Master of the Dungeon: A Heroes and Harpies Fantasy

by Cara Vance

  It was impossible, though. She knew who she was and also knew she needed to - kill - escape from these things. They were surely - no match - too strong for her to take on herself.

  Or were they?

  The first of the brutes, the one with the axe, strode forward toward her.

  “You no fight, we not hurt you...much,” it said with a chuckle.

  “Maybe we can talk this out?” Trinity asked without much hope.

  One scarred brow raised questioningly. “Talk?” it growled back.

  “Yeah, maybe we can come to some sort of deal.”

  “Deal...yes,” its comrade said, stepping forward. “You have gold?”

  “Um...maybe.” Trinity looked down on the ground, hoping to find a purse or its medieval equivalent lying somewhere. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing to be seen but soiled furs and rock.

  The orcs hesitated for a few moments, then the one with the axe snarled, “Lies! You no fool us again.”

  Before Trinity even had a chance to put her arms up in surrender, it was upon her.

  * * *

  The beast swung the axe; to Trinity, it looked sharp enough to cleave her in two. She tried ducking, but was too slow and the blade caught her...and then glanced off the metal bustier she wore, sending a shower of sparks in the air.

  Well, what do you know? He was right about the armor.

  Even so, the blow should have been enough to send her sprawling, but she’d barely been budged by the attack. Surprised, her foe raised the axe high above its head, ready to bring it down in a killing blow.

  Trinity meant to cower in fear, praying for it to be over quickly, but she was instead surprised to find instinct taking over as she stepped forward and grabbed hold of the weapon’s shaft before the orc could take another swing.

  She must’ve gone mad at some point. The beast had nearly a foot and a half on her in height and its arms bristled with muscle. Only the truly desperate or completely insane would dare try to test it in a contest of strength. Trinity expected to be shoved aside like a gnat. Except she wasn’t. A second passed and then another while she continued to hold the orc’s weapon at bay. Hell, it even appeared to be straining against her.

  No way!

  Then she once again remembered Seth’s words from earlier. “Your primary attribute is strength.”

  All at once, Trinity wished she’d listened to everything he’d told her and spent more time looking at her character sheet than complaining about metal bikinis. Unfortunately, that time was past. What she knew would have to be enough.

  Letting go with one hand, she cocked back a fist and braced for the pain to come as she drove it forward into the orc’s snout.

  There was pain alright, but it wasn’t hers. Blood exploded from the creature’s face and it staggered back, stunned. Sadly for Trinity, there wasn’t time to celebrate as its buddy immediately came charging at her, a growl escaping its thick lips.

  She had a feeling that playtime was finished. There was no time to waste on indecision anymore. “Okay, Sonya, let’s see what you’ve got.”

  Trinity gritted her teeth and forced herself to let go, to believe herself to be the warrior whose body she inhabited. A vision of Seth appeared in her mind’s eye. She once again marveled at his power as he took her. The things he’d done had been impossible, but they’d happened anyway and she’d happily let them. Perhaps that was the key - accept this new reality and let it happen.

  The monster opened its mouth to roar just as Trinity embraced all the rage, anger, and aggression that she’d been trying to bottle up. A scream of defiance escaped her throat and where her foe went high, she went low - bringing her booted foot up into its naked crotch, feeling the crunch of its testicles as she hit home with enough force to ensure this creature wouldn’t be fathering children anytime soon.

  “Oh well, they would’ve just looked like you anyway,” she scoffed as if she was the heroine in a bad action movie.

  Its bellow turned into a squeal of pain as it dropped its club and fell to its knees, its hands cradling the shattered remnants of its manhood.

  Before she could allow herself the luxury of thinking about what she was going to do, she stepped forward, grabbed its head, and twisted, breaking its thick neck with a wet *snap*.

  The monster fell over, dead.

  A part of Trinity was horrified at what she’d done - hell, she didn’t even like stepping on bugs - but that part of her was now subordinate to the warrior who stood triumphant over her foe.

  Sadly for her, in that moment, she’d forgotten all about her other foe, the one she’d punched.

  “Ooh, flank attack. Sorry,” a disembodied voice whispered in the wind.

  Crap!

  Trinity spun, but wasn’t fast enough. The blade sliced through the air and caught her on the arm, gouging a nasty cut in her right tricep.

  “Argh!”

  Blood flowed freely from the wound, but she was happy to find her arm still attached. Still functional too, she noted, flexing her fist.

  Again, that ghostly voice spoke...Seth’s and yet not, a whisper from nowhere and everywhere at once. “Lucky. I only rolled a one for damage.”

  Whatever he was babbling about, she decided not to waste the opportunity that had been granted. Before the orc could swing again, Trinity dove backward out of its reach. She hit the floor with her hands, flipped over, and landed gracefully on her feet. Glancing down, she saw the discarded sword right in front of her, almost as if she’d planned it that way.

  Sliding a foot beneath it, she kicked it into the air and caught it neatly in her hand - almost as if it were a part of her.

  “Let’s try this again, asshole,” she said, stepping forward.

  The battle that ensued was brief, but violent. The orc clumsily swung at her, enraged by the loss of its friend, but Trinity was both stronger and faster. The fight ended a few moments later when the orc’s severed arm went flying toward the entrance of the cave to land in the fire.

  Trinity raised the sword above her head, ready to put her defeated foe out of its misery, but then hesitated as more memories flittered through her mind.

  “You recognize the tribal tattoos as belonging to the clan of Tevor Rottencrotch.”

  “Your quest still awaits.”

  With a sigh, she resigned herself to at least try. She grabbed the injured orc by the throat and dragged it face to face with her. Its rancid breath nearly made her gag, but she grinned anyway.

  “Tell me where your boss is and I won’t hurt you...much.”

  THIRTEEN

  She tracked down her quarry for what felt like hours, following the other orc’s directions when she could, but relying on her senses when she needed to. Trinity couldn’t help but smile at finding herself following what should have otherwise been an invisible trail to her. Apparently, Sonya was an expert outdoorswoman too.

  “Pretty goddamned handy,” she muttered to herself, beginning to actually enjoy the feel of the hunt.

  At last, just as the sky was beginning to lighten in what she assumed was the east, she topped a rise and spied a camp ahead. There was just one large circular tent set up - a hole in the top from which a wisp of smoke escaped. Outside, she saw what appeared to be two guards sitting around a fire. Judging from their brutish silhouettes, it wasn’t hard to identify them as more orcs.

  Fortunately for her, they were passing a jug back and forth, taking long pulls from it. She observed them for a few more minutes and grinned. She’d been to enough frat parties to recognize when someone was drunk off their ass.

  Still, caution guided her and she waited, but whatever fates - or Hero Masters, she supposed - were watching over her were kind. After another ten minutes of drinking, one stretched out on the ground and began to snore. His comrade finished the jug and then walked out of the camp to relieve himself.

  Trinity snuck down toward him and made sure he didn’t return.

  * * *

  Minutes later, the snoring orc was quietly
dispatched, courtesy of her sword - its blade sharp as a razor.

  Trinity looked down at herself in the light of the fire and realized she was covered in blood, but oddly enough, she didn’t care. The thrill of battle seemed to have awakened something within her. That, combined with the incredible sex from earlier, made her realize she’d never felt more alive.

  This is so much better than sitting in my room, eating ice cream, and watching The Hunger Games again.

  Trinity cleaned the blade of her sword on the cloak of the fallen orc and found herself wondering if either of the brutes she’d just defeated were Tevor. If so, she’d won the quest, but for some reason, she didn’t feel as if that was the case. Seth had told her that the quest and freeing herself were one and the same. Sure, she felt pretty darn good, but dispatching two drunken foes was a bit of an anticlimax after everything she’d just been through.

  She was about to put her weapon away and ponder her next move when she heard a heavy grunt come from inside the tent. She froze where she stood and listened more closely. There was at least one more of those things around. She took a moment to consider things as she spied the flap covering the entrance. It had been foolish of her to think she’d won so easily. Trinity didn’t know military tactics from Adam, but she was smart enough to surmise that the person in charge probably got the best trappings.

  Of course, best was a matter of opinion, being that the tent smelled like it had been used as a horse blanket. Even so, it was still better than being left outside on guard duty. Using that logic, Trinity crept forward, listening as she went.

  The sounds from inside became louder, more distinct. Another grunt, followed by another, then a squeal that didn’t match the cadence of whatever had been making noise up until that point. The conclusion was obvious: there were least two of them ahead!

  Crouching down, she used the tip of her sword to lift the flap of the tent and peer inside. It was dim, but thanks to the dying embers of a smaller fire inside, she was able to make out a crude living space - including a table upon which sat several skulls, some animal, but at least a few that appeared human.

  Trinity furrowed her brow, remembering the kidnappings this group was responsible for. It would appear that Tevor and his recently deceased buddies weren’t big on keeping prisoners around.

  Unfortunately, that seemed to be the extent of the inside. There was no sign of any...then she heard the grunting again from further in. Squinting in the darkness, she was able to make out a crude divider made of some filthy material. Apparently, there was another room beyond.

  Readying her blade, she stepped in as quietly as she could, although judging from the quickening pace of the grunts and squeals, she could have been singing a Katy Perry song at the top of her lungs and not been noticed. Whatever was going on back there sounded like an animal being skinned alive, but Trinity’s instincts told her that wasn’t the case. She gave a sniff of the air and almost gagged, but it confirmed her suspicions. Although these creatures smelled anything but pleasant, she could detect an underlying musky odor to the air. It practically reeked of sex inside.

  Perhaps he’d kept one of his prisoners alive after all and was even now forcing himself upon her. Perhaps, but for some reason, she didn’t quite buy that. Whatever was going on in there, it sounded like both parties were enjoying it...in a sick sort of way.

  She grinned despite the danger. There were two situations in which she personally didn’t care to ever be surprised by someone barging in - sitting on the toilet and in the middle of doing it. However, catching someone in the act...

  Her thoughts raced back to Trevor and her grin immediately faltered.

  Let’s get this over with.

  Trinity made her way forward until she was standing before the cloth divider. The sounds coming from inside told her that things were rapidly reaching their crescendo. She raised her blade and flung open the curtain, meaning to swing the weapon at the first orc she saw, but ended up stopping dead in her tracks instead.

  What she saw in of itself wasn’t a surprise. Sure enough, two of the creatures were in the middle of an energetic fuck session. The female was bent over, being taken from behind. Its beady eyes were closed and it squealed in delight as it was rammed mercilessly. The she-orc hadn’t noticed her yet, but the male had and that was what caused Trinity to hesitate.

  Though easily as muscular as the two who’d attended her and Seth earlier that night, he was less animalistic in appearance. He had a regal, almost handsome, quality to him that seemed familiar for some reason. He stopped mid-thrust and stared hard at her, surprise evident on his sweat-soaked brow.

  It was then the female opened her eyes questioningly, as if to ask why her lover had ceased, and noticed Trinity standing there. Just as it began screaming - a high-pitched wail that hurt Trinity’s ears - she realized the true reason for her hesitation.

  Despite the green skin, pig-like nose, and cruel tusks that jutted from the male’s mouth, Trinity could see the resemblance.

  No way!

  He couldn’t have known.

  Tevor or, as she realized now, Trevor Rottencrotch quickly recovered from the surprise of seeing her. Where in that other world he had offered up lame excuses, here, he simply smiled as he gave two more quick thrusts into his screaming companion, holding her tightly and ignoring her panic.

  “You like what you see?” he asked with a leer, his English broken but his voice unmistakably that of her ex. “Perhaps you wish to join Tevor.”

  FOURTEEN

  “What?” Trinity asked, barely realizing she’d spoken.

  “Tevor is too much man for one woman, especially pale-skinned human.” He again thrust into his partner, who Trinity now realized was little more than a monstrous, snout-nosed Lisa Hamilton.

  Guess I was right about her being a PIG.

  The Lisa-orc continued to snarl in anger as she tried to pull away from Tevor. Her goal was obvious: a wickedly sharp dagger that lay just out of her reach.

  Tevor, for his part, appeared unworried. He gave her a hard slap on the ass and said, “Silence!”

  All at once, the Lisa-thing ceased her struggles and obeyed, taking it like the obedient whore that Trinity suspected she was.

  It was then that Trinity remembered the sword in her hand. Anger flared up at watching her ex-boyfriend - or his doppelganger anyway - do to this beast what she’d always waited in vain for him to do to her. Forget this world and her stupid quest. There was no way she was allowing this bullshit to play out again.

  Giving in to the rage, she raised her sword and leapt forward. With one savage action, she drove it straight through Lisa’s wart-covered back. The orc shuddered and dropped face first onto the furs upon which she was being taken.

  Tevor gave another thrust into his companion, then again slapped her ass - this time to no effect. He turned to Trinity and snarled, seemingly more annoyed at the loss of his slut-beast than anything else.

  Before Trinity could withdraw her weapon, he backhanded her - sending her flying out into the main room. She landed amid the dying embers of the cooking fire, dazed, but aware enough to roll off before her skin started to char.

  She was back to one knee, shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, when Tevor strode out to meet her - his cock still dripping with Lisa’s juices.

  “Tevor not done fucking yet!” he bellowed. “You anger Tevor. Now you service me or die.”

  Service?

  Trinity’s head cleared and the part of her that was Sonya screamed a battle cry as she leapt to her feet. Even unarmed, she’d managed to easily best another orc earlier this day. No way was she letting this prick get away with embarrassing her twice, even if she had to do it bare-handed.

  She let loose with a thunderous right cross that turned Tevor’s head. For a moment, she was sure he’d start spitting teeth, but he just turned back toward her with a grin upon his face.

  “Tevor like when they fight.”

  She swung again, but this time, he caug
ht her fist mid-swing and held it in a crushing grip. With his other hand, he grabbed hold of her chainmail top and tore it from her body.

  “Tevor like when they surrender more.”

  He drove his face forward and head-butted Trinity, stunning her. Another punch to her gut drove the wind from her and doubled her over.

  Before she could retaliate, he kicked her legs out from under her and she went down, or would have had he not grabbed a handful of her hair. When he dragged her back to her knees, she found herself facing his cock, still hard and wet.

  It was brutishly large, but not nearly the size of those the orcs back in the cave had possessed. Even here you’re still below average, asshole.

  “Now you service me. Do good and maybe Tevor will let you live for a while, let his friends share you too.”

  What?! No, not after her!

  But there wasn’t anything Trinity could do. Tevor yanked painfully hard on her hair and when she opened her mouth to scream, he stuffed his manhood into it - shoving it deep until it hit the back of her throat.

  Trinity gagged, both from choking on his cock and from the pungent taste of Lisa, but he held her tight. She glanced up, tears in her eyes, and found him leering down at her. “Good human. Now do as you told.”

  Fear overwhelming her, she complied - bobbing her head up and down along his rigid shaft. He continued to hold her by the hair, giving it a cruel pull to signify that she should pick up the pace.

  Even worse, a part of Trinity enjoyed his commands, liked the way he was taking charge, hoping that when all was finished, he’d fuck her just like he’d fucked Lisa.

  Tevor’s breathing quickened and he smiled. “Yes, human. Tevor almost there.”

  Trinity sped up her movements, sucking him for all she was worth, doing what she could to please him.

  “Careful not to choke on it all, human.”

  What?!

  For just a moment, it seemed that Tevor’s growl was gone and in its place was Trevor’s lackluster enthusiasm.

  Once more, Sonya’s rage flared deep within her, this time joined by Trinity’s as the memory of his betrayal and neglect flashed through her mind.