Crazy Seduction(erotica)

The old Fae scowled at her. “It wasn’t magic that built this castle, and it isn’t magic that holds it together. There were layers upon layers of magic bound to its walls and foundation, but their function is to support the spells cast within them.”

“Stone castles are not meant to be tilted,” Gordon Crane insisted.

The Fae tilted her head to him. “Yes, that’s unfortunately true.”

Sigrid made an impatient sound. “Then let’s get Henry and Marisa and get the hell out!”

“Is no one else going to ask about that boom?” Camila asked.

“There’s no point in conjecture. Let’s get upstairs and find out!” Roy growled as he moved up beside Mahati and encouraged her to move faster.

Rounding the corner, they could see the stairs up and the dead body of an Ogre with a spear through its chest.

As she passed the corpse, Minkah cast an evaluating glance at the placement of the spear. “A skilled attack.”

Roy snorted. “This is Henry we’re talking about. He’s not a fighter. That was luck.”

“You don’t think he has it in him to be a killer?” Minkah asked curiously and watched as Roy shared uncomfortable glances with Camila and Sigrid. “What? What did I miss?”

Roy looked back at the assassin. “Henry can kill. Henry has killed. It’s just… the boy isn’t mentally wired to understand its necessity in particular circumstances. He has a difficult time with it.”

Mahati checked the stairs again but found no more wires. They rushed up to the third floor and were relieved the lights were working on this level. Mahati released the light orb. After confirming there were no booby traps, they hustled down the hall.

In one of the chambers off the hallway, they spotted two more ogres, this time with their skulls crushed.

“Luck, you say?” Minkah said with a smirk.

On the fourth, they stepped over the bodies of the Goblins Henry killed as they rushed forward.

“I take it back,” Roy said. “He’s managing quite well.”

Another massive boom shook the castle, and it was definitely much louder on this floor, so it had to be coming from Mab’s chamber upstairs. The stairs at the end of the hall suddenly collapsed, and massive stone slabs fell from the ceiling further up the corridor. Through the large gap, they spotted Henry surrounded by a bright green aura. More stones began to fall from the ceiling, and Henry turned his head to lock eyes with Roy.

The floor suddenly dropped under everyone’s feet as the castle collapsed further into the office tower. They were thrown from their feet and fell a short distance to land softly in tall red grasses.

Roy scrambled to his feet but above him was only orange sky. He looked around and saw others from the rescue party poking their heads up from the grasses in surprise. The look of awe on Raymond and Eleanor’s faces indicated their delight. They were certainly being exposed to new and exciting experiences.

“Did… did Henry just dump us in Eden?” Camila asked incredulously.

Sigrid stood and screamed her frustration. Everyone shielded their eyes from the flash of white light.

“Hey! Put it away!” Roy snapped, equally frustrated.

“How are we supposed to rescue him if he keeps protecting us!” she yelled. She struggled to calm herself as she hid her armor and weapons once more.

“Did everyone make it?” Gordon asked as he quickly scanned the group with his eyes, looking for his squad first.

A quick headcount showed some were missing. Mick, Yablonski, Gunnery Sergeant Endale, Dulane, Lorelei, Investigator Keshellion, and Nuru’s two attendants had all been at the back of their party and may have been out of Henry’s sightline. Nuru was present and had been standing just before her people.

“How do we get back?” the Succubi leader asked nervously.

Sigrid pointed up the field towards the sparkling people watching them from the edge of the forest. “The Glass People can open tears too.”

Several Silver People ran down the hill to stop in front of them. Specialist Feinberg, one of the Colonel’s squad, reached forward to grasp the offered hand. After a moment, they released, and the new Silver People ran back up the hill.

“What did he say, David?” Gordon asked.

“I shared images as he didn’t speak English. He’s going to speak to the Glass People to let them know we’re coming and need immediate passage back home,” the specialist explained.

“Excellent! Thank you, David.” Crane looked to the others. “Let’s go.”

Henry was still alive and managed to save them from the collapsing building. Camila prayed Marisa was safe too.

As she followed the others through the tall grasses towards the Glass People’s gathering spot, she failed to notice the sleeping beauty in the grasses a few yards away.

-=-

Mick, Yablonski, and Endale stood on the staircase, holding Dulane, Keshellion, and Lorelei respectively. Their charges had some bruising from being grabbed and yanked back, but they’d been spared the fate of the two Succubi who’d been crushed under a falling stone slab.

“Are the others dead?” Yablonski cried.

“No, I saw them falling through those tears the Satyr creates,” the Investigator gasped quietly as her ribs ached.

“What the fuck do we do now?” Yablonski whispered as he looked at the base of the stairs, which were impassible, the top of the stairs, which were also blocked, and upwards where the rippling glow of lights could be seen through the gap of a missing stone slab.

Lorelei patted Endale’s big hand to catch his attention and to get him to release his grip. “Can you lift me up so I can see what we’re facing up there?” she asked quietly.

The marine nodded and cupped his hands for her to step in. Then he easily lifted her until she could peek over the stone’s edge into the chamber above. She stifled a gasp as she was looking into the floor above.

Just a few feet beyond the stone she was peering over, the floor dropped away. The fourth level had collapsed into the third and had taken it down to the second. Up and ahead, she could see an intact span of the fifth floor being held up by a few damaged columns and sections of the outer walls.

On that span of the fifth floor, Lorelei could see Henry kneeling, his head dropped forward in exhaustion, the green aura around him fed by a thread of light coming down from the aurora borealis in the sky above. The green light was back in the sky?!?

Behind Henry, standing before a partially broken picture window, a young and pretty woman panted from some severe effort. She still had enough energy to sneer at Henry with an expression of glee.

“This is why you are weak! This is why you lose, again and again! You waste your energy on those unworthy of it. They are meaningless!” the young beauty crowed.

“No, Mab. They’re my friends, and they mean everything!” Henry growled, but his voice was strained.

“You can’t protect them. They’re all going to die! Whether you’re there or not, I will see them all die. This world, my world, needs a fresh start with new life. None who exist today are worthy of living in my new world!” Mab exclaimed.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Looking around her, Lorelei saw there was room to stand and enough shadows to be hidden from the goings-on above.

She looked down at the marine. “Higher, we need everyone out of that hole.”

He lifted her higher until she was able to kneel on the edge and reach down. “Next.”

She helped Keshellion out of the hole and Dulane, who took over once he was out.

Soon they were all on an intact section of the fourth floor.

“How can we help him?” Mick asked.

“You can’t. Do not try.”

Lorelei squeaked in fright as a crone stepped out of the shadows behind them. Her eyes immediately went to the child in the old woman’s arms. She saw blue eyes, full of joy. She immediately wanted to hold the baby, and she’d never felt that way before for a child.

Then the old woman’s voice pulled up Lorelei’s memories, and she locked eyes with the witch. “You!”

“Another disappointment,” Baba snapped.

Lorelei rocked back from the verbal slap, and her voice stuck in her throat. She wanted to sing a song of this miserable creature’s death, but her anger blocked her. Her face flushed, and her mouth worked, but she realized how powerful the woman was when she made a gesture, and all three Silver Soldiers fell back into the hole above the stairwell.

Her mouth snapped shut in a well-timed surge of self-preservation.

Baba stepped to the edge of the pit over the remains of the fourth and third floors and hopped over to a stone sticking out of the wall. She leapt from stone to stone, making her way around the perimeter until she was able to land on the remains of the fifth floor.

The sergeant rejoined Lorelei on the platform and immediately pulled out her cell to record the events above them. Lorelei noticed Mab no longer appeared confident, though she looked down her nose at the old woman.

She hoped Baba was here for more than intimidation tactics.

-=-

Henry was aching from the beating he’d taken so far and tired from the drain caused by using magic.

He’d made it to Mab’s floor and kicked the doors down. This had the bonus effect of stunning the two Ogres hiding behind them. He’d picked up a dropped mace and stomped the skull of its owner. The other managed to land a few glancing blows with his weapon until Henry leapt forward, breaking the Ogre’s ankle with a sharp kick. They grappled on the ground, the Ogre getting in a few more punches until Henry got behind him with an arm wrapped around its neck.