Enthralled: Book 1: The Crystal Heart

by Prax Venter

  She looked more worried than he had ever seen her. Her straight, evenly cut hair hung forward the way he liked as she squatted over him, her beautify patterned eyes wide in horror. He reached out to touch her sleek-furred cheek and was beyond relieved to feel her soft fur.

  He closed his eyes and let his head fall back and hit the hard slab he was laying on.

  "How long?"

  "What?" Ahnix asked.

  He opened his eyes and looked into hers. "How long was I in there? It felt like... eternity."

  "About three minutes, master," Vale said hovering over them. "Your legs started shaking like... like something bad was happening. I didn't know what to do. Ahnix did. She just walked up and pulled you out. I'm so glad to see you whole."

  Mark focused back on Ahnix squatting over him. Her tail was whipping back and forth violently, hitting his thighs. He suddenly reached up and embraced her. She stiffened for a moment and then melted into him, her tail slowing its erratic spasming.

  He tilted his head and whispered into her ear. "Thank you." He held her like that, just breathing, while the world came back to him. They were still on the dirty marble slab on the ocean, and he could still feel the swirling chaos nearby.

  He had failed. He wasn't able to heal this tear. At least he knew that failure didn't necessarily mean death. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even know what death meant. Would he just respawn? He knew that if he died, most likely his girls would also. It was something he seriously wanted to avoid finding out.

  They broke their embrace and Vale helped him to his feet. He wondered how far he would have gotten if he didn't have their help.

  And then it hit him. The helper fairy had said she was going to imbue him and all of his future Enthralled with the ability to heal the tears in the game world. Why did he think he had to do it alone? Maybe he was just protecting them, he thought. But the only real way to protect them here was by making them stronger.

  He turned to his Enthralled.

  "Okay. Listen up, ladies. The only way for us to heal this tear and soak up all that wonderful essence is to work as a team. The spirit that gave me the power to heal these tears said that all of my Enthralled would also have this power." He looked at Ahnix. "I promise I wasn't really hiding anything from you. I am still learning about all of this. I wanted to take the danger on myself that first time, and then... I just forgot."

  Both of them were staring at him.

  Vale broke the silence first, "You want us to stick our arms... in that?" She pointed to the swirling chaos behind him. He ignored Vale. She was easy to manage and eager to please. He knew she would just do whatever her master asked of her. He focused his attention Ahnix.

  "Do you trust me?"

  Ahnix considered her answer while she studied his eyes. Her tail jumped a few times, and Mark could tell she was playing the events of the last few days back in her mind.

  His regal cat-girl let out a big sigh, "What do we need to do?"

  He smiled from ear to ear. "First, group hug."

  Mark walked towards his girls with his arms raised. Vale looked at Ahnix and then moved to one of Mark's outstretched arms. He wrapped his hand around her slender waist. The giant naga bent down slightly and put one of her large hands between his shoulder blades.

  Ahnix hesitated but eventually came over and snuggled under Mark's other arm. He pressed her warm, furry body against his and, he put his hand on the small of her muscular back.

  He pulled them tighter and reveled in their sweet scents, and in their warm bodies for a moment.

  "We've shared the heat of combat, and we've shared the heat of passion. I could not be here, and would not want to be here, without either of you. I know that as a team we can do anything. We are going to walk over to that barrier, that enemy to be defeated, and we will force it to bow before us. We will push back the corruption and heal this tear in the world."

  He let them go and walked up to the tear again. His Enthralled followed him and stood to either side of him.

  "Now on the count of three, we are all going to extend our fists and banish this wrongness from the world. It might sting a little, but it goes away once it's over." He caught both of their eyes to make sure they were ready to do this.

  Vale looked terrified but willing to do anything Mark asked. Ahnix looked determined. She trusted him and would give it her all. His cat-girl gave him a slow nod, and he knew they were ready.

  "One. Two. THREE!" Mark called out, and they all thrust their hands into the stinging white-noise the at the same time.

  - 12 -

  Mark heard both of his girls cry out in pain. He, however, remained silent. He was not going to let this one simple hole in the world get the better of him. He would not allow it hurt his girls.

  "Fight!" he yelled, to Vale and Ahnix. "Push it closed. You aren't in there alone. I am with you both, and you are with each other. Now get it done!"

  They all bent forward and focused everything they had into willing the swirling chaos closed.

  And then it was over. The tear was just instantly gone, but a different kind of chaos remained unfolding before them. Mark tried to focus on what was happening in front of him, but a huge rush of essence assaulted him with waves of pleasure.

  Ahnix hissed and dodged sideways to avoid a half-severed fish monster as it limply flopped over next to her, its disgusting fish guts spilling out over the marble floor. It was just like the pair of legs they found after he closed the first tear in the desert outpost.

  The stone slab on the other side of the tear was pure white and pristine (where there were no giant fish guts) and an enormous structure that looked like a temple sprawled out before them. And that temple was currently under siege.

  A small army of the same, many-limbed fish creatures they had fought on the beach were locked in combat with young teenage girls and boys who were creating and manipulating various forms of water.

  One of the giant sea creatures let out a horrible screeching sound to their left as it was boiled alive in a cloud of steam that appeared underneath it.

  The fish creatures were advancing on the temple in front of Mark, and the children seemed to be defending it. Mark knew what they had to do.

  "Okay guys, new plan. We kill as many of these crazy fish fuckers as we can. But stick together and don't take any chances!"

  His wide-eyed Enthralled nodded, and he pointed to the closest fish creature. It was heading up some stairs holding its four beefy arms up to block as a teenage boy pelted it with ice chunks he was somehow shooting out of his hands.

  Mark and his party moved as a group, and when Vale was in range, she cracked her whip, pulling one of the crab legs out from under the creature. It was a surprise attack, and it looked back to see what had hit it from behind.

  Mark shot it in the back with his magic crossbow, and the boy at the top of the stairs paused his assault, shocked to see a human and two beast-women helping him. He only paused for a moment though and then renewed his icy barrage.

  The creature also hesitated, trying to figure out which target it hated most. Ahnix ran up to its side while it was distracted and ripped into the fleshy fish part with a basic attack.

  She dodged the huge fist that sailed over her head and danced back out of range. Vale snapped it again this time on its body and left a thin line of blood where her whip had split a gash in its scales.

  It didn't like the ice chunks, but Vale and Ahnix were causing way more damage. It started to run for Vale, and Ahnix took the opportunity to slash it again on its weak underbelly.

  Mark got another shot off and missed its fishy face, but the combined attacks from everyone else brought it down. The creature had sustained more damage than it could take.

  Mark and his party moved up the stairs to get to higher ground and join up with the young man cowering up there.

  "What do you want from us?" he asked, holding a shaking hand out, warning them to stay back.

  "We're here to help. That is unle
ss you start attacking us," Mark said, calmly.

  The boy couldn’t be more than sixteen, he was wearing nothing but what looked like swim trunks and looked really tan. He had short, sun-bleached hair and deep blue eyes, and they narrowed to focus on Mark.

  "You're a Collector, aren’t you?"

  "Yep, here to help end your eternal battle."

  He looked up at him confused, "Eternal battle? They just came out of the water moments before you arrived." He regarded him suspiciously again.

  "Look, dude, do you want to stand here and talk, or do you want to help your dying friends out there?"

  The young boy examined Mark and his two girls again and seemed to relax a bit. Mark suddenly got the sense that he could be enthralled. Was he not human? Could he enthrall humans? It didn't really matter. Although Mark needed a long-range spell caster like this kid, he wasn't really into young boys.

  "Okay, Collector. Follow me"

  They passed through a marble archway and out in a large pristine courtyard with elaborate fountains made from seashells. There was a girl there, on the far side, in a blue bikini and could be the twin sister of the kid they were following.

  She was backed into a corner by two of the creatures who were moments from ripping her apart.

  Ahnix teleported to the side of one and performed a sneak attack Assault Rush again. The combo had worked as well as it had on the beach, and she single-handedly took one of the two creatures down.

  Unlike before, the second creature was not distracted by Vale. It swung a fist and hit Ahnix right in her gut. The small cat-girl sailed like a ragdoll into one of the marble walls and landed by the kid they were trying to rescue.

  Vale charged forward, crossing the courtyard quickly and Shield Bashed the face of the creature that had dared to hurt her friend, while the boy they had followed began hurling solid chunks of ice into its side.

  Mark ran over to heal Ahnix, worried out of his mind that she was going to be beyond healing. To his astonishment, Ahnix was getting back up and seemed okay. Mark hadn’t used his heal yet and was dumbfounded until he saw the girl they had come to rescue holding her hand out to Ahnix, encircling her in a glowing stream of water.

  The giant fish creature recovered from its stun and started to pummel Vale. She was blocking the hits, but it had too many arms, and one was bound to get through soon. Her whip was useless at close range, so all she could really do was block.

  Mark turned and shot the creature in the side with a colorful bolt, while chunks of ice smashed into its side.

  Ahnix shook off her own stun and returned to the battle. She sprinted over to the beast, slid under its soft underbelly and between its armored crab legs, tearing it open as she moved. The damage from the ice and Ahnix's claws brought the second beast down into a mass of stinking fish guts.

  Mark heard shouts and hunks of ice impacting the ground from the other side of the courtyard and knew they had more work to do. He was impressed with these kids though. One was doing some fine damage, and the other had healed Ahnix. And he still had his full arsenal of abilities ready to use.

  He ran over to Ahnix. "Are you okay?"

  She looked over to him, panting. "Yeah. That was stupid. I teleported outside Vale's Perfect Guard ability."

  Mark just put his hand on her furry shoulder and then turned to the two twin kids. If the girl didn’t have a bikini on it might have been hard to tell them apart. Just like the boy, she was tan with short blond hair and blue eyes.

  "Hey, kiddos, let's get moving. Sounds like there are still some fish to gut out there."

  The boy grabbed the hand of his twin and pulled her up onto her feet.

  "Come on, this way."

  He dragged the girl along, and Mark's party followed. He got the same feeling that he could enthrall her, or at least make an attempt. Another healer might be useful but not practical.

  They climbed another marble staircase and came out onto a ledge then looked down on the chaos below. All of the giant fish creatures were dead, and there were other children running around in disarray.

  A few of them saw the group of them up on the ledge, and the boy they were with waved his arm to get their attention. The children who saw him started sprinting up to where they were.

  Mark relaxed a little, it looked like things were settling down, and he could get some answers as to what was happening here.

  Then, from behind them came the shriek of another young girl. Mark turned around to see a giant lobster-woman advancing on another tan, blue bikini clad teenager. The creature was like Vale in that her top half was buxom porn star, complete with perfect tits, but her bottom half was that of a lobster. She also had huge armored claws instead of arms. The lobster-woman was advancing on the young girl who was backing away with something large, and glowing with an ethereal blue light, clutched to her chest.

  They were pretty far away, and Mark didn’t have a lot of options. He had a feeling that he needed to prevent this sexy, yet revolting, giant lobster monster from getting her claws on whatever that girl was holding.

  Mark sprinted forward, and when he was in range, he put up a protective bubble around the girl, hoping he wouldn’t regret not saving it for later. The timing was close, and as soon as the bubble went up her massive claw bounced off its surface. She pounded on the shell a few times and then turned her head and looked right at Mark.

  Her face was quite beautiful. Her eyes were all white, and she had long red antennae that drooped down from under her jet black hair, which was wound tight into a bun. Her eyes narrowed, and he could see them fill with hate.

  "You! Collector, you are responsible for this!" She screamed, and in a blur, charged right at Mark. Her lobster legs moved faster than he could follow and then she was right in front of him, bringing a humongous claw down intending to send his head into his chest cavity.

  Vale's big, round hips instantly appeared inches from his face and deflected the claw, the impact making a deafening clang on her massive shield. Vale was huge, but this angry lobster-woman was bigger. Mark hoped they could handle this creature and knew Vale was going to have to take a lot of hits before it was over.

  Reacting almost purely on instinct, he pressed his palm on Vale's firm back and channeled the strongest enhancement he could into her blocking ability.

  She tensed for a moment as the golden rings appeared around her shoulders and arms, flooding her with pleasure. She didn't miss a beat though and continued to move her massive slab of metal to meet every bashing claw.

  Mark rolled away to get some distance between him and the large beast-women engaged in battle. He brought up his magic crossbow to fire when a chunk of ice impacted the lobster creature’s pretty head.

  He fired his bolt into the creature’s human-skinned side and looked for Ahnix. He saw her slowly circling around the creature and hoped she wouldn’t get too close like she did when attacking the fish creatures. Where they had soft undersides, this colossal beast-woman had a thick, lobster-shell segments that ran down her whole bottom half. Mark doubted that even Ahnix's razor sharp claws would be able to penetrate the chitinous plates.

  "Don't hit the naga! She's on our side," yelled a voice behind him, and he turned to see that other, tan, blond haired, blue eyed kids were running up to stand with the ones they rescued.

  An onslaught of ice and steam pelted the lobster-woman, and she turned away from Vale to charge the group of young, fleshy teens standing clumped together.

  Vale was waiting for someone to pull her attention away and activated her Hateful Sting ability on the massive creature, singing a handful of beautiful then discordant notes.

  A red glow appeared around the lobster-woman, and she let out an ear-piercing screech at Vale, renewing her attacks on the naga. The enhancement Mark had given her was doing the trick, and Vale's strong shield arm moved in a blur to meet every attack while the onslaught continued from the water kids. But the effect wouldn't last forever.

  Mark fired another colorful bolt
, but it was lost in the torrent of ice and steam damaging the enraged creature hammering on his naga.

  Then he saw Ahnix make her move. He was pretty sure the lobster-woman didn't even know she was there as she had yet to join the battle.

  His cat-girl yelled, "Doom kick!", and then brought her foot in an arc across one of the segmented lobster legs connected to the beast-woman's back half.

  The dark rip in reality appeared where her foot had traveled for a second, and then vanished with a pop, severing the leg she had targeted.

  It was a serious blow, and the creature let out another agonizing screech but was forced to keep her attention on Vale. Ahnix back-flipped out of danger and stood next to Mark.

  "That's about all I can do. My teleport is almost ready again though. I might be able to get on that thing's back and rip out her spine, but all these water attacks would make that dangerous."

  Mark considered it. He did still have a heal left, and his enhancement on Vale was going to run out soon.

  "We could tell the kids to stop... Are you absolutely sure it's worth putting you into that blender?"

  Ahnix studied the creature for a moment and then nodded. "Her back is flesh, and I can tear through that like paper. I can end this."

  "Okay, wait for the waterworks to stop and then pop in there. Ready?"

  Ahnix nodded, and Mark ran over to the group of kids focusing all their attacks on the massive creature invading their temple.

  "Hey, everybody! Listen to me. We are going try a tactic here to end this fight right now. Stop the water attacks, or you'll fuck up the plan and hit my Enthralled. Got it?"

  Some of them stopped, but others ignored him and continued their assault with hate in their eyes. Mark was about to walk up and shake one of them when the boy they had first rescued elbowed one in the side.

  "Stop! Bodar, Malika, listen to him. They know what they are doing." The other teenagers lowered their hands and looked at each other, still uncertain.

  Mark turned around just in time to see Ahnix pop from where she was standing, to right on the creature's lobster shell back.