Summoned by a Succubus

~~~ Chapter Notes ~~~

~~~ Chapter Notes ~~~

The competition - which Runa needed to win in order to be reinstated to the dwarven artificer's guild - has been announced. The team is waiting for the competition to begin - and working to help Runa prepare.

~~~ Yuril's Keep ~~~

~~~ Yuril's Keep ~~~

The next day, while the team was out - buying more supplies - Nyx heard a rumor that the guild master was planning to beat Runa by picking three projects that he knew his acolytes - up-and-coming artificers that were loyal to him - excelled at. When they told Runa, she just nodded and told them that she had expected the ploy.

Jason and the girls didn't hear anything more from Runa's parents. She told them not to try to follow up and to just give her folks time to figure things out. She warned them that the pair would likely avoid appearing publicly with Runa until they saw how the whole battle with the guild master turned out. She didn't seem that upset about it - but she was still acting fairly reserved.

Runa made contact with the three judges and asked if there was a mine the group could rent to secure more resources. The judges informed her that basic supplies were being set aside by the guild master - so that those with limited finances would be able to join the competition as well. They agreed that it was just another ploy by the guild master to try to encourage more and more artificers to join the contest and compete against Runa.

With a few suggestions from the three men, Runa visited with several mine owners to see what she could work out. In the end, only one would agree to let her and the others harvest material from the mine. His fee seemed excessive to the other members of the group but they had the money from the ogre's stash and all agreed that this was the best use of those funds.

For the next several days, the team used the tools that Runa provided them and dug out as much ore as they could excavate. Ore in hand (or, rather, in bracelets), Runa headed off to the foundries to get it turned into ingots - and then to the smiths to get the iron turned into steel.

By the time the ceremony to start the competition came around, Runa was sitting on a small fortune's worth of supplies, tools, equipment, and basic building blocks that she would need to win the challenge.

It was during the last day before the ceremony that Nyx came across a rumor that the guild master's toadies had already been informed of the projects that he would announce at the opening assembly. When Jason and the other suggested complaining to the judges, Runa waved away their objections. She said that each of the three projects were likely decided upon by the guild master because his lackies excelled in those specialties.

Despite Jason and the girls urging her to cry foul, she simply smirked and told them that each of the men were only proficient in one area. She was confident that she would be superior to them in the other two areas - no matter what they ended up being - so she was smugly self-assured that she would still be able to win.

As the group discussed it over their meals together - they agreed that it was likely that Runa had a broader (and deeper) understanding of everything that went into her magic - or art - and finally agreed to let it rest. Jason *did*, however, have Nyx scribble down names, dates, and times - for where she'd heard the rumors - so that they could be brought up later - if it became necessary.

~~~

A massive crowd assembled in front of the artificer's guild. The guild master and the three judges were the only ones on the platform. The guild master approached the lectern, smacked his hand down on the top of it, and called the assembly to attention. All side conversation immediately ended and all eyes turned to him.

He held up a copy of the notice, went down through the rules, named the judges, and set the time limit for the three devices (or projects) to be completed. The race would begin when he displayed the three scrolls. Each scroll had a rough sketch of the item to be designed and built - along with rules and measurements for the judges to use to determine if the device had been successfully completed.

The guild master explained that the bundles of supplies in front of the stage were all equal - and there was one for each person who had registered to compete.

With that, the guild master pulled a covering from an easel that stood nearby and unveiled the three devices that needed to be built - a magic-powered jetpack, a hover sled, and a mechanical suit that could be piloted by a dwarf.

The guild master began to explain how each of the projects would help benefit the city's guards when someone noticed his three favorite followers had quietly grabbed their bundles of supplies and were heading off to get started on their work.

As soon as the rest of the competitors realized what those three were up to, the guild master's monologue was forgotten and there was a mad rush as competitors grabbed their supplies and moved off to an open space where they could start their projects.

Since the rented warehouse was only a couple blocks away, Runa grabbed her things and raced off for her workstation - which was already surrounded by her equipment and resources. She pitched the official supplies to the side - on the floor of the warehouse - and set to work.

With sweat pouring down her forehead, Runa's mind, body, and soul all but disappeared from the world as she focused all of her being and intent on building the three devices that she needed in order to win.

A member of the team stayed with Runa while the others walked around to see how the other competitors were doing. There were more than a hundred dwarves registered for the contest - and each was working frantically.

When everyone had returned to the warehouse, they sat around in chairs that they'd borrowed from the common room in the guest house and visited together while Runa worked.

"She's done prototypes of almost all three of those things before - or at least things that I think would be similar," Zephyra reminded the group.

"Yeah, I don't see this as being too big of a challenge for her...," Nyx agreed.

"She'll want to overbuild it - and refactor the design, though," Elira added.

"We'll have to remind her to eat probably," Thalia told the others.

Several minutes later - a little over an hour after she had started working - Runa stepped away from her workstation and headed for the door of the warehouse.

The others jumped to their feet.

"What is it?!" Jason asked. "We can run and get it for you - whatever it is. You keep working. We'll go grab it and hurry back."

Runa looked at the group and smirked.

"I'm done," she informed them.

"Hot shit!" Nyx cheered, pumping her fist in the air. "Let's go...!"

The Tiefling disappeared in a puff of smoke and opened the door for the redheaded artificer. The rest of the group filed out through the door behind her.

The group trailed behind the striding (and smiling) dwarf as she headed straight for the stage - and the judges. She marched up to the platform and waited for them to acknowledge her.

"Can we help you?" the self-imposed leader asked.

"I'm done," Runa announced.

The guild master was standing to the side of the stage - whispering to one of his hangers-on. When he heard Runa's words, he waved his hands in the air and roared with laughter.

"Done?! You've given up, more like!" he accused. "Where are your submissions, you perverted little freak?"

Runa stepped back, turned to the left, and disgorged the three projects from her storage-bracelet.

"How?!" the man blustered as the judges came down to inspect her devices. "You can't have built these in such a short amount of time. You've cheated somehow! Cheat! Fraud!"

The man screamed loudly enough that several of the other competitors came over to see what was going on - along with various members of the public - who were interested to see how the contest turned out.

"These devices appear to satisfy the rules for the contest," the head judge announced.

"Impossible!" the guild master screamed. "No one else is even close to finishing their first piece!"

"How do you know that?", the judge asked him.

He sputtered and cursed and fumed - and went back to screaming that Runa had cheated.

"Make her build the devices right here - where we can watch her," the guild master yelled. "I want to see it with my own eyes. I'm taking back my portion of the prize money unless she builds the three items right here - for everyone to see!"

"You're making her build three more items?", Jason asked.

"I don't believe she built these," the man insisted. "If she built them, it won't take her long to do it again..."

"What about the resources that she used to...?", Jason inquired.

"It's fine," Runa called out loudly. "I'll go get my things, bring them here, and start again."

She hurried off. Nyx went with her.

As soon as she disappeared, the other competitors hurried back to continue working on their submissions. The guild master pulled the young acolyte aside and began whispering frantically to him. The young dwarf hurried off a moment later.

Runa and Nyx returned ten minutes after they had departed. The redhead waved her hands around and asked people to move back - out of the way. She began to unpack everything that she would need. Suspecting that the guild master would object to her using the storage-bracelet for even the smallest components, she got everything spread out around her and then called him over to inspect her workspace.

When he agreed that everything was out and visible for him to watch, she set to work. The judges watched her as well - but not to try to disqualify her. The other dwarves, moving around nearby, saw her hands moving so quickly that they were almost a blur and they stopped and gaped - watching her work.

Under the eyes of the guild master, the judges, the common folk, and her team, Runa assembled each piece, component, segment, and building block.

The hover-sled was finished first - ten minutes after Runa started working. Nyx pushed the thing around with the rest of the team standing on it - to demonstrate that it was a completely and perfectly-functioning device. They parked the sled beside the first one that she had built - which looked exactly the same - and then came back over to continue watching their friend create.

"Aren't you the least bit concerned that her two sleds are identical?" Nyx taunted the guild master. "You're really gonna look the fool when she's done..."

The man ignored her but the Tiefling gave Jason a smug look when the man's eyes twitched over to compare the two devices and he looked back at Runa with more displeasure than he already had been.

Twenty-five minutes after she started, Runa called Jason over and handed him the completed jet-pack. She immediately went back to working on her third item.

Uncertain about how - exactly - the jetpack was controlled, the group decided that Nyx should be the test-pilot. If things went south, they believed that she would be able to teleport away to safety before the thing crashed. Jason helped the Tiefling strap the thing onto her shoulders and then secure the device to her torso and thighs.

Elira held her breath. Thalia said a quick prayer. Nyx pushed magic into the thrusters and thumbed the throttle. She rose an inch or two off of the ground and then settled back onto the pavement again. The second time, she rose a foot or two off of the stone-paved plaza before easing off of the throttle to land once more.

Jason smirked at her and she reached out and smacked him.

"It's fucking nerve-wracking...," she said. "I know it'll do more than just go up and down - but - like as much as the controls are similar to the carriage - there's just so much shit that can go sideways... Keep that silly smirk off of your face or you're taking my place."

Jason held his hands up - in surrender - and took a step back. The smirk was gone - but he had to fight to keep the ends of his mouth from curling into a smile.

Nyx thumbed the throttle again and slowly rose into the air. When she was higher than Jason's head, she eased the joystick his direction and floated over the top of him.

"How's the view?" she asked - a tense grin on her lips.

"I like it," Jason replied.

All of the sudden, the fuel-cell sputtered.

"Shit!" Nyx gasped. "I'm out of mana!"

Jason started to move and then realized that Nyx was having trouble teleporting away - probably because of the straps that bound her in place. He spread his arms and caught her as she fell. She closed her eyes, leaned her forehead against his, and sighed heavily.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

He gave her a peck on the lips and set her back onto her feet.

"No problem," he told her.

She walked over beside the first jetpack that Runa had built, stripped the working one off, and laid it on the ground beside its twin. As she walked past the guild master to return to her spot, she winked at him.

"That's two, fat ass...," Nyx taunted. "How are your little pigeons faring? Have they even finished one thing yet? Runa's up to five now."

The man snarled at her - but then noticed his lackey returning and went to get his update. Based on the expression on his face, things weren't looking good for Team A-Hole.

Forty-five minutes after the cute redhead started building her second set of submissions for the competition, she finished hooking the arms and legs for her mech-unit onto the bulky body. She rolled a hoist over, hooked the winch chains to the thing that she had built, righted the mechanical walker onto its bipedal feet, and then unhooked the chains. She slid the hoist out of the way and walked up to the giant construct - which was far more than the exoskeleton that Jason was wearing.

She looked at the rest of the group.

"Did you already demonstrate the sled and the jetpack?" she asked.

"Yeah," Nyx said, giving her a thumbs up. "Show them what this thing can do..."

Runa nodded, grabbed the handholds, set the toe of her boot in the first hole that ran up the leg of the thing, and clambered up the side of the rig. She climbed into the pilot's seat, settled into her place, and pushed mana into the energy-core. The mech-unit came to life. Everyone around her backed up - everyone except the guild master. He seemed to be determined to get her to step on him so that he could file suit against her.

Runa flipped a few switches, set her hands on the controls, and looked down at the judges.

"Ready?" she asked.

When they nodded, she told Jason to grab an empty crate, and carry it to an open spot. She had the rest of the team fan out to keep people out of the way. She worked the two joysticks back and forth and the mech-unit took a halting step backwards. Runa looked over her shoulder to make sure that nobody was in the way. She stepped back twice more, turned the unit, stepped past the guild master, and then pressed a button that brought up two slender cannon turrets.

"Back up, Jason," she called out. "I'm not sure how much punch this will have."

He stepped back and nodded.

She armed the turrets, directed power to them both, and then pressed the button to fire. Both turrets emitted a mechanical burping sound and then orbs of electricity flew out of the things and hit the dirt 20 yards on the other side of the metal crate.

"Shit!" Runa gasped. "Gonna need to sight these guns in a little... Let me try again."

After having seen the dirt that the two energy projectiles kicked up, Jason had taken off - jogging down on the far side of where the crate was sitting.

"What're you doing, handsome?" Runa called out.

She looked around the mech to see that almost everybody from the assembly was watching her.

"Go ahead," Jason yelled back. "I've got you..."

Runa shrugged, aimed, and depressed the fire button again.

The twin orbs rocketed from the mech-unit, slammed into the crate, and sent it tumbling down the street. Jason adjusted his position slightly and opened his arms to catch the thing. It hit him like a boulder and flipped him twice. He landed on his ass - with the mangled crate in his lap - and a huge grin on his face.

"It's got a bit of a kick," he told her.

Nyx saw what she thought was a trickle of blood - coming from the corner of his mouth. She shadow-stepped to him and helped him up.

"Are you alright, fat-dick?" she asked.

"Never better," he said. At a whisper, he told her, "Minor internal bleeding. It should clear up in a few minutes..."

She reached out and cracked him on the ass.

He grabbed her by the horn and kissed her hard. She licked the blood from his mouth and kissed him back.

They walked, hand-in-hand, back to join the others. Jason carried the mangled crate with him. He set it on the stage in front of the judges.

The judges announced that they believed that they had a winner and called for the other competitors to come show what they had completed. Out of the hundred challengers, less than a dozen had one item completed. In every case, it was the hover-sled. Only one person had two things done - and he couldn't get the jetpack to power up.

While the judges (and everyone else) looked on, Runa demonstrated that all six of her items worked as designed (although they didn't actually fire the turrets on either of the mech-units the second time around).

The judges announced Runa as the winner of the competition. While they waited for the banker to arrive with the prize money, the rest of the competitors (minus a few) lined up to look Runa's projects over or congratulate her.

When the banker arrived, the judges called the guild master to the stage to present the award to Runa. The man cursed and grumbled the whole way to the podium. After the angry man got done presenting her with the money, Jason yelled out for him to reinstate her to the guild, as promised.

The guild master glared at Jason and then faced the crowd.

"I will *not* be reinstating this woman to the guild," he announced. "According to the by-laws, any member found to be of questionable character is to be removed from the rolls. Her perversion was duly recorded at the time it was found out and she was rightfully removed. Based on the by-laws, I know of no reasonable way for her to be reinstated."

Standing beside the man, Runa's face turned crimson and she made to leave the stage - while he grinned evilly behind her back.

Lilith stepped out from behind the stage - with a goblin girl in tow - and met Runa before she could reach the steps. She grabbed the redhead's hand and dragged her along with her as she approached the judges.

The goblin girl was completely naked. Chains, that appeared to have been severed by force, trailed from the iron collar around her neck - and from the two iron cuffs that bound her wrists. The cuffs had pins holding them closed. The wide band around her neck was locked with a large padlock. The goblin looked frightened. Her neck and wrists bore scabs and scar tissue from where the restraints had chaffed or torn her flesh.

"What is the meaning of this?" the head judge asked Lilith.

The crowd quieted to hear the succubus answer.

"I found this girl chained to the wall in the guild master's basement," she informed the judges.

"This is ridiculous!" the guild master exclaimed. "She's trying to slander me!"

"Around his neck," Lilith told the men, "there is a fine silver chain that holds a single key. That key fits the lock on this goblin's collar."

The judges turned to the man and ordered him to reveal what was on the chain around his neck. He looked around quickly and appeared to be searching out an escape path. The judges called for the guards. Two were standing close and came up the stairs to block the guild master's way.