Chains of a Succubus

by Lanak F Tanor

“Dig a grave and let the old mayor sleep in peace,” I said to him, “make sure that not a drop of blood is anywhere around this spot. I shall now retire for the guest house. Tomorrow I will declare myself as the new mayor.”

  ***

  Chapter 17: Lanak Tanor

  I stood at the top of the Sphere, controlling the craft with my mind through the touch that I maintained with my feet, and watched as Lana shot up to the sky, the sand demons around her in a circle. And then all of them dived. Lower and lower they went.

  Finally Lana had a grip on the chest. She had taken the party with complete surprise. Daria and Darren had never thought we would stand up against them.

  Lana pulled at the chest hard. The slaves holding it tried to pull it back. But Lana, thanks to her powers, was the stronger one. She pulled it out of the grasp of the slaves and up she shot to the sky and towards the Sphere. She reached the craft.

  “Get inside,” I said to her, while the sand demons spread themselves as sand over the surface of the Sphere. Lana took the chest inside. I looked down at the party.

  “Return it to us or you shall pay,” Daria shouted from below.

  “I am sorry, cousin,” I said, “but I needn’t always listen to you.”

  I entered the Sphere and closed the lid.

  I made the Sphere shoot away.

  “See?” Lana said, though she looked a bit drained, “It wasn’t so easy, was it?”

  With the help of Danor, I opened the chest. The lid was closed quite tight.

  The statue was inside.

  “What is this, sir?” Danor said. He placed his finger over a hole at the chin of the statue’s head.

  “It looks like it would fit a key,” Lana observed. She was correct, it could only be a key hole.

  I searched all about the chest, but the key was missing.

  And then I recalled. During my conversation with Daria earlier, I had thought of seeing a necklace on her with the odd locket that was shaped like a key.

  I pulled at my hairs and looked at Danor and Lana.

  “My cousin has the key,” I said. “We’d have to return to them.”

  At that point one of the sand demons took human form at the windshield and he began to wave at us. There was much terror on his sandy face. I went and opened the lid. Immediately one of the sand demons came inside.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “They have summoned a djinn!” the sandman said.

  “A djinn?” I said.

  “An evil demon that will follow whatever its masters tell it to do,” the sand demon replied.

  I turned the Sphere, such that the windshield was pointed towards the party of travellers. And there I saw it. A great humanoid monster. He stood fifty feet tall.

  And even as we watched he leapt to the air.

  I made the Sphere accelerate. But the djinn was fast. He grabbed the Sphere with his bare hands which were much larger than the Sphere and down we went, his great palm visible clearly on the windshield.

  How on earth were we going to get out of this new trouble?

  “If we stay inside he can do nothing, right?” Danor said. Yes, I thought, the Sphere was not easy to destroy. As long as we remained inside we were safe.

  After a few moments there was a knock on the lid. It was the kind of a graceful knock that only Daria could have managed.

  “I’ll go out,” I said. Lana slapped her forehead with her hand.

  “You want to put yourself in trouble again?” she asked me, “You think that woman would let you go after we stole her chest?”

  “But we need the key,” I said.

  “You think she’ll give it to you that easily?”

  I thought over our options. There weren’t many.

  “If we remain here, the demon would forever keep us in his grasp,” I said. “Eventually hunger and thirst would force us to go outside. The longer we make them wait, the angrier they will be. However, if I go out now, I might actually have a chance at getting her necklace, the key.”

  “We’ll go out with you,” the sand demons said. “The djinn has powers to turn us to stone and crush and kill us. But we will not stay away from protecting you for that was the command of our good queen.”

  I nodded. So that’s why the sand demons had been frightened of the djinn. It could actually kill them.

  I opened the lid.

  Daria was standing on the top of the Sphere near the lid.

  “Come out, scum face, come out with the chest,” she said and she jumped down from the Sphere. Reluctantly, I grabbed the chest and I went outside. Darren was ready and he snatched the chest from me the moment I was out.

  “Did you actually think you could get away from us despite our warning?” Daria asked, as Darren opened the chest and looked inside it to see that the statue was there.

  “Give me the chest and the key,” I said, “it’s for the best of everyone. It will save lives.”

  Daria laughed.

  “You remain an idiot,” she said. “So many years and still you haven’t learned a thing.”

  “Fine,” I said, “why don’t you put the key into the statue yourself? Maybe it will end up benefitting you more than if you sell it? Maybe?”

  Daria pursed her lips, as if in thought. I felt like I had scored something here. Getting Daria to actually think something you wanted her to think was a task in itself. Daria turned to Darren.

  “You know,” she said to her brother, “the scum face might actually be right for once.”

  Darren stared at the chest and then he looked at me.

  “What if something bad happens once we put the key inside the statue?” he said. “Ancient artefacts are often cursed. Are you trying to get us killed?”

  “Fine, let me do it then,” I said.

  Both Daria and Darren laughed.

  “Your djinn will always be there if I make any attempt to take away the chest.” I said.

  “Hmm,” Daria said. “You are pricking my interests. All right, we will allow you to do that.”

  ***

  Chapter 18: Zurk

  I made my way towards the river. It was the only place I could have left the ring, the very one given to be my late wife. I just couldn’t afford to let go of the ring. I had searched for it all about in my house in vain, and even though it was the dead of the night, I had made up my guts to come towards the river, my eyes ever on the path that I had trodden earlier in the day, moving my torch closer to the ground every time I saw anything glitter. But so far glittering objects had turned out to be anything but the ring.

  I had come to fish earlier. My friend, Lanak was not there, but I couldn’t let the children at the orphanage go without fish for a week. I had never had any children. I wanted at least the orphans to be happy.

  Finally I reached the river bank. The water level had gone down considerably, which was usual for this time of the year. I scanned the river bank, barely ever looking up. While I couldn’t remember any instance when I had removed the ring from my finger, I hoped against hope that I would find it. I had to find it.

  I was lost as I moved about, when a snake slithered mere inches away from my leg leapt to the air in fright. I landed on the soft sand of the bank. I slipped and fell. My jaw hit the ground hard. As for my torch it fell into the river and snuffed out.

  I grunted. I moved my jaw and thankfully I didn’t feel like it had broken, although it still pained from the impact. Thankfully I hadn’t hit any of the boulders. That would have been disastrous for sure. And then I saw a round object mere inches away from my eyes. It was shining in the moonlight. I touched it with my hand.

  Oh, the peace I felt when I realised that it was my ring!

  I let out a laugh. The memory of my wife would remain intact. I now recalled that earlier in the day once my fishing rod had fallen into the river. Before leaping into the river to take it back, I had removed the ring from my finger and placed it on a rock, so that there was no chance of me losing it in the river. I kissed the ring prese
ntly.

  I pushed myself up. The snake had slithered away to a safe distance. Hell, I was thankful to it. Without the snake I might have never found the ring.

  As I turned to leave the spot, my eyes fell on the other side of the river. A short distance away from the bank I saw the glow of a torch behind the bushes and trees. Who could it be? As I listened harder, I could hear a repeating sound, as though somebody was digging, striking the earth with the shovel again and again.

  My curiosity was piqued. Yet, at the same time I felt myself get paralysed to the spot as I recalled the other day when the succubus had come. I gulped. I looked at the way that led to the town and to my house. It was so inviting. It promised me safety.

  Then I turned to the glow of the torch on the opposite bank. The moment was a strange one. My heart hammered loud in my chest. One thing I was sure. Whoever was on the other side was doing something that they didn’t want others to know.

  I made the decision quick and decided to be brave, even though I wanted to piss in fear.

  I rubbed my wife’s ring.

  “Let’s be brave, eh, Corella?” I whispered. It took me much courage to move my legs, which had caught a shiver. Somehow, I made it to the very edge of the river. The water was low enough that I needn’t swim to get across.

  I prayed that the person—if it indeed was a person— wouldn’t hear me. Very slowly, I crossed the river, careful to not make the smallest of sounds. But once my slipper got stuck in the mud underneath, as I pulled it up it created a big splashing sound.

  The sound of digging on the other side abruptly stopped. My temples throbbed with fear. I became very still.

  And then the person continued digging and I could breathe a sigh of relief. I made further progression, and eventually I reached the opposite bank. I had to be extra careful from now on. I picked up a fist sized stone. The person could be armed and if they saw and attacked me, I could at least throw the stone at them and flee at breakneck speed.

  I moved towards the trees. There was something very ominous about the entire affair. I got as close to the source of the light and hid myself behind a tree with a fat trunk. And then I stole a peek at the person who was digging.

  I put my hand over my mouth to prevent myself from letting out a curse.

  It was the mahout of the wizard!

  He was digging a large square shaped hole in the ground. A few feet away from him lay the mayor.

  Dead.

  A big wound on his throat. I felt like the ground beneath my feet had just disappeared, and I caught the tree for support.

  Why would the mahout bury the dead body of the mayor so secretly? Of course because he killed him!

  But would the mahout have the guts to kill the mayor? I had a feeling that it was not the mahout, but his master, the wizard who might have committed the hideous crime and asked the mahout to bury the mayor.

  The wizard pretended to be a good man. He would walk about the town in the mornings with a big smile on his face, but on occasions I had seen a dark shadow cross his face, one that could only be possessed by men of a different nature.

  I considered what I should do right now. Besides the shovel, one hit of which on my head might be enough to render me unconscious, there also hung a fat sword at the waist of the mahout. All I had was the stone. Even if I threw it and hit the mahout and actually managed to kill him, I now knew the nature of the wizard well. He might make up some story saying it was me who had killed the mayor and make a hero out of the dead mahout saying he had tried to stop me or something like that. The townsfolk trusted the wizard. He had set up a good image of himself.

  My word would be best believed with the mahout alive.

  I needed to make my way to the town right now and alert everyone. The townsfolk could definitely do without one night of sleep if the mayor’s murder was concerned.

  I began to make my way towards the river very quietly. As I put my leg into the river water, I felt a sharp bite in my toe and I let out a cry. I lifted up leg and saw that it was a crab. I had a hard time pulling away the crab.

  Then I recalled the mahout. I turned my head. He was standing at the edge of the woods a few metres away, sword in hand.

  Run! A voice yelled in my mind.

  I began to put one foot in front of the other in desperation as the mahout raced for the river and towards me. Once I even stumbled and fell face first on the water, but I quickly pulled myself up, the mahout still a few metres behind, wading through the water in my pursuit. I was sure this guy would kill me if he could catch me.

  Finally, I reached the river bank. At that very moment the mahout, who was way agile than me being the younger man, was able to grab the back of my shirt and he pulled at it. My instinct to survive kicked in. I picked up a stone even as he tried to pull me closer to him and I threw it at him. He let go of my shirt as he ducked to avoid the stone.

  Taking the chance, I broke into a run.

  The mahout pursued. He was fast, despite his short legs. Before I knew it, he had reached me. He landed a blow on my back. I went staggering forward and tumbled onto the ground. In moments the mahout was atop me. He raised his sword to kill me, but I was not ready to give up yet. I grabbed his hands just as he was about to lower the sword. The two of us struggled against each other. Abruptly, I bent his wrist. He yelped in pain and I was able to push him away from over me, even though I couldn’t take the sword from him. And then I dashed towards the town as fast as I could. I didn’t look back even once.

  ***

  Chapter 19: Lanak Tanor

  I gulped.

  I prayed whatever happened once I inserted the key in the statue would not kill me. I glanced at the others, all were a good distance away from me. Lana and Danor had wanted to come to my aid, but they had been told by Daria to not do so and that I should use the key alone.

  A cool wind blew, which was a stark contrast to the hot winds that blew in the desert during day time. Above in the sky the stars twinkled, the galaxy visible in all its wonder and glory.

  I put the key into the hole. I turned the key; a clicking sound reached my ears. The moment seemed to last forever.

  I waited patiently, not withdrawing the key from the hole. A minute passed, then a second one. Nothing occurred. I withdrew the key and I turned at the others in the distance.

  “Is this the correct key?” I shouted at them.

  Just then, there were a series of strange clicking sounds coming from the statue. They sounded creepy. I looked at the statue, my heart hammering in my chest. The clicking sounds stopped and the next moment the front part of the statue fell down, and a light of great intensity revealed itself.

  Fire.

  A succubus of green fire stepped outside the statue.

  She raised both her fists into the air. And she began to grow taller and taller…

  The head emanating from her was so much that I had to back away. After a moment, I was running like mad. The others in the distance were also fleeing. Only Lana, Danor and the sand demons stood their ground, beckoning me to run fast to them. My cousins and their party fled.

  By the time I reached the Sphere, the Succubus had grown as tall as the djinn, who was also fleeing along with his masters. Lana, Danor and I quickly got inside the Sphere and we took off, the sand demons forming a surface on the outer side.

  “Now what the hell is that?” Lana asked. The light from the succubus of fire had illuminated the entire desert, such that it seemed like the sun had returned.

  I made the Sphere travel in a backward direction, such that the windshield was constantly facing the fire succubus. I certainly didn’t want her to attack us from behind. As we fled, I watched as down below the succubus caught up to the fleeing party of my cousins. I saw Daria wave her arm at the djinn as though giving him an order. The djinn promptly stopped running and extended his arms wide at the succubus as though telling her that his masters were not to be messed with.

  The succubus threw herself at the djinn and the tw
o of them fell to the ground. I watched as the clothes of the djinn caught fire and every part of his body that was being touched by the succubus began to turn black and bleed.

  It was a sight to witness for sure. With great effort the djinn was able to kick the succubus away. He staggered up himself and hastened to put out the fire that had caught his clothes. His face was covered with lines of pain. I almost felt pity for the djinn, even though only a short while ago he was about to kill us all on Daria’s orders.

  Meanwhile, the cousins and the slaves moved as fast as they could.

  “Why are we not moving, sir?” Danor asked. I realised that I had stopped the Sphere in mid-air, so caught I was by all that was happening in front of us.

  I looked at Danor and Lana with wide eyes.

  “You know, we will need to defeat this succubus, right, if we want to stop the queen?” I said to them. It was a hard truth and it was clear on the faces of both Danor and Lana that they didn’t want to mess with this particular succubus of fire, even though they had shown considerable courage against everything that we had encountered previously.

  “But how will we do it?” Lana asked. “She will burn us. We can’t even touch her.”

  “We will catch fire even if we go too near to her,” Danor said. I scratched my head.

  “Let me think,” I said. There had to be a way, right? I turned back at the windshield. The djinn had broken into a run and the succubus was giving him chase. The djinn was trying his best to lure the succubus away from his masters. But it wasn’t enough. The succubus had wings and she flew to the air and chased him. Before long she landed a kick on the back of the djinn such that he fell on a great dune of sand.

  One thing I noticed about this particular succubus was that she was not using her charming powers. Apparently, when fire worked, charm wasn’t needed much.

  The succubus presently pinned the djinn down, and then she opened her mouth, revealing great canines of fire. With this she bit into the neck of the djinn. After a few moments of kicking his legs in desperation, the djinn went limp. The succubus stood over her victim and watched him. The parts of the djinn’s body that the succubus had touched were still on fire, but the fire was quickly dying.