by Prax Venter
“Can't do that,” was all he said, from atop his horse.
Everyone stood very still, waiting for someone to start the apparently inevitable conflict. The man on the horse suddenly smiled and rubbed his stubbly chin.
“Look, it doesn't have to come to bloodshed. I can clearly see-”
The mounted man stopped mid-sentence and whipped a knife he had drawn from behind his back squarely at Mark's chest. Vale instantly appeared in front of him and let the thrown weapon bounce right off her armor.
Roo countered by launching a needle at the man on the horse, while Ahnix sprinted over to deal with the three men they had collectively assessed as fodder.
Their leader moved inhumanly fast, drawing a thin, pointed rapier from his hip and parrying the needle away. He spurred his horse forward and attempted running Roo through with his sword.
Mark popped a bubble around her as the horse got close and the man managed to turn his mount in time to avoid colliding with the magic sphere of protection. Ahnix had already cut two of the men down behind him, and Mark was sure they had this fight in the bag.
The mounted man seemed to agree and only continued riding straight way from the battle, his horse kicking up wads of soft, green grass as he built up speed.
“Ahnix!” Mark called. “Stop him, please.”
The cat-girl backflipped away from a sword strike meant for her head, and before she landed, she popped out of existence only to reappear in the saddle behind the mounted man.
Vale moved in to deal with the remaining slaver and popped him in the head with a Shield Bash.
Mark looked back to see the gruff, mounted man become unmounted as he fell lifeless from his saddle. Ahnix Retracted and reappeared next to the giant naga, prepared to finish off the last of their enemies.
The man suddenly dropped his sword, his mouth hanging open in surprise. He looked down, and Mark followed his eyes to see the tip of the unicorn-woman's horn sticking out from his chest.
She pulled back, and the man slumped to the ground, his lungs filling with his own blood.
With her pursuers all dead, she stepped up to Mark and his Enthralled.
“Thank you. Thank you for killing them all.”
“You're welcome,” Mark said. “Were they slavers?”
“Worse. They work for the Zookeeper.”
“Never heard of them,” Ahnix said, her tail twitching behind her.
“You're lucky, then.” She said, then pulled the cloth robe over her head and used it to clean the blood off her horn. Mark noticed she had small, feathered wings sprouting from her back. There was a feather for every color in the rainbow.
“The Zookeeper charges top dollar for sexual experiences with unique creatures. He would pay heaps of gold to get his hand on you.” She nodded her horn at Roo. “I was being loaded up into that wagon when I slipped my leash and jumped in the driver's seat. That bloated frog, Prince Ixsi, paid a chest of jewels for a weekend alone with me. I just couldn't do it, not again. I would have died first.”
Mark took a deep breath. “I'm Mark, this is Ahnix, Vale, and she's Roo. What's your name?”
“Altas.”
“Altas, tell us everything you know about the Zookeeper.”
- 18 -
“I'll be fine,” Mark said, giving Vale a reassuring smile. “We aren't just going to assault his compound without doing some reconnaissance first. Not doing that again. Besides, Ahnix will be right there with me. She's not going to let anything happen.”
“Correct,” Ahnix said.
Vale blew her cheeks out with a deep breath, trying to account for all the possible contingencies.
“I miss our picnic,” Roo said, looking at the wooden floor of the map room. She had cleaned up the horrible mess in their home with a few waves of her hand as they planned their approach to this Zookeeper and his sex slave operation.
“Yeah, me too,” Mark said, looking over at the dejected velvet-girl. “That's one of the reasons we are going to fuck this guy's shit right up. He killed our lovely picnic.”
“Okay,” Vale began. “In and out- just be careful.” She turned to Ahnix, boring into her with her violet eyes. “Teleport him out if you even think they suspect anything.”
The cat-girl nodded, but her black tail started twitching behind her. She hated being told things she already knew.
“We got this,” Mark said, moving things along. “Roo, door please.”
She obliged, and moments later, he and Ahnix were standing out in a grassy field about a mile from the Zookeeper's compound. As they started moving forward, Mark noticed the black and gold cat-girl fade into thin air and slow her pace.
When the simple looking farmhouse came into view, he wasn't sure they were headed to the right location. It looked like a serene place to raise livestock, not operate a unique creature sex den. He supposed that the unassuming nature of the structures would be a clever way to hide something deplorable. When he got closer and noticed a few men dressed in gray uniforms, Mark knew he was on the right track.
Altas said she hadn't seen much of the operation. The farmhouse, and her cage in the stable. She wasn't sure how big it was or how many guards there were. She heard rumors that there was a larger section of the compound and thought there must be an underground complex.
As he veered off of the dirt road and passed the white picket fence, Mark's heart started to race. He hoped his acting ability was as good as he thought it was.
He skipped up the stairs to the porch like he belonged there and rapped his knuckles on the front door. Seconds later the curtain was pushed aside, and a monstrous face looked at him through the glass. He looked like a rhinoceros. His one bloodshot eye scanned Mark up and down before the curtain slid back over the glass.
Nothing happened, and Mark's heart began to beat even faster. He was considering knocking again when the door was pulled open. Standing in the shade of the lavish interior of the farmhouse was an older looking lizard-man. He had a loose silk robe tied around his waist by a black, leather belt with many pouches. He held a silver walking cane in one of his clawed hands and perched on his head was a black, top hat. It looked ridiculous combined with his reptilian face.
The lizard-man cocked his head to one side.
“And who might you be?”
Mark held up his heart ring and said, “I'm Mark. I'm a Collector looking to make some coin. Whom should I speak with about possibly selling some fine livestock?”
The lizard man's yellow eyes squinted as he considered what Mark had said.
“Well, Mark. I am Angor, and this is my land. I'm always keeping an eye out for the finest of livestock. Come in, and I'll show you around.”
Angor stepped aside, and Mark walked into the house. He assumed Ahnix had teleported inside already. Not only did she not want to be locked outside, but her ability needed time to cool down in case they needed to make a quick exit.
Just inside the door was the humongous rhinoceros-man who was unmistakably Angor's bodyguard. Mark nodded to the creature as he looked around at the extravagantly decorated interior. Gold trimmed purple was the theme, but what caught Mark's eye was a nude woman that seemed to be half-eagle standing up from a plush couch. Her sad, yellow eyes were huge. She had black feathers along her arms like she wore short cloak, and a soft-looking white down covered her round breasts and flat stomach.
Mark kept his eyes locked on the frightened bird-woman.
“I hope I wasn't interrupting anything.”
Angor studied him again, then said, “Just training this fine livestock here how to handle a cock. Would you like a sample of my product, Mark?”
“Oh- No, thank you. I'm here to work, sir. Perhaps another time.”
Mark felt a flash of heat run up his spine. Did he just blow everything? Was this similar to not partaking in the drugs the dealer was selling?
“Quite the professional I see,” Angor said, nodding. He turned to the big burly man in the corner. “Leir, take this animal back to
its pen, yes?”
“Yes, boss.” the rhinoceros-man nodded, and the wooden floorboards shook as the creature known as Leir stomped across the room. He took the bird-woman roughly by her feathered arm and moved her deeper into the house. As she was being escorted out, her large eyes turned to the floor, and Mark felt an almost unbearable sadness emanate from her, but the fact that Angor sent his bodyguard away was a good sign. Maybe turning down her services was the right call after all.
“Had her wings clipped. Never can be too careful when it comes to securing valuable products.” He fiddled with the head of his cane and then turned to face Mark. “So, let me show you the rest of my business.”
Angor quickly reached his cane up and tapped it against Mark's forehead, a move he had not been expecting. Reality whooshed by him, and at first, he thought Ahnix had stepped in and got them out of there.
Instead, he found himself surrounded by metal bars with Angor still standing in front of him and a loud hum coming from everywhere. Before Mark fully realized what was happening, the lizard-man in the top hat stepped back and slammed the door on what became clear was a jail cell.
Mark rushed forward and tried to push the door open, but it was immovable. He reached out into the universe to pull his girls to him and narrowed his focus on Ahnix first.
Angor turned and walked a few steps before flipping a lever that was on the wall opposite of Mark's cell. A red gem below the lever sparked into a flickering glow, and Mark felt an odd tingling on his skin. The connection to his treasured cat-girl dissipated and his eyes snapped open.
“Welcome to your new home, Mark- if that is your name. I knew you were bullshit the second you walked up to my front door. Anyone who would have sent you would have known to tell you to go around back. Besides, you clearly don't have the stomach for this line of work.”
Angor the Zookeeper straightened his top hat before continuing.
“I'll be back to interrogate you. Perhaps even break you. Plenty of women would pay through the ass to have an experience with a Lover. Anyone can be broken. Well- almost anyone.” Angor turned to look at something to Mark's right, and he saw that he wasn't alone. In a jail cell next to his was a blue woman with four arms, and all four hands clenched tightly onto the bars of her cell. Her long black hair flowed around her head and flashes of light could be seen behind the long strands like lighting in the clouds of a distant thunderstorm. Her focus was locked on Angor.
“My lovely Kune here is notoriously resistant to taming.”
The lizard-man turned and walked up a set of short metal stairs leading to the only door out. “See you in a few days,” he said, before turning the handle. Mark tried to see out through the open door and saw a single guard by the door. He also noticed that the humming noise elevated to sound like a repetitive banging while the door was open. The lizard-man in the top hat walked through and closed the door behind him.
Mark shook the bars again to no avail, then grabbed his crossbow from his belt, moved to the back of his cell and squeezed the trigger.
Nothing happened. He closed his eyes, trying to just focus on Ahnix again, but he could feel nothing.
“It won't work,” a gravelly voice said, from the other cell.
He opened his eyes and looked at her. “What do you mean?” he asked.
Her eyes were solid, bright blue orbs of energy with dark, angular eyebrows. She was naked and had both sets of hands resting on her hips. She was built like a fitness model, with glowing, blue nipples. Based on his limited experience with entities in this world Mark thought she definitely looked like some kind of elemental spirit. She also looked pissed off.
She pointed one of her blue fingers to the gems under the levers.
“Magical nullifiers. Nothing will work. Abilities, toys, nothing. As that bastard said, welcome to the nightmare that is your new life.”
Mark looked over at the lever that Angor switched and noticed a second one next to it. He lifted up his ring and tried to target himself with a simple heal and found that part of his mind utterly sealed shut. It was like he was trapped in his own skull again. He closed his eyes and tried to bend the universe to his will, and the universe was totally unresponsive.
“Mother fucker,” Mark swore. “Are we underground? I know my girls will come find me. When they-”
“Stop.” The blue woman put up one of her hands. “Why don't you just take a look through those bars?”
Mark turned to look at the square window in his cell. He had been so panicked he didn't notice the light filtering in behind him. It was too high for him to reach, so he slid his simple cot underneath. Mark stepped onto the cot and grabbed the bars. Hoisting himself up, he was able to see out the window and felt a sense of vertigo that almost made him vomit.
He was looking at distant fields of grass through patches of white, fluffy clouds.
“We're flying?”
“She's called The Dirty Whore. Pretty name for an airship, isn't it?”
Mark let go of the bars and sat down on the cot in his cell. If he couldn't Recall them and they had no idea where he was- He shook his head, clearing his mind. There had to be some way out of this.
“A fucking airship,” he said, to himself.
“So- Mark is it? What's a Lover like you doing in the Zookeeper's high security holding cell?”
He looked over at the blue woman. She was leaning against the door to her cell, both sets of arms crossed over her chest.
“I was trying to get some idea of how big his operation was so my team and I could take him out. I fucked that up, big time. I didn't realize he had... all this.” Mark gestured weakly at the airship surrounding them.
“That son of a bitch has made a lot of money by offering rare sexual experiences to high profile clients. Not off of me, though. I keep biting off their dicks.” She flashed a set of pointed, white teeth at him. “He has the biggest and baddest toys gold can buy. That teleporting cane he holds is probably worth more than this airship. I applaud your intent, however. If I ever get out of here, I will do more than bite his miniature dick off.”
They chatted for a while, and he learned that Kune was an embodiment of vengeance, trapped on this plane of existence and being driven insane by her imprisonment. She told him to look forward to all kinds of psychological and physical torture. The more she talked, the more he needed to get out of there. He could only hope that they would somehow be able to locate him and have Roo open a door to his cell.
After a while, their conversation died, and he was left quietly trying not to think about how his girls were reacting to his sudden disappearance. Did Ahnix reveal herself and get captured too? Did Vale and Roo rush in afterward? As the light faded from the window above his cot, he was failing miserably at not imagining all kinds of dark and horrific scenarios.
He didn't sleep for one second. The longer he was trapped in the cell, the more anxious he became.
Mark was sitting on his cot, his eyes closed, trying to push past the anti-magic gem in the wall preventing him from connecting with his Enthralled when the door opened again. His eyes snapped open, and he saw a woman made of chrome walk in holding a tray with a wooden cup and plate.
She looked like a sexbot with exposed gears and reflective plating all over her slick body. She stepped up to Mark's cell and faced him. Her face was composed of shiny metal sections and had two, metal antenna where her ears ought to be.
Kune spoke up from her cell to his right. “Mark, meet Zot. Our mindless attendant.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Mark. Kune is correct. I am at your service.” Her deep voice reverberated behind her motionless lips with a metallic sound.
“At my service?” he asked. “What does that mean?”
“I will be providing meals for today. Here are water and human sustenance.”
Mark looked down at the pile of brown mush on the plate. His stomach suddenly reminded him that he had not eaten anything since before they went back into the volcano. He was starving, but si
multaneously suspicious and revolted at the thought of food.
Zot tilted her head when she noticed his apprehension.
“Please, you need to eat.”
He was suddenly and forcefully reminded of his velvet-girl. This Zot had some of Roo's mannerisms.
Mark looked up into the mechanical woman's silver eyes. Maybe it was a construct thing.
“Why do you care whether or not I eat?”
“My instructions are to keep you alive until master Angor returns.”
Maybe it was his imagination or his lack of food and sleep, but he felt the slightest flutter of pleading from her. She seemed unhappy with what she was doing. He reached down to the small slot in his door where she was holding the wooden tray. He made to grab it but just rested one finger on it instead.
Her metallic eyes moved from his hand, back up to his face. She seemed confused.
“Why do you serve The Zookeeper?” he asked.
Kune shook her head. “You're wasting your time. She's a hollow shell just following a set of instructions.”
Mark was sure he felt something this time. Zot looked down again at the platter of food and said nothing.
“Answer my question, and I'll eat.”
Zot looked back into his eyes. She lifted her arm and opened a panel on her chest. There seemed to be an empty square plug with nothing connected.
“After I fulfill my length of service, master Angor promised to give me emotions and release me.”
“Pfft, and why don't you tell your new friend Mark when your service is up.”
Even though her chrome lips didn't move, he could almost see them curve into a smile. Maybe his ability to sense feelings in others was non-magical, maybe he had just become really good at reading body language. Either way, this robot definitely had emotions.
“Why that day is tomorrow!” her metallic voice piped from behind her immovable lips as she closed the compartment in her chest.
He took the food and water from the metallic-woman. “Thank you, Zot. Congratulations on your big day tomorrow.”