Down in the Dungeon
Part ThreeA Wulf Tale
By Anthony Pryor
Well, life sometimes throws us curveballs (that's a baseball term, for our international readers), and I've had my share, but here at long last is the triumphant conclusion of Wulf's tale, "Down in the Dungeon." It's got some bondage, some hot human-elf girl-on-girl action, some sex with an angel who's really a daemon who acts just like my friend Rosie, and even the basic outline of some kind of plot. Scrad the goblin's philosophical ramblings follow along with some of my own religious leanings and come pretty much hot out of the oven from some Unitarian writers whom I admire. No, I'm not making this up; Hope it's to your liking; there's more Wulf to come, though as always I can't say when. Check in on the forums or drop me a note and let me know what you think.
"So, you've had your ale," grumbled the thief. "Now, what happened after you opened the door?"
I yawned and stretched. "Darkness, son. Just darkness. Rolling out like a wave..."
***
The darkness rolled out like a wave, engulfing me before I could even turn to flee - though where I could have fled to at that point wasn't entirely certain.
I felt my knees hit the iron floor, and I felt myself face-planting with an unpleasant clang. Then, to my horror, the floor itself seemed to give way, opening like a trapdoor, and I fell into space. I remembered the molten slag beneath the bridge, and prepared myself for its burning embrace.
Dearest Phaedra, I'm really sorry for all the crap I've pulled and all the times I ignored you and your dicta, but you're the goddess of thieves after all, and I would imagine that you're willing to ignore the occasional lapse among your followers... After all, I'm basically a faithful worshipper, and hell, no other gods seem terribly interested in helping me; for the most part they seem to actively dislike me. Well, that's the gods for you, always butting in where they're least welcome and ignoring you when you need them...
Wait a moment... I wasn't dead yet. I was still suspended in darkness, but I didn't seem to be falling anymore.
"Wulf." A voice echoed out of the darkness. "Are you there? Can you hear me?"
I grunted. "Yes. Who are you? Do you work for Phaedra? Are you taking me to paradise or hell? Because if it's hell, you know where you can stick - ""Peace, Wulf." The voice was soft and comforting. "Let yourself go. Hear my words. Listen with your soul and you will see me."
I relaxed. Slowly the darkness around me coalesced into a warm glow of yellow light. And in the center of it, peacefully sitting cross-legged and regarding me with a deep, wise gaze...
"Scrad??" I barked in sudden surprise. "Scrad the goblin henchman?"
"The same," Scrad replied. He was dressed differently - in my vision (perhaps, I reminded myself, these were the last delusions of my mortal mind as I sank into molten slag) he wore simple gray robes, tied with a brown rope, looking for all the world like a penniless Kyborist monk passing wisdom on to a disciple.
"I am the one you call Scrad," the goblin continued. "I have only a few moments to speak with you, so I must be brief."
My mind still whirled in confusion. "But you... you're the cook... the porter..."
Scrad smiled. "There is great honor and wisdom to be found in the service of others. And there is no shame when there is no pride. I have spent many years in service, struggling against my own pride and against my own baser nature... Indeed, I do not know whether I have truly succeeded or not... Only the universe and eternity can judge me. For now, we can only do our best."
"You don't talk like a goblin," I noted.
"You don't know many goblins," Scrad replied. "I have wandered long and long, seen much, heard much. I came to this place because I felt a great evil stirring, and saw that Thantanus and his people would set it free unless I helped them."
"So far it looks as if those idiots are right on schedule. Is there still a chance?"
"There is always a chance. All things are mutable, because nothing truly exists."
"You're sounding more and more like some kind of Idrian mystic," I said. "Where did you go to school?"
"I hoped that I could find someone within the party who could aid me," Scrad continued, ignoring my feeble jest. "At first I thought Beldrin was the one. Now, unfortunately, he has moved on to his next existence."
"And I'm all you have left?"
"No, you are the one whom the universe has called upon. The others still retain some goodness, deep down inside, but more and more they are corrupted by the daemonic powers that dwell in this place. Thantanus is driven by ambition, Svignar by pride and greed, Vendyra by lust and Lilywinter by rage. Soon, all these things will burst forth, and all will be lost. You are different, Wulf. There is darkness in you, but it lives in harmony with the light, and together they make you resistant to the lure of the daemons. You were offered something, yes?"
I nodded. "Yes, I was."
"You were offered the pleasures of the flesh. No, do not protest. They are no different than the other worldly pleasures that all must face and accept. All have desires. We desire love, safety, acceptance, peace. But we do not truly understand what we want."
"What do you mean?" Heavy philosophizing from a diminutive, bald green imp was only the most recent of many weird things that had happened over the past few days, so I was growing slightly jaded.
"When we say we want peace, we mean that we want wars to cease, violence to end, and our lives to be safe." Scrad looked away, his face oddly contemplative. "Peace is so much more and less complex than we imagine. Peace can never, not the peace that we so desire, unless that peace begins inside us. We must be at peace with ourselves before we can be at peace with others."
I didn't reply, but stared in astonishment.
"The daemons know this," Scrad continued. "They prey upon the turmoil in our hearts and souls, and they know that if that turmoil can be perpetuated, then there will never be peace. The wars, the hatred, the jealousy, the sadness, the chaos will continue unabated. They derive their sustenance from this chaos, and the more terrible it is, the more they derive. They feed on fear, on rage, on violence. That is why the daemoness seeks to tear us apart, set us at each other. She gives us glimpses of what we desire, and creeps into our very souls."
"What did she show you?" I asked.
Scrad smiled faintly. "Nothing," he said. "She showed me nothing. For that is what I desire."
I swallowed hard. "Have you considered getting a teaching position somewhere?"
"I am not worthy to teach others," Scrad replied. "I am still but a student myself." He paused. "Time is short. We must act quickly."
"What can I do? It looks as if the big dark has already swallowed us."
"Not yet it has not. It has you in its clutches, true. But I have spoken to you, and now you know what it intends. You have the power to fight it. I have some skills to hold the darkness at bay for a time and prevent it from fully consuming you all, transforming you into creatures of rage and passion. But you are the warrior, Wulf - "
"Well, I'm not really a warrior, strictly speaking. My training is primarily in stealth and speed, with a smattering of spellcasting - "
Scrad waved a hand. "It is no matter. The daemoness fears you, for now you know her for what she truly is. The others are lost in their dreams and slaves to their fears. You must find them and rescue them before it is too late. If the darkness takes them, then all will be lost... The powers locked in this place will break free and another daemon war will begin. This time, there may be nothing to stop them."
"Great," I muttered. "Fine job of encouraging me you're doing, goblin."
"Sorry," Scrad said. "Running out of time now, Wulf... Remember what I said. Find the peace in yourself. Find the others. Save whoever you can. It is not too late."
Then the light faded, and the darkness closed in again. At last my fall resumed and I felt myself tumble painfully onto a floor of solid rock. A single guttering torch provided flickering yellow illumination.
I lay there panting and groaning for a time, making sure nothing was broken. Then at last, painfully, I rose to my feet. I was all alone in a small stone chamber with a single wooden door. My next move seemed pretty obvious.
I walked toward the door, checking to make sure my various weapons and implements of destruction were still intact. Though the door now...
But after the door, then what?
Unfortunately for all of us, I had absolutely no idea.
***
Thantanus shook his head, trying to drive away the darkness that fogged his vision and his thoughts. He was no longer falling, that was certain, and there was solid stone beneath him, where he crouched on hands and knees.
"By the gods, I'll have your head, daemon!" he roared, feeling the floor around him for some trace of his sword. His fingers closed around a familiar hilt and in an instant the human was on his feet, slashing randomly at the shadows around him.
"Come out and fight, daemon! See how you fare 'gainst enchanted steel!"
His voice echoed hollowly, and as Thantanus listened for some sign of his foes, his vision began to clear, as if the light around him was growing brighter.
He was in a vast round stone chamber, whose far side vanished into shadow. In the center of the chamber was a wide round pit. Rising from the center of the pit was a cylinder of solid rock, rising at least fifty paces above Thantanus' head. Four stone bridges spiraled down from the top of the cylinder, spanning the pit and connecting it to the room.
From this distance, Thantanus could see a bright illumination coming from the top of the tall cylinder; this is what seemed to light the room, though he could not see its source. It was easily a hundred paces to the nearest of the bridges, but with barely a thought, Thantanus sheathed his sword and began to jog toward the cylinder. Perhaps, he thought, this is the end. Perhaps the object of my quest lies atop that platform...
As he jogged closer, Thantanus grew more and more convinced that the mysterious glaive did indeed lie atop the cylinder at the junction of the four bridges. He began to pant heavily - the exertions of the last few days had taken much out of him, but still he bore onward, the great stone span growing closer and closer.
"Thantanus!" shouted a familiar voice, bringing the human up short. Nearby, also making for one of the stone bridges was the dwarf Svignar, looking tired but none the worse for wear, his axe clutched eagerly in his steel-gauntleted hands.
"Gods!" Thantanus barked in surprise. "You're alive! I'd thought the daemon had had its way with you!"
"I'd thought the same of you," said the dwarf, with a surprising edge of wariness in his tone. "How did you manage to avoid them?"
Thantanus shrugged and his armor clanked. "I've no idea, dwarf." He felt a note of indignation creep into his own voice and wondered idly where it had come from. "The darkness swept over us, then I was here, looking up at that thing." He gestured at the great stone cylinder, now towering ominously over their heads.
"Didn't bother to look for the others?" Svignar asked. "Made straight for the treasure, didn't you?"
"As did you, dwarf," Thantanus snapped. "As did you. But I suppose that's to be expected of your kind."
Svignar glared blackly. "I looked for the others. They're gone; I thought I could see farther from the top of that tower."
Thantanus nodded, though he remained skeptical. "Let's get up there, then," he said. "Gods know, that's probably the glaive's resting place, and we may need each other yet."
The dwarf grunted and began to stride purposefully toward the nearest ramped bridge.
Thantanus followed, though for some reason he felt his hand straying toward his sword hilt.
Damned greedy dwarf, he thought. The little money-grubber's bound to try to take it from me.
***
Vendyra's knees ached and her hands were skinned - she'd landed hard, but hoped that her possessions were intact, though she could not feel her precious lute. The room was dimly lit, but she could see the vague outlines of furnishings. She reached for her backpack, hoping to find a torch or a magelight...
Her hand stubbornly refused to move. As consciousness returned fully, Vendyra's heart began to race, as she realized that her wrists, ankles and neck were all solidly secured. She could not even turn her head, but was able to see from the corner of her eye that she was manacled to a heavy X-shaped hardwood cross, arms raised above her head, legs spread apart...
The light suddenly grew slightly brighter, from a pair of small mageglobes nearby, and she gasped suddenly. The body that she beheld, bound to the cross, was not hers... It was smaller, slenderer, finer-boned, and... Gods... The flesh was paler, and a wisp of blonde hair trailed down one shoulder, curling around the white swelling of her naked breast...
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Lady Lilywinter," said a voice, riveting Vendyra's attention.
Before her, now distinct in the growing light, was a bed, strewn with pillows, silks and furs. And there, legs drawn up, bare skin glowing gently in the magelight...
No. Gods, no. Vendyra's mind rebelled.
It was as if she was gazing into a mirror - Vendyra herself sat there, naked and all too real, her shoulders round and soft, her large breasts held tantalizingly between her upper arms, nipples swelling and growing hard before Vendyra's own eyes. Her fingers were interlaced, clutching her knees, which were pulled up in a strange and unconvincing show of modesty, while two vivid green eyes smoldered at her with a look midway between amusement and hatred.
"Behold the druid Lilywinter," she whispered, and Vendyra's mind whirled. "But wait. She's not Lilywinter, is she? She thinks she's Vendyra, the bard, and is baffled to see her own body, speaking to her in her own voice." She paused and giggled, making her breasts quiver. She stroked at one nipple with long fingers. "Someone has taken Vendyra's body, it seems. And who could it be?" She paused again. "Of course, you know it's Lilywinter herself, and now at last you will see things as Lilywinter saw them."
Vendyra forced herself to speak, ignoring the high musical sound of her elven voice. "What are you talking about, Lilywinter?" she demanded. "What's happened to us?"
"It's as the daemons promised," replied Lilywinter-in-Vendyra's-body. "They said that they would give me justice, and now they have. Now you will see."
"See what?" Vendyra shouted. "Justice for what? What offense have I perpetrated that requires justice, Lilywinter? Gods, listen to yourself!"
"That is the very problem." Lilywinter smiled, a sick parody of Vendyra's own favorite expression. "I have not listened to myself. Now I can hear myself very clearly, thank you." The face grew harsh and hateful. "As for your offenses, the fact that you are so blissfully unaware is condemnation enough. You have taken from me, Vendyra, taken men, taken pride, taken happiness. That night that you took my bed for your senseless human rutting, those who would have seen me as beautiful, given me what I desire - you took them away without a thought or qualm. You didn't see what pain it caused me."
"Lilywinter, I'm sorry," Vendyra protested. "I'm not the kind of person who thinks that way! I don't... I didn't mean to hurt you. I act on impulse, Lilywinter. I don't think things through like your people do..."
"My people, human?" Lilywinter laughed, then shifted position, cradling and squeezing her breasts in her hands. "Your people now. You're the gentle, caring elf now and I am the beautiful, desirable human. Watch, Lilywinter. See what I saw..."
Vendyra's vision shifted, as if a wave of water has passed. Now the naked form of her own body was splayed out on the bed, gloriously and joyfully naked, thighs apart, fingers busy at the moist pink flesh between them. Her breasts heaved and shook, nipples swollen. Her lips parted slightly, pink tongue darting between them.
"See it now, elf. Watch, for you have no choice."
From the shadows around the bed emerged three figures - their features were indistinct, as if they were drawn from the darkness itself, but all were exaggeratedly male - tall, strongly muscled, with oversized genitals, growing erect as they advanced on the bed, each looking almost dangerous in its thickness and menace.
"Oh, see what they have for Vendyra," Lilywinter whispered hotly, gliding to hands and knees, large breasts hanging down to rest on the silken coverlet beneath her. The nearest of the shadow-men approached, and she reached out a hand to touch the thick organ that projected from between its thighs. Its upper torso and face were indistinct and unreadable...
...Like so many of the men that Vendyra had been with, she realized. Faceless, nameless... Gods, now she began to understand...
"It's warm," Lilywinter exclaimed in surprise, fingers encircling the organ, stroking and petting. Her other hand tickled at the massive scrotum that hung beneath it. "So warm... Mmm..." She turned to look at Vendyra, the green eyes burning brighter still. "I'm going to put it in my mouth now," she whispered. "I want to see how much of it I can swallow. And you have to watch - watch this huge cock slide down my throat... Mmmm..."
With that, Lilywinter began to explore the surface of the thing's cock with the tip of her - no, Vendyra's - tongue, flicking it along its glans, then down its long shaft, tracing the throbbing contours of its veins.
"It tastes go good, doesn't it?" she asked. "You know how good a man's cock tastes, don't you?" She encircled the cock's broad head with her lips. "Mmmm... mmmph..." Her groans of ecstasy faded into muffled grunts as the cock slid into her mouth.
The full horror of the situation began to dawn on Vendyra, even as the pace of Lilywinter-in-Vendyra's-body increased, and the cock slid in and out, glistening with her saliva. Meanwhile, the other two shadow-men were exploring the rest of the stolen body, hands and cocks probing at her heaving breasts, pinching nipples, and stroking at the outer lips of her cunt.
"Lilywinter!" Vendyra cried. "It's not real! We've been trapped here! It's some kind of nightmare that the daemons are sending us. They want us to be like this! Letting our hatred and fear destroy us! You've got to stop and think!"
Even as she shouted, Vendyra felt the old tug of lust and desire plaguing her. There was an edge of excitement in her belly, spreading to her thighs and chest, even in this cast-off body, this elvish form that seemed so strange to her...
You are helpless, little one, whispered a seductive voice in her head. Enjoy it. There is more to come for you. Much, much more...
***
At this point, I was busy wandering the corridors like the last survivor of a disaster, which in a sense I was. My surviving companions were out there somewhere - this much I knew, and that bizarre little goblin had gifted me with enough self-awareness to at least have a fighting chance at overcoming the daemons' temptations. But as you probably know by now, I've never been one to resist temptation. And I was younger back then, too.
In retrospect, it was as if I was wandering in a dream, and indeed I probably was - certainly, I was under the influence of the monstrosities that controlled this realm, and, in case you haven't guessed already, they were manipulating the hell out of me.
The place was a mindless maze of featureless stone corridors, intersections, zigzags, right-angle turns, dead ends and nary a door in sight. If I was going to save my companions - as much as they didn't deserve it - like the philosophical goblin had suggested, I would at least have to reach a door some time...
And as if I'd willed it - possibly because I had willed it - I finally reached the end of the corridor and was confronted by a grim, iron-bound door. And, by the gods, it was locked.
Well, dammit, it was about time that the rogue started showing his worth. I fumbled with my lockpicks for a few minutes before finally overcoming the damned thing. That would show that idiot Thantanus, I thought as I pushed the door open. I was a good rogue, dammit.
The chamber was small, dimly lit like the rest of the dungeon by some kind of indirect magical means. It was almost as featureless as the corridors, but its single feature was certainly striking.
On the far wall, about a half-dozen paces from the door, her manacled wrists pulled painfully far over her head, slumped a motionless figure. Her head was slumped forward, a cascade of lustrous red hair, hanging down and concealing her face and torso. She was clad in the remnants of a battered, flimsy shift, but her most prominent feature was the pair of white feathered wings that projected from her back, and now lay askew on either side of her amid a few fallen feathers.
As I entered, she stirred and moaned, raising her head and gazing at me. Her face was... Well, it was angelic - rounded, pouting lips atremble, eyes huge and vivid green, face streaked with tears.
"What torment do you visit on me now, daemons?" she demanded. Her voice rang like soft bells. "I can tell you nothing more."
***
"Oh, gods," groaned the fighter, no fool he. "Don't tell me. She was one of the daemons in disguise."
"You didn't fall for it, did you, Wulf?" demanded the young cleric. "They'd been manipulating you the whole time... You were wise to them, weren't you?"
I hesitated and took a swig of ale.
"Of course," I replied. "I wasn't fooled for a moment."
***
"There," I said, unfastening the fetters. "You're free."
With a sigh, the angelic creature slumped to the floor. "Thank you, mortal," she said, softly. "I'd not have endured much longer, given the daemons' torments."
"I'm not sure how much help this is going to be," I admitted. "I can't guarantee I can get you out of here, since I'm just as lost as you are."
"It is providence, mortal," she said. "We will endure as fate wills it." She reached up to me imploringly. Where her shift was intact, it was all but transparent. Beneath it her body was delicate and softly curved, her two breasts small but shapely, nipples pressing against gauzy fabric. I reached down to help her up.
"What's your name?" I asked, as she took my hand and pulled herself to her feet. "I'm Wulf."
"Sanalya," she replied, syllables sliding from her lips like liquid. Then she stumbled, and fell against me. My arms went around her reflexively, and her eyes locked with mine.
"Sanalya," I whispered, awash in a sudden wave of desire.
"Both of us may not live much longer," she said sadly, and I felt her fingers slip behind my head and stroke my hair. "I would share my last moments with you, mortal."
Her lips found mine, and I felt the insistent thrust of her tongue. I felt a nagging sense of misgiving, but the rush of sensation overwhelmed me, and I swept her up in my arms, lowering her gently to the stone floor. Her wings spread out like a blanket beneath us.
"Take me, mortal," she whispered. "Let us feel joy before the end."
Now that's the kind of love-talk that really gets me going...
I reached down to pull aside her flimsy garment, but she was ahead of me, sliding the remains of the shift away, her pale and tender body now naked beneath me. Her fingers were busy with the buckles of my armor; I flung aside my shoulder guard and vambraces and let her pull open my arming coat...
You know, being overwhelmed by passion while you're wearing armor is hell of a challenge? By the time you've got it all off, there's a faint but very distinct possibility that your interest may have waned, and you'll have to start all over again...
Fortunately for me, that wasn't the case. By the time I'd kicked off my boots and greaves, and she'd pulled my breeches down, my erection was still there and more insistent than ever. Her soft fingers encircled my cock and she looked up at me, green eyes deep as the sea and filled with sorrow and lust.
"One last time, mortal," she murmured. "One final time before..."
"I think you should stop talking like that if you want to go any further," I told her. "I'd just as soon focus on the moment."
Sanalya smiled then, as if she was keeping a secret from me, and looked down, then began to stroke my cock, gently at first, then with increasing intensity. I groaned, and began to stroke her face. Her lips brushed my fingertips, then encircled a finger, biting and sucking lightly. She grinned, eyes now wide and fully alive; the sorrow seemed to be losing out to the lust. Her hair was spread out, coppery red against the white feathers of her wings.
I began to kiss along her jaw, then down to her neck.
"Lower," she said. "Lower. My breasts. Please."
I kissed lower, then stroked a breast, and teased at her nipple with my tongue. She sighed and stroked her other nipple with her left hand, as the fingers of her right curled more tightly around my cock, pressing it against her, and rolling it along the warm flesh of her thigh.
Her lilting whisper echoed in my head once more.
"Lower still. Kiss my belly, my thighs."
I kissed my way along her ribs as her chest began to rise and fall faster, then down the soft, downy-haired surface of her belly. I stroked her breasts as I did, squeezing and stroking. She released my cock, and her hands joined mine, guiding my fingers across her swollen nubs of her nipples.
Her thighs were soft and pale, and I kissed each in turn. Between them was a soft spray of red hair, with only a faint sheen of down across her labia. I kissed her soft outer lips, and she writhed, thighs sliding open. The wet pink flesh of her inner lips opened beneath my tongue, and I licked at it, tasting their moist sweetness.
Sanalya's sighs grew to groans, then loud voiced, almost desperate cries. Now her fingers gripped my head, twining painfully in my hair, and with surprising strength, she pulled me against her, back arching, legs scissoring against me.
"Harder," she begged; her voice was different in timber now - deeper, more insistent, almost commanding. "Harder!"
I licked, thrusting my tongue inside her, then lapping at the swelling nub of her clitoris. She was wet now, my face slathered in her juices. I released her breasts and cupper her buttocks, pulling her closer.
"Ah! Yessss!" She groaned loudly, and a deep shudder passed through her body. Her wings thrashed, slapping against the floor, and her fists reflexively grabbed my hair as she ground her mons against my face. I kept licking, and another wave rolled through her.
"Now," she cried, urgently, yanking my head up. She looked down at me, eyes dancing with green fire. "Fuck me, now."
At that point I didn't pause to marvel at the idea of a celestial saying "fuck me," but instead slung her legs over my shoulder and slipped my cock between them, feeling her moist inner flesh give way before me.
Sanalya heaved against me, slamming her hips forward, face contorted, eyes burning. Her red hair flew as she moved, and her wings slapped harder and harder against the floor.
"Again," she cried. "Again." Either she meant she was coming again, or she wanted me to thrust into her again, but in the present circumstances, both explanations worked fine for me. I pressed forward until her hips were well up off the floor, her spine curved up, her legs nearly horizontal, and I thrust down into her.
Her cries slid into incoherence, and she shook violently.
"Come for me," she gasped, hands behind my head again, holding it tightly, looking straight into my eyes with a gaze that threatened to set me on fire. "Come in me."
"Gods," I whispered, and continued to thrust down, feeling the moist hotness envelop me, watching Sanalya's breasts shake and quiver, her belly heave, and her lips move as she continued to murmur to me, urging me on.
"Fuck me. Come for me. Fuck me. Come for me..." The words, repeated over and over seemed to lose all meaning, even less so as they were pronounced by such an angelic creature...
"I'm coming..." I groaned and felt the rush that had been building in my loins build and finally release. "Gods..."
"You're coming," she gasped, and her smile was almost cruel. "You're coming inside me."
"Gods..." I repeated, unleashing a gush of hot semen into her waiting cunt. "I'm coming for you."
"Mmmm," she said and sighed again as my contractions ceased and we both collapsed onto the floor.
She rolled atop me, wings spreading out picturesquely, and her eyes were still alight, green and glowing."Now we both have our desires, mortal," she said, and I heard a strange, familiar edge in her voice.
A faint tickle in the back of my mind still nagged at me; and for an instant I heard Scrad's voice.
That is why the daemoness seeks to tear us apart, set us at each other. She gives us glimpses of what we desire, and creeps into our very souls.
It was as if a gauzy curtain between me and Sanalya had been torn away. Suddenly, the angelic being beside me was no longer what I'd seen, and my mind was once more my own. The daemoness, Malifa returned my gaze with a snarl. I lashed our, pushing her off of me. She struck the wall and fell.
"You see your desires, human," she hissed, springing to her feet. She was every bit as beautiful as she had been as Sanalya, but this was a dark and dangerous beauty, filled with violence and fear. But beautiful, nonetheless.
I rolled to one side, grabbing my discarded baldric and yanking free my shortsword (no, the other one...). I wasn't exactly armored for combat, but I wasn't about to face my fate entirely naked.
She didn't seem inclined to fight. Possibly because she was already pretty much in charge of things, or possibly because she didn't care. She just stood there, hands on hips, looking at me with what an expression that looked more like amusement than anything else. Her naked body was charged with dark sensuality.
"You look silly," she said, and grinned, then looked down. I was still hard as a rock, even though I'd come just a few seconds before. What can I say? I was younger then.
"Put down the sword," she said. "Come over here. We can pick up where we left off. And I don't have to maintain that tedious persona that you seemed so fond of."
"It's not going to work this time," I replied, trying to stay on guard despite the fact that I was painfully aware of my still-excited state. "I see through you. I know what you're doing."
Malifa sighed. "So it's to be like that, is it? Come, Wulf, you're the only one of your bunch to show any spirit at all. Those others are so easy..."
"What have you done to them?" I demanded.
"Nothing at all, Wulf," she said. "All of their injuries are self-inflicted. I only helped them to see their true selves."
With that, she waved a hand, and in the air between us, images formed. In one, Thantanus and Svignar glared at each other, weapons drawn, while in the other one...
Oh, gods...
Lilywinter... poor, confused Lilywinter... was bound to an ugly X-shaped cross, and two shadowy male forms stood near her head. As I watched one of them took her hair and pulled her face toward his tumescent cock, while between her legs...
Oh, gods...
There was Vendyra, red-haired Vendyra, hands pressing on Lilywinter's thighs, her tongue busy between them. As I watched, Vendyra drew away and a third male approached, then began rubbing the knobby head of his thick organ along the pink lips of her cunt...
In the other image, Thantanus and Svignar began to trade blows...
I turned, face contorted with anger, and snarled at the daemoness.
"Where are they, you bitch?"
Malifa's grin widened. "Oh, yes, human. Show anger. Show the power of chaos. Come to me, and take me..."
A wave of hot red rage passed through me and I raced at her, stabbing with my sword, driving its point up under the daemoness' ribs. Her expression was suddenly transformed, but not into one of pain... Rather, she gazed at me with an overwhelming, nearly orgasmic expression of ecstasy.
"Yes, human," she sighed. "Yes, it is all the same to us... Join us, human... Unleash the powers of chaos..."
I snarled again, yanking out my sword and swinging at her. The daemoness' head sprang from her shoulders and tumbled to the floor, followed a moment later by the rest of her body. The last echo of her voice faded from the chamber, and all around me the walls shimmered and vanished. A single broad corridor yawned before me, from which I heard the echo of my companions' voices.
The images of my companions vanished as well, and with an oath I swiftly gathered up my discarded clothing and raced down the corridor.
***
"Damn you, dwarf!" growled Thantanus. "The glaive is mine! No greedy dwarven fingers shall touch it!"
"In your dreams, human," the dwarf shot back. "My people shall wield this weapon, or no one shall!"
The ancient weapon floated in a column of light at the pinnacle of the stone cylinder, but neither had yet laid hands on it.
"Stand aside, short one," the human shouted. "This is your only warning."
The dwarf hefted his axe. "And you have already had yours, human. Come ahead and we shall settle this once and for all."
With a shout, Thantanus launched himself at Svignar, and the dwarf moved to block the blow.
***
What should I even call myself? Who am I? Vendyra's mind spun in confusion. I am Vendyra the bard, yet I am in the body of Lilywinter the druid... As she is in mine, and in thrall to the daemons who rule this place...
And those daemons were keeping Lilywinter marvelously entertained, as she bucked and writhed on the bed nearby, the three shadow-men busy at her pale, red-haired human's body... she lay atop the first, letting his cock slide heavily between the hot, swollen lips of her cunt, while from behind a second had pressed his oversized organ between her buttocks, filling her orifice tightly. She cried out, red hair flying, as the third shadow-man slid his prick between her lips and down her throat. Vendyra watched as it vanished almost to the hilt, then emerged, trailing streamers of saliva...
I was always good at that, wasn't I? She reflected. Why am I thinking such things? I must escape from this place... Yet...
Lilywinter heaved and moaned with Vendyra's voice as orgasm shuddered through her. That was the fifth or sixth one she had had so far...
I can come like that, can't I? Men always liked that. Women, too. A butterfly would make me come...
A shout of warning faded into Vendyra's unconsciousness as a wave of lust and desire swept through her, watching her own body shake and convulse with waves of pleasure.
I want that... Gods help me, I want it...
Vendyra pulled at the shackles that held her to the frame. Unfamiliar sensations echoed through her elf-body... Gods, was this how they felt pleasure? Every sense was multiplied, almost to the point of pain... She felt the throb at her thighs grow more and more intense and insistent...
"Lilywinter..." she gasped. "Lilywinter, please..." It was the elf's voice, tight with desire and frustration. "I want it, please. Please. I want to be fucked like that."
At first, Lilywinter did not respond, only writhed and moaned as the last vestiges of orgasm subsided. Then she paused and with a wave of her hand, the shadow-men withdrew and stood nearby, all features save their oversized cocks indistinct.
"You want to be fucked, little elf?" she asked, rising to a sitting position. Vendyra felt another wave of lust at the sight of her own body, covered in sweat, large breasts rising and falling with her labored breathing, nipples hard with desire. "Just like me?"
Vendyra nodded feverishly. Her misgivings and fears were tiny now, almost forgotten, washed away in a river of desire and intense longing.
"Please. Fuck me. Use me. I want it so much."
"Use you?" she asked, lightly, swaying slightly uncertainly to her feet. The body was graceful, with heavy breasts and hips and a delicately-curved belly, downy and almost invisible hair between her thighs. The green-eyed gaze was cruel and tender in equal parts, and Vendyra was not sure which of the two she preferred.
"Yes," she begged, straining at the shackles. "Use me. Let them fuck me any way you like. I don't care. I just want to be fucked."
Lilywinter stepped closer, between Vendyra's splayed, shackled ankles now, striding to the junction of the cross where her splayed thighs lay open and exposed. She stroked between them, and an almost painful shock shot through Vendyra's - or was it Lilywinter's? - body.
"So very nice," Lilywinter whispered. "You've made love to women, haven't you? Have you ever wondered what an elf felt like? How your touch would set her afire."
"Yes," Vendyra breathed. "Yes, I've wanted it. I wanted you, but I never told you."
Lilywinter stopped short at that, staring. "You did?"
"I wanted to," Vendyra replied, her body shaking as Lilywinter's - or were they her own? - fingers continued to gently stroke at her mons. "I wanted you. That night you watched us... I knew you were there. I wanted you to come. To watch you make love to those men... To share you with them... That beautiful pale body in their arms..."
The touch of Lilywinter's fingers quickened. "You thought me beautiful?"
"Of course I did. Look at yourself now, Lilywinter. Look at your own body. Isn't it beautiful? Doesn't it excite you to see me here, helpless before you?"
Lilywinter nodded, and her fingers deftly stroked between the lips of Vendyra's - Lilywinter's? - cunt.
"Lick me," Vendyra whispered. "Lick my cunt, just as I wanted to do to you."
Lilywinter slid silently to her knees, her hands stroking at Vendyra's thighs - they are so slender, so delicate... the sensations are so different - then gently began to press her tongue against the soft pink lips that had once been her own, but were not Vendyra's.
"Oh," Vendyra gasped. It was as if a thousand delicate tongues had touched her in the closest and most intimate fashion. She sighed as she felt the other woman's tongue cleave between them, lapping at the overflowing moisture, then gently encircling her clitoris, sucking and teasing.
"I want more," Vendyra gasped. "I want to be your slave, your toy, your plaything... Let them use me now..."
The shadowy figures appeared around Vendyra now, cocks heavy and erect. She tilted her head back to allow one, then the other, to slide between her lips and into her mouth...
Her mouth is so much smaller... They fill it up so...
Behind Lilywinter, the third shadow-image appeared - this time its cock seemed even larger and more imposing, and she gasped as two hands seized her buttocks, pulling them towards them, sliding the massive prick inside her. Yet she did not falter, and the pace of her licking grew more and more intense. Delicate fingers explored the recesses of Vendyra's - Lilywinter's - cunt; first one, then two...
Vendyra moaned and wanted to beg for more fingers, but first one cock filled her mouth, then the other. They filled her mouth, sliding down her throat, and she choked, but then allowed them to slide deeper, emerging slick and seemingly even harder and more massive.
Lilywinter didn't need to hear Vendyra's entreaties, for a moment later, she had four fingers inside her, tongue and lips still busy at her clit... As Vendyra felt the entire length of Vendyra's hand slip into her cunt, she felt the first traces of oncoming orgasm... It was a tight fit... this was the small and delicate cunt that had belonged to Lilywinter. But in a moment she had melted, and Lilywinter/Vendyra's hand slipped completely inside her, then balled into a fist, filling her womb completely.
Vendyra could not hold back. She suckled at the two cocks intensely as orgasm crashed through the diminutive elf-body, and a screaming moan tore itself from her throat, muffled by cock but still intense. She bucked and pulled against the restraints, feeling them bite into the flesh of her wrists and ankles as another wave and another passed through her. Lilywinter pressed her face against Vendyra's cunt, hand filling her, tongue busy, the third cock slamming into her from behind.
At last the waves subsided, and Vendyra sagged against the restraints, exhausted, her fears and concerns all but vanquished from her mind.
I'll stay here, she thought. Stay in this body and make love to Lilywinter and the shadow-cocks forever...
Then she looked up to see Lilywinter standing over her, the three shadow-things beside her. She was gloriously naked still, her body slick with sweat, red hair in disarray, eyes wide and almost drunken-looking.
"You still want to be used, don't you, little elf-slut?" she whispered.
"Yes," Vendyra hissed. "Yes, I want it. Use me now, like a slut, like a toy."
One after the other, the thick shadow cocks began to slide into Vendyra's mouth, filling her throat, making her gag. Again and again they came, and soon it was nothing more than an endless cycle... She had no idea how much time had passed, for as soon as one cock left her, another slipped in. Lilywinter stood close, stroking Vendyra's sweat- and spit-slick face with one hand, stroking one of the unoccupied cocks with the other.
"This is how we will use each other," she said. "For all time, for the daemons' amusement..."
And oddly enough, Vendyra did not care.
The pace of the shadow-cocks' thrusts grew faster and more intense. At last, Lilywinter stood beside Vendyra, massaging one of the cocks, aiming it at Vendyra's face.
"Get ready, my little plaything," she whispered. "Take it now."
The cock burst forth, shooting a thick stream of hot white semen across Vendyra's face. She opened her mouth, thrusting her tongue forth, feeling the hot seed splatter across her, slipping down her tongue and dripping from her chin.
"Another now," Lilywinter whispered, stroking a second cock to orgasm. Another mass of come exploded onto Vendyra's flesh, splashing down one cheek. Vendyra swallowed, and stuck her tongue out again, catching another burst of hot semen.
"More," she begged. "I want more."
Vendyra - no, Lilywinter - No, Vendyra... Gods, who am I? - nodded, and stroked a third cock to orgasm, splashing come across Vendyra's neck and breasts.
"Gods," both women breathed. The room spun wildly, and for an instant, Vendyra saw through her own eyes, gazing down at the bound body of the elf-woman, her face, breasts and neck glistening with white streaks of semen.
"I want that," she whispered, and began to lick the hot fluid from Lilywinter's - No, Vendyra's - Gods... Did it matter? - face. She slipped down to her breasts, stroking a nipple with her tongue, sucking away the splashed semen, then swallowing, then biting and suckling at the steadily-hardening nipple.
Lilywinter gasped... "I'm... I'm back..."
Vendyra - she was back in her own body now, if for a moment - looked at the elf woman.
"I want you," she whispered. "I want to make love to you again."
Time ceased to have meaning after that...
***
"Vendyra!" I bellowed, stepping into the room, sword drawn. "What the hell are you doing?"
The tableau broke the instant I spoke. The male-forms dissipated like smoke, leaving the two women gaping at me, eyes glassy, expressions vacant.
A shock of anger coursed through me; my instincts tugged at me, telling me to rush forward, to swing my sword, to punish Vendyra's transgressions...
Again, the voice echoed in my mind...
Peace can never, not the peace that we so desire, unless that peace begins inside us. We must be at peace with ourselves before we can be at peace with others.
No. Not now. It's not them...
Even without the fraudulent male stud farm, the scene was an untidy mess. Both of the women looked exhausted, plastered with sweat and various other fluids. Vendyra kneeled beside the cross, hand still on Lilywinter's breast, and the elf gaped at me uncomprehendingly, her face glazed with gods only knew what.
"Listen to me, both of you," I said, as calmly as I could manage. The rage still tore at me, but now it was directed at the daemons and their horrific schemes. "They've been toying with us. Giving us what we want, or what we think we want... This isn't you. Not really."
Vendyra spoke then, and her voice seemed strange.
"Yes it is, Wulf," she said. "I understand that now. This is what we want. These are unbridled passions that we all feel. I see them, and I understand them. They exist in all of us."
Then Lilywinter spoke up, her voice also odd.
"If passions run unchecked, there is only chaos and mindless surrender to desire. I understand that now."
Then, an odd thing happened. Both of the women blinked simultaneously, and I felt the same sense of clarity that I'd felt when I'd seen Malifa's disguise vanish.
Now the women gazed at me, their eyes clear and lucid. Then they looked at each other.
***
Vendyra looked down at Lilywinter, bound naked to the cross.
"Here," she said. "Let me help you out of that thing."
***
Lilywinter felt the stiffness and exhaustion of her own body again, and painfully moved from the cross as Wulf and Vendyra unbound her.
She looked first at Vendyra, then at Wulf.
"I understand now," she said again.
Wulf returned her gaze with puzzlement.
"What the hell happened to you two?" he asked.
"It's a long story," Vendyra replied. "We'll explain later."
"Good," Wulf said. "We need to go keep Thantanus and Svignar from killing each other." He looked around the chamber. "Are your clothes around anywhere? I think you'll be needing them."
***
"Soft-skinned human," Svignar snarled, hefting his axe, his breath heavy and labored. He was covered in sweat, his armor dented in a dozen places. "You can't create anything yourselves... You only take what you want."
Thantanus' breaths were just as painful as the dwarf's. He'd lost his helm in the fight and his shoulder armor was rent by Svignar's axe. Blood stained his breastplate, but he held his sword defiantly, ready to throw himself back into the fight.
"You're a liar, like all your kind," he said, softly. "All you care for is wealth - you cheat, you steal, you rob... And then you complain when honest folk try to take it back." He gestured at the great glaive, rotating slowly in a column of light behind them. "That is not yours, dwarf! It belongs to my people, yet you claim it as your own and will kill to take it for yourself!"
Svignar glared. "All you humans are alike. Talk, talk, talk and never listen." He drew the axe back over his shoulder. "Enough talk, weakling. Let us finish this."
Without a word, Thantanus launched himself at the dwarf, sword spinning. The axe came down, clanging against Thantanus' blade, sending it down into the stone floor. Thantanus cursed as Svignar backhanded the axe, sending the blade up toward his head. Thantanus jerked his head to the side, and the flat of the axe smashed into his jaw, crunching bone and sending him tumbling.
Svignar shouted in triumph, swinging the axe back for his final blow and throwing himself toward the fallen human. At the last moment, Thantanus, blood streaming from his torn lip and broken teeth, lashed out with his foot, catching the dwarf's ankle. Svignar stumbled, losing his grip on the axe, and Thantanus stabbed desperately, catching the dwarf under the chin, stabbing up and into Svignar's skull. The dwarf gaped for an instant, then slowly fell, wrenching the sword from Thantanus' grip.
Painfully, Thantanus dragged himself to his feet. His jaw was broken, and he'd lost several teeth. He'd lost a lot of blood from the wound in his shoulder, and his sword was firmly embedded in Svignar's thick skull.
But he had won. He, Thantanus, would claim the ancient weapon, and lead his people. He strode toward the weapon, now standing unguarded, slowly rotating in the beam of light.
"Mine," he muttered, and his own voice sounded twisted and unfamiliar. He reached out for the glaive.
***
The scene before us wasn't terribly encouraging. Svignar lay in a widening pool of blood, Thantanus' sword projecting from under his bearded chin. Thantanus himself, battered and bruised, had limped over to the weapon and was just extending his gauntleted hand to retrieve it.
"Thantanus!" I shouted. "Stop!"
He turned, and his face wasn't as I'd remembered it. He'd taken a serious wound to the jaw, but there was a strange light in his eyes; after a moment, I realized that it was the same thing I'd seen in the eyes of the daemon we'd fought.
We must have looked a sight. We were all disheveled, sweat-stained and tired-looking, our clothes donned hastily and carelessly. I idly wondered if he thought we'd been up to something. But he was well beyond any such mundane thoughts.
"So you're alive, are you, thief?" His voice was low and distorted. "You and the two sluts. I should have known."
"It was the daemons," Vendyra said. She'd retrieved her lute, but most of her buckles were undone or buttons in the wrong buttonholes. Her hair was, unsurprisingly, a matted mess. "They've been twisting us, toying with us. Changing how we see things. They made you kill Svignar. You've got to believe us."
"This place is evil, Thantanus," Lilywinter implored. "The glaive is evil. I can feel it. Don't take it, Thantanus. Leave this place with us."
Thantanus spat blood and I saw a tooth bounce off the ground. "Fools! The greedy little bastard tried to kill me and take the glaive for himself. You were all in league with him, weren't you? Scheming behind my back to kill me and take it for yourselves." He turned, still speaking, as much to himself as to us. "You won't have it. It's mine; I suffered for it... And now..."
I started forward, nocking an arrow... Beside me, Vendyra drew her rapier, and I heard Lilywinter begin to mutter a spell.
Thantanus' hand closed around the glaive, and he pulled it from the column of light, then turned on me, the daemon-fire blazing in his eyes.
"You want it?" he rasped. "Come and take it!"
Thantanus seemed to grow in stature, and now gazed down at me. Hell, this was probably the end, but what chance did I have of running away?
Besides, I reminded myself as Vendyra strode up beside me, and I heard the crackling hum of a spell as, behind us, Lilywinter prepared to cast, I couldn't leave the two women stranded.
"The daemons spoke to me," Thantanus rumbled. His skin was darkening, his frame growing thicker and more muscular. His armor broke and fell away, clanging to the floor. "I will be their new champion. Lead them in a new war of conquest."
"Yeah, right," I said. "Come on, let's get this over with."
Thantanus paused. He was all-daemon now, horns curling from his head, wings sprouting from his back, the glaive still clutched in his huge hands.
"You're not terrified?" he asked, looking somewhat puzzled.
"No, I'm not fucking terrified," I replied. "I'm just tired of being jerked around and manipulated." I gestured at the two women. "And so are they. So either kill us or let us get the hell out of this place."
"You could serve me," Thantanus offered. "Be my willing minions or something. Come on. It'll be fun."
"Are you kidding?" Vendyra demanded. "Follow you? Look at us! We got here by following you, you stupid asshole! You were always a fucking idiot, Thantanus, and now you're a daemon you want us to become your fucking minions! I'd rather die right here."
Thantanus grinned. "Okay, Vendyra. You get your wish."
I didn't wait. I loosed at the bastard, aiming between his burning yellow eyes.
I got lucky; the shaft struck home, embedding itself in Thantanus' skull. He yelped, then glared.
"Gods, I hate thieves," he snarled. "Always taking things that don't belong to you."
"That pretty much defines a thief, doesn't it?" I replied. "Only a complete moron would say something that stupid."
He ignored me, and gestured at the arrow, still firmly stuck between his eyes. "That fucking HURT! I was always against brining you in on this party, rogue, did you know that?"
"Big surprise," I muttered, nocking another arrow. Behind me, Lilywinter unleashed her spell, and a storm of sparkling ice daggers. They struck Thantanus squarely in the chest, and the newly-born daemon staggered backward. Sensing her opportunity, Vendyra raced forward, stabbing with her rapier. Thantanus screamed as she thrust through his calf, then he struck out with the glaive. Vendyra ducked and the blade missed, but the shaft struck her squarely in the head, sending her flying. She landed squarely on her back, and I saw her beloved lute shatter, strings and broken wood flying.
Thantanus didn't waste a moment, but came lumbering toward me. His feet were now ugly black hooves, thudding down on the stone floor, shaking the entire chamber. The glaive whirled up, blade glittering, and I realized that I wouldn't be able to avoid it...
Suddenly, a swarm of black insects enveloped Thantanus' head, and he stumbled, swearing bitterly.
I looked back - Lilywinter stood there, just as disheveled as me and Vendyra. She looked utterly spent, and I knew that she was almost out of energy, her spells expended.
Gods... Vendyra was out, Lilywinter was spent, and I was just a low-end rogue facing a newly-born daemon-lord. Well, it looked like the deamons were going to win this one...
***
"I'm really having a hard time buying this one," the rogue snapped. "We've spent a fortune on this old reprobate and he's spun a complete fantasy."
"I don't know," said the cleric. "He knew about the map."
"Gods, stop your damned bickering," growled the fighter. "I want to know how he got out of this."
***
Thantanus swung the glaive and I threw my shortsword up in a desperate attempt to block it. The impact shivered through my arm and my sword shattered into sparkling fragments. Shit... The damned thing had cost me 4,000 crowns.
I fumbled for a dagger. I'd be damned if I left the mortal world unarmed. Thantanus snarled, and swung the glaive again; I rolled away and the blade struck the floor a handspan from my head, showering me with blue sparks. I rolled to my feet and faced Thantanus, panting, dagger on guard.
"Come on, you stupid fuck," I said, breath ragged. "End it."
Thantanus smiled, revealing ugly yellow tusks, and stepped forward.
Then a figure stepped between us, arms spread.
"Stop, Thantanus." Gods. It was Lilywinter. "They have toyed with you. Transformed you into something you hate. Think, Thantanus. This is not you. Not truly."
Unfortunately, there wasn't a hell of a lot of Thantanus left, and even as I shouted a warning, and tried to grab Lilywinter, Thantanus swung the glaive... I seized Lilywinter's shoulders, trying to pull her away from the weapon. Time seemed to slow... Gods, the weapon would cut us both in half...
An explosion of light enveloped the daemon, and the glaive went spinning away. He staggered backward, falling to his knees.
"Wulf!" A voice echoed. "Run! Now!"
There was another flash of light as Thantanus struggled to rise, shaking his massive horned head back and forth, blinking desperately.
I looked. There, surrounded in a nimbus of glittering light, stood Scrad the goblin. He glanced over at me.
"Go, Wulf," he said. "I will stay. I can contain the evil."
I swallowed. Thantanus was still dazed and tottered unsteadily to his feet. He wouldn't stay that way for long.
"You can't stop them, Wulf," Scrad continued, voice quiet. "This is my destiny. It is why I came here."
"Gods, Scrad," I mumbled. "I can't..."
To my infinite surprise, the goblin smiled. "It is all as it must be, Wulf. I know peace, and it is inside me. There will be peace because of the sacrifices made here. Go now, and go in peace."
Lilywinter tugged at my arm. "Wulf, we must go. Help me with Vendyra."
I took one final look at Scrad as he advanced on the demon-lord. A sphere of silvery light rose to surround them both.
Lilywinter and I helped Vendyra to her feet. The bard was stunned, and I could tell her arm was broken, but she was conscious and managed to move along under her own power, with Lilywinter on one side and me on the other.
Behind us, the silvery glow grew brighter and brighter. A yawning archway lay in front of us, and through it we fled. The floor beneath us began to vibrate and shake.
"Gods, how are we going to get out of here?" I said. "This place is a maze."
Neither woman replied, and I suddenly realized that we were in the checkerboard marble floored corridor that we had first walked down when we'd entered the place. Had it all been an illusion?
Certainly, there was no massive stone blocking the entrance - the gate lay open, revealing sunlit rolling grassy hills beyond. In a moment we were out, as behind us cliff face shook and trembled. As I watched, a small torrent of pebbles fell down across the entrance, followed a moment later by a rush of larger stones, and finally boulders, tumbling down in an avalanche of granite.
"Keep running," I said. "We can't get caught in that..."
And we ran. We stopped a hundred or so paces distant, and looked back to see a cloud of dust enshrouding the old entrance, now completely buried beneath tons of rock.
"Gods," I said, panting heavily. "We're lucky today, aren't we?"
The two women didn't seem to be listening all that much. I suspected that they'd never been terribly close to their adventuring companions to begin with. Now, I noted, they only had eyes for each other.
"I understand so much now," Lilywinter said. "I've seen through your eyes. I want to know more."
"I see too," Vendyra replied. "Let's go see what this all means."
I sighed. "And what about me, pray tell?"
They turned to look at me.
"I suppose you deserve some consideration for saving our lives and getting us out of there," Vendyra said. "What do you think, Lilywinter?"
The elf woman nodded sagely.
"We should see a healer about your arm first, though."
***
I was pretty much beyond exhaustion by the time we finished at the inn, two nights later. The bed was a wreck and I was scratched and bruised from stem to stern. The women lay on either side of me, their sweaty naked bodies held close, surveying their handiwork.
After losing my expensive shortsword, paying a greedy cleric for all the healing we'd needed, and paying for the inn, the remains of the party was in what an Imperial accountant-priest would call a "negative cash flow situation," but that was a matter for the next morning. Right now I was too tired to even think.
"That's the first time I've ever been with two women," I admitted.
"Well, keep up the good work and it won't be your last," Vendyra said.
***
"So you said your goodbyes and went your separate ways?" the cleric demanded. "What happened to the map?"
"Vendyra took it off Svignar's corpse while I was talking to Thantanus," I said. "She gave it to me as a memento. I was going to destroy it, but I figured I should go find the bastard who sold it to us and take it out of his hide."
***
The one-eyed man was knocking back ales in a Stoneburg tavern when I found him. His pet crow was perched on his shoulder, gazing at me with enlightened indifference. The barkeep told me he was known as One-Eyed Willie and had been there for a couple of days.
"You sold this fucking map to a human and a dwarf?" I demanded, shaking it at him.
He returned my gaze mildly with his one good eye. He was pretty much into his cups, but obviously recognized the map.
"Gods," he said. "I never thought I'd see that damned thing again."
"It led to the deaths of four good adventurers," I told him. "I just wondered what you had to say about that."
Willie thought about it for a few moments. "Well, I could buy it back," he said. "How's 50 gold sound?"
I shrugged. "Make it an even hundred and we've got a deal."
***
I drained my last mug of ale and set it down on the table. I'd held the unfortunate adventurers spellbound for several hours, and now they gazed at me with expressions varying from skeptical to admiring.
"So it's a fraud," the wizard said, the cast an angry glance at the map and then at the fighter. "I told you not to waste our money on the damned thing."
"We've only got his word on it," the fighter said defensively. "It could be genuine."
"Take my advice," I said. "Don't risk it. The place is buried under tons of rubble anyway. And you wouldn't like what's inside, believe me. There's a very nice low-end dungeon about five leagues east of here. It's occupied by a band of goblins and bandits. I hear they've amassed a nice haul of loot, just waiting to be plundered. Go there instead. Much safer."
They thought about it for a while, and in the end the fighter - who seemed to be looking for a way out anyway - nodded.
"It's settled then. The dungeon east of town." He looked at the parchment, still unrolled on the table. "But what do we do with this damned thing?"
I sighed. "I'll buy it from you," I said. "It's got sentimental value. I'll give you five gold for it. Give back some of the money you spent on my ale."
The fighter shrugged. "Make it an even ten and we've got a deal."
-- END --
And so ends a saga of the young and relatively inexperienced Wulf. Future adventures await, so stay tuned, and enjoy the website. And always remember - take it easy, but take it.