I crossed the pool of fire using the bridge. There was a single large door at the very front of the castle. I gave it a light push, and to my relative surprise the door swung open. I had a feeling that if I entered the castle, it wouldn’t be very easy to get out of it.
I entered the castle. There was a main hall, at the sides of which there were daises in front of a throne. At one corner of the main hall there was a small door. Seeing that there was nothing much to do in the main hall, I opted to explore the castle and I went through the small door. I found myself in a long corridor, which had a number of rooms, but the doors of all but one room were closed and locked. Light fell onto the corridor from inside the room with the open door. The corridor ended in a wall and the particular room was just near it. My heart felt like it was surrounded by ice, for it was not just light that came out of the room, but strange horrifying sounds also flooded out of it.
I strained my ears. I thought the sounds might belong to a child, but there was something quite sinister about them, because they were accompanied by strange clicking sounds.
I made up my courage and went towards the open room. I tried to materialise my sword in my hand, but failed. I reckoned it was not quite possible to materialise something when you are inside somebody’s mind. Finally I reached the room. I took a deep breath and I entered it.
The sight I saw was so revolting that I nearly fell backwards. At one corner of the room there was what appeared to be a giant spider. The creature had eight legs like a spider, sure, but its head was that of a woman with her hair tied backwards. While the rest of her face and head was like that of a human, her mouth was like that of an insect, consisting of several parts. The clicking sounds had been coming from her. But the child?
Only as I forced myself to shift my gaze from the macabre spider-woman, did I realise that she had a child below her. Perhaps two or three years of age the child was. The spider-woman was spinning silk around the child, biting the child’s face with her mouth parts, causing the child to cry out more and more. The child’s face had a strong resemblance to the face of the succubi queen.
Was I supposed to save the child? I reckoned it was what I needed to do and I stepped inside the room.
“Stop it,” I said. Strangely I managed to sound brave.
The spider-woman stopped with the child and turned her disturbing head towards me. She let out a screeching sound and shot towards me, carrying her huge body with her eight fast-moving legs. I leapt out of the way. I cursed myself for not giving a thought to how I was actually going to deal with the spider-woman. The room was mostly bare, aside from a small bed at one corner and a dressing table complete with a mirror at another. There was a small hole in the wall at the base of the wall near the dressing table, but I couldn’t see the point of the hole. Overall, there was little in the room that I could actually use against the spider-woman.
The spider-woman let out an angry sound as she charged at me again. I sprinted towards the child and tried to remove all the silk that covered half her body. The child’s face was purple at several spots where she had been bitten by the spider-woman and the child also looked quite dazed. I failed to remove any of the silk. Heck, the silk stuck to my own fingers and now I struggled to move my hands properly. The spider-woman reached me and bit my arm. I cried out.
The pain was like an explosion in my arm, even though the wound didn’t bleed as much. The spider-woman bit my other arm too. I felt light headed even as I stared at the spider-woman as she began spin her silk around me.
The air blast spell, idiot!
I quickly checked and saw that I had enough mana to use the spell at least one more time.
“Blast!” I cried, barely able to point my hands at the spider-woman, for my arms felt quite leaden thanks to the bite. Immediately the spider-woman flew backwards. Her head hit a wall and she fell on the floor, lying on it with her belly up. I began to pull like mad at the silk and was able to free myself of a considerable amount of silk.
I rushed towards the spider-woman. She seemed to have been knocked out for a few moments, but her legs were twitching every now and then and I knew that she would be up in no time. I contemplated what I could do.
Save the child and get out.
I immediately got to the child and picked her up. I rushed out of the room, but the moment I did so, the child began to cry as if I had taken away a chocolate from her.
“What?” I said to the child, quite flabbergasted. “Why are you crying now?”
The child only cried harder. Then with her arm that was free from the silk, she pointed towards the room with the spider.
“You want to go back there?” I said and the child made only the smallest of nods, looking at me with pleading watery eyes.
I couldn’t possibly do that. I shook my head. It would be idiotic to listen to the child. I was the adult; I had to make my own decision.
“Sorry,” I said. “But I cannot do that.”
The cries of the child pretty much exploded and I was sure that by the time I was done with this, I would be deaf. I ran towards the door that led to the main hall. I stopped and glanced behind and saw to my horror that the spider-woman had recovered and she had come out of the room.
I ran into the main hall and out of the castle.
I turned back and watched as the entire doorway of the castle exploded as the spider-woman made her way through it. She had quadrupled in size! And her size was only increasing even more.
I suddenly realised why the child had cried when I had taken her out of the room. Apparently the spider-woman could grow in size if she left the room.
I considered my options fast. It would not be easy to get back into the castle. I made a quick decision and sped off towards the bridge, the child wailing at my ears. I crossed the bridge quickly. There was only a little land on the other side of the bridge and nothing existed beyond that. We were after all inside the mind of the succubi queen. The spider-woman also crossed the bridge. My heart was beating like a drum in my chest as I watched her reach this side of the bridge. She was large enough now that she could swallow both me and the child in one gulp. I ran away from the bridge and she pursued me.
Thankfully, I was able to lead her in a loop, which got me back to the bridge and I broke into a run towards the castle.
My foot slipped.
A moment later I found myself holding onto the bridge with one hand, while with the other arm I held onto the child. The fire dancing below seemed quite eager to have me. I gritted my teeth and I began to pull myself up. My strength bar was falling fast. My arm ached. But somehow, through sheer determination, of perhaps it was just the fear of falling into the pool of fire below that I was able to pull myself up.
I inhaled deeply, lying on the bridge, feeling quite drained. All the veins of the arm that I had used to pull myself up had popped up and it felt rather heavy. I turned my head and my eyes met the gigantic face of the spider-woman staring down at me. She let out a screech and lowered her head to eat me.
But I was not prepared to give up. From seemingly nowhere, fresh energy flowed into me and I was up on my feet in a heartbeat. I raced towards the castle, the spider-woman in hot pursuit. I entered the castle through the doorway, which had gotten even larger after the spider-woman had forced her way through it earlier. I dashed towards the small door and entered the corridor. Finally I reached the room. I placed the child on the floor and panted. I was sweating profusely. The child had finally stopped crying and there was at least some solace in that.
I checked my mana and saw that I had enough for another air blast. Then my eyes fell on the mirror. An idea struck my head. I ran to it. Just then the spider-woman reached the door of the room. She had shrunk to her original size.
As I kicked the mirror, the spider-woman sped towards me. The mirror shattered and fell in shards at my feet.
“Blast!” I yelled, pointing my hands towards the spider-woman. She was immediately thrown away. I quickly picked up the best shard of
broken mirror that was shaped like a dagger and rushed towards the spider-woman, who lay on the floor with her belly up.
I did not hesitate as I plunged the glass dagger into her neck. The glass dagger was sharp and it cut through her neck with ease. Blood spurted from her neck to my face as I beheaded her and the head fell to the floor. I dropped the glass dagger and wiped my face.
Only then did I came to know of a stinging pain in my hands and realised that the glass dagger had made deep cuts in my hands and I was myself bleeding. I watched as my health bar went down. Thankfully after a while the blood stopped coming out. I turned towards the child. She was removing all the spider silk that she was covered in. I went to her and helped her remove the rest of it.
The child smiled at me, flashing her little teeth. She ran into the hole in the wall. A moment later she emerged from it and in her hand there was what seemed like the hilt of a sword. She handed this to me.
“What is this?” I asked, turning the hilt over and over in my hand. I couldn’t imagine any way to use the hilt of the sword. Swords without their blades weren’t very useful.
In response the child took my hand and pulled me towards the door. Once we were out of the room, she pointed towards the end of the corridor. Except there was no end this time. The wall had disappeared and now there were steps instead that led upwards to the first floor of the castle.
“You want me to go there?” I asked the child. She nodded, and she looked quite earnest. Then leaving me where I was, she ran inside the room where the body of the spider-woman still lay and closed the door from the inside.
I waited for a couple of minutes to see if the child was going to come out, but she didn’t. I made my way towards the stairs and began to climb it. Reaching the first floor, I saw that there was another corridor here as well. There were several rooms, but almost all of them were locked. There was only one room that was open and it was towards the end of the corridor. I reckoned I would have to deal with whatever was inside that room.
I fell to my knees and closed my eyes for a moment. The face of the spider-woman was still fresh in my mind’s eye. While I had not spared a thought in killing her, but now my hands shivered as I imagined her beheaded corpse leaking blood. Who knew what kind of macabre devils lay ahead? I should have thought before offering the succubi queen to tamer her.
I sighed and I pushed myself up to my feet. It was only then did I notice my youth bar. It had dropped significantly. I had totally ignored it, being focused more on my mana and my strength. I had almost lost ninety points in youth. It didn’t make much sense, for I had been notified earlier that I would not age as fast as before when taming a succubi. But then, I was inside the mind of the succubi queen and I reckoned the black magic was strong here and it was causing me to age at an accelerated speed.
I felt my face and found it to be more uneven than before. I found myself breaking into a chuckle. I had started the quest to defeat the succubi queen as an old man. I reckoned that by the time the quest was completed I would be an old man once again.
I approached the open room. I took a peek inside when I reached it. There was a girl, perhaps of late teens, who was sitting on a bed. On one side of the room there was another door which perhaps led to a different room. Just above the second door there was a small clock. The girl was sitting in such a position that her hair completely covered her face. The sound of faint sobs reached my ears from her. I let out a cough to announce my arrival.
The girl looked up. She had blood shot eyes as if she had been crying for days. Her face also resembled the succubi queen by a striking degree.
“Who are you?” she asked me.
“I am Lanak,” I said as I entered the room, taking slow steps so as not to scare the girl. She already looked quite a mess. On several places on her arms and lower legs I could see bruises, like she had been hit by a cane. I definitely did not want to do anything to her that would cause her anymore discomfort.
“Nobody ever comes here,” the girl said, “except…”
She trailed off and looked to the floor.
“Why are you crying?” I asked. “And who did this to you?” I pointed at all her bruises.
Before she could answer the clock struck twelve and it began to ring. It rang thirteen times.
The girl suddenly turned towards the other door, looking very fearful.
“He is coming,” she said. She sounded like she was going to be killed.
“Who?” I asked. I stood next to her, but her eyes were fixed at the door. A great creak and the door swung open. The person that was revealed was horrifying. He had a pale face and little hair, but otherwise he seemed like he couldn’t be older than someone in his late twenties. He had a cane in one hand, and he began to approach the girl. There was something very frightening and deathly about his gait. The man’s eyes moved towards me. They looked drunk.
I was quite certain by now that this man was the girl’s tormentor.
The man raised the cane and he swung it at me. I was too late, thinking the man couldn’t possibly be capable of such fast a motion. The cane struck my shoulder and such was the force that I was thrown away and landed on the floor. The bite of the spider-woman had felt like an explosion in my arm, but now I felt like my arm had entirely detached from my body. It also stripped me of 200 health. I watched as the man rained the cane on the girl. He was even more merciless to her and he hit her repeatedly, like she was not a person at all. She cried out. I couldn’t bear watching the scene. I willed myself up to my feet and threw myself at the man. I grabbed him by the neck and tried to pull him away from the girl. The man was surprisingly feeble and I was easily able to drag him away, even as he kept swinging his cane to hit the girl. I realised all his powers lay in the cane.
The problem was that it was in his hand and not mine. He snarled and turned his attention towards me. At least five times he struck me and then I knew no more as I blacked out. When I opened my eyes next, I saw that I was lying on the floor.
I heard the door creaking shut and when I turned my head I saw that the man had gone to the other room. The girl was on the bed, senseless.
Somehow, supporting myself with the edge of the bed, I pushed myself back up to my feet. My body seemed to be on fire. Looking at my health bar, I saw that I only had a last bit of health still left in me. I reckoned if the man hit me with his all powerful cane I would surely die.
I tapped the girl’s cheek. Very wearily she opened her eyes. I was thankful that at least she was alive.
“Are you okay?” I asked, and only then did I realise how lame a question it was. The girl had been beaten black and blue. She could never be okay. Still, the girl nodded.
“Is he gone?” she asked me.
“Yes,” I said.
“But he would return again in a few minutes,” the girl said, her fearful eyes darting up to the clock. “He always returns.”
“And he always beats you?” I asked. She nodded, a tear rolled down her cheek.
“I am sorry that you had to suffer trying to help me,” the girl said. “I can kill the man, but I can’t. Please go wherever you came from.”
My brows shot high in my forehead.
“You can kill him?” I asked her. “Why haven’t you already?”
“Because I can’t,” she replied and burst into a very violent sob, her face convulsing so much that she looked ten years older than her age. “I love him.”
It took me a moment for the words to sink into my head.
“You what?” I said. “How? Why?”
“Because I always have,” the girl said.
“Can’t you see what he is doing to you?”
“Once after many days he does say ‘sorry’,” the girl said, not meeting my eyes. For a few moments I didn’t know what to say.
“And I assume ten minutes later after saying ‘sorry’ he comes with the cane again?”
“I want him to go away,” the girl said, “but I can’t make him go away.”
; “You just need to take hold of his cane,” I said. “Then he will become powerless. Kill him or chase him away, you don’t need to suffer so much.”
The girl seemed to contemplate over my words. Then she finally made up her mind.
“Will you help me take his cane?” she asked me.
“I came here only to help you,” I said. Just then the clock began to ring again. Thirteen times it rang. A look of horror settled on the girl’s face. I grabbed her head and forced her to look into my eyes.
“We are taking his cane, all right?” I said to her, “And you are going to help me.”
The girl made only the smallest of nods. The door creaked as it opened. The man raised his cane to hit me, but this time I was prepared and I acted quickly. I kicked his leg and the next moment he had fallen down. I pounced upon him and tried to snatch the cane from his hand, but the man wasn’t ready to give it up. He threw the cane directly at my face, such that it hit me on the forehead.
For a moment I knew nothing about the world as extreme pain took over me. When I could make any sense of my surrounding again, I saw a hand raising the cane and then bringing it down hard. A cry resulted.
A man’s cry.
I suddenly realised that the girl was striking the man with his own cane. I reckoned when the man had thrown the cane to hit me, the girl had quickly picked it up. I was so thankful for that. I watched as she took her revenge on him, beating him black and blue. Her face was a mishmash of great emotions. Finally she stopped beating and watched as the man crawled away into the next room and the door closed on its own accord. And this time the door entirely disappeared and it was replaced by solid wall instead. The clock vanished as well, as though it had never existed.
“Are you okay?” the girl asked me as I slowly sat down on the bed, massaging my head which still throbbed as though it was being repeatedly hit by a hammer. My health bar only barely existed, but I was thankful that it at least did.
“You saved me,” I said to the girl.
The girl wiped her face so wet with tears.
Chains of a Succubus Page 26