by G. R. Cooper
Wulfgar smiled, “We’re not going to derail this discussion with an overview of lycanthropic mythology. Nice try.”
“Too bad. One of the reasons I volunteered for this is because I have long been an avid student of human history.”
“But humans are ready. Or almost ready. For what?”
“To learn the truth.”
“What’s my role in that?” Wulfgar laughed, “Never mind. I know. You’re just going to shrug and look innocent.”
“I’m sure you have theories of your own, which I will neither confirm nor deny.”
“What happened to your people? When they learned.”
Nop sighed, “As you would expect. Many embraced the truth for what it was. Many fought against it. It has, as far as I know, never been an easy process for a people to go through. Few paradigm shifts are.”
“So it’s less of a question of whether a people are intellectually mature enough to know the truth, the timeline is based on technology.”
“It is. Some transition more easily. Some more difficult. The Old Ones have a great deal of experience in handling the transition. They craft the process based on what they know of the species.”
“Thus the study,” said Wulfgar. “The role of xenoanthropologist. They, and you, are working to determine how best to transition humans.”
“That’s a fair assumption.”
Wulfgar knew he would get no more of an answer to that question from Nop. For now.
“Nop, have you personally, ever done this before?”
“I’ve been working with humans my entire career.”
“How long is that? In Earth years.”
Nop seemed to pause for a moment. His eyes became unfocused. Wulfgar realized that the werewolf was communicating. Probably with Clive. Asking whether or not he could answer that question.
“Hundreds of your years. Not since the beginning of the study, which began long before my people were brought on board.”
So the Old Ones, Clive, have been studying humans much longer than a thousand years.
“What about the Arn?”
“They are recent. Very recent. Congratulations,” smiled Nop, “humans are their first study!”
“How long?”
“A little less than one hundred years ago they joined the study.”
Wulfgar nodded. He thought for a moment. A cold wave swept through his body, “Wait! Area 51 and all of that jazz? Little green men who looked a shit-load like the Arn?”
Nop nodded.
“New participants are allowed to make their own mistakes. Until they learn how to effectively work within the context of a study. The Arn have learned, and quickly. It’s never really impacted the study subject much.”
That made sense to Wulfgar; the golden age of the little green men and UFO sightings was from the late 1940’s through the 1970’s. The Arn must have progressed and learned much since then about how to remain unseen.
He smiled to the Canis Arcturus, “And when was the last time anyone heard of a werewolf sighting?”
Nop bowed from the waist, “We got better at this sort of thing as well.”
“So, Nop, what is your role in all of this? Specifically.”
“I guess the human equivalent would be a doctoral candidate. I’m still a student. My fields of study are both human history and enlightenment transitioning. After we are done with humans, the first area of study won’t be much use, but the second will allow me to move onto the next group.”
“Next?”
Nop just smiled enigmatically.
“So, to sum up, you’re here to protect humans from themselves. Or from their own creations.”
“There more to it than that, but yes. We’re also here to protect ourselves from your creations.”
Wulfgar cocked an eyebrow and looked at Nop quizzically.
“There is little difference between what we are doing now, living within the electromagnetic spectrum, and what a computer neural network is, and humans are very close to figuring out the difference. Nikola Tesla was very close.”
Understanding swept over Wulfgar, “So if we unleash a truly viable, self sustaining and self replicating AI, it will infest our computer networks and, ultimately, the Omegaverse itself. It will become a worm. A virus that inhabits entire wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum.”
“Where we now live, yes. That’s why humans are being studied. That’s why the Old Ones partition the galaxy and exert control, very tight control, over the entire electromagnetic spectrum.”
“To prevent us from wiping them out. From wiping out every enlightened species.”
“There are theories,” shrugged Nop, “that it has already happened. There are those of us who work with the Old Ones who believe that’s what the Old Ones really are. The first of the AI who managed the transition from computer networks and into the higher wavelengths of the spectrum.” He smiled, “They don’t really talk about it, though.”
Wulfgar stood and smiled down at Nop. He knew he could trust the Canis Arcturus as much as he could trust anyone. In any case, he had no worry about whether or not the werewolf would help him complete the quests at hand.
He turned and walked across the closet to the door, shutting off Illumination as he did. He listened for a moment, then gently opened the door and peered into the hallway. He sighed. Lilu was nowhere to be seen. He stepped across the hallway and felt more than heard Nop close the closet behind them.
Wulfgar knocked lightly on the door and, after a moment, opened it slowly. He smiled at the little girl, wide eyed and staring up at him. He held his finger up to his lips as he entered. Four children, two boys and two girls, all around eight years old, stared up at him. He smiled through each face, trying to exude a feeling of comfort and safety.
“What’s your name?” he asked the first girl, the one he’d seen downstairs.
“Jewel,” she said softly.
“I’m here to get you out, Jewel. You and all of your friends.”
“What about Bray?” asked one of the boys. He looked up defiantly at Wulfgar, “My name is Jif. Bray is my friend.”
“I’ll get Bray. Don’t worry about that, I promise.” He laughed inwardly as the serious little guy seemed to think about it and look sideways at Wulfgar. After a moment, Jif nodded.
“This is Nop. He’s my friend. He will help us out of here,” Wulfgar nodded toward the Canis Arcturus, putting an arm over his shoulder. The werewolf smiled a toothless grin, while the children looked to him, jaws dropped and in awe.
“What are your names?” Wulfgar asked the others.
“Semma,” whispered the girl.
“Portis.”
“Well, Semma, Jewel, Portis and Bray,” said Wulfgar, “we’re going to leave. Are you ready?”
“I’m Jif. Bray is downstairs,” said Jif, frowning.
Wulfgar smacked his head, “Of course, I’m an idiot! I won’t forget again.” He laughed at himself. He long ago learned that a good way of breaking the ice with small children was to make a goofy mistake. It seemed to make them feel at ease.
He looked through their little faces, “Now, we have to leave. We’re going to go through the room at the end of the hall.”
“We’re not supposed to go in there,” said Portis softly.
“I know, but it will be alright,” assured Wulfgar. “Nop and I will take you. It’s not a nice room, though, so I’m going to need each of you to keep your eyes shut the whole time. I’ll go first, and Nop will go last, so nothing will hurt you.”
He turned and moved back into the hallway. After making sure that the four children were following him, he walked to the end, stopping at the closed door.
Wulfgar looked down at Semma, the first of the children behind him, “Take my hand and the hand of the person behind you.” He watched as they complied, making one long string of escapees. “Take a deep breath and hold it as long as you can.” He opened the door and pushed through it into the abattoir birthing room. The tiny dem
on still lay in its mother’s open womb, and he walked as quickly as he dared.
“Remember, keep your eyes closed.” He looked back at the children. They looked so completely frightened that he had no doubt they would listen to him. “And keep your breath held. We’re almost through the room.”
They got to the other end of the chamber and into the darkened hallway. Wulfgar activated Illumination and said, “Alright, you can open your eyes, but don’t look back.” He gently pushed Semma past him.
Jif, the last in line, looked up at him as he passed and, cheeks puffed completely out, hummed what sounded like a question.
Wulfgar laughed lightly, “Yes, you can all breath again.” He laughed harder as they exhaled loudly as a group.
Wulfgar turned to look at Nop, “This is where I need to leave you all. This should be the exit.” He shook his head, “I can’t risk leaving and not being able to get back in without another swim,” he smiled, “and, anyway, you shouldn’t need me.”
He pulled off his backpack and handed it to the werewolf, “This stuff isn’t insured, so you go ahead and take it.” He didn’t know what the lute and walking stick were worth, but there was no reason for him to carry them.
Wulfgar turned to walk back through the bloody room.
“Good luck,” offered Nop as he ushered the children in the other direction.
Wulfgar took the opportunity to examine the birthing room closely for the first time. It was nearly as big as the throne room. Round with the two doors at either end. A dozen or more pairs of chains hung evenly spaced around the wall. Whitened bones lay on the floor at the base of some of them. Long dried gore splotched the floor beneath the chains, matching the decoration around the central plinth.
He looked down at the human corpse on the marble bed. Reaching to her face, he closed her eyes. NPC or not, he was bothered by her. She looked no less human than any player in this world.
He walked around the sacrificial bed, looking at the base. There were no openings he could make out. It looked like the room was bare and purposeful. There was no secret treasure to be found.
Sighing, Wulfgar walked back to the door and into the hallway. As he made his way down the corridor, he remembered to turn off Illumination. Progressing to the hanging tapestry that closed off the hallway from the throne room entrance, dread began to fill him. He wasn’t sure why - at worst, he would die, be resurrected, and have to try his plan another time.
Then a chill took over him.
Don’t you lose the quest if you die? You fail. It’s all over. No saving the elf prince. No elf king gratitude just before a major war. Fuck.
He took a deep breath. Maybe since the others are still alive, and still grouped, we won’t lose the quests after all. You shouldn’t lose the entire quest just because one member died, right?
He pushed through the curtain, unsure of what was about to happen; having nothing more than a vague outline of what he was going to do. Going to try to do.
As he made his way to the balcony overlooking the throne room, he saw that five of the succubi were clustered around the prince. The rest were waiting turn near the incubus. Bray crouched in the far corner of the room.
Lilu had one of his wives bent over, savagely taking her from behind. Taking from her the human or elf seed he would use to create another cambion.
Wulfgar looked back to the prince. His health flashed red as he writhed on the floor, mounted by a grinding succubus. Her eyes rolled as she drained the elf’s life force.
There wasn’t much time.
Taking a deep breath, he began walking down the circular staircase.
“Hi everyone!” Wulfgar yelled, “Is this where the orgy is?”
Chapter 6
Wulfgar gulped as Lilu’s head flashed in his direction. The demon’s eyes flared red as its rage overcame him. The incubus threw his wife aside, leaping into space as its wings shot out and bit the air. The women reacted just as quickly, leaving the prince sprawled, flashing red on the floor. Five approached the bottom of the right-hand staircase toward Wulfgar, the rest climbing the left to block his retreat. He took a deep breath and held it.
Wulfgar quickly thrust out his right hand toward the elf prince and activated healing. He moved to the far side of the stair-case, to create more space between himself and the demons. As the prince shifted hue from red to yellow, Wulfgar activated Confer while concentrating on his Stealth skill. He felt his Mana drop to nothing as the two spells drained his pool.
He looked to his left and his right as the succubi surrounded him. The demons were all focused on him.
“Good!” he shouted loudly, laughing. “Come get some, you hot little bitches!”
Wulfgar saw movement from the prince out of the corner of his eye and turned toward the prostrate elf. The prince gazed at Wulfgar with a questioning look. Wulfgar hoped that meant that he’d received the message about Stealth. The plan depended upon it.
Wulfgar looked to the tapestry at the top of the stairs and nodded. As hands from the succubi began grasping him, he glanced back to the prince who smiled weakly in understanding. Wulfgar turned back to the tapestry and nodded again to reinforce the point, and a sigh of relief exploded from him as he turned back and saw that the elf had disappeared into Stealth mode.
“Bind him,” hissed Lilu as his wives dragged Wulfgar down the stairs and across the room.
Wulfgar took a deep breath and the smell of the concerted pheromones surrounding him dizzied and drained all resistance. He felt his hands being raised and clamped into irons as he fought against losing consciousness. He looked up to the top of the stairs and smiled inwardly as he saw the tapestry pushed aside then dropped back into place.
“So far, so good,” he muttered as his chin fell wearily to his chest. Now all he had to do was rescue Bray. “Easy. I just have to get out of these chains first.”
Wulfgar’s mind swirled. He felt drunk. Fingers clawed into the skin of his neck and chest, a combination of pain and pleasure he’d never experienced. The seduction of the nymphs was replaced with depredation by the succubi. He was confused, he felt at once both attacked and enticed.
His eyes blurred. He saw the incubus on his knees in front of the throne, taking a wife once more. His hand forced her head into the marble floor as he thrust into her from behind. The thought that his own seed would be used to spawn a cambion, a demon, filled Wulfgar with revulsion. He tried to kick one of the women at his feet away, but she effortlessly pinned his leg against the wall while one of her sisters tore the front of his leather pants, ripping apart the buttons and opening the fly.
Wulfgar growled in a weird combination of frustration and desire. The pheromones left him out of sorts, unable to make any sense of his own emotions or desires. A succubus jerked his pants around his knees and took him roughly in her hands, plunging her mouth onto him and taking him entirely into her mouth and throat.
Her head bobbed ferociously, rapidly increasing his ardor.
“Ahhh!” screamed Wulfgar, “No teeth!”
“You have taken 5 points of damage!”
He bucked and writhed in ecstasy as the succubus fell backward. Another moved into her place, and, taking both of his bindings into her hands, hung off of the front of his torso. He shuddered as he felt her tail guide him into her. Her legs wrapped around his waist and she pulled herself into him roughly. Her fetid breath, smelling of rotting flesh, gagged him even as her fragrance aroused him. He jerked his head to one side as she pounded against him, knocking his spine into the wall. Wulfgar saw another succubus dipping her fingers into a silver salver of blue liquid, then spread it over her breasts before she turned and walked to him.
She pushed her wet hand into his face and the pure essence of lust attacked and overwhelmed him.
“You have taken 6 points of damage!”
Wulfgar spasmed, hitting his head against the wall. The succubus dropped from him to the floor and rolled away, temporarily sated. Her recently perfumed sister took her plac
e. This one grabbed him roughly by the back of his head, pulling his hair back and exposing his throat. Her teeth bit into his neck, drawing blood and a whimper, as she climbed onto him, mounting him. She groaned through her teeth as she began bucking. Wulfgar was filled with disgust and loathing as he felt her tail move between his legs and enter him from behind.
He screamed as her teeth and tail drove deeper into him. He was overcome with a strange combination of ecstasy, revulsion and pain.
“You have taken 5 points of damage!”
The world flashed red as she fell from him. His head fell forward onto his chest, hanging limply to the side. His legs gave way and he barely felt the iron digging into his wrists as his arms took his entire weight. He panted, trying to draw in enough oxygen. He could feel blood running down his neck and the back of his legs.
His unfocused eyes saw his member, still standing fully erect.
Won’t anything satisfy you, old boy?
Then he passed out.
In his delirium, Wulfgar thought back to his planning session with Nop. He had decided that there was no way to get in and take the prince through subterfuge. The only way they’d thought of was a distraction, and the only distraction they could think of was Wulfgar. He smiled, groggy, as he congratulated himself on the success.
“Having fun?” growled Lilu as the demon grabbed Wulfgar’s head and pulled his hair until their eyes met.
As weak and unfocused as he was, Wulfgar still felt a wave of horror as he looked into the demon’s unblinking gaze.
Lilu smacked Wulfgar across the face once, then let his head fall as the incubus turned and walked back to the center of the room.
“You have taken two points of damage!”
“You have been stunned!”
Drool fell from his lips and splashed his chest as Wulfgar’s head lolled. One eye began to swell from the demon’s blow and he looked through it to Lilu, who was now busy pushing a wife’s head onto his ever engorged manhood. She gagged as he forced himself almost fully into her, taking Wulfgar’s seed into himself.
