by HP Mallory
Lily
The hour I’d been allotted by Alaire couldn’t pass slowly enough. I wanted this, I knew I did. Taking Donnchadh inside me would most likely rid me of Persephone for good and, bonus points, also ensure Alaire couldn’t take Donnchadh inside himself. So why was I hesitating?
The memory of the first time I saw Tallis flailing his back popped into my mind.
If I accepted Donnchadh and Tallis couldn’t get him out of me, would I have to drain my blood like I’d often witnessed the Bladesmith doing time after time? Could I drain my blood without actually killing myself? Tallis was a Druid who could heal himself automatically. I didn’t even know if I had the ability to learn that kind of magic. Of course, wasn’t healing myself part of having Donnchadh inside of me? I wasn’t sure. So many questions remained and I had no time to gather the answers.
I was still pondering those questions while sitting at the cluttered makeup table in my bedchamber when Alaire knocked on the door. My stomach took an instant nosedive into my colon.
“Hello, my darling,” Alaire said, stepping inside. His expression was more than a little coy as he walked up to me. “Have you come to a decision?”
“Um,” I started.
“I can’t imagine it must have been a very difficult one. After all, you’ve been positively hounding me about that spirit since I freed you from the crown.”
I stood up and reached for a glass of wine I poured after I returned from dinner. His hand fell over mine the second my fingers touched the glass.
“Don’t drink that,” Alaire warned me, suddenly seeming irritated. “For the ritual to work, you must be completely clear mentally.”
I let go of the glass with an appropriate eye roll. “My king, I have no doubts that I can control Donnchadh whilst still enjoying my refreshment.” I did my best to impersonate Persephone. “However, your request is what I am having some difficulty with.”
“I wish only for your happiness, my dear. But I must as you: do you not wish me to be happy as well?” Alaire replied, his face set in stone.
I had to remember myself and the part I was playing. “Of… of course I do!” I spoke with the inflection of a lovesick girl. “Your happiness means everything to me (gag) but why do you need her?”
“I believe I have already explained my position and quite sufficiently,” Alaire said as he placed his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. “My original question remains unanswered: will you exchange a simple pleasure for the immortality you so desire?”
No doubt about it, I needed Donnchadh to rid myself of Persephone for good. More than that, I needed him to free Bill and Tallis as well as to attain my own freedom. So I had to trust that Tallis and I could remove Donnchadh from my body when the time came.
Persephone screamed at me. Don’t do it, you damned fool! You’re being played by this trollop, you stupid bitch!
I shut her out and replied, “I say, let us do it, then. Give me what I seek and I will give you your simple pleasure.” I cleared my throat. “With the understanding that the pleasure you experience with this foolish girl will never equal the pleasure you know with me, Persephone.”
“Of course, my dear,” Alaire answered immediately. “Lily could never equal you, in any way.”
Alaire rubbed my arms, his smirk breaking his composure into a toothy grin. His teeth shone beneath his peeled back lips like polished ivory. The sudden openness on his face made it seem as if he actually forgot how to really smile. I wasn’t sure if that were a good or bad thing.
***
“Are you comfortable, my dear?” Alaire asked as he adjusted the ropes around my ankles and wrists. Given that I was completely naked, tied to a bed and being observed by not one but two sets of eyes… no, I was not comfortable at all, not in the slightest.
That other set of eyes belonged to a woman. Alaire held her by a chain in his hand like a dog on a leash. She was naked as well, her wrists bound by the chain. Lines of dirty streaks ran down her cheeks from her tears. “Uncomfortable” couldn’t begin to describe how bad she must have felt.
“I’m so comfortable,” I lied, hoping my acting skills could dismiss my own distress. “But I fail to understand why I must be tied up such that I am and why I must be naked.”
Alaire nodded, as if this were not an unreasonable question. “Donnchadh is a furious spirit, my love,” he started. “And he is extremely powerful. I am fearful for what he could do once he is introduced to your body, hence your bindings. As to your nudity, I must admit I prefer you in your birthday suit, as they term it.”
Then I glanced at the other person in the room. The woman, who was reasonably attractive without entering supermodel territory, sobbed.
“The woman?” I asked Alaire, unsure of what part she played in all of this.
“Oh, just a Retriever I captured in the Eighth Circle, or the Morgue, as they call it now,” Alaire answered. He laughed as he added, “This was her first mission too. And now it looks like it will be her last.”
Rage boiled up in my throat at hearing those words. I swore right then and there that I would take all of this to Streethorn, even if I had to use my own sword to chop through a thousand secretaries to do so.
“But why is she here?” I continued, like I was still missing something.
“Did the Bladesmith never inform you of the process involved in allowing Donnchadh to possess him?” Alaire asked. He brought the girl’s arms up over her head, hooking the chain that bound them together to a conveniently placed hook in the wall. Alaire eyed her lustily, fondling one of her breasts and kissing her neck before stepping away. She cried out in protest, her tears flowing faster after the violation.
Alaire didn’t wait for my response.
“He picked the most beautiful woman from his village as an offering for the fearsome spirit,” Alaire said, brushing her trembling cheek. “As this one is quite attractive, I can only look forward to what Donnchadh will do to her after he makes his presence known.”
I suddenly remembered the vision I experienced of Tallis summoning the ancient warrior spirit. In it, I had seen a poor girl tied to a tree and bawling her eyes out, pleading for freedom as Tallis swallowed the drink that would allow him to visit the spirit world and summon Donnchadh. The vision ended and luckily, I was spared the details. Whatever he’d done to the girl, I was fairly sure must have been categorized as sexual assault.
“Is she really necessary to this process, though?” I asked, suddenly realizing what all this meant. Donnchadh would be inside me! I shuddered to think how he could outdo Persephone in the depravity department.
“Oh, most certainly,” Alaire assured me as he triple-checked the strength of the chain before leaving the girl. “If you request a favor from Donnchadh, he will demand an offering in return, such as this one.”
I glanced at the girl who was sullen now, not speaking or even sobbing. As if all the light had been taken out of her. And why not? Her doom was as good as sealed.
“I have taken the liberty of setting up a camera so that I may view the event later for my personal enjoyment,” Alaire finished. “And should you desire to relive the experience yourself at a later date, I am most willing to share.”
His words made me sick to my stomach. Whatever Donnchadh intended to do to this girl while using my body to do it, the last thing I’d ever want was to relive it through a recording.
I had no idea what to expect. I almost hoped Donnchadh would go into a mad rage and tear the castle apart. But the realist inside me knew better than to hope for something so grand. Besides, I had a feeling Alaire would put a quick stop to anything that destructive.
Alaire mounted me, pulling my attention back to him. He felt heavy and disgusting. He sat on my stomach and pulled out the small vial from his shirt pocket once more. The beam inside the vial was now so bright, the lights in the room faded in comparison.
“Once I do this, there is no going back,” he said, all business in his tone. “Do you still wish to proceed?” I only
nodded, distrusting my own voice. Alaire returned my nod. “Here we go, then.”
He popped the top off the little vial. The light inside tried to escape, zipping and bumping against the walls of its tiny prison in an effort to flee. But Alaire held his hand over the top and mumbled something that I couldn’t understand. His eyes began to glow, like Persephone observed when Alaire removed Donnchadh from Tallis. This was a far different kind of magic than Tallis’s though. Tallis possessed Druid magic, and Alaire? There was something very wrong with Alaire’s magic. Its unsettling nature crawled over my skin like dozens of little bugs.
Looking at me with those hungry, iridescent eyes, Alaire finally spoke. “Open wide.”
“For wha—?”
As soon as my mouth opened to say the words, Alaire shoved the vial into it. The light shot down my throat. It felt like a BB from a gun that had just been fired and was now bouncing off the walls of my esophagus.
The girl against the wall opened her mouth to scream but a weak squeal was all that came out. Persephone screamed inside my head once more.
I felt nothing at first.
Alaire remained on top of me for a few more moments before he dismounted. “Well, then, I will leave you to it.” He went straight towards the door and said, “One of my servants will be outside when you return to yourself again.” I could practically hear the smirk in his voice. With that, he slammed the door shut. I heard a lock click into place and knew I was alone with the girl again.
“What is your name, child?” I asked, trying hard to convince her and the video camera that I was Persephone. I was very aware that Alaire would replay this at some future time and I still had a part to play. It wasn’t easy with the real Persephone screaming what I could only assume were ancient obscenities in my head.
The girl jerked her head in my direction. She seemed shocked that I acknowledged her existence, never mind spoke to her.
“J-J-Jill Bieler,” she stuttered, barely able to get the words out. “Wha-wh-what’s going to happen to me?”
I didn’t answer because I couldn’t. I didn’t know how to tell her that she was as good as dead. Being an offering to an ancient warrior spirit cuts down one’s life expectancy to a few seconds.
Suddenly, I felt heat warming me, starting from my stomach and radiating out through my hands and legs. The heat was followed by something expanding inside my chest, something that started out very small but little by little began to fill up my entire body, forcing me to dissolve further and further inside myself.
I faced the girl again to get a better look at her. As Alaire remarked, she was attractive. Her breasts were shapely and soft and her nipples were hard, probably pebbled with fear. Her hips were wide and a small strip of dark hair covered her mound, which seemed ready to be penetrated.
That isn’t my thought, I insisted mentally as a fresh horror kindled inside me. From where I was lying, it seemed like I was standing at the bottom of a very deep well and looking up towards the top. Persephone had remained silent since the heat kicked in so I knew the thoughts were not hers. Nevertheless, I found myself staring at Jill Bieler’s body for much longer periods. If only I could remove the straps binding my limbs, I could go to her and learn for myself what she tasted like.
No! I thought as I shook my head from side to side, hating the notion that my body might soon be obeying Donnchadh’s orders.
“Are you okay?” Jill asked.
I groaned as I pulled at my bindings, my desire building with each passing second. Although I wanted to answer the poor girl, I couldn’t.
“That mouth of yours should be used for better things than making those squawking noises you call words!” When those particular words flew out of my mouth, they sounded deep and guttural. They weren’t my words at all and didn’t sound anything like Persephone.
The heat inside my body abruptly changed into a different type of heat altogether: the lusty variety. That’s when I realized why I kept staring at the girl as if she were a rare steak and I were starving.
Stop it! I screamed in my head. God, no escape plan could be worth this!
No! You will relent to my desires!
That wasn’t Persephone. A tingle ran through my stomach before going into my crotch and boomeranging up into my chest and neck. My ears rang as Donnchadh’s influence coursed through me like a raging forest fire. The last thought I had before I was thrust into being a passenger of my own body was, Not again!
***
Donnchadh
I was being restrained.
It displeased me.
Fettered by my arms, I struggled against them. Minor resistance. Not enough, however. The restraints unraveled and snapped with just one tug on each.
I sat up.
I felt weary, as though I were rising from a long sleep.
My muscles popped and stretched. Strength surged throughout my limbs.
I faced forward and beheld a woman chained to a wall.
The woman was a gift to me. This I knew. She was an offering. Thus, I intended to have her.
I removed the ropes that held my legs. One tug each.
I went to her. She screamed.
The girl began writhing. The chains held her in place. A delicate, pale body.
I tasted her fear in the air. Salty.
“Do not fight me.”
The words were strange. I did not recognize the voice. It was not deep or masculine. It sounded more like that of a woman.
“What’s wrong with your eyes?” the girl screeched.
I stood before her. She was as tall as I was. Also strange.
I looked down at myself. A woman’s figure? I touched the naked skin and felt the breasts, then the wide hips.
Rage. Anger. Injustice.
How could I have entered a female body? I was warrior, not maiden!
I looked at the girl again as she writhed against her bindings.
“Why am I in this form?” I thundered. My voice was so high. Wrong. I held my arm up against the woman. “Be you a witch?”
“No!” she squealed.
Leave her alone! Another voice yelled inside my head.
“Why am I in this form?” I raged again.
“I… I don’t know,” the girl responded. “You were put inside her body!”
“By whom?” I shrieked.
“The Master of the Underground City!” the girl cried.
I felt desire growing strong and sure. I approached the girl and gripped her face before I forced my mouth onto hers.
Nothing. No stirring from below. No hardening of my length. No length to harden!
I slammed my fist against her face. She whimpered.
Stop! That voice again from inside my head. I did not know to whom it belonged.
“Who are you?” I screamed, angry at the interloper.
“I’m just a Retriever,” the girl responded. Her eyes were wide. She was obviously very frightened.
I turned around. Four walls. Furniture. Was I captured?
Fury. Strong and true. I pushed on a square contraption without knowing its purpose. I pushed it over. The girl screamed. My strength was not what it once was.
I ripped the linens from the bed, shredding them with my hands. I pushed the nightstands beside the bunk and watched them topple.
Something shimmered. A blade.
No! the voice wailed from inside me.
I reached for the blade.
Facing the girl, I approached her. Now I understood. This was a different type of offering.
I dragged the blade against her cheek.
She sucked in a shallow breath.
I raised the knife. “It is just the nature of things. It will be brief.”
NO!
I brought the knife down in a flat trajectory.
It sliced the skin between her breasts and slammed through the bone below with a satisfying crunch.
She jerked forward and opened her mouth, hissing out the death rattle.
“You have served
your purpose honorably.”
The light in her eyes faded.
Something pushed on my brain. A mad, screaming beast.
NO! NO! NO!
The voice pounded against the inside of my skull.
Something crawled through my mind.
“Unless in fairer days my judgement err’d…”
- Dante’s Inferno
FOURTEEN
Lily
I opened my eyes but didn’t recognize my surroundings at first. Then I realized I was still in Persephone’s room, albeit a seriously trashed version of it. I had to blink a few more times to make sure I wasn’t just imagining everything I saw around me. But no, everything was really smashed up. And all my bonds were thankfully broken.
Donnchadh… He’d been awakened inside me, and must have taken control of me. But where was he now? How could I be back in control of my body?
I rolled onto my side and screamed at the scene I now beheld.
The girl, Jill, was still there. Her skin now milky white. The blood around the knife’s handle had coagulated into a gummy paste. Her eyes were still open but she was long dead.
I desperately wanted to cry and scream. But I remembered what I had to do.
I have to still play the part, I reminded myself. Alaire set up a camera as a witness, which meant he could play this moment back as often as he pleased if he decided to study my response.
No, I couldn’t allow Alaire to see Lily’s weakness and compassion. He was only allowed to see Persephone’s cruelty and indifference.
“For how long have I not been myself?” I asked the room, not actually expecting an answer, but curious to know if I were alone all the same.
“Only a few hours,” someone responded.
I jumped off the bed, my utter shock competing with my need to stay in character. I turned around and found Alaire sitting at my makeup vanity. It was the only piece of furniture in the room that Donnchadh didn’t destroy.
Alaire’s eyes weren’t on the mirror or even on me. He was holding up the camera to watch the video playback. “I must say, Donnchadh did not disappoint. Though I expected some female-on-female action, I suppose he was too stunned to behold himself inside a woman’s body. So his outrage was the reason for the attack on your furnishings… and finally, the girl.”