by Sam Cheever
Icy cold settled over me and something touched my cheek, like a cold breath from the grave. I jumped sideways with a gasp.
Nidras turned toward me, her eyes glistening briefly in the low light. “What’s wrong?”
“You don’t feel it?”
“Feel what?”
I just shook my head. Apparently I was imagining things.
We entered the castle and traversed the maze of hallways before stepping onto the dark, winding staircase that would take us to the wizard’s lair.
The lack of guards along the way was strangely disconcerting.
A single, weak oil light illuminated each level of the twisting staircase, providing a barely adequate light to navigate the rough stairwell.
The toe of my boot caught in an invisible crack on the stair and I fell sideways, touching the wall with the side of my fist to keep from falling. My hand sank into a thick layer of slime which burned like fire. I cried out and yanked my fist away, stumbling toward the opposite wall.
My shoulder sank into slime on the other side and smoke rose from my shirt. I jerked away with a gasp and fell into Nidras. She looked up at me and lifted an eyebrow.
I straightened away from her and said, “You okay? You looked a little nervous.”
She just shook her head and started back up the stairs.
Rubbing my arm I glared at the wall and started after her, taking care to stay in the center of the stairwell.
The wizard’s door was suspiciously free of guards. Nidras and I stopped at the top of the stairs and shared a glance. With our weapons drawn and ready, we slowly moved toward the closed door, our eyes sliding over the area in search of traps.
Nothing came out of the shadows.
Nothing dropped onto our heads.
When we stood in front of the door and nothing happened, Nidras nodded at me and I stepped back to give myself room to kick. I put all my strength into a single kick to the side of the door knob and the door flew open.
It was an attempt to give us the element of surprise.
It had been a wasted effort.
Nothing was inside that room.
I mean nothing.
A vast, black nothingness filled the space beyond the door. Nidras grabbed my shirt as the impetus of my kick nearly carried me over and into the abyss.
A small pebble from the threshold arced out over the black nothingness and Nidras and I watched it disappear, then waited to hear it land.
It never landed.
The seemingly endless black mass was complete and utter stillness.
I dropped the chain back around my neck, figuring it wasn’t going to help me with what was inside that room.
Whatever was in that room, nothingness didn’t accurately describe it. It wasn’t corporeal but it was a living, breathing presence that pulled at me, drawing me in.
I shook my head and stepped backward.
As Nidras wavered on the threshold, her shoulders tipping inward in response to the pull of the black mass, I grabbed her hand and yanked her back with me. She stumbled back with a cry and blinked up at me.
She’d been falling under the spell of whatever was in that room. I turned her and looked into her eyes. “There’s something there. It’s not just a black hole.”
Licking her lips, she nodded. “It was calling to me.”
“Is the wizard in there?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice was little more than a husky whisper. For just the barest moment in time, I saw naked fear in her beautiful lavender eyes.
I pulled her close, feeling the weight she carried around on her slim shoulders…had carried for years. I kissed the top of her head. “It’s going to be all right, Nidras.”
She shook her head. “No. It’s never going to be all right.”
Her slender body shivered violently in my arms. My heart broke for her. In an effort to distract and soothe, I lifted her chin with a finger and touched my lips to hers. Her body melted into mine and her arms rose to twine around my neck. I could feel the cold point of one of her knives against the nape of my neck but I forced myself to ignore it.
My body reacted immediately and violently to her nearness. My cock jumped to life and stiffened, straining against the inflexible denim of my jeans. My hands slid from her waist to her pert, little buttocks and I pulled her into my raging erection.
She sighed against my lips, her sweet tongue dancing erotically with mine. I could feel the expectant peaks of her nipples against my ribs and taste her lust on my tongue. My brain shut down as hunger built. I slipped my hands under her soft sweater and slid them up her back.
Her skin was like warm silk under my palms. I wrapped my hands over her shoulders and dragged her up hard against my body, grinding my painful erection into her soft belly. Nidras’ knives clattered to the floor behind me and her fingers slipped under the waistband of my jeans at the small of my back. They slid around to the front, creating a warm trail of need in their wake.
Before I even realized what she was doing, she’d tugged the button open and slid her hand down inside. I nearly came when her silken fingers encompassed my cock.
She pulled me free and dropped to her knees before me.
I groaned and my head dropped back in delighted expectation.
Something tugged at my lust-soaked brain.
Something was wrong.
Nidras’ soft mouth closed over my rigid flesh, sending shock waves of delight through my body. My knees threatened to buckle under me.
I forced them straight and reveled in the wonder of her heated mouth on my aching cock. Dragging my fingers through her soft, spiky hair, I growled with building need.
Beyond the feelings of wonder her mouth engendered. Beyond the fierce joy of her touch. Something tugged at me.
Something warned me.
I tried to wrap my mind around the nagging thought waiting just outside my reach but I couldn’t grasp it. It kept getting washed away under the delightful drag of her hungry tongue against my needy flesh.
The first thing I noticed was heat. Even still, it didn’t work its way into my fevered brain until my entire left side was nearly on fire.
The pain of blistering skin finally cleared my mind. My eyes jerked open and I pulled away from Nidras. I grabbed her shoulders and dragged her to her feet.
She made a pitiful mew of protest but didn’t meet my gaze. I realized her eyes were glazed and blank. I shook her until her eyes cleared slightly. By that time the room was so hot we were covered in sweat. “We need to get out of here.”
She blinked.
A deep, rumbling sound emerged from the black mass and flames licked outward, shooting toward us from the doorway and nearly touching our skin.
Reaching down, I grabbed her knives from the floor and slid them into my waistband. I captured her wrist and ran toward the stairs. Flames licked up at us from the narrow stairwell.
We turned away and ran as far from the flames as possible, toward the only exit available to us.
The window.
I leaned out of the rough rectangle cut in stone and looked down. The ground beneath the window sloped dramatically away, falling in a rocky plunge toward a raging river far below. The nearest point of land was at least ten stories down and there were no ridges or ledges along the wall to use as footholds.
I swore silently and pulled my head back inside. Nidras stood silent beside me, her gaze focused on the approaching flames. She had no expression on her beautiful face. Her eyes were soft and blank.
Whatever was in that room had captured her mind. I only hoped it would lose its influence over her once I got her away.
If I was able to get her away.
Nidras’ face suddenly split in a delighted smile. I followed her gaze to see the black mass within the wizard’s lair roiling and thickening, spilling outward. My gaze locked on the terrible sight and I seemed unable to drag it away.
About ten feet off the floor, two bright yellow orbs suddenly appeared, hanging in the
midst of the mass.
Eyes.
Cold malevolence spilled from the disembodied orbs.
Despite the heat I shivered violently.
Something screamed outside the window and broke the spell the thing had cast over me. I jerked away, dragging Nidras away from the new threat. But what I saw outside made me smile.
Ashtov hovered a few feet away from the window, her bulging, brown eyes wide with fear.
Her damaged wing stuttered fitfully on the air but she was apparently still able to use it to fly. Her tattered and blotchy, white form was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
I pulled Nidras to the window and shoved her up, onto the wide ledge. An enraged roar shook the stone walls hard. I stumbled, barely keeping my feet and when I looked back toward the window Nidras was gone.
I screamed her name and poked my head out, gasping in relief when I saw her sprawled over Ashtov. “Go! Get her out of here. Take her to the tavern down below! I’ll join you there.” Ashtov snorted, tossed her head in understanding and took off.
The deafening roar grew until I had to cover my ears or lose my hearing entirely. The stone floor beneath me rolled and buckled, throwing me to the ground several feet away from the window. Clogging heat moved over me, pressing me down and sucking air from the room, until breathing became torture. The air I pulled into my lungs was like glowing embers from a raging fire.
It seared my nostrils and burned holes in my lungs. I thanked the gods for my month-long Brimstone habit. Hopefully I’d formed protective calluses on my lungs from that.
My vision darkened from the lack of air and I realized I would soon pass out. If I was going to get the hell out of there I’d have to do it quickly. But my body didn’t have the will to move. I was as close to dead as I could get with a beating heart. So I did the only thing I could to survive. I rolled to my side, curled into a fetal position to minimize the monster’s touch on my vulnerable parts and closed my eyes. Concentrating hard, I forced my mind away from pain and terror and fought to pull my power forward.
It was nearly impossible under the stress of my current situation.
At first nothing happened. But after a moment of concentrated effort I felt the power dragging reluctantly from its warm bed at the center of my mind. It spiraled upward in a lazy ribbon. As it climbed it grew until, at last, I felt the power take hold and pulse, awaiting my command, just at the surface of my mind.
I thought of the tavern where I’d sent Nidras and prayed that I didn’t screw it up. Finally, I felt the hard stone beneath my body soften and slip away.
I landed, hard, on the filthy cobblestones of the street in front of the tavern. A muffled shout warned me just before a heavy hoof, clad in an iron shoe, stomped on my head. Still dazed from the magic inferno I’d narrowly escaped, I managed to roll out of the way before I was trampled.
The driver of the carriage that had nearly run me over swore colorfully and spat in my direction. The lugey missile hit the cobblestones by my shoulder, just missing me. Glad to have dodged that bullet, I pushed to my feet. My nose twitched at an offensive odor. Glancing down with a grimace, I realized the nearest source of the stench was me. I’d rolled into a fresh, green pile of horse shit.
Heading into the tavern, I experienced a sudden jolt of nostalgia for Earth and the magic of sleek metal and clean rubber tires. I opened the door and was nearly barreled over by a small, dark-haired firecracker.
“Hermes! Oh my gods!” Nidras flung her arms around my neck. “I was coming to find you. I feared you’d be dead.” She recoiled from me almost immediately. “Bleurg! You smell worse than death!”
I grabbed her arms. “You’re okay? Where’s the horse?”
“I’m fine. What horse?”
“The horse who showed up just in time to rescue you. The horse I flew in on.” That sounded like the title of a bad movie.
She just shook her head. “I woke up outside, on the sidewalk. I didn’t see any horse.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the stairs. “Come on, we still have our room. Nobody would stay in it after Grimsbar burst through the window the last time.” She turned toward the bar and called out to the gruff looking man behind it. “I need a bath poured. Immediately!”
The man scowled at her but nodded.
The tattered stairwell was a brutal reminder of our previous stay. I wondered how many people Grimsbar had killed on his way through the tavern. Other than scorch marks and a few damaged boards, the tavern showed no permanent signs of the horrifying incident.
I was surprised the owner would let us stay there again. I said as much to Nidras.
She grinned. “I didn’t ask for a room. I just gave him a look and he threw the key at me.”
Nidras pulled me into the same room we’d shared before and started tugging on my clothes. “We’ll need to wash these too.”
The shirt came off and was quickly discarded in a far corner of the room. When she reached for my jeans I stopped her. “Whoa, girl. I’ll hold onto these until the bath is filled, thank you.”
She grinned widely. “Prude.”
A knock sounded on the door and two young women opened it without being invited in. Each woman was carrying two buckets of steaming water. They both skimmed me with hungry gazes, lingering on my naked chest and unbuttoned jeans. One of them winked at me, sliding a small, red tongue over full lips. I fought the urge to cross my arms over my chest, lifting my eyebrows meaningfully at Nidras.
She just laughed. I suddenly wondered if she had Succubus in her family tree.
Several buckets later Nidras closed and bolted the door behind the two eager-eyed young women. I finished stripping and sank gratefully into the hot water. “Oh my gods, this feels good.”
I leaned back, closing my eyes and gave myself over to the pleasure of being immersed in hot, clean water. Something soft and wispy landed on my face and my eyes shot open.
Nidras’ panties were pale yellow silk, with lace insets and carried her spicy scent on them. My shaft stiffened happily as I lifted the wisp of cloth off my face, grinning as Nidras stepped into the tub with me. “You looked lonely.”
“Oh, I was.” I stuck the panties into my mouth, making Nidras giggle and reached out to grab her hips, lowering her onto my rigid cock.
Nidras twisted my nipples between her fingers and began a slow, sensual glide up and down on my hard shaft.
Reaching between our bodies, I found the tiny, hard bud of her clitoris, catching it in a gentle grip between my thumb and forefinger and squeezing it gently.
In response, Nidras moaned huskily and increased the tempo of her ride on my throbbing cock. I leaned forward, pulling a long, hard nipple into my mouth and sucking hard while milking the sensitive bud of flesh between my fingers.
Nidras’ head whipped back and forth as her pleasure built and she twisted my nipples to the point of pain. In response, I bit down on the nipple in my mouth and then washed away the sting with a swipe of my hungry tongue.
Nidras was nearly frantic with building lust. She increased her tempo on my cock until my balls pulled up tight against my body, boiling with a need for relief.
I watched her beautiful face, savoring each perfect feature, every soft angle. Her lips were parted slightly, her eyes closed. Her tongue slipped out and stroked along her top lip, as if savoring the fine taste of a precious delicacy.
Thick with need, my shaft pulled even more taut, engorged and painfully tender. Incredibly, watching her made me even harder. Her writhing body and gently contorted face was like an expensive aphrodisiac, building an almost intolerable hunger in my body that I longed to quench.
Nidras’ breasts bounced perkily as she increased the tempo of her dance on my cock. She reached up and cupped them in her hands, tweaking her nipples and moaning from the pleasure her touch engendered.
My balls were like rocks as I watched a soft, pink flush rising into her face. Her lips opened and sharp, white teeth covered her soft bottom lip.
I lic
ked my own lips, starving for a taste of her.
Nidras’ lavender gaze lost its focus. Her muscles tightened and her eyes fluttered as her release built to the breaking point. As the pleasure finally swamped her, she flung back her head and screamed, her body going rigid as waves of pleasure slid over her. I felt the shock waves in the way her body pulsed around mine, pulling me toward the edge right along with her.
Dancing on that razor edge of release, I sucked in a breath and stilled her hips with my hands. For a heartbeat in time, ecstasy danced just out of my reach, taunting me, drawing me in. My hungry cock stretched her sweet channel, expanding impossibly under my aching need for her. I hung in that sweet torture for a heartbeat of time and then Nidras’ body pulled helpfully on mine and I fell over the razor-sharp edge with a growl of ecstasy.
Sitting upright in the tub, I buried myself deep and, for what felt like a full minute, filled her hungry pussy with the hot result of my release. Nidras’ body responded by taking her over with me again. I clenched my teeth as her pussy clamped around me again, pulling the last tender waves of pleasure out of my softening flesh.
We collapsed into a soft, rubbery pile in the cooling water.
Nidras peppered my face with tender kisses that had the flavor of regret.
I put a finger under her chin and lifted it, seeing evidence of her feelings in the pain infusing her beautiful gaze. “This isn’t the end for us, Nidras. I won’t let you go.”
A single tear slid down her cheek. Shaking her head, she stood up and stepped out of the tub.
My body cringed from the loss.
I stood up and grabbed for her. Her skin was slippery and she easily pulled away. She stood like a beautiful statue in front of the fire, her long, elegant back toward me and her head dropped forward.
The picture of Greek tragedy.
When she spoke, her voice was husky with regret. “I need to find Grimsbar.”
