Chains of a Succubus

by Lanak F Tanor

  And then the djinn sat up. His eyes were bright. A bit too bright indeed.

  His eyes had turned to green balls of fire. How his eye sockets contained them, I had no idea.

  Horns sprouted from the top of his head, horns of fire, much like the body of the succubus. The wounds he had received from the touch of the succubus began to heal and in moments they had disappeared. His clothes also repaired themselves magically.

  He now belonged to the succubus.

  The succubus and the djinn now together marched towards the fleeing party, and towards us as well. I made the Sphere speed in the opposite direction, just to be safe. I reckoned even if the succubus was at a good distance from us, I wouldn’t lose her, thanks to her sun-like glow.

  The djinn stamped on the slaves, killing them immediately. His masters, Daria and Darren, he picked up. Even from the distance I could see the tiny forms of Daria and Darren struggling. If they had treated me better in the past, I might have tried to save them. But I didn’t feel any urge to do so. If they died, I wouldn’t be hurt at all, even though they were my cousins. Cousins who were responsible for a relatively traumatised childhood and teenage life.

  The djinn handed Daria and Darren to the succubus. Only had the succubus held them in her hands, that they were completely incarcerated, as though they had been made of paper. I heard Lana gasp beside me.

  Next, the succubus turned her attention towards the Sphere. She flapped her fiery wings and took to the air. She was very fast. I made the Sphere shoot up into the clouds. But she was not ready to give up without destroying us.

  There were times when she missed the Sphere by mere inches. I was able to avoid her, only because I fled the Sphere in a backward manner, keeping her in total sight.

  “She won’t let us go, would she, sir?” Danor said, fear in his voice.

  “I guess not,” I said. It was getting increasingly difficult to stay away from the succubus. “I made a mistake in not fleeing when her attention was on the others.”

  “We can still distract her,” Lana said, but there was some guilt in her voice, “if we sacrifice one of the sand demons…”

  I shook my head. I wouldn’t sacrifice others just to save my skin. But then, the light bulb suddenly turned on in my head. Maybe there was a way after all to deal with the succubus… and to perhaps even tame her.

  “Lana,” I said, “I am going out. You control the Sphere.”

  “But won’t it be dangerous, sir?” Danor said.

  “It will be,” I said, “I might probably die even. But if we do nothing the succubus would certainly catch us and kill us.”

  I transferred the controls of the Sphere to Lana.

  “Do not venture to close to the ground,” I warned her as I moved towards the entry hole, “the djinn is below and he can jump quite high. Keep the succubus in sight. Move in a direction that you want to move, not in one that she is trying to move you in.”

  I opened the lid and went out. I held the lid tightly. The succubus was constantly trying to catch us and Lana was manoeuvring the Sphere in wild ways to keep it out of the grasps of the succubus.

  The head of one of the sand demons formed on the surface of the Sphere in front of me.

  “Why did you come out?” he asked. “You should have stayed in.”

  “Can you all help me?” I said. “I need to grab the horns of the succubus… and fly as well.”

  “I am not getting you,” the sand demon said with much uncertainty.

  “Oh, just cover me on all sides and make me fly,” I said, “does that make sense?”

  The sand demons began to cover me in their sand. Soon all parts of my body, except my eyes and the holes of my nostrils were covered with sand.

  “Fly me towards the succubus,” I said, “just don’t come in her grasp.”

  I leapt from the Sphere, but the sand demons kept me afloat with their magic.

  “Approach her from behind,” I said. The succubus had seen me, but she was still going for the Sphere.

  I went closer and closer to her head. I was happy to have the sand demons covering me. While it didn’t protect me from the heat, it would definitely protect me from potential burns.

  “Two of you go to her horns. Form rings around them and press hard,” I ordered the sand demons. Two of them obediently went, while the other three helped me to remain flying.

  I watched as the sand demons reached the horns of the succubus. They changed their shapes and formed a ring each around the horns. They pressed.

  Suddenly the succubus stopped chasing the Sphere. She grabbed her head as though in considerable pain. My heart leapt in elation. My plan was working!

  I prepared to penetrate her mind, hoping she actually had one. But I acted too late. The succubus held the base of her horns around which the sand demons were, and then she seemed to increase the heat, as the green fire of her hands turned to white.

  I watched with my heart sinking as the rings formed by the sand demons melted.

  “They are dead,” said one of the sand demons who was keeping me afloat, a great sadness in his voice at the demise of his companions. The succubus lowered the heat and the rings formed by the sand demons turned to glass. With a tap of her fingers, the succubus broke the rings and the pieces fell to the ground down below.

  She turned her fiery face towards me.

  “Get me away!” I said to the sand demons. They flew at their top speed, the succubus coming at me with her top speed as well. I felt helpless. What I had thought would work had ended up killing two loyal sand demons.

  “Is there any way you can apply force on the horns of the succubus?” I asked the sand demons. “Without getting me and yourselves killed?”

  The sand demons suddenly halted in mid-air.

  The great fiery hand of the succubus came to grab us.

  “No!” I yelled, but just before the fingers of the succubus could close in around us, the sand demons dashed me away, towards the head of the succubus.

  “Is it necessary that we should apply force on all sides of each horn in a circular fashion?” one of the sand demons asked me. I thought over it. All the succubi I had tamed before I had done so by grabbing their horns and causing them enough pain so that I could enter their minds. But it was more borne out of habit than necessity, plus it was easier to grab the horns when they were small. As long as I could cause pain to the succubi through their horns I would be able to enter their minds.

  “No, it isn’t,” I said. “But make sure that she feels the pain though. The impact should be on each of the horns, preferably around the same time.”

  The sand demons shot straight towards the stars. They had never gone this fast. I took a peek below to see that we had left the succubus a considerable way below.

  And then I stopped in mid air.

  The sand demons made me dive down, straight towards the succubus.

  “Enter her mind the moment we hit her and cause her pain,” the sand demons told me, speeding fast downwards.

  Mere moments before we were about to hit the head of the succubus two of the sand demons carrying me separated from me. They turned into balls in mid air and they impacted the base of each horn. The single sand demon carrying me only barely managed to keep me flying. It was my moment. I concentrated hard as I felt the mind of the succubus weaken for a split second. I entered her mind.

  What followed was relatively easy. The black magic in her mind was not hiding behind any walls and I could chase it away. I exited the mind of the succubus, even as she stopped beating her wings and plummeted towards the desert below.

  The sand demons who had turned to spheres came and joined me.

  “We did it!” they said.

  “We totally did, my friends,” I said to them, though I was still sad for the loss of the two demons. In the distance I watched as the Sphere descended towards the big crater that had formed because of the succubus hitting the desert. All around there was much dust in the air. We landed just next to the Sph
ere a small distance away from the gigantic crater. A good distance away, the djinn was down on his knees and wailing, waving his arms at the sky. The green fire had left his eyes and his horns had disappeared, and with each moment he was shrinking in size. He had failed to protect his true masters, my cousins, and this was his punishment I supposed. Heck, he had killed his true masters. Soon, the djinn had shrunk so much that he couldn’t be seen anymore. I reckoned that was the end of him.

  Lana and Danor came out of the Sphere, even as the sand demons separated from my body and took humanoid shapes of their own. Then all of us gazed down at the crater. At the very bottom of the crater there was a girl, an unconscious one. She began to stir and she opened her eyes. She was glowing, a strange glitter all over her.

  After a while she spotted us. She floated up to us by magic. Her eyes fixed with mine.

  “You have freed me,” she said, “I shall be forever grateful to you. A long while ago I came under the curse of the succubi. Today I am finally free and I can ascend to the heavens. But before that, to thank you for what you have done, I shall give you one wish. If you ask for it than it will happen exactly as you want it to.”

  “Ask her to heal your wound,” Lana said to me, “so you don’t become a demon in three days.”

  I smiled, even as I shook my head.

  “If you want me to heal you, I will,” the girl said.

  “No,” I said. I found it funny. I had turned into a young man again, but I reckoned I had learned a few things over the many years I had been alive both in this world and in the real one. “I would like you to resurrect the two sand demons that died tonight.”

  The sand demons standing near me gasped in surprise.

  “There are many of us,” they said to me, “you needn’t ask for the resurrection of our fallen comrades. Ask for your own healing, we beg you.”

  I still shook my head. I recalled how sadly the sand demons had spoken when the other two had died. I looked at the girl in the eye.

  “Please resurrect the sand demons,” I said to her, “it is what I want.”

  “And so it shall be,” the girl said. A wind blew, shards of glass came flying from far away, and formed tow piles. The glass turned to sand, and the sand turned to sand demons.

  “We are alive!” they said in glee. They and the other sand demons hugged each other.

  “You are a good man,” the girl said to me, appreciation in her eyes, “you made a good decision today, albeit not a very wise one considering the circumstances, though perhaps it might have been wise after all. I am limited to granting you just one wish, but I will tell you something that might help you to heal yourself. Far south in the sea, there live merepeople. They can heal you, but ask them nicely.”

  And saying so, the girl began to float higher. Then there was a bright flash of light, and all she left behind was glitter, which too disappeared after a few moments.

  Lana placed a hand on my shoulder. She looked at the sand demons who were so happy.

  “You are a total idiot,” she told me with a smile, “but you are a good captain.”

  “What is that?” one of the sand demons said, pointing at the distant horizon. I followed his finger and saw that there was something flying, perhaps a very large bird, at the horizon.

  “Is that the dragon, sir?” Danor said.

  I peered harder. In a moment I realised that it indeed was the dragon, except it was flying in a different direction and not towards us.

  “It is the dragon,” I said, “I don’t think he has seen us, come let’s fly to him.”

  We climbed into the Sphere with the sand demons covering the outer surface of it and off we went. The dragon was flying fast and I had to accelerate the Sphere to get to him. I made the Sphere fly right in front of his head. His eyes went wide when he saw us.

  I made the Sphere descend down and the dragon followed it down as well.

  “Where did you disappear before?” I asked him.

  “I went searching for you when the dust storm occurred,” the dragon replied, “but instead I got lost myself. When the storm subsided I decided that it was best if I followed the way south, hoping that you might have survived the storm and journeyed south to get the second vessel. But the second vessel is not where it should be, somebody has taken it.”

  I smiled.

  “Don’t worry, we have already dealt with the second vessel,” I said.

  The dragon frowned as though not believing.

  “We have even dealt with the succubus of the second vessel,” I said. Then I explained in as few words as possible what had happened to us after the dragon had been separated from us. The dragon looked at my cheek.

  “That is one bad wound,” he said. I showed him the other places where I had been bitten on my arm, and he pursed his giant lips worriedly.

  “I have heard of merepeople,” the dragon said, “and I do know that they possess medicinal skills that cannot be rivalled with those of any other race. Also, the way to the third vessel lies in the sea. I reckon we can get two things done at the same time.”

  “Way to the third vessel?” I asked. “Not the actual third vessel?”

  “The third vessel is at the centre of the earth, my friend,” the dragon said. “There is a special kind of portal in the sea which leads to the centre as far as I know.”

  ***

  Lanak Tanor

  Class: Succubi Tamer

  Race: Human

  Sex: Male

  Level: 11

  Strength: 400

  Health: 567/900

  Mana: 440

  Intelligence: 110

  Mental carrying capacity: 495/550

  Youth:285

  Chapter 20: Zurk

  I was nearing the town. There were a few houses which still had the lights on. I loved people who ate dinner late! I turned around. The mahout was still pursuing me, but he was slower now as though he was afraid to come any more near the town. I felt invincible at that moment. I had defeated a much younger man than me in terms of age.

  I let out a laugh.

  “Forget ever catching me!” I said to the mahout. The mahout abruptly stopped and a grin split his face. I was suddenly concerned. Why would he do that? Or was he delirious at failing?

  At that moment, I collided against something… perhaps somebody. I had been running with my head turned behind. Too bad, when I turned to look at the person with whom I had collided, I saw to my horror that it was none other than the wizard.

  He was strong for a slim man and he grabbed my clothes and didn’t let go even though I struggled. The mahout caught up.

  “He had been sneaking on me,” the mahout said to the wizard.

  “He saw everything?” the wizard asked. None of his usual smiles were on his lips. The wizard had turned into an absolute demon, a monster ready to kill if it suited his purpose. If only the townsfolk had seen this form of the wizard earlier, or if only the mayor had guessed that the wizard had a more benevolent personality that what he projected to the people, things could have been so different.

  “Yes, I suppose,” the mahout said. “I saw him at the river bank at the point of fleeing.”

  Wait, I thought, the mahout had never actually seen me looking at what he had been doing.

  “I-I don’t understand,” I stammered, “What am I supposed to have seen?” I made an innocent face.

  “Don’t pretend, why else would you run?” the mahout asked.

  “You were holding such a big sword in your hand in such a threatening manner,” I said, “anybody would be scared. And then you attacked me when I was crossing the river as well.”

  “What were you doing at the river bank at this time of the night, anyway?” the wizard asked, his eyes fixed at me as though trying to detect any lie. I raised a shivering hand and showed him the ring.

  “I lost my ring at the river earlier in the day,” I said, “the ring is the only reminder I have of my late wife. I had to go searching for it regardless of what time o
f the night it is. I couldn’t live without it!” At least that part of my story was true and I stared defiantly at the eyes of the wizard. He seemed to buy it, for his expression went from one of a vicious demon to the friendly man he pretended to be most of the time. He let go of my clothes.

  The wizard smiled.

  “Don’t get me wrong,” he said, “don’t get any of us wrong. My good man here had been instructed by me to go about the town and the forests nearby at night searching for any kind of nefarious activity. So when he saw you he naturally thought you might be up to something fishy and he raised his sword. When you broke into a run, he was confirmed and gave you chase, is that right?”

  The wizard turned at the mahout.

  “Y-yes,” the mahout said in some uncertainty even as he sheathed his sword. “He began running immediately after seeing me. I guessed I was faulty at not asking him what he was really doing.”

  “See?” the wizard said. “I guess that solves the little physical quarrel?”

  I nodded.

  I couldn’t believe my luck. These two were actually buying my story? I had thought the wizard was a crafty man. Perhaps I was wrong? I could barely hide my elation.

  I was elated too soon.

  The wizard placed a hand on my shoulder.

  “You mentioned your late wife,” he said, “do you live alone?”

  “Yes,” I said. The wizard pouted his lips as though he was very sorry for me.

  “You see, the good mayor had gifted us some really good wine,” the wizard said, “there’s quite a bit of it, and I am afraid if the two of us had the wine alone we would get a pretty bad headache tomorrow morning. Why don’t you come join us for the night?”

  My heart picked up pace again. Was this person trying to trick me or something? Or was he concerned that I might go about telling about the nightly excursions of the wizard and the mahout to my friends so maybe he wanted make me forget stuff with a really strong drink? If he doubted me he could kill me immediately, he was fully capable of that, yet here he was inviting me for a drink.