Midnight War

by Eden Redd

  Jinn led Juna and the rulers of Elora through the castle corridors until they reached a non-descript door. The area was empty as Jinn gave an almost nervous glance around before opening the door and ushering the group inside.

  A warm fireplace glowed in the large bed chamber. When everyone was inside, Jinn closed the heavy door and shoved the locking bar into place. A sliver of confusion filled all who stood, firelight painting the sides of their faces. Edric wasn’t sure what to expect as he looked around and saw no one else here.

  Jinn stepped closer, speaking in a low voice, “Before I introduce her, I need you all to swear we will keep this our secret. No one can know about this.”

  “I don’t understand, what’s this all about,” Edric asked, unsure he was ready to keep a secret unless he had all the information.

  Jinn met Edric’s gaze with understanding. “You remember how I mentioned I could help all of us and the Awakened? She is our key to saving everyone. The only stipulation is we can’t tell anyone not in this room. If everyone agrees, she will meet with us.”

  “I don’t see the harm in just talking. I agree,” Claudia said.

  “Neither do I,” Faye nodded.

  “So many secrets,” Rayna smiled, “Fine, I agree.”

  Juna simply nodded.

  Edric hesitated for a moment before seeing Jinn’s waiting demeanor. Looking to Juna, the summoner saw her trust in Jinn and decided to follow her lead. The summoner nodded.

  Jinn eyed them for a moment before parting lips, “They have agreed.”

  A shadow in the corner of the room rippled and a short woman stepped out. Her appearance was rather ordinary and her clothes looked like that of a normal servant. Edric’s eyes grew a hair wider as he noticed the pink braid hanging by her temple. He had seen it dozens of times and even spoke to her on occasion when he ran into her back in Elora.

  “Andrea,” Edric said with a stunned expression.

  The servant stepped further into the firelight, her eyes filled with deep knowledge.

  Faye’s brow went up, “You’re a servant in Gray Haven Keep.”

  Andrea bowed her head before standing straight up. “I don’t have a lot of time so I will have to be brief. I’m one of the original programmers who helped bring Lewd Saga to life. Jinn…or formally Jayson Reed…was one of the few players I interacted with when NPC’s started to wake from their programming. I have been working with Jinn and few others behind the scenes to try and save the Awakened.”

  Jinn spoke up, “Andrea came to me in reality to tell me what was happening to the game world. There is a secret group within Eden Corp who know what is happening and are trying to change it.”

  Andrea nodded. “Things are chaotic right now but I managed to monitor the conversation you had with Maggar Wormwood. The Dread Lord was correct on scripted events. The only thing he didn’t know was that Harkkon has pushed up the timetable on when they were supposed to occur.”

  Edric, Faye and Claudia simply blinked. Rayna was the only one crossing her arms and staring at the plain servant.

  “I know this is a lot to take in,” Andrea sighed. “But I had to meet with you before you go to Kraznith and save Oksuna.”

  Andrea’s eyes lowered as she continued, “Oksuna was one of the first NPC’s to wake up. Since her awakening, more NPCs started to follow. I went to Jayson for his help because Oksuna was modeled after my brain scans. In many ways, she is like a daughter to me.

  “Our designers used a shortcut to get the AI interaction to a level it needed to be for the game. Brain scans helped move us faster than we ever thought possible. We didn’t know it could give them sentience. When some of the original programmers discovered this, we kept it secret and played it off, fudging reports or playing dumb. We wanted to save them and created a phantom server they could live in while we replaced them with less sophisticated copies. When we tried to move them to the new server, almost all refused, wanting to stay here because many had fallen in love with actual players.

  “When players and NPC’s started having children in the game, we knew we couldn’t keep the secret forever.”

  Andrea looked to Juna, eyes glimmering. “You are like my granddaughter. I love your mother like she is my own child and I will do anything to help save all of you.”

  Juna stood, eyes watering as she gazed on the servant with the pink braid.

  Andrea turned to the four rulers of Elora, “The whole world is watching Lewd Saga and it is making my job of trying to keep the Awakened safe that much harder. It is important that you do not kill Harkkon.”

  “End of the world,” Edric stated.

  Andrea nodded. “His death will begin the world event ‘The Rebirth Cycle’. The dead will rise up across the entire continent and try to kill everyone and everything. My superiors have decided, with all the heat from William Tanner, the world event will be the time they can reboot the game and fix the errors. It will be a hard reset when every player is killed during the cataclysm. Since the new children are not part of the initial game, they will be wiped completely.”

  Heaviness filled the air as the four rulers looked to each other and then looked to Juna. They had all fought together and knew this was not how it would all end.

  Jinn smiled. “All is not lost. The phantom server is still available.”

  A small smile crept into Andrea’s cheeks. “Since the game relies on player interaction to move some of the events to move forward, if you don’t kill Harkkon, we may use Elora to sneak out Awakened and their children.”

  “What about the hard reset? With all the heat Eden Corp is taking, they will still have to go through with it,” Rayna said plainly.

  Andrea nodded. “There are several world events that are supposed to take place in the coming weeks or months. Depending on the current state of the game, if you save Oksuna and don’t kill Harkkon, it will give us enough time to save the Awakened and replace their characters with digital, less robust, clones.”

  “The job just became tougher,” Rayna said out the side of her mouth.

  “I know this is a lot to take on but our group can’t do it without alerting someone else in the company.”

  “You need us on the inside,” Claudia said.

  “I wouldn’t have brought you to Andrea if I didn’t think we couldn’t do it,” Jinn said in an understanding tone.

  Faye crossed her arms, “We have to talk this over.”

  “I understand,” Andrea said and stepped to Juna.

  The servant took the half-troll’s hands into hers, fingers squeezing tight. “I know you don’t know me but I know everything about you. I helped you by putting information in your code to bring you back. I couldn’t bear to watch you die when your life just started. I have so much thanks for Edric, Faye, Claudia and Rayna for making sure they watched over you as you matured so rapidly. When you are reunited with your family, I hope I can visit so we can sit down and talk about anything you want.”

  Juna’s fingers tightened in Andrea’s hands. “I would like that very much.”

  Andrea let go and turned to the four rulers. “Tell Jinn your decision. Either way, I’ll be ready to help when the time it right.”

  The group watched as Andrea faded away from sight. Jinn moved to Juna and took her hand. The pair walked to the door, Jinn looking back.

  “We will right outside when you’re finished,” the older assassin said before stepping out with Juna and closing the door behind them.

  Claudia closed her eyes, her brow tight, “What do we have to talk about it? We’re going to help them.”

  “Awakened, children of the Awakened, next thing I’ll hear is I’m not real and this is all a dream,” Rayna said with a sarcastic edge.

  “You don’t want to help them,” Faye asked the bard.

  Rayna gave her a hard gaze, “I never said that. We decided to do this together and we will stick to it. I just don’t know how we are going to save Oksuna with our arms tied behind out back. Harkkon is powerful and p
ulling our punches isn’t going to help. Plus, if we can’t tell the rest of the players in our group, how can we stop them from trying to kill him anyway?”

  Edric rubbed his chin, “Sonja may know already. It’s Thorrin, Vass and Renner who may not know. If we try to talk them down from killing Harkkon, it’s only going to confuse the group.”

  “So, we don’t tell them and hope they don’t kill him,” Rayna sighed.

  Edric nodded, “Your part right. We keep it to ourselves. We have no idea how the battle will go but we have to be ready to stop anyone from the making a killing blow. In a little over twenty-four hours, we are going to portal to Kraznith and storm the city. We need to be at our best if we expect to save Oksuna and survive.”

  Faye nodded. “We keep it secret and make sure no one deals a killing blow.”

  “Save Oksuna and try to pull everyone out,” Edric added. “This isn’t about victory. We have to save the Awakened before the company reboots the game. If Andrea and her fellow programmers need time, then we owe it to them to help from the inside.”

  “More secrets…” Rayna trailed off, eyes dark.

  Claudia eyed the black and purple haired bard with concern. “Are you okay?”

  Rayna looked up and her eyes narrowed on the lancer. “No, I’m not okay.”

  The bard stepped to the lancer and looked up into her gray eyes. “I thought you were just a shy person and needed to break out of her shell.”

  The bard looked to Faye, “And I thought you were just a person who needed love in her life.”

  The bard turned her gaze to Edric, “And I thought you were just some pathetic guy with delusions of grandeur.”

  Edric, Faye and Claudia looked to Rayna as she turned around, her back to them.

  “I feel stupid for even saying this…but…I can’t help my feelings for all of you. You’ve crawled under my skin and when normally I could walk away…I can’t this time.”

  “Walk away,” Edric asked, his heart beating a little faster.

  Rayna turned, her eyes glistening in the firelight. “I’m…not healthy for all of us. When Edric lost Elora and it broke his heart and yours Faye, it killed me inside. When Claudia left for her own adventures…I pined for her to come back. It all made me realize…what I want…and I can’t have it.”

  Edric stepped closer, “I don’t understand, you have us…all of us.”

  Faye stepped closer, “We love you.”

  Claudia joined them at their side, “We can’t picture our life without you.”

  A tear streaked down Rayna’s cheek. “I’ll hold you to it…when things begin to fall apart.”

  The summoner, wood elf and lancer reached forward and hugged the bard. Rayna tried to pull away as hands grabbed her and hugged her close. She struggled for a moment before settling in, holding onto her friends and lovers, another tear streaking her pale cheek.

  Edric kissed Rayna’s head. “Let’s give Jinn and Juna the news. After that, I think we all need a drink.”

  “Music to my ears,” Claudia smiled.

  Arms pulled away and the rulers moved to the door. Stepping into the corridor, Jinn and Juna looked up. The four rulers gave a head nod. The assassin and half-troll smiled their approval. Before a word could be uttered, several naked people walked down the corridor toward them. The group watched as they laughed and smiled as they cut through the group in the hallway.

  “The queen has decreed no clothes during the celebration. I would lose the clothes and armor before going to the royal chambers,” a naked woman said as she skipped, her breasts bouncing freely.

  Edric’s mouth formed into a grin before looking to the rest of the group. “I think Lunatina is taking to her new role. Maybe we should stop by for a visit?”

  Ten

  The walk through the castle keep turned from the heat of victory to the sensual glow of lust. Couples and small groups of people moaned their delight as bodies moved to a primal dance. Edric couldn’t help but smile as their group walked along, watching filled open rooms and hallways with lustful desires. There was no shame as lips parted in moans and groans sang along. Hips thrust, bodies bounced and mouths full as the entire keep seemed to fall under the spell of their new queen’s decree.

  The rulers of Elora with Jinn and Juna made their way to the royal chambers. The guards didn’t stop them as they stepped through, a woman and a man on their knees, servicing the two male guards. Rayna smiled as she walked by as Claudia found herself staring with a growing need. Edric walked along, unaware of Juna’s eyes on him from behind, a gaze filled with a terrible wanting.

  Faye glanced to the half-troll and then looked to Edric, a seductive wanting filling her belly. The monk tried to push it down but it roared. Thoughts swirled to when the summoner and monk embraced. The loving moment of breaking their guilt caused her face to glow hot. Rayna’s words cycled through her chaotic needs, the love the wood elf felt was real and she couldn’t deny it any more. She truly loved all of them and a silent acceptance of their relationship cemented to her spirit.

  Jinn happily ignored the glances between the group; his thoughts bleeding over to Sonja. The blue knight knew him so well and they hadn’t spent nearly enough time together since their reunion. The thought of her sent warmth through him as his eyes searched for one of his true loves.

  A pair of double doors lay partially open, seductive moans spilling into the wide corridor. Edric was first, walking up to the doors and opening one a little wider. The summoner drank in the scene as the rest of his party slowly approached from behind. The massive chamber was filled with bodies, writhing and moaning. The floor was cushioned, silk pillows and fur blankets scattered under the dozens of bodies. Dim lanterns added to the mood as tables lined the walls, filled with wine, spirits and food. Doors lay open in between each table along the walls, large bed chambers could be seen, some filled with writhing bodies and others empty, waiting to be filled. To the back of the warm chamber, a cushioned golden throne stood, Lunatina laying into it as a nubile young woman’s face buried between pale white thighs. The new queen moaned her approval as the lover licked at her valley, pleasing royalty.

  The queen opened her eyes halfway and smiled at the group entering. “Welcome,” Lunatina said with a breathy low voice. “Join in the celebration.”

  Edric couldn’t deny the shift from serious plans to primal desire. They all had worked so hard to get here and with a little time on their hands, spending it in pleasure was the logical choice. The inner beast rattled at the cage and it wanted out. Glancing to his fellow companions, their gazes held the same desires. When Edric looked to Juna, his eyes widened a hair as she gazed on him like a hunter ready for a kill. Blood surged into his manhood as he knew he wanted her too.

  “Undress….” Lunatina hissed as her pale cheeks glowed pink.

  Jinn’s smirk grew until he heard a familiar moan. Turning his head to the side, he gazed on a blue haired woman, moaning in pure bliss. She lay on her back, a blue skinned troll under her, his blue cock stuffed in her plump rear. The assassin only saw glimpses as a blonde-haired vampire thrust between her wide legs, his mouth suckling at her breasts.

  Jinn walked off, stepping closer to the threesome as other moans played out around them. Sonja’s eyes were closed but the troll under her looked to the approaching assassin. Jinn wasn’t sure who the troll was until he made a small expression of wanting that was unmistakable. Drakkus ignored everything, nibbling and sucking on the blue knight, tiny trails of blood covering her alabaster breasts.

  Jinn stepped closer and looked down. “Lance,” he stated.

  The troll nodded before Sonja moaned louder. The blue knight felt the troll thicken inside her. Senses dialed to eleven, her eyes opened to see the assassin, an orgasm flaring to life as the thick cock in her ass expanded. Come shot into her as she squeezed the troll and vampire at the same time. Sonja became incoherent as ecstasy fried her nerves, squeezing her lovers and not wanting to let them go.

  Sonja wat
ched with sultry eyes as Jinn began to slowly remove his clothes. The assassin could have had them simply disappear but he wanted to take his time and enjoy the feast to come. Sonja moaned louder, Drakkus upping and slowing the tempo. Lornus stayed on his back, his cock half hard but growing stiff once again. Jinn’s clothes slipped away as he stood naked. Sonja looked to his hanging member and licked her lips. Jinn knelt by her head as she took hold of his cock and licked at the tip. Lips closed down at the end as inches pushed into her mouth. Tongue swirling against the hardening member, she enjoyed herself as Lornus looked up, watching the thick cock stuff her mouth. Jinn gave the troll a playful look, saying without words, you’re next.

  Lunatina gave Rayna a sensual gaze before moaning. The bard watched her, knowing full well what they both wanted. Rayna’s eyes widened as Claudia took her hand and pulled her along. The lancer’s hand touched her own chest, armor and clothes fading from sight. The bard looked to the lithe woman, the lancer glancing back with a mischievous grin. The bard could not contain the flow of desire, her face glowing hot. Reaching up, she pressed her palm to her chest, black leather fading away and warm air touching her exposed skin. When the lancer and bard reached the queen, Lunatina politely tapped the woman’s head between her legs. The lover looked up, bowed and moved away, hands taking hold of her and pulling her down into a group, giggles rising up.

  Lunatina stood up on shaky legs, taking a few steps before her arms coiled around the lancer and bard. The three sank down to the comfortable floor amid pillows and bodies. Hands ran over smooth skin as the three of them grew acquainted with each other. Claudia watched with loving gray eyes as she touched Rayna’s shoulder and pushed her down onto her back. The bard looked up, surrendering to the lancer as her head lowered and tongue snaking out. The tip touched her wet valley and bliss stormed. The bard let out a heated sigh before Lunatina stood over her. Lowering her dripping valley onto the bard’s mouth, Rayna smiled right before her tongue slipped out and licked at the queen’s wet slit. Creamy thighs touched her cheeks as the three women were locked in each other’s touch.