it feels good to grind you beneath my heel, you stuck up bitch." She handed the Dagger of Wrath back to Asha. "Now give me the dagger."
Asha handed it back to her. "I give you the Dagger of Wrath."
Once again, there was a rush of coldness out, and Joss smiled wide.
"Awesome. I now own a Bound weapon, and you have nothing but the clothes on your back," Joss sneered. She grabbed Asha's top, giving it a little yank. "I'd strip you out of those clothes, too, and parade you naked through the streets, but Oxenbluff doesn't allow public nudity."
"Wow, Joss, you have an awful lot of hostility bottled up," Krakus said. "If it makes you feel better, after we sell her you can strip her and start wearing her clothes."
"Right. You'd like that."
"Yep."
Coop calmed Joss down, and led them toward the town. In the shantytown, they stopped to get Asha and Deidra cleaned up, arrange their hair more attractively, and found a shop to buy Deidra's ranger's leathers, and put her in a simple tunic that was about three sizes too small, so showed off her body quite well. They thought Asha's outfit showed off her body well enough.
"We're going to make a killing off these two elfmaids," Coop said. "We won't have to work for six months."
The gate guards ignored Asha and Deidra after being told they were slaves. The first brothel they visited offered to trade one of their girls for Deidra, with no money exchanging hands, but they refused. The other woman wasn't nearly as pretty as the elfmaid. The second brothel they visited was the Naughty Cock. Asha vaguely remembered Rand saying something about it earlier that day.
The middle-aged owner looked upon the two elfmaids with eager eyes. He had a thick head of curly gray hair, silk robes, and lots of flashy rings and necklaces. Asha checked Mikus out.
Human brothel Owner. -2 Dark.
She wasn't surprised by his alignment with Dark, but was surprised to see that Mikus was a mob. Not so surprising was the boldness of his hands as the brothel owner examined the two slaves offered for sale. Her clothes offered no protection, so his examination left her flushed and panting, despite the collar around her throat.
"The dark-haired elf is much more responsive," Mikus said. "I'll take her."
As her captors began haggling with Mikus, Asha heard a man and woman coming down the stairs, still a couple of floors above. The male voice was familiar, but Asha's mind was too numb to dwell upon it. Whoever it was, he was with a giggling woman.
"Sold," Joss said, beaming with pleasure at Asha. "For eight and a half silver shekels."
A brothel worker moved up behind Asha, brushing her hair aside to unfasten her clothes. At the same time, Krakus stepped before the elfmaid and started fumbling with the enchanted collar. And when the collar came off, Asha was hit with fear, revulsion, and a deep sense of doom.
"No!" she cried, but Krakus swept her up in a fierce bear hug that pinned Asha's arms to her sides. Then she heard a cry of rage from the stairs, and looked over the ork's shoulder to find Rudolf pointing at her. "Oh shit."
"You!" Rudolf shouted. "Your ass is mine, sorceress!"
The Dark wizard charged her. Coop, Joss, and Krakus reacted by turning on him. Asha knew they didn't care about her fate, but didn't want him to keep them from collecting their money from Mikus. The brothel workers also charged the wizard.
Asha found herself standing alone, with no one between her and the open door. Only she had no weapons or magic. So she turned on her captors instead of running away. Kicking Krakus in the back of the knee, she sent him crashing to the floor. Then she grabbed Joss's hair and yanked the witch straight back into the wall. When Joss bounced off the wall, looking surprised, Asha sent a brutal roundhouse into the side of the witch's head.
The witch fell back against the wall, giving Asha the chance to twist the short sword out of her grasp. Next, she turned on Deidra and quickly removed the ranger's collar.
"Thanks," Deidra said, and promptly twisted the sword out of Asha's hand. She leapt at Krakus' back, thrusting the sword through his heart. "Die! You all will die!"
Joss started struggling to her feet at that time, so Asha charged the witch. The two of them traded punches and kicks, before Joss pulled the Dagger of Wrath and thrust at her heart.
Asha blocked the blade with her left arm, receiving a painful cut. She responded by pounding the butt of her hand into Joss's nose. That blow left the witch disoriented, allowing her to take the dagger away. A second later the Dagger of Wrath was buried in Joss' heart.
Krakus was starting to fade away in Immortal death, so the sorceress darted over to take one of the curved swords strapped across his back. She immediately attacked the Dark wizard.
"Rudolf, I'm going to kill you a thousand times!"
She tried to decapitate, but he held out his left hand. A silver ring with a purple stone glowed. Her blade struck an invisible barrier, which glowed purple upon impact. She scowled at the magic shield. Then he swung the Staff of Dark Dominion around with his other hand, a look of triumph spreading across his face. The ring stopped glowing.
Asha threw the sword.
Rudolf gasped, and then fell to his knees with an incredulous look. The sword pierced his throat, obviously slicing through the carotid artery from the amount of blood flowing. Asha stepped forward and pulled the evil staff from his grasp, before yanking the sword out. Blood spurted, forcing her to jump back.
Rudolf died for the second time by her hand in as many days.
"Good riddance," she said, looking around. The brothel owner, his workers, and his slaves were backed against the wall, held at bay by Deidra. Coop, Krakus, and Joss were all as dead as Rudolf. Asha caught Mikus' eyes. "This is what you get for dealing with the minions of Dark."
Asha quickly collected all of the purses, plus took Rudolf's ring. Both Rudolf and Joss had Mana Restoring potions that she took. All four dead surrendered healing potions, one of which Asha immediately drank.