High above the glorious city of Ar with its brightly colored banners and flags that blow in the breeze, a lone tarnsman swirls high above in the clouds in search of a beauty to snatch up and add to his chain of slave girls. Pulling on the five strap of the war bird’s bridle, he sends the huge tarn spiraling downward into a passage between two cylinders to get a closer look at a girl that has begun her long trek across one of the high bridges below.
The girl known as Nalani stepped forth into the bright light of the Gorean day, clad in whispering silk and adorned with golden armlets and bracelets that catch the sun’s rays in a dazzling dance of light. Blinking from the brightness of the morning even as auburn curls are set afire in the bright day, her beautiful features reflexively lift to its warmth. Long lashes flutter closed, unaware of the lurking danger overhead as her bared feet carry the girl over the path of the bridge which she has trod hundreds of times. Unknown to her, the tarnsman overhead begins to drop lower and lower upon the huge war tarn as the girl travels towards the cylinder that hold her Master’s chambers. If she could have detected the silent descent of the bird or caught his wild grin as he expertly dodged tarn wires and guardsmen that surely paroled the gates, she would have run for her life.
The tarnsman secretly smirks as his mind turns to the girl that is nearly his as he kicks the bird to approach her closer at a faster rate, keeping an eye on the red-haired beauty that is the target of his approach. The sun glinting off her jewelry makes her an easy target for his grasp as he loosens the safety sash on the bird. Smiling triumphantly, he hangs a bit off on the right side and reaches down to grab her up in his strong hand.
Inhaling deeply, the girl’s stormy blue eyes open as her bared feet hit that well-known halfway mark across the high archway engraved upon her owned soul. Mink brown eyebrows furrow at the blur in the sky and it is as if she knows what it is yet hesitates in her surprise that a tarnsman has made it this close within the walls of Ar. Suddenly her eyes widen as a reflexive scream surges through her collar throat, her racing heart erupting through the flurry of beautiful tiny feet that race into action. Wild blue eyes look for a retreat but in horror she sees that the doorway is still so far away and tucks as much as she can as she begins to race for her life.
Seeing his quarry at exactly the right point on the bridge, the rider aboard the tarn dives directly towards the girl, knowing she is all but his. Flaring the tarn to a sudden stop that it almost hovers in front of the frightened girl, he plucks her like a ripe fruit for the picking and hauls her belly up and over the saddle, screaming, “Ho!” Hearing his master’s command, the tarn quickly swoops off into the hiding glare of the sun as the raiding warrior tears off the girl’s silks and tosses them into the wind before binding her tightly before him.
The captured girl flails wildly even as she knows instinctively that she is not match for the strong warrior. Silver tears sting sapphire hued eyes that gaze upon the sudden invasion into the only world she has even known. As if it is merely a nightmare from which she can awaken, she is unable to tear her gaze from him. The slave girl trained within coming to life, she can’t help but become excited even within the paralyzing fear that has taken hold of her slender form. Her cries lift into the still air as if time has frozen around her as she feels her beautiful silks give way beneath his forceful hand and the strength of binding fibers that lick deliciously along her captured flesh. Shuddering across his lap upon the mighty bird, her eyes close tightly as her unmarred back is exposed to his scrutinizing gaze and then feels a sudden lurch as they are lifted back into the air. A sudden need to black out suddenly comes over her as the ground begins to rush away.
Steering the bird directly east and past Argentum, her crosses over the Vosk Delta to his home, the Isle of Cos where he dives directly to the ground from the bird’s maximum altitude. Chuckling at the girls piteous screams, he lands and climbs down to pull her along by her flaming red windswept hair and throws her naked form to the ground. Securing a long heavy chain about her throat, a shiver of delight rocking him as the lovely sound of the lock clicking loudly, he holds the opposite end in one hand as he cuts her bindings free. As he kicks her away from him a little, a snarl of triumph proclaims his will upon her. “Dance kajira!”