The Stolen Succubus

The sun Helion was sinking towards the horizon, so all of the city of Kerandis glowed with an orange light, from the docks along the Dreaming Gulf to the hills that rose to the east. In the cobalt blue sky the rings of the world of Telluria were visible, and the first stars were coming out. A pleasant cool from the heat of the day washed over the city, and the people awoke from their siestas and prepared for the sport of the evening. On balconies along the Golden Way bare-breasted courtesans displayed themselves, sipping spirits from dainty goblets and looking down upon the gallants and bravoes who swaggered beneath. In the dockside slums, slatternly streetwalkers emerged into the evening light, fortifying themselves with swigs of liquor for another night of drudgery.

Belavol, called the Magenta Sorceror in Kerandis, pushed through the leather curtain riveted with iron scales that covered the door to a seedy tavern in the slums. As his eyes adapted to the gloom of the interior, he saw that he had found the woman he sought. She sat at a table with two men. They were of the fine-boned, ochre skinned and light haired race that predominated in Kerandis, but she was of a different type, for on the world of Telluria the race of Man had taken many different forms and evolved in many different directions. She overtopped the men by a head and shoulders. Her skin was a dusky tan, her hair a black ruff bound back by a red cloth. A thin mane of black fur ran down her spine almost to her waist. Her waist was slim, her hips muscular but undeniably feminine. A simple halter supported her small breasts, and a short leather skirt covered her powerful haunches and revealed muscular thighs. Her face was broad, her jaws strong, her lips sensual, her nose stubby and slightly crooked. Her eyes were wide set with violet irises. One her feet were soft shoes. A thick belt around her waist supported a broad bladed dagger and a wallet. Muscles rippled under her scarred skin, which sported geometric tattoos on her face and arms. She clearly belonged to one of the races that had devolved partially into a more primitive and barbaric form.

As Belavol entered the tavern, the room fell quiet. Men and women shrank back from him. The woman seemed to sense his approach and turned as he approached the table. She saw a tall, thin man with a bald head emerging from silk robes decorated with flowing floral patterns in yellow, purple, and ivory. His skin was a dark magenta color, and his eyes were black. She greeted him, raising her goblet.

"Belavol! I see you are still above the ground. It has been a while."

"Greetings, Telan. I would speak with you."

"Speak then, sorceror." said the woman, taking a drink from her goblet and wincing at the taste of the cheap wine.

Belavol seated himself at the table and looked at the other two men. They looked at one another, then rose and left the tavern. Belavol spoke:

"You aided me once before. I have need of a skilled warrior, tonight. I am willing to pay in gold."

The woman nodded, saying nothing.

"For a long time I have been engaged in a rivalry with Themistos, an amateur of sorcery whose skills rival my own. We both pursue much the same type of knowledge, but while my motives are pure, he is driven by an evil desire for power, whatever the cost. I forestalled him in securing the bones of the sage Brem, which he would have defiled in his unprincipled search for knowledge. The book which you aided me in retrieving from the ignorant priests of the Dragonfly God was also desired by Themistos. Unfortunately, he has succeeded in obtaining the nine scrolls of... anyway, yesterday he performed his vilest act yet. While I was distracted with what turned out to be a false rumor, no doubt planted by Themistos, with his magic he captivated my newest familiar, Callida, and is at this moment perpetrating upon her the most horrible tortures in order to discover my magical secrets. I mean to enter his manse tonight and rescue Callida. I seek to employ someone to aid me with steel, in the unlikely event that my sorcery is insufficient. I know of your skills from our earlier collaboration. In truth I am surprised to see you in Kerandis again. Besides the priests of the Dragonfly God, the Jeweler's Guild and others would be very interested to hear of your return."

The woman smiled, revealing overlarge fangs. "I did not return to this city by choice. I had to swim ashore two days ago when my ship was attacked by pirates. I have nothing more than what I carry. I was going to either sleep with those men, or rob them, or both."

Belavol tossed an octagonal gold coin upon the table. "If you aid me, you will not have to resort to prostitution, a career for which you do not seem well adapted."

"Some men appreciate a real woman, Belavol, as much as you appreciate your handsome young men." Telan picked up the coin and bit it thoughtfully. Her fangs left distinct marks in the soft gold.

"Rest assured there are a score more of them for you, if we recover Callida tonight. And if we fail, neither of us will have much need of money."

Telan laughed. "How do you know that your enemy isn't watching us now with his magic? Isn't that what you wizards do, hunch over a crystal ball, peering at men and women? Looking into rooms at brothels perhaps?"

Belavol replied "I have distracted him with magical feints indicating that I am preparing a sorcerous attack. A crude material approach is the last thing he will expect."

Telan stood, kicking back her chair. "I'm with you, just let me visit the head."

A few minutes later Telan emerged from the tavern, to find Belavol standing outside. Without ceremony he began walking towards the city walls. Telan had no difficulty keeping up. Around them, the city was rapidly getting darker.

They approached the plaza of the Jade Gate. A green and brown striped trihorn carrying a fringed howdah decorated in bands of yellow and blue was standing in the square. Telan was not surprised to see the trihorn, as they were commonly used as mounts and beasts of burden on Telluria. Belavol indicated the beast. "Themistos' manse is located a few miles from town. We shall approach inconspicuously and in comfort in this manner."

Telan laughed "Inconspicuously?"

Belavol smiled thinly. "As I may have mentioned, my rival expects a magical attack. An approach by beast-back, through the dirt and mud, will surprise him."

Telan approached the trihorn. She saw no sign of a mahout, but at a sign from Belavol the beast knelt and she and the sorceror easily entered the howdah. She thought she saw in the trihorn' eye more attention and awareness than such an animal would normally have. When Belavol was seated facing her on the silk upholstered benches, the beast stood and walked through the gate down the rode. The gate guards leaned upon their wavy-bladed pikes and let them pass unmolested.

Night fell as they left the city, and Telan looked out at a world lit by the ghostly light of the rings. The smallest moon Zendra had risen. The sound of the surf faded behind them as the beast turned away from the ocean and began to climb into the hills. It seemed to need no guidance from the wizard.

Telan stretched, catlike. Her jaws gaped wide showing a long tongue and her fangs. She threw her muscular legs up on the cushion, one foot on each side of Belavol, and smiled.

"So is this Callida cute? You seem awfully eager to rescue her. Is she your sweetheart? What does she look like?"

Belavol frowned. "Our relationship does not involve mammalian mating. It is intellectual and spiritual in nature, the complexities of which need not concern you. As an entity from the alternate spacetime that the vulgar term "hell", she is capable of taking a wide range of forms, though all partake of the essential nature of Callida. Now if you will excuse me, I need to prepare myself for the coming sorcerous encounter."

Belavol closed his eyes and began to chant and mutter. Telan shivered at the sounds coming from his mouth and withdrew her legs. She made herself comfortable and dozed for the rest of the trihorn ride. After about an hour the beast stopped, and she and Belavol climbed down from the howdah. The air was pleasantly cool. Ahead of them was a low wall of crumbling stone, with a barred iron gate set in it. The scene was lit by the light of the rings and two of the moons of Telluria.

Belavol laughed. "We are now at the gate of Themistos' manse." He made some passes in the air. "Stay close to me, and do not speak. My magic shields us from view."

They approached the wall. At a gesture from Belavol, Telan climbed the rough stonework of the outside of the wall, then lay down on the top and by main strength lifted the sorceror up beside her. They looked down into the gardens of Themistos. Palm trees and ferns rustled in a slight breeze. They smelled the perfume of flowers that grew in the garden. The manse itself, a low lying white structure, was visible some distance away.

Suddenly Telan sensed movement in the darkness. She pushed Belavol down on top of the wall and lay quiet herself, gripping the hilt of her dagger. As she watched two forms became visible in the ringlight, moving along a path that ran at the base of the wall. They were bulkier than men, and shambled rather than walked, arms hanging long at their sides. Telan recognized them as cannibal man-apes of Ong-yuul, creatures that had devolved almost to the level of apes, but retained much of the nature of men. She had once dwelt with a band of such creatures, and knew their ferocity and cruelty.

She prepared herself to spring, but Belavol placed a hand on her arm. The man-apes walked closer, sniffing suspiciously at the air, peering around but seemingly not seeing the two intruders. The man-apes stood beneath them, sniffing loudly. Telan lay absolutely still and breathed as quietly as she could. A breeze blew from the direction of the garden and the creatures seemed to lose the scent. After a short time, they continued along the path and soon vanished from sight. After waiting for a few minutes to make sure they were gone, Telan slid down from the wall and helped Belavol down after her.

They proceeded cautiously through the garden. As they approached the manse, the plants began to take on stranger shapes. Low moundlike trees entangled with vines swayed in the breeze. Night blooming blossoms as big as Telan's head showed in the ringlight, attracting huge moths, and releasing fugitive scents that teased Telan's nose. Finally they came to the manse itself. It lay on the far side of a pool covered with strange flowers, like water lilies but with much wider blossoms. A low bridge led over the pool itself. Telan tensed, sensing danger. She felt that their progress so far had been too easy.

Belavol started across the bridge, Telan followed. As she stepped upon the bridge she suddenly scented the perfume of the strange flowers. Her head felt dizzy and she gripped the railing of the bridge. She felt hotness in her loins. Stepping forward she grabbed Belavol by the shoulders and turned him around. She kissed him hard, on the mouth, thrusting her tongue in and pressing the full length of her body against him. She didn't stop to think what she was doing.

Belavol broke away and regarded her calmly. Then he raised his finger and put it to her lips. Excited, she began to suck on it. Her skin felt on fire. He withdrew the finger, provoking a whimper from Telan, and quickly drew a sigil on her face with her own saliva, muttering under his breath.

Telan jerked as what she realized was the effect of the flower's perfume was neutralized. The flaming desire that had filled her suddenly vanished. She stumbled back a step. Belavol nodded. "These must be the lilies of Ereventul. A clever trap, and it symbolizes the struggle of the magician to overcome his animal nature. My periapt protects me from such influences." He indicated a small green jewel that he wore about his neck. "Come, this has compelled me to abandon my spell of invisibility. We must hurry."

They raced across the bridge to the door of the manse. The two valves of the door stood open, revealing a long hall paved with marble slabs and dimly lit by two gems that glowed with a greenish light. The end of the hall was shrouded in darkness. Doors led to the right and left, and a flight of stairs led down.

Belavol hesitated, then turned to the right. Suddenly the glowing gems flared into dazzling brightness. Telan heard Belavol give a cry, and she had a feeling of falling through vast space. Then darkness overcame her.

***

She awoke from unconsciousness suddenly and completely, and lay still for a second while she gathered her thoughts. She was lying on her back on a stone floor with her arms and legs spread and fastened down with leather straps. She was nude, and she could feel the cold of the floor and of the air on her skin. She opened her eyes. She was tied down on the floor of a room hung with sable curtains decorated with arcane sigils. Five candles around her burned at the corner of a pentagram that was inlaid in the floor with silver. Twisting her head around she saw behind her a man with ochre skin and a shaven head. He was bare chested and wore a dark blue kilt emblazoned with magical signs. He was reading aloud from a book he held in his hands. The language was unknown to Telan, but his diction was a sonorous chant which she found ominous. The room was decorated with other appurtenances of sorcery such as athames, chalices, wands, scrolls, skulls, flasks and jars filled with strange fluids and powders. There was a single door of dark wood in the wall at Telan's feet.

Telan felt a cold wind sweep through the room as the wizard behind her continued his chanting. The candles suddenly burned with a carmine light and began to give off wisps of vapor which swirled around the interior of the pentagram. She realized that she was inside the pentagram and the wizard was without. Telan was familiar enough with sorcery to be concerned by the situation.

The wizard's chanting rose in pace and volume. The vapors swirled thicker around her. Telan began to yank furiously at the bindings holding her down. The wizard's chant rose to a crescendo as he shouted words that clashed in Telan's ears, dazing her and ringing somehow in her brain so that the world spun around her.

The vapors swirled thickly around her, hiding the view of the room. It seemed that she was sinking into a reddish whirlpool. With teeth bared and muscles straining she fought against the bonds. She felt the bonds on her right hand loosen as a rivet holding the buckle of the strap popped under the strain.

It felt like she was drunk or dreaming as she reached her right hand across and began to fumble with the strap holding her left hand. As she did this she felt something solid touching her feet. Telan moaned in fear. She focused her gaze on her hand. It felt like she was flying or spinning through a red whirlpool. It took all her effort to keep moving and to work at unfastening the bindings. Finally she freed her left hand. She felt something moving up between her legs, rubbing against the insides of her thighs. Trembling with fear at what she might see, she forced herself to look.

She saw a huge head with two giant faceted eyes, each facet showing her her own distorted face, eyes staring and mouth open in terror. Below the eyes, she saw a wide mouth with thick black lips from which hung a long mottled tongue. Slime dripped from the mouth, feeling hot where it touched her thighs and belly. The creature had no limbs but a thick pale wormlike body, thicker than a man's torso, that was sliding up between her legs.

Everything seemed to be moving slowly. She shouted or screamed and reached up with both hands and grabbed the fur or hair that grew from the creatures face. Her feet were still strapped down, making it hard for her to find leverage as she struggled to throw the creature off of her. Its mouth gaped and it's tongue reached down and began to lick her sex. The creature's breath smelled so strongly of cinnamon that she felt dizzy.

Telan moaned as she felt the thick, hot, wet tongue forcing its way into her pussy. She whimpered, pulling and twisting at the creature to try to push it back. The tongue slid all the way into her and she felt it squirm and lick at her cervix. She moaned at the violation, feeling a surge of pleasure shoot through her. Then, just when she felt she couldn't take any more, the tongue withdrew. She gasped, half in relief and half in frustration. Looking down past the creature's head she saw that a slit opened in the red belly of the creature. A long red phallus emerged from the slit. The creature slid its upper body up on top of her, trying to pin her down.

Shifting her grip, Telan got her arms under the creature and lifted, holding it in the air above her with a muscle-cracking effort. The creature's great head thrashed and the tongue licked at her face and chest. With a snarl she heaved it to the side, and it stuck against the inner ring of the pentagram, like a wall of glass. She was able to get her left hand on her left ankle and started trying to unfasten the binding there. As she did so, the snakelike creature thrashed around, trying to wrap itself around her. Telan knew that she had to distract it somehow.

Her head was near the creature's phallus. Grabbing the throbbing carmine cock with her right hand, she brought it to her mouth and started licking on the bulblike tip. She felt the monster squirm. She crammed the entire tip into her mouth and kept sucking and licking it furiously as she fumbled with the binding on her left foot. The creature ceased its thrashing and lay still as she pleasured it. Finally she freed her foot.

Her right leg was trapped under the monster and it had started licking her body with its tongue, coating her in slime. The feel of the hot slimy tongue on her nipples made her shudder with pleasure. She pulled her head back and took a breath. Immediately she felt herself losing control of her body as she saw the swirling patterns that spun around her. Focusing on the creature, she grabbed it with both arms and heaved its body over hers so that it was on her left side. She could now get at her right foot. She began to suck on the monster's cock again as she fumbled with the strap holding her foot. The creature was making sounds like a basket of metal scrap being shaken. She took this as meaning it was pleased with her actions.

She felt its cock twitch. Suddenly it screamed with a sound like steel on glass that rang in her brain, and its hot, sticky cum spurted into her mouth. It burned like brandy in her throat as she swallowed it. There was so much that she choked and gagged, coughing cum out of her nose. The monster spasmed and lay momentarily without moving.

That was all Telan needed. She pulled back from the creature and quickly unfastened her foot. With a lunge she threw herself backwards out of the pentagram.

The transition from the swirling red madness to the dark, cold room was like waking up from a nightmare. Telan saw the hangings, the magical appurtenances, and the wizard standing and staring at her in shock. He recoiled from her as she stood catching her breath. Her body was covered in the monster's cum and slime. The pentagram was a cylindrical column of swirling carmine and violet vapors, within which she caught occasional glimpses of parts of the creature, like a fish swimming around in a tank of cloudy water.

The wizard began flipping through the grimoire he held in his hands. With a snarl Telan leapt upon him, grabbed him around the waist and flung him into the swirling mists of the pentagram. She heard him scream in terror and saw his arm and head emerge as he tried to escape. Then she saw the creature throw a coil around him and drag him back into the cloud of vapors. His screams resounded through the room, then quickly faded to moans and gasps. The vapors hid whatever was occurring within the pentagram.