Love's Labors, Part 27

"What would you tell Alicia if you really were trying to hunt me?" you ask playfully. "Janessa the soldier, chasing down the evil demon. Where would you pick to lie in wait for me?"

Janessa thinks for a while, the veteran taking up your tactical challenge with amused relish. "So far, you've consistently targeted heroines that could be seen as outsiders," she eventually muses. "Half-orcs. Drow. Tieflings. Maybe because you think it would be easier to convince those society already rejects?"

Word about Nevati hasn't yet reached the capitol, apparently. But rather than correct her, you just listen as she continues talking. "Now that the other heroines know to watch out for you, it'll be much harder. But... there is still at least one heroine left that fits your original profile. Probably the easiest of them all to convince, really. From what I've heard, she has no real loyalty to the heroine cause itself. And she's already the sort to switch sides, wherever the money would be best."

You keep a poker face, betraying no response one way or the other as Janessa delivers her verdict. "So if I had to make a guess... I'd say Torild would be your next target. A mercenary who's barely one step above a bandit on her good days. She's an outcast, like the others you went after. She could be a quick, easy win that could top the balance even further in your favor, now that the pressure is on. And it wouldn't just be her. She has an entire mercenary company of hardened fighters that could bolster your military forces as well."

"Then tell Alicia your honest thoughts," you say with a cheeky grin. "And we'll find out together whether you were right. Whether I'll be waiting there, ready for her to arrive... or not."

After getting her answer, you talk no more about schemes or strategies. Instead, you simply enjoy each other's company. Still, eventually you have to bid farewell. Once Janessa's consciousness has faded from the dream you've constructed, you use your new Synergy to call out for a new, willing participant. Relis answers right away, and she leaps into your arms as soon as she sees you.

"Oh, Talavar..." she murmurs, burying her face into your chest as you stand there. "Thank the goddesses. So much has happened since the last time you made contact."

"I just now heard about Lady Alicia's visit myself," you say. "Is everyone alright?"

You feel Relis nod against you. "It was terrifying, at first," she admits. "When they took us each to be interrogated, I thought we were done for. And... well... it isn't fun, being stuck in a house every day, under guard. I want so badly to get out into the forest again! But... it could have been so much worse. And at least we're still together."

It doesn't require much imagination to guess what activities five elves with demonically-enhanced libidos might use to pass the time while stuck in a single house "together" like that. Still, there's some extra detail that you're hoping to gather from Relis, detail that Janessa couldn't supply. "I heard that they were going to make it so Verika and Khaytala couldn't find their way through the village barrier anymore?"

Relis chuckles. "They're trying to do that," she says. "But it's slow going. The barrier is old magic, and Syvel is the one who's been handling it for over five hundred years now. No one else in the village is as good with magic as she is, and now they're all trying to figure out how to alter it themselves. Without her help, or her older apprentices."

Then she sighs. "I'm sure they'll be able to figure it out eventually. Syvel says there are enough records lying around that they'll be able to piece together the exact ritual together sooner or later, even without her. But they haven't done it yet. And I think it'll take them a while."

So. You have a window—though perhaps a very short one—in which Verika or Khaytala could still lead others into the hidden elf village. Once that window closes, however, the elf village will be inaccessible to you. At least, unless you can either fully subvert someone else who has access, or figure out a way to deal with the barrier directly.

The elves will be on alert for demonic influence now, so you doubt more subtle methods of subversion will work. And the more direct approach won't be as easy as it would have been with secret allies free to help you, unsuspected, from the inside. Still, the strength of your own forces has swelled dramatically as well, and the prospect of subverting the elves like you did the border village is certainly something to consider.

For now, though, you smile at Relis. Then, with a snap of your fingers, you transform the dream into a vibrant, vivid recreation of the parts of her forest that you remember, giving her that outdoor experience she's been yearning for. Her face lights up, and you spend the next few hours running—and fucking, obviously—up and down those grassy paths. She screams out her pleasure as you pin her roughly against a tree, railing her with primal abandon amidst the untamed wild.

It's with a much lighter heart that she finally slumps, satiated, and fades from the dream. Unfortunately, the next ally you need to deal with is a callous, murderous bitch whom you have significantly cooler feelings toward.

You only ever saw Lady Mykra in passing while you were in the Underworld, a figure in the crowd, observed at the festival where you rescued the elves. She has a narrow face for a drow, and a shrewd, calculating smirk that she shows as soon as she sees you.

"Ah! The notorious incubus himself, at long last!" she breathes, her eyes alight. "I must say, what you did during your brief visit to the Underworld was a breathtaking masterpiece of guile and manipulation. And of course, what you did to me... After observing each others' handiwork at a distance for so long... it is such a pleasure to finally meet you face to face."

She saunters toward you, trying to look seductive. Her intentions are obvious. Rysanial may have enamored her, made her unable to live without her touch. But even now she's still trying to play games of power from that position, using what little she has left. In fact, she's actually hoping to use her wiles. On you.

You realize immediately that this woman is dangerous. Not dangerous in the same way that Alicia or the other heroines are, the danger of a formidable foe. No... Lady Mykra's danger is the danger of a fickle, unreliable blade, one that might break or turn in your hands at a crucial moment.

Granted, you don't think she's planning outright rebellion. Not after Rysanial just got through taming her. Still... even a minor bit of willful "acting out" from a devious little slut who wants to push her boundaries could be a problem, if it happened at the wrong time.

Thus, you decide to do a little... follow-up work. Shoring up the foundation Rysanial has already laid.

You don't dignify her amateurish attempt to entice you with a verbal reply. Instead, with a mere thought, the dreamworld changes around you, becoming a dank underground dungeon. Her dungeon. The same one where she held the old elf you rescued from her clutches. Except now she finds herself trapped in it, chained and helpless, just as she had ruthlessly trapped so many others to advance her own power.

The drow woman lets out an immodest moan as you slam her forward, down into the dungeon floor. You rut her from behind, as you make her new position very clear to her. Her calculated attempts at manipulatively ingratiating herself to her new master quickly dissolve, crushed under the waves of raw pleasure.

"Whose bitch are you?" you ask, your own voice dry and unmoved.

"Yours! Yours!" she screams, using her limited range of motion to help you impale her cunt as best she can, her eyes rolling back in her head as she wholeheartedly submits to her rape. "Oh fuck, I'm yours, I'm yours!"

You keep going, not letting up for hours as you remind the scheming noble of her of her new position in life. By the end of your training session, you're sitting on a rough wooden bench that you conjured in the cell, with the naked, chained drow kneeling between your legs, looking up worshipfully at you as she sucks your dick, with your hand resting casually on her head.

Only once she's been thoroughly taught her latest lesson do you request the presence of you next ally. The Vampire Queen whose acquaintance you so recently made. She raises an eyebrow at the sight of the drow dutifully pleasuring you, but otherwise makes no comment. You smile back, as you greet an ally you're quite a bit more pleased to see. "Hello again. How are you and Moghi enjoying your gifts?"

"They are... quite appreciated," the undead queen says with regal tact. You're perceptive enough to see the true depth of her gratitude. Indescribable pleasure, with the one other person she most wants to protect. It's more than her dignity will allow her to convey... but you see it anyway.

You gesture down at the kneeling, cock-sucking drow. "I'd like you to meet Lady Mykra," you say casually. "She's a noble of the Underworld. Not long ago she tried to murder some people that I cared about. But we've come to a new understanding since then, haven't we?"

Lady Mykra gives a blissful hum around your member, while the Vampire Queen smirks, showing a bit of her own predatory fang. Still, it's tempered by the knowledge that you could have done the same to her, when you had her at your mercy. But you didn't.

"I had a proposal I wanted to put to you," you continue. "You're free to accept or reject as you see fit, but I think you'll find it interesting. Lady Mykra here is at the head of a coalition of noble houses that I've... persuaded... to help work toward the interests of my Witch Queen in the Underworld. Unfortunately, they are opposed by a different noble house, as well as the Church of Melca. I was wondering if you might be willing to lend their efforts some aid, as a favor."

You put subtle, yet careful emphasis on your devotion to your Witch Queen, creating a parallel between what you're trying to do here and Moghi's treasured devotion toward her. You also make sure to center the fact that the foes will be the Church of Melca, a group which you cannot imagine she has anything but hatred toward, considering what Melca did to the woman whose memories she shares.

That, combined with the gratitude she already feels, gives you a strong angle to work from. "Hmmm..." the Vampire Queen says, considering the possibilities. "I would have to discuss the matter with Moghi. But... I suppose we might find such a diversion amusing. It would give us something to do while your Queen has the hole you put in our roof repaired. The racket has grown a bit vexing of late."

You smile apologetically. "Sorry about that. It wasn't intentional."

"So I've been told," the queen responds dryly. Then her glowing red eyes fix you with a burning, intent look. "But if you ask this favor of me, to wage war against your enemies... then I would also ask a favor of you in return. You are a being of the afterlife, are you not? If you have any connections there, I... I would request that..."

She hesitates for a while, looking away. You can tell that this is intensely personal for her. So with a wave of your hand you banish Lady Mykra from the dream. With her gone, the undead queen is eventually able to finish her request.

"I would request that you try to learn what happened to the... original Moghi..." she says, her voice barely above a whisper. "It need not be right away. I know that you are in dire straits as things stand, and I will aid you in them. But... in exchange, promise me that sometime—perhaps after the heroines you face are no longer a threat—you will inquire into what happened to her. I... just want to know if she is alright. I... want to know if she hates me for what I did to her."

She draws in a deep, shuddering breath. "I know I must move forward," she says quietly. "I know it is my Moghi who needs me now. But... just this much, at least, I need to know: whether the Moghi I killed was able to find any peace afterward."

You stroke your chin. It's a tricky question. Considering how long ago it was, considering how many souls flow through each afterlife, and considering that she might well have reincarnated by now, any leads at this point might have long since faded.

Still, the Vampire Queen is only asking you to try. She's even willing to wait until the current threats are over, if you're too busy at present. As prices for phenomenally-powerful undead allies go? It's quite a cheap one. "You have my word," you say. "I can't promise how much I'll be able to find... but if I'm still alive and I get the chance, I'll look into it."

The Vampire Queen nods, and you can see even more gratitude in her eyes. "Then I will confer with your drow associates as to how we can reach the Underworld," she says. "It should prove an... interesting change of pace, testing ourselves in such a situation."

For your part, you just grin. You doubt that your foes in the Underworld will be prepared for this.

You dismiss her from the dream, then move onto your final ally. Marta answers your summons without hesitation. The motherly caravan woman is—by superficial standards—far more plain than the exotic, otherworldly beauty of the previous drow. But the gentle affection in her every move as the two of you make love is something that Lady Mykra couldn't even imagine. It's a moment of tender intimacy: your weight atop her, your cock filling her as she clings to you, altogether lost in the demon's embrace.

You fuck her in the same wooded glade where you first seduced her, together with her daughter. After a long while you allow yourself to release into her womb, and she cries out, overcome. It takes even longer for her to recover from the bliss, and you spend the time holding her in your arms, stroking her hair until she's able to speak again.

She tells you what has happened since you left the caravan. Her husband had long since been neglecting her for younger women, some of whom he would even hire onto the caravan as "workers" to continue his trysts when he thought his wife wasn't aware. Now, of course, Marta hardly worries about such things. She and Greta have even seduced a few of his playmates themselves.

It's Greta who has truly taken your teachings on desire to heart, offering herself generously to everyone she can, spreading the glories of Lust without any inhibition. Already she has half the workers in the caravan wrapped around her little finger.

She's also contrived to "accidentally" walk in on her father while he was with one of his mistresses, giving her blackmail that she can use. Threatening to tell her mother the "scandalous secret" that Marta already knows full well.

And Marta tells you that—more than anything else—Greta did that just in case you ever needed to use their caravan again, ensuring that she would be able to prevent a repeat of the trouble you had in your first journey with them. It's touching to see just how far she was willing to go for you, merely on that off-chance.

Though you doubt that she minded all that sex either way, given just how thoroughly you awakened her lustful nature...

As a result of all this, the two women hold much greater sway over the caravan than they did when last you saw them. Which actually raises some interesting possibilities.

Most caravans would never trade with Kovora. But with the pull they have now, Marta and Greta could very well conspire to load the caravan up to the bursting with food... and then guide it to a place where it could be easily ambushed, and completely subverted long-term.

Overall, it could net you some more food. And corrupted as the caravan already is, it's a gain that would cost barely any effort. Nor is a single caravan's subversion likely to be noticed, not like a bigger town getting hit would be.

The caravan also hears rumors from far and wide on its travels, picking up the word from the common folk in multiple different places. It seems that rumors are indeed spreading that something odd is going on with some of the heroines. From the sound of it, the rulers are keeping the full truth a secret for now, to prevent panic or loss of faith in their war effort.

But even so, word is still starting to leak out. And it's unclear how much longer it can go on like this before it becomes common knowledge what is happening.

After a bit more lovemaking, you send Marta back to her own dream. Your own reserves are running very low at this point, and so you allow yourself to wake. Then you spend the next day cavorting with your capture heroines, fully introducing Nevati to the fold. All in preparation for your next attempt.

You definitely want to be at full strength for this undertaking.

It takes you a few days of determined, near-constant effort to finally make the connection. Demons don't need nearly so much sleep as mortals, and it's only complicated by how you can't even rely on their sleep happening during your night when the target is on an entirely different plane of existence. Still, with enough patience, you eventually find success. After innumerable tries, you finally are able to stretch out your consciousness and enter the dream of the Lust Queen's chief enforcer. Taharial.

The scene you emerge in is a surprisingly tender one. Entirely unlike the only memory you have of her, when she nearly killed you during your escape from the Second Circle. She reclines in a large, shallow marble pool, in the arms of a succubus you recognize from your earlier memory as Lehatial. The Lust Queen herself.

But this is the current Lust Queen. The one who has led the Second Circle through untold centuries of rule, after the carnage of their bloody rebellion. You can see, in this moment of lowering her guard, how the years have worn on her, as she's fought to maintain the illusion that she is the true Demon Lord. She's made her moves with negotiation and guile, all in a desperate attempt to keep your enemies from ever realizing just how weakened the Second Circle truly is.

She still has the same heart-stopping beauty you saw before. But now she shows it in a far more regal way than she ever could while she was the Incubus King's slave. Even naked like this, her hairstyle is far more intricate than before, and she carries herself with a grave, sad dignity.

She's had millennia to heal and reinvent herself after what she did to save her sisters. Honing herself into the demon she needed to be to keep them safe from the incubi. And even more from the parasite growing within you.

Still, even just looking into the eyes of this figment of Taharial's memory... you can see that there are some wounds that mere time is altogether inadequate to cure.

Taharial reclines against her, her scarred, muscular body pressed against the queen's as they slowly kiss. There's a frightened, hungry quality to it. As though by losing themselves in pleasure—just for this moment—they can block out the doom that they fear is coming for them all. The horror that they fear is returning once again.

Thanks to your new Synergy power, not even a demon as ancient and powerful as Taharial is able to detect your presence. And with the increase in the power of your Dreamwalking, you can sift through her memories at will... though crucially, she will also remember having that dream as well.

Which gives you several options on how to proceed.

You could keep hidden, searching Taharial's memories for how they plan to move against you. The only method for them to send agents into this world—or at least, the only method that isn't in utter violation of the Celestial Treaty—is for the succubi to find someone willing to summon them. And there can't be that many desperate mages or demonic cultists with that capability, and already allied with the Second Circle.

If you were to secretly observe Taharial's memories of her plans, you might be able to learn the current location of the pawns she plans on using. If you could get to them first, you might be able to cripple the Second Circle's ability to send assassins after you out of the gate, putting them in a much weaker position. But you would need to act fast on the information, or it would be wasted.

Alternatively, you could make your presence known. If you do want to play it that way, you probably shouldn't preface it with spying on her plans. Even if she can't sense you, someone as wary as Taharial would doubtless realize the significance of having such a dream in proximity to your appearance, and would warn her pawns to flee.

If you did want to negotiate, you have one main card to play. The only thing that they would truly be interested in that could even begin to compare with the threat that they face. The location of the artifact that the Incubus King is using to seep his essence back into the Abyss. If they can destroy that, then one way or another, you will be the final host that this parasite infects.

The question is how you want to use that knowledge.

If you can convince the succubi that you have the location, yet refuse to tell them until you're ready to face the Incubus King, it could make them hesitate to kill you. They might attempt non-lethal approaches in an attempt to interrogate that crucial knowledge from you, making their task far more difficult and increasing your own chances.

Alternatively, you could use the information to bargain, trading it for the personal effect that you need in order to forge the dream-weapon that you devised the idea for while studying the Brand. Rather than trying to steal it back from Hell itself, you could offer to trade your knowledge of the artifact for it.

Finally, you could simply give them the location. No strings attached. This would give you the least right away. But—with enough continued effort—it's possible it could help to sway them more over the long term, depending on how things go.