The flames of Welindar burned bright in every direction, a fitting sight to match the screams of battle. Lupin, rendered bruised, bleeding, and exhausted from fighting Kaisen, hobbled over to Nell. Though he had received a potion from Noah, all it did was pull him back from the brink. He reached the young woman who held his heart, left unconscious from mana depletion. Behind Lupin, the fruits of her labors: the almighty Kaisen and his phantasmal form reduced to a dissolving pile of darkness, oozing towards the palace as if trying to flee the holy rain that had scoured him.
Lupin knelt beside her and lifted her head. “Nell. Nell, can you hear me?” he murmured, saving his voice for her, while all of his prayers to the gods remained unspoken, prayers that she would wake up. He could sense she was still alive, the subtle flickers of her lips and eyelids showing how hard she was struggling to overcome her fatigue, how she fought to look upon the face that belonged to the voice engraved into her soul. Finally, with a shuddering breath, she was pulled from her slumber and gazed at Lupin.
“There you are,” he said with a smile as he cupped her cheek.
“Your Highness,” she whispered with relief. “Are we still alive?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
She looked him up and down, seeing the blood and dirt that clung to him. “You’re hurt!” She raised her hand and tried to cast healing magic, but she had put every drop of mana she had into attacking Kaisen.
Lupin grasped her hand. “Don’t worry about me; it looks worse than it is. I’m just glad you’re all right. How do you feel?”
“I don’t think I can stand.”
“That’s ok. We’ll just rest here for a minute.”
“But the city?”
“Right now, making sure you’re ok is all that matters to me. Besides, there isn’t much I can do in the state I’m in. Noah went off to finish Kaisen, and once he does, victory will be ours. I think we can take a little time to catch our breath.”
Nell wrapped her arms around Lupin and pulled herself closer to him, wanting to feel as much of him against her as she could. “I’d like that.”
“Well, well, what do we have here?” The cruel voice reached Lupin and Nell, making their blood run cold. Two Profane were approaching them: a beautiful woman with tiara-like horns and a wing that wrapped around her like a cloak, and a man with a split lower jaw and bags under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept in a week. “Would you look at that? Prince Lupin of Uther. This really is my lucky day,” the man said, with his mouth opening both horizontally and vertically when he spoke.
“Nell, you need to get out of here,” Lupin whispered. “Whether it’s on your feet or your hands and knees, you need to move as fast as you can.”
“Your Highness, you’re in no condition to fight!” she implored.
“Whether I am or not doesn’t matter. I have no choice but to fight.”
Lupin got to his feet, though it was a struggle, and he was unsteady. He held his chain, now feeling so overwhelmingly heavy in his stiff fingers.
“You feeling all right there, champ?” the man asked mockingly.
“Take one more step, and you’ll be feeling a lot worse than I am,” Lupin bluffed.
“Sure, prince. Whatever you say.”
“Remember, Voraith, Lord Scyler wants him alive,” said the woman beside him.
“I know, I know. But half-dead is still technically alive.”
Voraith approached, taunting Lupin with his stride. Lupin desperately swung his whip, trying to combat his fatigue with desperation, but Voraith easily dodged and closed in. He tapped Lupin on the forehead, and in that moment, what little strength Lupin managed to gather was ripped from his body as if the ghoul had just yanked out his skeleton. The very warmth was stolen from his blood, dropping him to the ground in a hypothermic state, too exhausted to shiver.
“Prince Lupin!” Nell screamed.
“Oi, Helena, what about the girl? I’m feeling kind of hungry at the moment, and she looks tasty.”
Voraith then looked down, seeing Lupin grasping his ankle. “Don’t you dare touch her,” he hissed.
“Well, isn’t that sweet? Even on your deathbed, you still try to protect your woman. It would be admirable if it weren’t so pathetic.” The ghoul then kicked Lupin in the face, knocking him on his back.
Nell struggled to get to her feet, using her staff to support herself. “Leave him alone!”
She then screamed as Helena appeared behind her and grabbed her by the hair.
“You two don’t seem to understand the situation you’re in. You don’t get to make demands.”
“Please, let her go,” Lupin panted with blood streaming from his nose. “It’s me you want, isn’t it? She’s no threat to you. Do whatever you want to me, but I’m begging you, don’t hurt her.”
“I don’t see why we can’t do both,” said Helena. She then turned Nell towards her and grabbed her chin. “My, my, you’re a cute little thing, aren’t you? Such sweet, innocent eyes. I wonder how you taste.”
She cut Nell’s lip with her thumbnail until it started to bleed, then pulled her close and kissed her. It was not a simple peck; Helena really leaned into it, savoring the sweetness of Nell’s mouth and blood. Nell tried to resist, whimpering in refusal at having her lips stolen by a woman of the Profane, but Helena’s hold on her was firm, keeping her still while her tongue slid down the girl’s throat and their lips got more and more acquainted. Lupin shouted in fury and tried to stand once more, but Voraith stomped on his back and kept him pinned.
“Just enjoy the show, princeling,” Voraith taunted.
Finally, Helena pulled away, leaving Nell gasping for air with a thread of red saliva stretching between their lips. “Just as I thought: virgin. So, your beloved prince hasn’t claimed you as his woman yet? I wonder, is it because he’s too straightlaced to give in to temptation, or simply too spineless to seal the deal?”
“Let go of her, you filthy ghoul!” Lupin roared.
Helena turned to him with a scowl. “A ghoul? You think I’m a ghoul? Don’t be so quick to reveal your ignorance, boy. The man keeping you pinned is a ghoul, but I am a succubus.”
“Fiend, ghoul, succubus; you’re all the same, just soulless abominations that need to be exterminated.”
“On the contrary. Our differences are quite distinct and clear if you’re not a total moron. Fiends are the result of beastmen being turned into Profane, gaining incredible strength and powerful bodies. Ghouls are what you get when mages, monks, and warriors are turned, wielding corrupted magic.”
“That’s me,” said Voraith, raising his hand.
“But succubi, our origins are much more specific. Every succubus was originally a healer—a female paladin.”
Helena’s words filled Lupin with dread. “No, you wouldn’t dare!”
She flashed him a cruel smile. “Welcome to the Age of the Profane.”
Both Lupin and Nell screamed, he in protest and she in agony, as Helena sank her teeth into her neck.
----------
Lupin woke up with a start, drenched in cold sweat from the chilling grip of the nightmare that haunted his mind. He sat up, holding his head and trying to shake away the lingering darkness. The bed he was in was warm and soft, and the dark bedroom was spotlessly clean, decorated with priceless art and beautiful antiques, but none of it offered him any comfort. A hand reached out of the darkness and rubbed his chest, trying to soothe him, but only making him more tense.
“Shhhh, it’s ok. You’re here with me.”
Lupin was afraid to look, but he had to. He turned to the eyes gazing at him through the veil of night, almost glowing.
“Nell,” he gasped.
He said her name, but the fact remained that he barely recognized her. He remembered her eyes always full of innocence and love, but since she was turned, the innocence was gone. Instead, there was a predatory glimmer, the instinct telling Nell to drain him of his life force. There was still love, but it scared him, what that love might drive her to do to him. Nell leaned against Lupin, her hands wandering across his body, feeling like the tongue of a predator tasting its meal.
“It was just a bad dream. Go back to sleep.”
“I’ve slept enough.”
He tried to get out of bed, but she held onto him tight.
“You need your rest.”
“Nell, please….”
She wrapped her wings around him, layered with black feathers like a raven. She had two feathers growing out of the top of her forehead, similar to antennae. The feathers began to flex and tremble, shedding succubus dust that robbed him of his strength. She pulled him back into the heart of the bed, lying against her with her arms and wings wrapped around him.
“Just forget about everything else,” she whispered in his ear. “This is where you belong, my love, in bed with me. And I’ll never let you go. Now, let me purge you of all your nightmares, so you only have sweet dreams.”
Lupin tried to resist the powder and remain conscious, but with every breath he took, his strength faded. Soon enough, he was sealed back up in the erebus of slumber, as if sinking below the waves of some black ocean, but even there, Nell was waiting for him, the two of them floating in darkness like twin stars in the night sky. With her succubus powers, she was able to penetrate the outer layers of his mind and slip into his dreams.
Their unclothed bodies met, with Nell’s hands wandering while her lips met Lupin’s. His hands did the same, but not of his own volition. It felt like he was an actor in a play, forced to move and speak as the *********** dictated. He held Nell close, both relishing and hating the feeling of her against him, the taste of her on his tongue, the scent of her in his nose, and the softness of her voice in his ears. He wished, more than anything, more than his freedom, that he could turn her back into a human, that he could purge her of the corruption that turned her into this monster.
He still loved her, and her love for him was unquestioning, but she was a member of the Profane. Lupin had spent so long fighting against them, seeing so many beastmen twisted and corrupted into horrific abominations. To know she had that power within her, the same power that had forced him to murder his own friends and subordinates, made him sick. He penetrated her, reddening her cheeks and filling her eyes with joy, and she gyrated against him to pull his manhood deeper into her depths, wanting to feel him stir her up. Riding him harder and harder, she moaned into the darkness, happy that she could be the kind of woman she always envied, and that Lupin could be the man she desired, and they could unite physically and emotionally as she had always dreamed.
Still, she wasn’t blind to his feelings. She felt his conflict and hesitation, felt his aversion to what she had become, but it didn’t matter. He was all hers, and she would never let him go. She had to close her fingers around the throat of his doubts and strangle them, to smother his unease, to drown his repugnance in her love. In time, he would forget everything but her, know nothing but their room, and desire nothing but her touch. It was all a matter of patience and work, but inevitably, she would erase everything that could get between them.
Then, without warning, he was ripped from the dream world, courtesy of a hand around his neck. He opened his eyes, groggy from the comatic maelstrom, and saw a face unfamiliar to him. It was a woman who reminded him of Helena, another succubus, but with two sharp horns and a pair of featherless black wings. She had the same ominous beauty as the other Profane women, but her face was twisted in a mixture of misery and hatred. He could feel that hatred in her grip, strangling the life from him.
“So, you’re the one he wanted me to find, the fucking prince,” she hissed.
“Let him go!” Nell exclaimed, trying to pry the woman’s hand off Lupin’s throat, but receiving a smack for her efforts. The succubus looked at Nell in disgust.
“I can smell Mistress Helena on you. How much of her venom did she waste to create something as pathetic as you? One measly drop?! You might as well still be human. I lost Leanne and got you for a sister instead?! What a fucking joke!”
“What do you want from me?” Lupin gargled, struggling to breathe.
“I want my life back!” the succubus cursed with angry tears in her eyes. “I was sent here to find you by that bastard, and here you are, sleeping and fucking like a useless beast.” She dropped him back on the bed, Lupin trying to pull in as much air as he could, while choking on every breath.
“I don’t… I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he panted. His eyes then fell to the ornate magical seal tattooed on her lower stomach.
“No, you wouldn’t, would you? You wouldn’t know what he did to me, what he made me do, what he reduced me to! I have half a mind to kill you now, just to prove he doesn’t own me.”
Nell got between them. “Helena said he’s not to be harmed! She promised me!”
“Whatever,” she scoffed in disgust.
The succubus stormed out, and Nell turned to Lupin. “Are you hurt, my love?”
“No, I’m fine, just a little sore.”
“Then you need rest. Come, and I will help you forget about all of your pain.”
“Really, I’m fine. I just need to—” But Nell ignored his protests and wrapped him in her wings, dosing him with her powder. Lupin was rendered helpless as she pulled him back beneath the covers like an alligator dragging its prey into the water.
As Lupin was dropped back into darkness, Duska wandered the corridors of the estate, not knowing where she was going, but trying to hold back tears of frustration. Finally, she stopped and punched a wall. She lacked the physical strength of a ghoul or fiend, so she did more damage to her hand than to the actual wall. She slumped down to the floor, watching her wounded hand mend itself. Once it healed, she placed it on the seal below her stomach. She could feel it at all times, this accursed mark that Noah had placed to limit her powers and link her to him, as if his hand was pressing on her womb.
She had made numerous attempts to remove it since he inscribed it on her, using everything from runecraft to simply trying to remove the marked flesh by fire and blade. Regardless of her methods, the seal remained, revealing itself in her healed flesh, and each failure subjected her to unbearable agony, making her feel like her very mind would be ripped to shreds as her flesh threatened to disintegrate. To use her own venom and some of his blood to craft this seal—it was frustratingly brilliant. There was no medium more fitting to bind her very existence, and in all likelihood, its removal would mean her death, as would its discovery by her superiors. It was why she hadn’t reached out to anyone for help, even Curcio, for she feared what would be done to her.
Then there was Noah’s warning that if he died, she’d die as well, meaning she couldn’t allow the Profane to kill him, and had to obey. Even if it was for the sake of survival, the idea of accepting her subjugation made her sick. The things Noah did to her left her mind bruised and scarred, with the hot blood of hate seeping from the wounds yet to scab. She hated him with a burning fury for the pain and humiliation he had inflicted on her, but she was also terrified of his cruelty, knowing that there were more horrors he could and would inflict on her if he were so inclined.
Yet what scared her even more than the pain was the pleasure; the sensations he had forced her to experience and his control over her. She remembered when her mind broke, snapping under the barrage of countless orgasms, and she devolved into a subservient doll in exchange for further pleasure. She feared returning to that state and never coming back, instead living the rest of her life as his toy, addicted to his touch. Regardless, if she wanted to stay alive and protect Helena, she had to obey Noah, and the first thing she had to do was cover her mark.
Duska went to her bedroom in the mansion. Having spent a great deal of time here, she had one waiting for her and used it to store curios and items that caught her fancy. She even had a few outfits, though she rarely used them. She preferred to expose her skin and was usually half-naked. She compromised with a black leotard that perfectly hid the seal. Then, as she turned to leave, she was stopped by a ghoul standing in the doorway. She was beautiful, but an icy cold beauty, with pale skin, hair as white as moonlight, and red eyes.
“Welcome back, Duska.”
“Greetings, Mistress Andromeda,” said Duska with a bow.
“Trying out a new look?”
“I’m bored and want to shake things up a little.”
“I noticed you went to see our new guest. Did he catch your eye?”
Duska swallowed the lump in her throat, but maintained her composure. “As food, he’s not even worth my time. I could suck more mana out of a child than that useless waste of skin. Why are we keeping him here, anyway?”
“Lord Scyler is toying with the idea of using him as a weapon against Uther. Apparently, the humans down there have regained control of the Wassengel and possess a device that summons and commands it, but it only works for those of royal blood. Who knows if Scyler will actually use him for that, though. Frankly, I’d rather just have the prince’s severed head on the mantle as a trophy.”
“Why not turn him?”
“Angels kill our kind on sight, and I doubt they would obey one, no matter what device we have. Besides, he’s no threat to us, and the new girl is doing a good job of looking after him. I swear, Helena really went for novelty over strength with that one.”
“They’re made for each other, equally weak and pathetic. I hate the idea of that insect here. But I suppose orders are orders.”
“I’ll put up with him so long as he stays in his room.” Andromeda turned to leave, and Duska released a sigh of relief. She knew where Lupin was, so when Noah summoned her again, she’d be ready. Hopefully, if she gave him answers, he’d spare her further torment. Hope was all she had at this point.
----------
Nell was gone when Lupin awoke, finding himself alone in bed. He could not tell how long he had been asleep, though his growing hair and beard gave him a clue. It seemed to have been days since he was last awake, something he hoped wasn’t true, but it was an unnerving sensation he received often. He could count the total days he had been conscious on one hand, but it could have been weeks or even months since he was captured in Welindar. The window near his bed showed the gray sky and the matching mountains, sheer and bleak, but at least it was daytime.
From the stone walls and floor of this place, it appeared to be some kind of castle or mansion, and though all mountains looked the same, he assumed he was somewhere in Vandheim. Next to his bed was a bowl of fragrant flower petals, filling the room with a sweet scent. Someone seemed to periodically replace the old petals with new ones, but there was no telling who.
He got out of bed, but it was a great struggle. His limbs and body were stiff from remaining still for so long, and he could feel his muscles atrophying. He found some clothes in a wardrobe, and getting dressed helped loosen him up, though doing even that much left him gasping for air. Breakfast had been set out on the table in the corner, but the tea was cold. Still, he scarfed it down, having no idea how long it had been since he had last eaten. Besides, if he was ever going to escape this place, he needed all the strength he could get.
Lupin checked the bedroom door and found it unlocked. He stepped out into the hall, wary of being spotted, and set out to continue his exploration of his strange new place he found himself in. Lupin scoured the mansion, searching for anything he could use to escape. Unfortunately, the place was built like a maze, perhaps to trap prey like him and keep them from doing precisely that. He tried to memorize the artwork and furniture to use as landmarks and help him find his way, but since there were so many similar pieces, he got confused. He frequently had to double back, encountering countless dead ends and corridors that went nowhere, with endless rooms that were locked and sealed off to him.
In his weakened state, all these turnarounds and misleading corridors used up a lot of strength when he had little to spare, frequently requiring that he stop and rest. However, it was more than just his enfeebled muscles that left him struggling to stand. He knew from experience that this wasn’t an ordinary castle. The entire structure, and perhaps even the soil beneath it, was tainted with Profane malice, just like when Reynolds destroyed Noah’s lab and left the very bricks corrupted. It was Cursed Earth, draining the life force of any non-Profane organisms that stood upon it, and Lupin, born with minuscule mana capacity, was especially susceptible to it. Eventually, he could no longer continue and collapsed in an empty corridor.
Lying there on the floor, bereft of energy, Lupin couldn’t help but wonder if this castle would be his tomb, as well as wonder what was going on beyond it. What had happened to Welindar and its people, and what of Uther? How was his homeland faring without a king? Were his people drowning in civil war as nobles and aristocrats fought for power? Or had his citizens managed to work together and stave off destruction? He had to escape this place and return to them, to save his people from the horrors of the Profane, but how could he do any of that when just breathing took all of his strength?
“Noah, if you can hear me, I could really use your help right about now,” he whispered to himself.
That said, given his current position on the floor, he could appreciate how clean and tidy everything was. The furniture was exquisite and well-dusted, the red carpet beneath him was pristine and free of dirt, and the windows were without speck or streak. Frankly, the maids who worked at the royal palace could learn a thing or two from this place. Then, the one responsible for the tidiness of the mansion appeared before him.
“Out for another stroll, Prince Lupin?” the man asked dryly.
Lupin looked up at the nearby butler, wearing an immaculate suit and displaying flawless posture. He was an older man, but considering that he was a ghoul, determining his exact age was impossible. He had the same gray complexion and red eyes that Lupin had seen in other ghouls, but he could tell that this man wasn’t a host to a parasite. He was the genuine article, like the two Profane that had captured him and Nell.
At that moment, Lupin felt several clammy hands grab him and lift him up off the floor. They belonged to the butler before him, but considering that he was missing both of his arms, the devil was in the details. In his brief conscious time in this estate, Lupin had encountered this butler before, and he seemed to possess the ability to move objects with his mind, as though possessing countless invisible hands to compensate for his absent limbs.
“Hello, Harrigan,” Lupin panted.
“I thought Lady Andromeda made it clear to you last time that you are not to leave your room without permission.”
“I was… looking for Nell, and something to read.”
“Then books will be provided to you, but only as long as you obey the house rules. If you aren’t comfortable in your room, perhaps there is a cell in the dungeon that you will appreciate.”
“Thank you, but I am very comfortable with my room. My apologies for being discourteous to my host.”
“Excellent, then allow me to escort you back.”
Harrigan returned Lupin to his room, carrying him there with telekinesis. They passed by multiple windows, in which Harrigan should have recoiled from the sunlight, but the overcast sky seemed to shield him, and the glass used in the windows was unique, almost tinted, perhaps to protect the Profane. On the way, Harrigan stopped by a bookshelf and collected several tomes.
“Thank you,” said Lupin.
“I am honor-bound to respect the wishes of my mistress’s guest.”
Before reaching Lupin’s room, they encountered two more ghouls. It was a pair of maids, perfectly identical except for their hair color and uniforms. The one on the left had black hair and wore the standard maid uniform, complete with a skirt for easy movement, while the one on the right had white hair, and the colors of her uniform were inverted. They looked younger than Lupin and were quite beautiful, but only on the outside.
“Looky, looky, Ora. The dog got off his leash,” said the one with black hair.
“A bad little doggy indeed, Aro,” replied the one with white.
“You know what happens to dogs who can’t obey, right, Ora?”
“Bad dogs get put down, Aro.”
Holding hands, the two women began to spin.
“We should do the dog a favor and put him out of his misery, Ora.”
“I wish we could, Aro, but Mistress Andromeda would be mad.”
“Maybe we could take some of his blood, Ora, so he’ll behave better.”
“Maybe we could take his legs, Aro, so he can’t get away.”
Suffice it to say, Lupin was glad it was Harrigan who found him. Though he sensed the Profane butler could be quite merciless, he lacked the manic sadism of these two she-beasts. Then there was that succubus who attacked him. He didn’t know what her issue was, but he wanted to avoid a repeat of their first meeting.
“That’s enough, you two,” said Harrigan. “Unless you’ve both completed your chores, you have no business here. Move along.”
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
“How long have you worked with them?” Lupin asked once they were gone.
“Since long before your father and even grandfather was born. Though they put on airs of immaturity, they would never risk angering our mistress, at least without good reason. Mistress Andromeda wants you alive and undamaged, so that is how we shall keep you. That said, if you don’t want them to pick your flesh out of their teeth, you will obey the rules of this house and stay in your room.”
Once he was back in his room and the door was locked behind him, Lupin felt like he could finally breathe again, but it would take time for his strength to return. Being in this mansion as a human was like standing naked in a blizzard, though his bedroom seemed to be the exception. Perhaps it wasn’t cursed like the rest of the castle, or whatever evil that once clung to it had been removed for his sake. Either way, it seemed to be the only room where he wasn’t under the effects of the Cursed Earth. However, all that meant was that he was trapped on a spit of rock out in the middle of the ocean.
At the moment, he had some private time, so he decided to make the most of it. He started exercising, trying to build back some of the muscle mass he had lost since Welindar. If he was ever going to escape this place, he needed to get his strength back. That said, with every push-up he struggled to do, he was reminded of how weak he had gotten. He also went over everything he had uncovered during his exploration. He had checked numerous drawers and cabinets, looking for anything to use to facilitate his escape. All he found was a candle, a nail, and a dusty letter opener.
With the Profane as his enemy, a letter opener couldn’t even be regarded as a weapon. He could stab Harrigan in the eye with it, and he would barely flinch. However, combining it with the nail, he could possibly use it to open locked doors. That said, until he could come up with an actual plan, leaving his room on his own would be too dangerous. He had a feeling Harrigan wouldn’t be as forgiving if he got caught again, and he didn’t want to end up alone with the two maids.
For now, he took everything he had found and hid them away, waiting for the day he could finally use them. Though Nell was a succubus, her powers were weak. She could penetrate his dreams and read his feelings, but not his thoughts, such as his rough-draft escape plan. She soon returned, throwing her arms around Lupin the moment she saw him.
“I was told you were out wandering around. Your Highness, you can’t keep doing that! It’s not safe for you out there.”
“I was looking for you,” he replied as convincingly as he could.
“Forgive me, I had to speak with Mistress Helena, but I was counting the seconds we were apart.”
“You still speak of her like that, with such respect, even after what she did to you?”
“She saved me. She made me one of the Profane so that I wouldn’t have to be afraid of them, and assigned me to take care of you! It’s thanks to her that we can be together forever!”
“Nell, that wasn’t what happened, and you know it. I remember how much you struggled against her, how you screamed in pain when she bit you, screamed how you didn’t want to become one of them.”
She looked up at him with an adoring smile, her hand on his cheek. “I was wrong to resist. Becoming one of the Profane is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, second only to meeting you. We were wrong about the Profane, my love. We should never have tried to fight against them. We should have joined them a long time ago.”
“Nell, that’s wrong. You’ve been brainwashed by the Profane. We need to escape from here and find a cure so you can go back to being what you were before. We need—”
Nell silenced him. “Shhhh. No more of that talk. We’re going to stay here forever, our new home. It doesn’t matter what goes on beyond these walls. All that matters is you, me, and this room. Nothing else exists but this space here. We need nothing but each other. Now, I think it’s time for us to go back to bed.”
“Nell, you can’t keep drugging me just so that you can dodge the issue.”
Nell began to shake her wings, filling the air with her powder. “Shhhh, it’s all right. I’ll be with you the whole time.”
Once again, Lupin tried to resist, but as he inhaled the dust, the room began to spin, and he lost the strength to stand. Nell caught him and laid him on the bed. Lupin was managing to stay awake, but he couldn’t move, and Nell removed his clothes.
“Don’t worry, I know what will help you sleep.”
She lowered her head to his exposed member, lovingly nuzzling and stroking it to rigidity. Ironically, it was the one part of his body immune to the succubus powder. Nell, whom Lupin remembered as being too bashful to meet his gaze when they first met, took his cock in her mouth with lascivious gluttony. Though succubi didn’t feed on flesh and blood like the other Profane, they still had sharp teeth, but Nell was somehow able to keep Lupin from getting the slightest scrape as she serviced him. Nell’s head bobbed as she worked with the utmost dedication to please Lupin, using every soft corner of her mouth and teasing his nerves with her long succubus tongue. Her eyes rarely left his, wanting to see every twitch and spasm of pleasure she invoked, but once again, Lupin couldn’t help but see the glare of a predator.
It didn’t take long for Lupin to ejaculate, especially when exposed to the fellatio skills of a succubus. Still, even with her mouth filled with seed and his member going soft on her tongue, Nell didn’t stop sucking him off. If anything, she became even more voracious, unable to get enough of him and relishing the sound of his grunts and moans. Once he was back to full mast, she got on top of him, whining happily as he penetrated her. She began bouncing on his lap, her breasts heaving as she grinned in perverse joy.
“Isn’t this better than the outside world? Just you, me, and endless orgasms waiting for us to share?” she panted. “This is how I want to spend the rest of eternity, inside this room with you inside me.” She leaned forward and kissed him. “Let us sink into the dream together.”
She again flapped her wings, sprinkling more powder and finally putting Lupin to sleep, but to him, it simply felt like he had blinked and was transported back to the darkness of his subconscious, with Nell still riding him. Here in the dream world, there was no limit to the number of orgasms he could experience, and Nell hit him with them one after another. How long did they spend in that dream, tossing and turning, taking turns moving as they climaxed over and over? It felt like a mere minute, and also a hundred years.
Eventually, Lupin blinked and found himself back in the room. Before waking up, he had been on top, driving hard and fast into the missionary position, and found himself in the very same position, with Nell clawing at his back. It was nighttime, but he couldn’t hope to guess the date. He closed his eyes again and was back in the dream world, with Nell again on top. She leaned forward to smother him with her chest, and he woke up, looking past Nell’s tits and seeing the clouds of an afternoon storm through the window, hearing the rain pelt the glass.
He was only awake for a few moments before falling asleep again. Returning to the dream world, he took Nell from behind, though he wasn’t sure if it was his choice or if he was just a puppet on her strings. He slammed her with his hips while gripping her own, only to be woken up to find Nell on all fours in front of him, moaning as he rode her with the sun rising outside. Again and again, he’d wake up and fall asleep, always finding himself interlaced with Nell. It was hard to tell what was a dream and what was real, to know how much time had passed. How long had he been having sex? Days? Weeks? Months?
The longer it went on, the more difficult it became to think of anything else, to remember anything that had happened before he arrived in this room. How did he get here? Wasn’t there somewhere else he was supposed to be? Something he was supposed to do? Every time he tried to pull away, whether while awake or dreaming, Nell would latch on even tighter, insatiable in her lust and obsession, and desperate to erase everything that might get between them. Lupin couldn’t help but wonder if this was how he was going to die, if this storm of confusion, euphoria, fear, and sexual release would be his final sensations before his life was extinguished.
----------
Andromeda stood in the foyer of her mansion, an expansive and ornately decorated space with fine art and furniture, flanked by two curved staircases that led to the upper floors. There was a glare of disdain in her eyes, and the glare was returned in kind. “So, you’re Bella?” she asked the nude, rabbit-eared Profane before her.
“Yeah, that’s me. I take it you’re Andromeda.”
“You will address her as MISTRESS Andromeda so long as you are here,” said Harrigan, standing nearby.
Bella leaned her head back and rolled her eyes. “Ugh, another bitch with a big house who thinks she can tell me what to—”
Before she could finish, Bella was lifted off her feet with telekinesis and slammed down onto the floor with bone-breaking force. This was repeated several times before Harrigan finally let her go. However, her skeleton was already mending itself, and bones were twisting and snapping back into place. She lunged for Harrigan, her hand outstretched, but he caught her arm with the same force and crushed her bones in his invisible grip.
Regardless, she thrust herself forward, further breaking her arm in the process while reaching out with her other, only for her second attempt to be nullified like the first. Still, she didn’t give up, trying to claw at him with the talon on one of her ankles. When that failed, she tried her other leg, now floating suspended in the air, pushing against his defenses and reaching out closer and closer to him.
Harrigan’s stern expression began to crack from the difficulty of restraining her. Her body was changing shape more and more through continuous destruction and reconstruction. Her limbs and fingers branched out, growing claws and teeth to help dig into the telekinetic wall he put up. Broken bones, upon tearing through her flesh, would turn into pikes and try to drill through, while shredded flesh and muscle grew into lashing tentacles. It wasn’t just how she was transforming, but the physical power she possessed, and it seemed like she was just getting stronger and stronger with each passing second.
Despite all the effort he was putting into keeping her at bay, she was reaching ever closer, burrowing through his defenses like worms through dirt. Even when he tried to throw her back, she held on, gripping nothing but empty space, as if she had already sunk her claws into him. All the while, her face contorted and twisted, taking on demonic characteristics as her sanity bowed out for bloodlust and fury to take the stage.
“That’s enough!” Andromeda barked.
She held out her hand and sent bolts of black lightning shooting from her fingers. They wrapped around Bella and charred her on the inside and outside, and though she snarled and gnashed her teeth in pain and fury, her body was regenerating just as quickly as it was damaged. Harrigan seized Bella with telekinesis and slammed her into the ground while Andromeda continued to shock her, now using both hands. Bella continued to glare at them, both sides at a stalemate. It took Andromeda and Harrigan’s combined powers to keep her pinned, but that was all they could do. On the other hand, Bella could not be killed by such weak attacks, but was unable to move.
Finally, Andromeda halted her magic, and Harrigan did the same. “Now, let’s try this again, shall we? Scyler sent you to me so I could turn you into a proper member of the Profane. Your powers are unquestionable, but if you will not serve, you will be put down. Here, you will either learn discipline on your own or it will be taught to you. Understood?”
Bella got up, with her twisted, mutated limbs returning to their proper form, and all the tendrils and spikes retracting into her body. “Everything I do, I do for my Darling, and if putting up with you will get me back to him, then very well.”
“That attitude of yours will need readjusting, but it will have to wait. Harrigan, get her dressed and find something for her to do.”
----------
Once again, Lupin woke up alone, or so he thought. He was looking at the bowl on the bedside table, filled with fresh flower petals. The space beside him in the bed was empty, but as he came to, he realized there was someone else in the room with him. He looked over to the corner, where Duska was doing her nails. Seeing her, he bolted up in bed, but that quick movement was all it took to make him dizzy. Seeing how weak he was, Duska scoffed.
“Pathetic.”
“What are you doing here?” Lupin asked once his vision steadied.
“Considering how much time has passed since we first met, I was hoping you’d be a bit less jumpy, but humans are such fearful creatures. My master has tasked me with helping you escape. Or, to be more specific, he’s asked me to lay the groundwork for your escape. I assume he intends to free you himself.”
“Your master? Wait, how long has it been since you were last here?”
“A month, maybe two.”
“This can’t be happening,” Lupin shuddered, fearing that he’d be an old man the next time he woke up, and wondering about everything going on beyond the mansion. “Please, tell me, what is going on in Uther?”
“I think your brother took the throne. Not the paladin, the other one.”
“Galvin? Ugh, gods have mercy. He hasn’t destroyed the country, has he?”
“No, everything’s going just fine, despite our best efforts to eradicate your people. Your brother used the Wassengel to wipe out an entire army of fiends.”
“The Wassengel? But I thought that was… it doesn’t matter. I guess that’s what it would take for him to be allowed on the throne. But who is your master?”
“You know him as Noah, the Wandering Spirit.”
Hearing that name, Lupin smiled for the first time since leaving Welindar. “Noah, what would I do without him? If Noah is coming to save me and Uther is still in one piece, then I have little to worry about. But I thought you hated him?”
Duska averted her gaze, hoping Lupin couldn’t see her blush. “I’m just facing reality. I have no choice but to serve him, but as long as I do it well… I’ll be rewarded. That said, I’m only helping you because he ordered me to. That doesn’t change the fact that you’re a weak little insect and I must fight every instinct I have not to crush you.”
“You’ve made that quite clear. Anyway, where is Nell? Does she know about this?”
“No, she still serves Helena, as do I. Profane are instinctively compelled to obey the one who sired them. I doubt she would allow any harm to come to you, but she’ll never let you leave this place, because she doesn’t want to give you up. She wants to stay locked up in this room with you until the end of time, so unless our superiors decide to do away with you, don’t expect her to be any help in getting you out of here. Why she’s starving herself over you, I have no idea.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You really don’t get it, do you? We succubi don’t feed on flesh and blood like the other Profane. We subsist on the mana we drain from our prey until we completely suck the life out of them. But you? Feeding on you is like living on crumbs and broth, and she has to hold herself back so that she doesn’t kill you. Your mana is so weak and insignificant, and she takes away just enough to keep from harming you, but she’ll wither away to nothing eventually. She could go out and suck the life from another human, but yours is the only mind she wants to touch.”
Her words left a lump in Lupin’s throat that he struggled to swallow. All his life, he had been haunted by his weakness—born with an inability to cast spells, forced to rely on magic tools and deception to hide his ineptitude, while his friends and subordinates died because he was too weak to protect them. It left a deep scar on his soul. When he failed to keep Nell safe against those two Profane in Welindar, he cursed himself more than he did them, and now, to find out that Nell was starving herself because he couldn’t even serve as a proper meal for her, burned him with shame.
“Is there anything I can do to help her?”
“How can you expect to help her when you can’t even help yourself?” Duska scoffed.
She then departed, leaving Lupin alone with his thoughts. She strode through the cold corridors, following her spiritual sense to the greatest source of Profane energy in the mansion. Strange to find that source sweeping the attic in a maid’s uniform. Bella scowled as she gathered up dust with her broom, unable to ignore the pointlessness of it all. Not only did this area of the mansion appear to serve little purpose aside from extra storage, but it had already been swept clean quite recently. How often did Andromeda’s servants perform this task?
It felt bizarre to her to be doing actual housework in a maid uniform. Usually, she wore one to cater to the fetishes of customers, perhaps with some whipping of a feather duster to rile them up. She had adjusted this outfit to resemble what she was used to: scanty and risqué, with dreams of enticing her Darling with it the next time they met.
Bella perked her head up, sensing Duska’s arrival before she even appeared. Succubi were naturally stealthy, even when they didn’t mean to be, but just as Duska had followed her spiritual sense, so too was Bella following hers. Duska climbed up the ladder into the attic, but could no longer sense Bella, as if she had vanished into thin air. About to step forward, Duska was stopped by a pair of crossed blades pressed to her throat. At that moment, Bella’s presence overwhelmed her, feeling her breath on the back of her neck. She had appeared behind her so subtly that it was almost like she had teleported. The power she sensed in Bella was astonishing, surpassing that of any Profane she had ever met.
“I smell my Darling on you,” Bella whispered in her ear. “You must be Duska.”
“N-Noah told me to find you. We’re supposed to work together to help the prince.”
“That’s right, Darling told me he had picked up a little Profane slave. It’s clear he’s already thoroughly had his way with you. I’m jealous. What I would give to experience it for the first time all over again. I don’t handle jealousy well, but you’re lucky. Darling told me to be nice and try to get along with you.”
“He told me the same. We’re supposed to make preparations for his arrival and bide our time.”
“Understood, just don’t think you can go giving me orders. You are my Darling’s slave, and I am his future wife, so the way I see it, you’re my slave too. Take pleasure in being his little toy, but understand that’s all you will be.”
“That’s fine, I don’t care. But when it happens and the fighting starts, understand that Helena is off limits. Noah—”
The blades broke Duska’s skin, and blood trickled down her neck. “That’s not how a proper slave should talk,” Bella hissed.
Duska paused. “Master promised me that Helena would be spared if I served him faithfully.”
“And I’m here to make sure you do just that.” Duska pulled her blades away from Duska’s neck. “Now, unless you’re going to pick up a broom and help me sweep, it would be best if we were seen together as little as possible.”
“Gladly. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”
“One second.” Bella grabbed Duska and licked her neck, lapping up the spilled blood and making Duska shudder. “Hmmm, not as delicious as human blood, but still sweet, and smelling my Darling’s scent on you makes it all the sweeter.”
“Uh… thanks.” Duska hurriedly left the attic, fearful that Bella’s fangs would follow her tongue.
----------
In a room of the mansion, several Profane had gathered, both in the flesh and in spirit, their visage projected on enchanted mirrors. This communications array, made of Enochian technology, had been set up to help the Profane remain in communication with one another. Given how often various members passed through Andromeda’s doors, it made sense to have a large setup to match the original in Curcio’s lab.
“Is it true?” she asked, bursting into the room.
Curcio, standing as a vaporous effigy, nodded. “Lord Scyler has been slain. The attack on Colbrand, although successful in leveling the city, came at a steep price. We lost scores of troops, the lab has been heavily damaged, and now Adwith Tarnas has taken the throne after killing our leader.”
“What happened to the lab?” Voraith asked, standing near Andromeda.
“It took a direct shot from the Wassengel. Fortunately, only the upper portion of the facility was destroyed, so we can still produce fiends and parasites, but we can no longer use it to attack or escape. Even before it was encased in a dungeon crab shell, the facility was designed to endure the punishing heat and pressure of the planet’s interior. Still, with the damage it has sustained, it would be like trying to sail a boat missing its entire bow. It is no longer safe to travel underground, and fleeing from Colbrand has severely worsened the damage. I’ve moved the base to the heart of Handent, and that is where it shall remain from now on.”
“Enough about the lab. Who is in charge?” a tall, gangly ghoul asked with a rasping voice.
A dwarf ghoul with a braided black beard cleared his throat. “As I am now the one most closely related to Somerset and Zyrga, leadership falls to me. That said, with Project Necropolis soon to reach fruition, the responsibility of leadership will leave my shoulders quite soon.”
“We should not assume things will go so smoothly, Ragar.” The pained words came from Tysinger’s projection. The hole that Noah burned in his chest was closed, but it hadn’t fully healed, and he was still wracked with soreness and fatigue. Wounds inflicted by sunlight and holy energy were more difficult to mend than ordinary injuries. “If there is anything I’ve learned from all this, it’s that the Wandering Spirit will continue to foil our plans.”
“Tysinger, you were there, weren’t you?” Andromeda asked.
“I was. If not for the fiends carrying me away to safety after my fight, I would have joined Lord Scyler in oblivion.”
“I’m thinking we should turn our attention to that dark elf, Valon,” said Andromeda. “The Wandering Spirit is looking for him, correct? Do we know where he is? He refused our offer to join us last time, but perhaps we should ask a little more firmly. He would make an exceptionally powerful ally, and if we can find him before Noah does, we can set up a trap.”
“Didn’t we send that crazy Uther knight after him with a phony letter or something?” Ragar asked, stroking his beard.
“Yes, once Leanne was slain, it was too risky to let Valon continue roaming, knowing what he knew about us, so I tried to tie off that loose end,” said Helena. “He escaped and is still somewhere out there.”
Ragar grumbled in thought. “I agree with Andromeda. I want that elf dead or turned before he can join the Wandering Spirit. Voraith, Miasmarda, I’ll leave that to the two of you. Take whoever you need.”
“Another thing,” said Andromeda. “How much longer must I keep that human in my castle? I’m not keen on letting livestock dirty my floors.”
“He can still be a valuable tool against Uther, whether as a hostage, bargaining chip, or the controller of the Wassengel,” said Voraith. “Besides, doesn’t he have that little succubus with him? All she has to do is keep fucking him until he’ll do whatever we want, especially if we threaten to take her away.”
“That’s my peerage you’re talking about,” Helena chided.
“Now, now, we wouldn’t kill her. We could just make him watch as we peel off her skin, and don’t stop until he swears fealty.”
“Either way, this is all conjecture,” said Ragar. “Without the tool for summoning the Wassengel, he’s nothing more than food. For now, just keep him holed up and we’ll find some use for him down the road.”
“Though it may displease you, Andromeda, you may have to look after another human,” said Curcio. “We found her when we attacked Colbrand, or rather, she surrendered to us and asked to be taken in.”
“So why hasn’t she been turned or devoured? Who is she?”
“Ask her yourself.” Curcio then stepped aside, his smoke form vanishing, and in its place, the figure of a tall woman appeared, her hands locked in shackles.
“Esteemed members of the Profane, greetings. My name is Ziradith Herald.”
“Mother of the former king, correct?” Ragar asked.
“I know you,” said Tysinger. “Scyler said you’re the Liege. You played us all to get your brat on the throne. You manipulated us and pitted our armies against the Wassengel as a show of force. Curcio, why is this conniving hag still breathing?”
“Because I have something to offer. It’s true, I am the puppet master behind the man you believed to be the Liege. Everything I did was to build up my own power and the power of Uther, all so that I could seize control and rule like I was destined to. But I was robbed of my destiny, and Uther remains forever out of my grasp. Until now, I had my subordinate lie to you and say he wanted Uther destroyed. Now it is the truth. If I can’t have Uther, then I want it obliterated. I want every last man, woman, and child slaughtered, every tree reduced to ash, every home and temple pulverized! I want the land itself wiped off the map and swallowed by the sea!”
“Your grudge means nothing to us in the face of your treachery. You said you have something to offer, so spit it out already,” Andromeda demanded.
“I offer the abomination growing in my womb, to use however you see fit. It is both my child and grandchild, possessing royal blood, and with it, the ability to control the Wassengel. Use him, turn him, eat him; I don’t care. All I want in return is to watch Uther’s annihilation. But more than that, I want the Wandering Spirit’s head, with the sight of his slaughtered friends burned into his eyes! I want him dead! I want them all dead!” As she grew increasingly agitated, arms appeared and wrapped around Ziradith, pulling her away so that her image vanished, and Curcio once more entered the conversation.
“I don’t trust her,” Miasmarda, the gangly ghoul, hissed.
“Her hatred of Uther and the Wandering Spirit is genuine,” said Curcio. “I don’t appreciate being used, but the fact remains that she has supported our operation for years and helped us get where we are now, and she is the enemy of our enemy. Besides, two potential users of the Wassengel are better than one.”
“Is two better than one, or is one of them simply redundant?” Andromeda asked. “I don’t like the idea of her and the prince both under my roof, or any roof for that matter. Too many eggs in one basket.”
“Andromeda makes a good point,” said Ragar, stroking his beard. “Curcio, she’ll stay with you for the time being. Just keep her locked up until the child is born. However, the moment she does anything suspicious, anything that could jeopardize your work, we’ll move her someplace else, or kill her outright, but only as a last option. Lord Scyler believed that the Wassengel could potentially be corrupted and turned into a Profane weapon, and I agree. We need all the royal blood we can get to seize it.”
“As you wish. We must do everything we can to ensure all of our hard work comes to fruition,” said Curcio. “I will continue rebuilding our forces here in Handent. As for the rest of you, I suggest you stay close to Ragar and Vandheim. We can’t let anything else get in the way of our goal.”
So glad your are back, been waiting all year. I do hope noah springs into action now that we know the prince is still alive. It would be nice if valon playes a role.
oldFReport