by John Evans
"How did you get in here?" gasped Karina.
Octavia and Per both smiled.
"I'm a phantasm, a creation inside the Simularium," replied Octavia. "I am not the real Octavia. The purple light in the foyer allows me to read your mind so to enhance your pleasure inside. I understand the ritual and comprehend Shara's request to have it here. She is fulfilling a promise to help regenerate my power. There will not be a problem to hold the ritual inside."
"How big is this place?" asked Karina, staring down the main corridor.
"There are one hundred rooms," answered the fake Octavia. "All the rooms have a different design."
"Design?" asked Per confused.
"Purpose," amended Octavia. "This room to your left is the Room of One's True Love."
"But I met you in there," said Per in bewilderment.
"Yes, and at the time, I was what you thought to be your true love," said Octavia.
"This won't work," said Per with a little anxiety. "If Nyrandurril found out..."
"Which will happen only if you tell her," said the fake Octavia. "This room and some others only work for single individuals. If two or more people enter, the room will remain empty. I understand the purpose of the ritual. I will not create anything for anyone involved in the ritual until Per has consummated his portion with that person."
"And after the consummation?" asked Karina.
"Let them have fun," replied Octavia with a sly smile.
"Sounds like a deal to me," said Karina. "Per, we had better get going."
"Hold on," cautioned Per. He turned towards Octavia. "How many wizards still have a tap into the building?"
"Only one," advised Octavia. "The others cut their taps, but she maintained it, even though she did reduce it to a minimal trickle."
"Can you tell who it is?" asked Per.
"Yes, it is the oldest of the two witches."
"That's Lorilei," said Karina sourly. "She always wants that little extra slice of the pie."
"Let's teach her a lesson," said Per with a smile. "She's reduced the strength of the tap, but I think we can still get her wet. We need to have the creations stopped."
"It won't make that big of a difference in this case," replied Octavia.
"Yes, but it might be enough to teach her to listen when we tell her to do something," replied Per.
"Why stop the creations?" asked Karina.
"It pumps up the power," replied Per. "Lorilei might not notice the increase flow, but the surge will have an extra kick."
"Surge? What surge?" asked Karina.
"When you, um, cum," stammered Per.
"Oh!" said Karina quickly in embarrassment.
Per was about to say more when an agitated look crossed Octavia's face. "Goblins!" she exclaimed. "Goblins have tunneled up from underneath the cavern floor. I had sealed the entrances to the cavern, but they have made a new one."
"How many are there?" asked Per as he helped his mother to her feet.
"Hundreds, but they are led by the human who was here before."
"Cedric!" hissed Per in anger as he dashed towards the foyer. Once outside the black building, they separated. Per raced towards the wall to see what was going on, while Karina ran towards the Burgassi tents to get her armor and weapons. Almost everyone was up on top of the wall when Per arrived there. He knew Tenan would not be there, but he was surprised to see that Cendri, Gedda, the General, Octavia, and Vail were missing. Per looked over the battlements and his mouth dropped open in shock.
"Quite a few of the nasty little buggers, aren't there?" said Lorilei flatly. "I severed the tie to the building because I felt the power from it increase and I didn't want to be fried by accident. Now it looks like we are going to need that power, dearie."
"Look, um, Lorilei. The entity in the building created this cavern," said Per. "If we use up all its power, the roof could crash down on all of us."
Lorilei remained silent as Per looked back over the battlements. A large hole had appeared in the floor of the cavern and a multitude of small, green-skinned goblins were pouring out of it. Despite some bickering and in-fighting, they quickly formed up in ranks. A tall human, who Per guessed to be Cedric, was standing in front of the formations looking at the castle. When the last goblin was in line, they began to march towards the plateau. Per guessed that there was close to five hundred goblins.
"What are you all doing up there?" demanded the General from down in the courtyard. "Octavia has found the armory that, thanks to the magical restoration, is completely stocked. Everyone get down there and get dressed for battle."
"Battle?" asked Celine in a frightened voice. "Can't we just negotiate with them?"
"It's easier negotiating with a sword in your hand than trying to talk your way out of the cookpot," said the General kindly. "Go on, girl. Octavia will help you and I know you'll do us proud."
Everyone left the wall, except for Per, the General, Pawl, Helga, Nyrandurril, Lorilei, and Phartom. Gar, Electana, and Diti were collecting rocks and placing them in bags. The General gave everyone remaining a quizzical look.
"Armor will interfere with our spells," explained Pawl to the unasked question. "We learned magic, not weapons."
"Yes, but you can still haul up weapons and supplies for the others," countered the General. "We need poles to fend off ladders, although it looks like they only have grappling hooks. Rope is easy to hack with an axe, unless, of course, you want to use a spell on each hook coming over the wall."
"I catch your drift," said Pawl. "Coming, ladies?"
"I'm hoping to talk our way out of this," said the General after everyone had left. "If they get inside, they'll swarm over us."
"I doubt Cedric will listen to us, especially once he realizes who is inside," replied Per. "He'd kill off his army twice over just to get to some of us." He spotted Karina coming towards them dressed in her armor.
"Cendri and Gedda have lowered the portcullis and are preparing a hot reception with oil for those who try that route," said the General once Karina had joined them. "Everyone else is getting suited up and Octavia is posting them around the walls."
"That's fine, but I don't know why you're telling me this," said Karina. "You're more experienced at this than I am."
"Gar said you were in charge," explained the General. "He also said it was good of you to include a fight in the ritual."
Karina shook her head and said, "I guess he sees it as an added bonus. If anyone gets killed, well, it's not as if we planned it."
"Not even Cedric," said Per, pointing over the wall.
Cedric and several goblins were having a heated argument about the people up on the wall. A unit of fifty goblins were marching a circuitous route towards the ramp and the gatehouse that led up to the top of the plateau. The rest of the goblins had stopped outside bow range of the plateau.
Per looked behind him. Everyone, except the wizards and witches, were dressed in armor and carrying a variety of weapons. Most of the warriors and clerics had dressed in their own armor. Octavia was pointing to where she wanted people to go. She had sent most to where Per was ands a few to fortify the gatehouse. He also noticed that she had sent the novices, like Celine and Contico, to the rear to keep watch there.
"Hallo, the castle!" called out Cedric. "This castle is the property of myself, King Cedric. Vacate it at once!"
"King Cedric!" jeered several voices in derision.
"Why don't you crawl back into the sewer you came from and take your maggoty friends with you?" yelled Per.
"Per? Per, it is you!" shouted Cedric in glee. "I would recognize your malformed body anywhere and that big-titted whore beside you must be your mother! Who else is with you?"
Before Per could answer, Gar came up to the top of the wall and dropped his sack of rocks with a clatter. After hefting a stone which must have weighed twenty pounds in one hand, Gar gripped it firmly and spun around twice. The rock flew from his hand and Gar hopped around on one foot to watch where it went.
<
br /> The stone flew out over the wall and arched down towards Cedric. Cedric dove off to one side, even though it missed him by ten feet to his right. The rock killed two goblins outright, broke the arm of another when he tried to deflect it with his shield and smashed the legs to two other goblins.
roared Gar to the goblins below.
Per heard the goblins begin to mutter from Gar's announcement as Cedric picked himself up off the ground. A group of goblins shouted out Gar's name in anger and it was picked up by others. Within seconds, all the goblins were shouting,
"I think they know who your father is," shouted the General. "Get ready!"
Gar jumped up onto the top of the battlements and roared his defiance at the army below. Without waiting for orders, the goblins all surged forward together.
Chapter 4: Inside The Simularium
The initial skirmish had not gone well for the goblins. Per knew his father hated goblins and usually killed them on sight, but, until now, he never realized how infamous Gar was to the goblin community and how much they hated him.
The goblins had surged forward to get at Gar, despite Cedric's orders to the contrary. As it was, the majority of them packed in at the base of the plateau. Only a few of their grappling hooks made it up to the top of the wall because they did not have enough room to swing them around in the crush. The defenders on top of the wall cut the ropes as Gar hurled rocks down on the goblins. Electana and Diti, standing in the courtyard, lobbed stones over the wall. They could not see any of the goblins, but that did not matter as they could scarcely miss the massed throng below.
The goblins countered the missiles by backing up and launching a hail of arrows and bolts at the defenders to keep them away from the grappling hooks. Pawl, Lorilei, Helga, and Nyrandurril decimated two units of archers with a couple of fireball spells, a few magic missiles, and other equally deadly magic. The remaining missile-armed goblins spread out so that they would not be so easy a target and continued to snipe at the people above.
The climax of the battle occurred when a jet of flame whooshed out of the tunnel mouth that led from the cavern floor to the top of the plateau. Half of the goblin unit that Cedric had sent over there was caught in the flames. Per was scared that they had done something to breach the gatehouse and was preparing to run over there when Cendri came up to the roof of the gatehouse and waved an 'all's well' sign to him and the others. She then turned to fire several crossbow bolts after the retreating goblins.
The battle degenerated into a stalemate after that and the goblins pulled back out of range. Per guessed that about fifty goblins had been killed and twice that number wounded. Karlto had taken a quarrel in his upper right chest when he had attempted to cut the rope to a hook. Ivin rushed over to him, yanked out the bolt, and healed the wound. His scream of pain had not even died down before Ivin was cutting the rope, and moving on. Diti had taken an arrow in her leg, which was healed by Bargan after the goblins had backed off.
Per found himself looking over the parapets at the milling goblins with Bargan, Vail, Helga, Morning Mist, and Celine. Karlto had already gone down to the courtyard to repair the hole in his armor. The General was suggesting to Karina to set up a watch to allow the defenders a chance to rest and replenish their supplies.
"Nice fight so far," commented Bargan. "So glad to be included in on all of this."
"Sorry," apologized Per. "Considering I did not know about any of this until a few days ago, it's not what I expected either."
Bargan grimaced in embarrassment. "I'm sorry also, Per. I'm just on edge from being transported here unexpectedly and then finding several hundred goblins thirsting for my blood."
"I think today's been a little trying for all of us," replied Per.
"You're right," said Bargan with some of his old humor. "If you will excuse me, I'll go see what I can do to help your mother. I'm sure it's been especially trying for her."
"Do you think they will leave?" asked Celine anxiously, looking down at the goblins.
"I doubt it," said Per. "Oh, look, Cedric is engaging in some goblin politics."
The people with Per looked down just in time to see Cedric stab the goblin who was standing in front of him. He then hacked at the body on the ground until it was a bloody mess. A couple of goblins came over fearfully at Cedric's command and dragged the body away.
"Why did he do that?" asked Celine, white-faced and aghast.
"They didn't obey his orders," replied Vail. "They attacked before he had a plan. We were lucky that we killed and wounded so many."
"Not that lucky," corrected Helga, with her chin tilted upward as if testing the air. "He's got the goblin shamans healing the wounded instead of preparing them for dinner."
"Eww!" grimaced Celine.
"Remember that if you expect mercy from them," said Vail. "Why don't you all go and get some sleep. Octavia set up the watch and I have the first shift with Morning Mist."
Helga headed towards the keep, while Per and Celine walked down to the courtyard. They saw Pawl crossing the courtyard heading towards the keep. He spotted them and waited for them to catch up to him.
"Quite a day, eh, Per?" asked Pawl with a smile. "Nothing's ever dull around you."
"I seem to remember you getting into trouble all by yourself before we met," joked Per.
"True, true, but I've changed," said Pawl. He then leered at Celine. "Well, almost changed." He looked back at Per and turned serious. "The next attack is going to be different. There's a group of shamans with the goblins who can nullify a good portion of our magic just as we can nullify theirs. It may come down to who can overpower who."
"We know about the shamans, but you might want to tell my mother," said Per. "We'll all do our best when they attack again."
"I'll go see Karina and then I need to rest," said Pawl before moving off.
Per made to follow him, but stopped when Celine put her hand on his arm. "Per, do we have time," she began to ask him before she stopped. Celine took in another breath. "I mean, before they, you know, I want to, just in case."
"Don't be afraid," reassured Per. "We can keep them out. Believe it or not, this is a pretty extraordinary group in this castle and I do include you with them."
Celine looked down as she blushed. "Still, I told your mother I would. Do you mind if Contico joins us? We've become friends."
"Go and fetch her if your mind is made up," said Per. "I'll meet you by the entrance to the black building over there."
Celine soon returned with Contico in tow. They had both changed out of the leather armor Octavia made them wear and had left their weapons behind. Per looked on in disapproval as the two of them laughed and giggled their way towards him.
"It wasn't a good idea to leave your gear behind," he told them sternly.
"Oh, pooh," pouted Contico. "According to Cendri, it's going to take them several hours to heal up their troops, make a plan, and get everyone over there organized. Trust me, I would not have come out here at all if I thought there was a chance of an attack. You ready to do your duty, big boy? Hope you're as good as the first time."
"If I remember correctly, the first time you were zonked out of your mind on your own pollen," Per reminded her. "I'm surprised you remember anything at all."
"I don't," admitted Contico. "Well, I'm sober now. Let's say as good as the last time, shall we?"
The three of them stepped into the foyer of the black building, stripped, and were bathed in lavender light. Celine was all eager and aglow with excitement, while Contico cast appraising glances at Per's muscles and thick, hard cock. The inner doors opened and they were met by a naked Iona.
"How did you get in here?" asked Contico in amazement.
"I'm not the real Iona," said the phantasm. "I am merely a representation of her to put you at ease. Shall we go?"
"Go?" asked Celine. "Go where?"
Iona just gave her a knowing smile and led the way down the main corridor. H
alfway down the hallway, she took a left turn and went through a doorway to another corridor. She stopped two doors down.
"Have fun," she said before shimmering from view.
Per looked at Contico and Celine, who both shrugged their shoulders. They had no more a clue than Per did. Per opened the door, took a step inside, and fell three feet onto a huge pile of pillows. Celine howled in delight as she dove over Per to land facedown on the soft cushions. Contico laughed and launched herself into the room.
Pretending to be grumpy, Per threw a couple of pillows at the women, which led to a mock battle where the air was filled with flying cushions. After several minutes, they all fell backwards laughing uproariously.
"Oh, Gods, I haven't had this much fun since, well, a long time," chuckled Contico.
"Neither have I," added Celine. "However, I did not come here to have a pillow fight."
She rolled over quickly until she was next to Per. Per gasped as her small hands grabbed a hold of his semi-flaccid cock and began to stroke it. Celine stuck out her tongue and licked around the sensitive head of Per's prick.
"Looks like you're on to something there," commented Contico, who also rolled over next to Per. "Is your tongue talented?" she asked him.
Contico pushed Per back and threw a leg over his head. Per brought his hands up to grasp her plump ass and buried his face into her dripping cunt. Contico shivered and moaned in delight as Per's tongue licked deep into the folds of her vagina.
"Do you want to - oh, yeah! - go first?" panted Contico to Celine.
"Yes," replied Celine, slurping her mouth off Per's throbbing cock.
Celine kept a hold of Per's hard shaft as she scooted her hips up towards his. Per felt Celine straddle him and rub her wet pussy up and down the length of his cock. She then pointed his cock straight up and nuzzled her hot snatch to the tip of his prick. With a loud gasp, she sank downward, impaling herself on the thick, hard shaft.
Per turned his attention back to the pussy that was plastered to his face. As he licked and tongued Contico's cunt, Celine was slowly going up and down with half of his cock going in her tight slit. The last two times he had fucked Celine, Per had been in the throes of his lustcraze. He guessed this time she wanted to savor it, so he let her set her own pace.
