by A. J. Markam
20 Silver
I selected ‘Accept’ on that quest without a problem.
As soon as I approached the bodies, I noticed that there were rings glowing on each of their fingers. They all bore the same Medusa’s head that I had noticed on the plantation owner’s finger. No bonus stats to the rings – they were valuable only as items in the quest to prove we’d found their bodies.
I pulled the rings off, put them in the bag, and found a few more items – a couple of healing potions and 20 silver, as promised by the quest.
Which meant that even with the bribe to Shoost the merman, the trip has still turned out profitable.
Plus I would be able to sleep tonight, unburdened by a guilty conscience.
“Let’s head back,” I said, and the three of us followed Shoost back to the boat.
30
The return trip to Lil’s was a quick one. After Shoost beached the boat, Alaria, Stig, and I all got out and went up to the bait shop.
Lil was inside tending the counter. “Well, were you successful, mon? Did you find da Big Ugly dat was causin’ all dose problems for da plantation owner?”
“Actually, there were three of them,” I said. “But we took care of it.”
As I finished talking, Shoost the merman rocketed past us, ran over to Lil, and began babbling in a croaking voice that sounded like a bullfrog on crack.
That little son of a bitch!
Alaria must’ve drawn the same conclusion I did, because she put out her hands and FWOOSH a fireball appeared in each palm.
“Stop!” Lil yelled, and her voice was commanding enough that we obeyed. “Shoost, give ‘em back da money.”
The little merman waddled over to me and held out his hand. Bewildered, I put my palm out, and he placed the 10 silver coins back into my palm.
“Shoost done told me you are good of heart,” Lil said. “So perhaps knowin’ that you can trust me with your secret, I will trust you with mine.”
I stared at her, finally comprehending. “You knew?”
“I not only knew, I was helpin’,” she grinned. “Who do you think they was comin’ to, to break the spells from dey manacles?”
Well I’ll be damned. Lil was running her own videogame version of the Underground Railroad, right under the plantation owners’ noses.
“What should we tell the plantation owner, then?” I asked. I supposed we could just never show up to claim our reward for the quests. That way he would be left in limbo, we could go kill Alaria’s ex-master, and then leave the territory without ever having finished the quest chain.
“Hold on, I got just da ting for you.” Lil slithered her way into the back of the bait shop, then reappeared with something quite ghastly: a fresh reptilian creature’s head, severed at the base of the skull. It was about the size of a small crocodile’s, with vicious teeth and beady red eyes. Even dead it was pretty creepy looking. I’m sure when it was alive, it was really something to behold.
She held out the head to us. “A Navagas. Very nasty, well known for killin’ anyting dat invades its territory. Tell da plantation owner you slayed it in da mangrove swamp. I will stop my friends from escapin’ for da next couple of days, which will give you time to leave da territory.” She looked at us warily. “I assume you are leavin’ da territory, yes?”
“Yes,” I said. “We just have a little errand to attend to in the meantime.”
She laughed. “Good – I can resume helpin’ my friends after you’ve left, and da plantation owner will be none da wiser.”
“Thank you,” I said gratefully as I slipped the head inside my bag. I was pretty sure it was a pretty nasty mess in there, between the mushed-up peppermint fruit and now this monstrosity.
“No, tank you, mon,” she said. “Lil and her friends owe you a debt o’ gratitude. You ever need anyting, you come see me, day or night, I help you out.”
A new window appeared:
Your reputation with Lil has increased by 500 points! You have the status of respect!
Not bad.
“Thanks,” I said. “We might take you up on that.”
“Maybe sooner dan you tink, mon,” she said with a subtle smile at Alaria.
“Maybe so,” I said and waved. “See you soon.”
Once we were out of the shop I glanced over at Alaria. “Well, you called it – she knew what was going on, and she was lying.”
Alaria looked uneasy. “I think she knows even more than she’s letting on.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know,” she said, a worried look on her face. “I just feel… I don’t know.”
We walked back through the fields to the main road. This time I no longer felt a sense of shame and guilt at every watery face that looked up at me. I felt a glimmer of hope, that these beings were maybe only a night or two – or a week, or a month – away from their freedom.
We reached the main road, and what you know – the plantation owner was still there, clopping along on his white horse.
“Back already?” he asked, surprised. “Or did you decide to give up?”
“No, we did it. We found the three hunters,” I said with a little white lie of omission. I pulled the three rings out of my bag and dumped them into his outstretched palm.
‘1500 XP’ floated up through the air.
“By the White Lady,” the plantation owner clucked over the loss of his slavers. “It’s so hard to find good help these days.”
Asshole.
Of course, I had killed the help, so I guess I wasn’t exactly blameless, either.
“Did you find out what happened to them?” the plantation owner asked. “And what’s been gobbling up my workers?”
“Yes I did,” I said, and pulled out the Navagas head from my bag.
“Ordyn’s Tits,” the plantation owner swore as his horse reared up on its hind legs, frightened by the creature’s head. “Throw that damn thing on the ground.”
I did as I was told, and the head made a solid thump on the soft soil.
“Well, you’ve definitely kept up your half of the bargain,” the plantation owner said.
Ha. If he only knew.
He held out a handful of silver coins to pay us for the quests. Then he said, “You three are quite capable – and something special. I’d like to invite you to be my honored guests at the ball tonight.”
“Ball?” I asked.
Alaria immediately perked up.
“Just a little soirée that we hold twice a year, put on by the local plantation owners. It will be at my good friend Lord Odeon’s mansion.”
Alaria and I exchanged excited glances.
We were being invited right into the viper’s nest itself.
The plantation owner continued. “That’s the very large house on the other side of the road, the half I don’t own. We start at eight, and there will be refreshments and live music. I do hope you can come.” The plantation owner dipped his hat at Alaria. “Odeon will be particularly happy to see you. He does love his beautiful demon ladies, I must say.”
“Oh, I’m sure he does,” Alaria said with an ironic smile.
The plantation owner gave me one of the three rings from the slave hunters. “Just show this at the front door. That will be enough to get you in. Well, I must be off – so much to do, and so little time to do it. Good day, adventurers!” he called out, then galloped off down the road.
I looked at Alaria as I pocketed the Medusa ring. “See? There are no coincidences in the greater scheme of things.”
She grimaced. “You know there’s no way I can walk in there looking like this, right? As soon as he sees me, the jig is up.”
I thought for a second, then smiled. “I think it’s time to pay Lil another visit.”
31
When we entered the bait shop again just ten minutes later, Lil looked at us in surprise. “I did not tink you would be needin’ my help so soon!”
“Neither did we. But we just got invited to a ball we need to attend, an
d…” I looked over at Alaria and Stig. “My friends here can’t exactly go looking like this. Do you have some sort of disguise they could wear?”
“They be very tolerant of devil folk here,” Lil said, then her expression turned sour. “Just not elemental folk.”
“That may be the case, but we still need to be able to walk into the ball without anyone knowing it’s her – uh, I mean them.”
Lil gave me a cryptic smile. “I tink I have exactly the tings you be needin’. Come, follow me.”
She led us into the back room of the shop, where a treasure chest with a lock sat on the floor. She muttered a few incantations, inserted a key, and the lock opened with a click.
There were a few items inside – mostly necklaces and bracelets, but they all looked like cheap costume jewelry. Certainly nothing that would seem to warrant being kept under such heavily fortified protection.
She rummaged around in the trunk until she found what she was looking for.
“Come here, my child,” she said to Alaria.
My succubus stepped up warily.
Lil took out a necklace of glass beads and put it around Alaria’s head, careful not to catch the chain on her horns.
As soon as the amulet at the end of the necklace touched Alaria’s chest, though, something amazing happened. It was like a wave of milk passed over skin, obliterating any trace of red and turning it to silky white. As the wave of colorlessness moved up over her face, her black hair turned white, too – though her features were exactly the same. Not only that, but her horns, wings, and tail disappeared, like they just faded away.
It was like a magical version of the flour we’d used on her days before – but absolutely flawless in its deception.
Alaria looked at her pale white hands in amazement.
“Tis just a glamour, darling, but it will be enough to conceal you. Make sure you do not take off the necklace at the ball, though, or everyone will see your true self.”
“Thank you,” Alaria said, amazed.
“And for the little man, I have sometin’ for him.”
Lil pulled out a brass brooch and held it out to Stig.
“Normally dis would go on clothes – and I recommend you doin’ dat, since nudity will be highly frowned upon at da ball,” Lil grinned mischievously. “But if you wear dis on whatever your clothes are, you will be fine.”
Stig took hold of the brooch. As soon as he did, a similar wave passed over his hand – except this one was a ruddy pink color, and worked its way up his body in exactly the same manner. Within seconds, we were looking at a dwarf with a black beard. Though he was buck naked, he had no observable genitalia.
“Dude, you look like a Ken doll,” I said.
“A what?” Stig croaked. It was odd hearing his chain-smoking muppet voice come out of the dwarf’s mouth.
“Never mind. We need to get you some clothes.”
“If you are goin’ to da ball, you should go to Minnie’s dress shop in da village. She will sell you sometin’ very nice.” The purplish woman winked. “Tell her Lil sent you, and she’ll do right by ya on da price.”
“Thank you,” I said. “How can we repay you?”
“It is not you who is repayin’ me, but I who am repayin’ you. In return for your silence about my friends in da fields.”
I nodded. “Well, thank you anyway.”
Lil nodded, then smiled sadly at Alaria. “You do not remember me, do you girl?”
An uneasy look passed over Alaria’s face. “I’m sorry?”
“You were at da plantation owner Odeon’s house many years ago, were you not?”
If it was possible for Alaria’s already white cheeks to get paler, they did.
“Do not worry, child – you have kept my secrets, and I will keep yours. And if Odeon should come to an unfortunate end tonight, so much da betta for his workers whom I try to save. But I must warn you – he has powerful friends, and he will not hesitate to call on dem.”
Lil began to chant in a sing-song voice,
“Mirror, mirrors, on da walls,
“Who you show when darkness falls?
“Three round midnight, chasing one,
“In da land of black sky sun.
“Revenge is bitter but worth da cost,
“Unless it be your soul dat’s lost.”
Alaria stared at her in shock – then muttered, “I have to go.”
She turned and walked out of the shop as quickly as she could.
“What was that all about?” I asked in alarm.
Lil ignored the question and asked one of me instead. “And you – what are you tinkin’, givin’ your heart to a succubus?”
The aforementioned heart skipped a beat.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, fooling no one.
“You should be careful, boy,” Lil warned me. “She will hurt you one day, even though she does not want or mean to. Protect yourself. She is what she is, and nothing can change dat – no matter how much you may care for her.”
“Thanks… I think,” I said, unsure of whether I should be thanking her at all.
“Luck to all three of you – tonight, and afterwards,” Lil called as Stig and I followed Alaria out of the shop. “You will need it.”
I found Alaria outside, back to her red skin, black hair, tail, wings, and horns. The necklace dangled loosely from her hand.
“Well… that was crazy, huh?” I asked, trying to be light and flippant, even though I’d been shaken by the witch’s words.
“Yeah, crazy,” Alaria muttered.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I just… I don’t remember her, and it’s a little unsettling that she knows why we’re here.”
“She’s going to keep our secret, though.”
“But the fact that she knew who I was before, and didn’t tell me? I’m a little more worried about the secrets she’s not telling us.”
I thought about that. Alaria definitely had a point –
And then I saw Stig walk out in front of me, his pale dwarf buttocks moving back and forth as he walked naked along the ground.
“Stig!” I yelled. “Give me that brooch!”
“But I kind of like being a dwarf, boss,” Stig protested.
“You can be one later when we get the clothes. Until then, NO.”
My imp sighed, then handed over the piece of costume jewelry. Almost immediately, the illusion disappeared like an ice sculpture melting in fast-forward, leaving behind the little grey body with the floppy ears and yellow glowing eyes.
“Alright… let’s see about those clothes,” I said.
32
The dress shop actually carried formalwear for both men and women. Millie was more than helpful when she found out we were Lil’s friends, and gave us quite the bargain on our clothes.
I decided on a suit that made me look like a rich American from the 1700s, complete with a coat with tails.
Alaria put on the necklace, then chose a dress that made her look like Marie Antoinette – all ruffles and lace, with a bustier so tight that it made her boobs look even more gigantic. Not to mention a big train that swished around in her wake. She stood there in the center of the shop and spun around, entranced as any four-year-old girl as she watched the dress twirl all around her.
For Stig, we got him a tux – or something close to it. Then we pinned the brooch on. It was a little odd seeing a dwarf wear a tux, but the shopkeeper really didn’t have much else in his size. It was actually a child’s suit, but it fit him well enough. As soon as we pinned on the brooch, he looked like a dead ringer for a dwarf butler.
“Just don’t say anything at the ball,” I instructed Stig. “You don’t sound anything like a dwarf.”
“Good call, boss.”
After we paid – only 10 silver for the dress, and then another five each for my suit and Stig’s (“Special prices for friends of Lil’s,” Millie said with a wink) – we went and found an inn. Luckily this one was not run by a chubby
theocrat with a stick up her ass, and we got a prime room that looked out over the fields. It felt like something out of New Orleans, with French doors leading out onto a balcony, and a spacious room with a four-poster bed.
Best of all, it had an ornate porcelain bathtub with magically running water sitting at the far end of the suite. The rest of the bathroom was in its own contained area, but the bathtub was sort of a centerpiece for the room.
“By the goddess’ orgasm, this is heavenly,” Alaria sighed as she laid back in a steaming hot bubble bath.
I just watched, entranced, as she lathered herself up. The bubbles obscured almost everything, but just knowing she was naked underneath the water was enough to get me going.
Stig sat over in the corner, staring out the window.
“Been a while since you had a bath?” I asked Alaria.
She smirked. “Ever since that impromptu swim in the river a couple of days ago, yes.”
I blushed as I remembered it. “I wouldn’t call that a bath.”
“No, I guess it was more like skinny-dipping.”
“Yeah, well, I would call it a tease,” I said with a hint of bitterness in my voice.
“Tease?” she asked, her voice teasing me yet again. “What, you mean like this?”
She stuck her leg straight up out of the water and ran her soapy fingers sensually down her calf and thigh.
My pants immediately began to get a wee bit tighter.
“Ha ha,” I said. “Very funny.”
“What, you don’t like the sense of anticipation?” she asked, and sat up in the bathtub. Her breasts rose above the level of water – but bubbles still clung to them, obscuring almost everything from sight.
“What if I were to wipe away some of these bubbles?” she asked coyly, and traced her fingers down between her breasts. With one swipe of her fingers, she removed half of the bubbles. Her firm, gravity-defying breasts and the cleavage between them were suddenly way more visible.
Still no nipplage, though.
My mouth started to water. But I remembered what had happened last time she did this.
“Cut it out,” I said in irritation.