by John Evans
Snarling, Per rushed forward, intent on killing his former baron. He was ten feet away from the throne when he crashed into an invisible barrier. He fell to the floor, stunned by the impact. Shaking his head to clear it of the ringing, he retrieved Dorgeth and painfully stood up. He reached out with one hand until he came in contact with the barrier.
"Ah, I see you are going to be reasonable about this," said the man on the throne. Cedric smirked, but could not hide the hate in his eyes. "As you may have surmised, I am Yayenski, Per. You don't mind if I call you Per, do you?" Per nodded his head. "Wonderful! I've been watching your journey through my crystal ball. I am sorry about the ambush, but Cedric did not know who was following him and he took steps to remove that threat. That was, of course, before we knew it was you."
"Where's Queen Shara?" asked Per.
"Ah, straight to the point," commented Yayenski. "I guess considering your journey, you are entitled to an explanation. Many years ago when I was just an apprentice, I came across references to a building that acts as a storage facility for magical energy. It is the black building next door. I found Cedric during my search, he has proved to be most useful, and, as you'll have seen, I have acquired a following of kobolds.
"Imagine my joy when I finally discovered the building. However, the environs around here were overrun with other races. I knew they had to be driven off before I could begin my studies.
"Even at the edge of the cavern, I could feel the energy stored within the building. I tapped into it and felt it surge within me. My own power increased tenfold. I cast a spell compelling all the monsters around here to attack Delta. Much to my own surprise, the building cast its own magic, blasting a tunnel to the surface. As soon as the other races had left, it closed the tunnel.
"But I had another problem - the energy drain on the building had been tremendous. I knew I had to replenish the energy and focused my attention to that end. The wizard, wizards, or race that built it must have been randy old goats. Sexual energy inside the building is converted to magical energy. It seems that the building supplies you with whatever you need for gratification, even if you are alone.
"I sent several kobolds into the building, but they are highly excitable beings. The energy they produced were just pinpricks before, well, let's just say that they could not stand the strain."
"You went to all the trouble of kidnapping Queen Shara just to put her in the building?" asked Per in utter disbelief.
"Oh, no," replied Yayenski. "Cedric's reward for helping me is the Overlord's kingdom. Her kidnapping was part of the plan to destabilize the kingdom, but I did need to recharge the building and since the Queen's sexual prowess is rumored to be unsurpassed, I could not pass up the opportunity.
"And how well it worked out! The jolt from her first orgasm put me on my back, and the next two were just as exhilarating. Unfortunately, the building has been quiet since."
"She's dead?" asked Per in horror.
"No, I can still sense her in the building. Let's just say she's no longer active."
"You're making a mistake!" snarled Cedric, coming down from beside the throne to stand in front of Per on the other side of the barrier. "Just kill him and be done with it!"
Per swung Dorgeth as hard as he could at his nemsis. The sword rebounded off the barrier, but not before breaking the spell. The barrier shattered in a flash of light and a loud bang. Per was pushed back several feet, but Cedric was bowled over and slid across the marble floor to the back wall.
Yayenski was momentarily stunned, but quickly recovered. Per strode forward, but stopped when the wizard's body blurred. Suddenly there were ten of him.
"You amaze me, Per," said all ten versions of Yayenski. Cedric groaned behind them as he slowly pushed himself up off the floor. "I could let you kill Cedric, but I still have need of him. I have no desire to see my head on Delta's gate. Queen Shara is still alive. I can sense her in the building through the energy tap. You need me to open the building. Shall we call a truce?"
"Truce," agreed Per. He did not like it, but he knew he had to rescue Queen Shara. If she died, he would be hunted down. Even so, he would gladly pay those consequences to keep Cedric off the throne.
"Cedric, why don't you wait here?" asked Yayenski in a tone that was almost a command. "You'll be leaving soon and, as you said, we can't have any mistakes."
Cedric took a couple of deep breaths and brought his anger under control. He pulled himself up straight and looked at Per with disdain. "Truce," he spat out, "but you do know it won't apply to my cousin. Your meeting with her should be interesting."
"You must be tired," said Yayenski, walking away from the throne. "My servants will show you your quarters. When you are ready, I will open the building for you."
"Let's go now," said Per. "I want to get this over with."
"As you wish."
Yayenski led him through the castle and out into the courtyard. The black building loomed just a couple of hundred feet in front of them. As they approached closer, Per could see that the building had no seams or gaps and appeared to have been made from a single piece of black rock, except for the double doors. The doors were twelve feet square and faced towards the castle. A niche one foot off the ground and eight feet high had been cut into the wall on the right hand side of the doors. A single gold strand ran down from the top to the bottom of the niche and it had been threaded through a two inch steel ball floating an inch above the bottom of the niche. Per reached out to touch the ball and received a nasty shock.
"Same thing happened to Cedric, if it makes you feel any better," said Yayenski, as Per sucked on his stinging fingertips. "It's a 'look, but don't touch' item. The ball moves up and down on the gold wire. When we first arrived it was almost touching the bottom with only a blade's width between."
"What caused it to move up?" asked Per.
"The kobolds I sent into the building and Queen Shara's antics," replied Yayenski. "Remember I told you that sexual activity inside the building is converted and stored." He waved a hand at the niche. "I believe it is a measuring device for how much energy is stored here. Are you ready?"
"Go on," answered Per.
Yayenski faced the doors and said, "Tobluk Arana Seggal. Iyata! Iyata! Iyata!"
The door cracked open with a dull boom and split apart to reveal a foyer. The foyer had stone benches lined along its walls and magical illumination lighted the interior.
Per turned to face Yayenski. "If she's not inside..." he said, gripping the hilt of his sword for emphasis.
"She is," said Yayenski. "She's still a part of my plans. I don't need her immediately, but, at some point, I will need her out of there."
Inside the foyer, a set of double doors lead further into the building. The benches were made of the same hard material as the building. A neatly folded pile of clothing had been placed on top of one of the benches. Per turned back to face Yayenski and was stunned to see the doors closing. "Wait! How do we get back?" he yelled.
"Alas, that is the one thing I have not figured out yet," replied Yayenski just as the doors banged shut.
Seething, Per stared at the closed doors. He turned around and went to the other set of doors. He pushed on them, but they would not budge. Suddenly, the light overhead changed to a lavender hue. Per looked around, but could not see anything that may have caused the change. Then, just as quick, the light changed back to white.
"Please leave all armor, weapons, clothing, and jewelry on the bench," announced a voice that sounded a lot like Octavia. "You will not be allowed to enter the Simularium wearing or carrying anything, Per."
"Who are you and how do you know my name?" asked Per, but the voice remained silent.
Sighing, he began unbuckling his swordbelt. He quickly stripped down completely and stood in front of the inner doors. "I'm ready."
The light flashed to lavender again and then changed back. The inner door opened inward, revealing a lighted fifteen foot wide corridor going all the way to the back of the
building. Doors lined the hallway on either side at irregular intervals. No two doors or door frames were alike. At the end of the corridor, which had to be five hundred feet long, there was a staircase leading upward.
Resigning himself to rescuing Queen Shara, Per sighed and stepped out of the foyer, the inner doors closing behind him. The nearest door along the corridor was to his left, and was covered with runes and symbols the like of which he had never seen before. Per put his ear up against the wood to listen, but could not hear anything. He opened the door and went inside.
The room was oddly shaped with numerous walls jutting out at all angles. At its widest point, it was about seventy feet wide and Per guessed it to be around ninety feet deep. He was about to leave when he heard a noise come from behind one of the corners that stuck out into the room. He took a step forward when a head peeked around the wall.
"Per? Per, is that you?" asked Octavia.
Per stood there stunned. She ran forward, her large breasts bouncing with each stride, and smacked into him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she started to cry. "Oh, Per, I thought I was going to be stuck here forever. I never imagined I'd be saved by you. How did you find me?"
"I didn't know you were here," mumbled Per, his thoughts a little incoherent. "How did you get here?"
"I don't know," replied Octavia. "I've been here awhile. Come, let me show you something. I may be trapped here, but this place provides you with your heart's desire."
She led Per by the hand around the jutting corner to a table laid out with all sorts of delectable food. The savory aroma made his mouth water.
Octavia reached up to pull his head down to kiss him. "I'm so glad you're here," she said. "I've been so lonely. How about you fuck me silly, we grab something to eat, and then get the hell out of here?"
"What about Queen Shara?" asked Per.
"Who?" asked Octavia, just before she froze with a completely blank expression on her face. She snapped out of it a second later. "Oh, her, she'll be fine."
"You're not Octavia!" accused Per, backing up away from her.
"Of course, I'm Octavia," said the woman. She brought her hands up and grabbed two handfuls of her huge, heavy tits. Her nipples stuck out like the fingertips. "Don't I look like her? If you bring that huge cock of yours here, I'll show you I fuck like her."
Per just backed up until he reached the door. Keeping an eye on the women purporting to be Octavia, he fumbled for the doorknob and finally managed to get the door open. As soon as he did that, she shimmered and faded from view.
"This place must make its own illusions," Per mused to himself. "If she hadn't frozen there for a second, I'd have... I wonder how big of a rush that would have given Yayenski?"
He continued down the corridor, opening doors as he went along. Each door opened up to a different room or hallway. Per did not go in, but yelled for Queen Shara before moving on. He finally reached the stairs and headed up to the second floor. At the top of the stairs was another wide corridor going back down the length of the building with doors on both sides. At the end, he could just make out a huddled form with long, auburn hair.
Per strode forward warily. He did not want to be taken in by another illusion. As he approached, the person raised her head to look at him. It was either Queen Shara or an illusion that looked just like her. The women got to her feet and stood before him with a regal baring. Her hair hung down her back past her waist, her large breasts were upthrust and proud, and her neat pubic hair was a shade darker that the hair on her head. She stood still, patiently waiting for him to get closer, and seemingly unaffected by her nudity.
"Queen Shara, I'm here to rescue you," said Per, before realizing how lame that sounded.
The Queen chuckled unpleasantly. "Yes, that was what the last one said. I'm surprised it made you, though. You're still as ugly as I remember." She looked down at his flaccid dick. "Typical. I guess my subconscious had to give you that monster cock. Well, I'm not going to play with any illusionary phantasm, just disappear back to wherever you came from."
"You're no prize, either, especially after trying to kill me," said Per. "Fortunately, I'm real and I need to get you back to the Capitol."
"Real?" snorted Queen Shara in disgust. "How's your slut mother?"
"Don't call her a slut, you royal whore," snapped Per angrily.
Queen Shara cocked her head to one side and looked at Per quizzically. She tentatively reached out a hand to touch him on the arm. "You are real!" she gasped in amazement. "I mean..." She visibly shook off her shock. "How did you get here?"
"I saw you kidnapped back at the Capitol and have been chasing after Your Majesty ever since," replied Per.
"Why?" asked Queen Shara suspiciously. "There is no love between us."
"True, but I was seen in the Capitol the night of your kidnapping. What do you think the Overlord would do to me when he heard I was there?"
"Questioning, interrogation, both magical and physical, jail until you coughed up the truth or whatever they wanted to hear of what happened to me. I imagine it would be mostunpleasant."
"I thought the same way," said Per. "I figured my only chance was to rescue you. How did you know I was real, Your Majesty?"
"Whoever or what ever controls this building has a problem dealing with anger," said the Queen. "Its phantasms take a second or two to work through the emotion. I apologize for calling your mother a slut."
"Apology accepted, Your Majesty," said Per. "Now all we have to do is find a way out of here."
"Let's leave off the 'Your Majesty' until we get back to the Capitol," she said. "Just call me Shara."
Perhaps it was the fact the Queen was allowing him to call her by her first name, but Per couldn't help but look up and down her hourglass-shaped body. Suddenly self-conscious, he turned to hide his cock from her view. Shara, catching his gaze, also turned slightly and brought her arms up over her large chest. She then sighed in exasperation.
"Yes, let's be ridiculous and act like two teenagers who just hit puberty," she said sarcastically. "How about we worry about getting out of here and less about our modesty? Do you have any ideas?"
"From what I saw outside, there is only one entrance in and out of this building," said Per. "I went into the first room with all the odd walls and met a... phantasm?" Shara nodded. "A phantasm of a girl I know."
"I met my husband in that room," said the Queen. "He convinced me that he had come to rescue me. When I realized it wasn't him, I started to stay in the corridors. Food and drink appeared for me, but no other people showed up."
"Hello?" Per called up at the ceiling. "Hello? If you can hear us, let us know. We don't understand where we are."
"Think it will work?" asked Shara, looking around.
Suddenly, the fake Octavia shimmered into view. "What is there to understand? This is a place of pleasure. Your gratification gives me energy, energy I desperately need."
"Are you an illusion or for real?" asked Shara.
"I am both," replied Octavia. "The entry room scanned your minds to make sure your stay here was as enjoyable as possible."
"I can see why you would enjoy it," said Shara, nodding towards the phantasm's large tits.
"Octavia's breasts are four inches larger around the bust than yours," said Octavia. "They are also fuller."
"Let's change the subject," said Per quickly, suddenly feeling warm and a twitch in his cock. "Is the building alive or is there something running it? If you are an illusion and real, then you are draining energy, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am a drain on the energy stored within the building," replied the false Octavia. "It might be best if you met with the one who maintains the building and the cavern. Take the second door on the right. You will be in a long corridor that turns left thrice. Enter the first door you find. It will be a round room with an obelisk inside. Touch the obelisk and you will be transported to the room where the one is."
She shimmered away. Per looked at Shara who nodded back to him. He op
ened the indicated door and they entered the hallway. They walked down it and after the third turn, they found a door on their left. Per opened the door and saw a round room with a granite obelisk in the center of the room.
"Do you think it's safe?" asked Shara as Per entered the room.
"Nothing's tried to harm us so far and if this place was built for pleasure, I doubt if anything will," said Per. "I don't think we have much of a choice either way if we want to get out."
Shara nodded her agreement and entered the room to touch the cold, stone obelisk. Per inhaled deeply and placed his hand on it also. He immediately felt a pulling sensation that stopped as soon as it started. The room was the same, but the door was now gone and a revolving ball of lavender light floated above the pinnacle of the obelisk.
"Greetings." The light flashed in time with the words as they echoed out from the light. "I am the one who maintains these environs."
"Who are you?" asked Per.
"I am not a being in your sense of the word," replied the light. "I was constructed and called into existence by the people who inhabited these lands when they were above ground. A large portion of them studied wizardry and they conceived of a way to store magical energy in this building to tap into when they needed it. When the cataclysm came, I preserved the cavern, but none knew or could use the building. They left and other races moved into the cavern. Then a wizard entered the cavern. As per my instructions, I opened a power line to him.
"The wizard drained almost all of my remaining energy to send the other races away. The kobolds, as you call them, did not understand my nature when he sent them in here and they are destructive of things they do not understand. My creations were forced to kill them. Shara has restored a small portion of my power."
