The Artificer: The Adventure of the Golden Scarab
By Steven Lourie

Chapter 8

Draev worked his way down the hewn staircase as quickly as caution would allow, knowing that there likely would be more guards ahead and he would prefer if it he were the one doing the surprising. His foot-falls were nearly silent, left hand tracing lightly along the wall so he could focus solely on the path before him. A fuzzy, human-shaped shadow suddenly appeared on the curving, uneven wall, accompanied by the soft shuffles of leather on stone. The artificer pressed himself against the wall in one of the areas of near-darkness, knowing that doing so would only permit him a few short moments of time to formulate a plan of attack. Deciding that the simplest was the best, Draev whispered the words for his shocking hands spell, the flare of blue light catching the guard’s attention as the footsteps halted suddenly, the shadow wavering with uncertainty.
Draev’s breath caught in his throat as he heard the whisper of steel being drawn from a stiff scabbard, a cold reminder of how high the stakes were.

With his sword drawn the shadow crept upwards, a head swathed in black linen peering around the corner, the tip of a scimitar sliding into from Draev’s hiding spot. With a grunt of effort the artificer sprang forward, magic-enhanced hand held before him, seeking out something to grab a hold of and deliver the incapacitating spell. The lone guard reacted by backing down a few steps, the hand falling short of its target. Draev had no choice but step fully into view. The guard feinted a strike, the unpolished yet fearsomely sharp curved blade of his sword swinging through the air only to suddenly change direction when Draev lunged forward yet again, steel slicing flesh. Draev hissed as he felt the sudden burning pain of the cut along his forearm, blood oozing from it readily and making the cloth of his outfit stick to his arm. The two combatants stood still for a while then, bodies taut with concentration, each looking for a chance to attack.

Thinking quickly Draev summoned forth some water as he swung his open palm at the sword-wielding thug, a gout of perfectly harmless liquid spraying out into his face. Striking while he was momentarily distracted the artificer attempted to touch the guard again, arm flailing to find a target. Panicked by the unexpected attack the guard swung blindly, staggering back down another step and almost falling. This time the sword bit into Draev’s abdomen, cutting a bloody gash along his ribs and belly. What’s more, the off-balance guard made the artificer’s strike miss, the electrical energy discharging as his fingers struck the stairwell wall. In pain and running out of options Draev desperately grabbed at the man’s head covering, gloved fingers catching on the wrapped cloth there and jamming it downward, covering his eyes.

Barely avoiding a wild swing of the sword the fingers on his right hand curled into a fist and he struck the guard once, then twice in the face in rapid succession, the bones in his hand screaming in pain with each clumsy strike. Dazed and still blinded the guard reached out to his sides to try and steady himself from falling back any further, metal sword clanging dully against the stone walls. Draev lashed out with his foot next in a pushing sort of kick, his sand-dusted boot leaving an imprint on the man’s dark garb an instant before he began to tumble backwards yelling what were most likely curses.

Breathing heavily between teeth clenched in pain Draev forced himself to hurry down the steps after the falling guard, knowing that pressing his advantage now would be his only hope of ending this fight the victor. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, which ended in a blank wall, the guard lay in a still and crumpled heap upon the last few steps, sword held loosely in nerveless fingers, head twisted at an odd angle. The fight with this guard was over. Painfully and distastefully Draev pushed the corpse to one side and began to search for a trigger that would open a section of the wall into what he assumed was a chamber of some sort. He could feel the thrumming magic just beyond the hidden door quite acutely, knowing that some ritual of awe-inspiring potency was underway within. Once inside, he would have little other than the element of surprise and a desperate energy with him to battle Moleeka. Draev hoped that she was distracted by her ritual that she would not sense his entrance until it was too late.

Eventually his questing fingers found the hidden latch and he depressed it, a section of the wall, undetectable in its closed state, swung outwards into a massive, brazier-lit chamber, the magic in the air almost tangible now that it was no longer blocked by the half-foot of stone. The artificer quickly stuck his head in a looked about frantically, trying to locate Moleeka so that he knew in what direction to hide from. Though his search was brief and hurried, the chamber seemed unoccupied at first glance. Steeling his nerves and reminding himself that the lives of his loved ones were at stake he darted into the chamber, eyes on the ziggurat’s peak, ears straining to hear the sounds of chanting or any other mechanism of spell casting. There were none, but on his next sweep of raised altar he saw a sight that filled him with a mixture of relief, surprise and lust. He spotted Jegna’s blue-skinned body struggled against apparently magical bonds near the top, able to do little other than twist her torso about and send her large breasts swinging to and fro as she vainly attempted to escape.

Tearing his eyes from the distracting sight Draev saw nothing of Saril, or Daa, though from his low vantage point he could not spy what occurred on the very top of the ziggurat. Not being able to detect Moleeka concerned him, as he did not know if she possessed any supernatural senses within this ritual chamber, if she were somehow looking upon his crouching form at that very moment. Ears straining Draev did manage to hear something, the faint whisper of something light and draping sliding against stone, like the hem of a robe or tassels on slippers. Peering into the deep shadows created by the few sources of light Draev could see nothing, yet the rustling noise persisted. The garbs of some veiled acolytes coming to seize him after from silent command from the mistress of this house? Growing increasingly pensive Draev dared to approach the stairs, peering up them as if he expected them to somehow attack or betray his presence.

Something did attack at that moment, but it was not the stairs before him, but something from behind, something swift and light, coiling around his left ankle and tugging. Looking down Draev’s eyes grew wide as he saw a length of animated wrapping looped and pulled taut around his ankle. Twisting about rapidly Draev spotted at least three more strands weaving their way towards him, the square-cut tips seeking him out like some sort of two-dimensional snake winding its way towards its prey. The one wrapped around his ankle tugged insistently upon his foot, nearly causing him to trip. Knowing full well that these wrappings meant to bind him until after the ceremony was complete and Moleeka could turn her full attention to his helpless form Draev set his jaw in defiance and, seizing upon an idea, summoned magic forth to his index and middle fingers, bending down to touch the linen attached to him.

His fingers glowed with a faint blue light as they grazed the side of the animated wrapping a length of the wrappings roughly ten feet long suddenly went limp, drained of magic. Tearing his ankle free of the now inert cloth strip Draev managed to make it up the first few steps before he was forced to defend himself again, this time managing to strike the bandage down before it even had a chance to latch onto some part of him. Emboldened by his success the artificer hopped up another step, grabbing one of the strips out of the air and sending a large section of it limp to the floor. Her guardians were simple in their attack form, and while fearsome in their own way, seemed easy to hold off. Perhaps it was Moleeka’s directions which had made them so dangerous to Seccus when he battled them in the foyer meters above the artificer’s current position. He could hear Jegna’s muffled squeals now, no doubt spotting his ascension and trying to get is attention. It was a pity he could not watch her squirm more right now, the sight of such a powerful and domineering being in such a helpless position filled him with a euphoric sense of arousal, his mind treading gleefully down avenues he never believed possible.

The slight smile that had formed itself on the artificer’s lips vanished like a desert mirage as a strip of linen had crept up from behind and deftly slipped around his eyes, all but blinding the artificer. His concentration stolen by a second of pure animal panic Draev stumbled on the stairs, landing in a seated position upon the edge of one of them, fingers rising to dispel the tricky linen from obscuring his vision. This was all the time needed for the other strips to close the distance cobra-swift, one looping around his ankles and pulling to draw them tightly together, two others lashing around his wrists tightly and keeping his fingers from the one wrapping his head. Grunting in effort Draev quickly realized that these animated bandages were equally as strong as he was, with the added benefit of never being able to tire from their exertion. He could not out-fight these wrappings. He had to think of something quickly or end up as helpless as the genie.

Draev felt his arms begin to be pulled behind his back, his arms trembling with the effort necessary to resist the strip’s advance. His ankles were now drawn together and secured with several layers of white linen, the strip continuing up his calves, wrapping expertly and securely on its way up. The strip on his head did not stop either, passing several more times over his eyes before working its way downwards, slipping across the bridge of his nose, moving ever closer to his mouth. The artificer struggled, his mind warring with his instinctive urges to fight and flee. He could not overcome these magical constructs with brute force alone, Seccus’s flight from them evidence enough of that, yet they seemed to be endlessly long, even the simple enchantment upon them giving rise to perhaps miles of wrappings ready to guard their mistress. His magical strength would not out-last their assault either, and even if he lay upon a huge pile of inert linen, he did not doubt it would be his inescapably mummified body that would be wiggling upon it.

His arms now almost touching behind his back and his grunts of effort slipping out past layers of muffling linen the desperate artificer’s mind caught upon a lesson from his academy days, the lesson that had allowed him to destroy his fire crystal and let him free himself from that curse. Do not try to use your own energy to destroy an artifact, for it would take more power than even the most accomplished mage would be hard-pressed to summon up for the task. Instead, use a little bit to tap into the power of the artifact and begin a small reaction where the magic within it starts to work against itself, two conflicting currents opposing each other rather than its own destruction. Only then, when the innate structure of the item is weakened so, could an artifact be destroyed, by no one more powerful than an accomplished mage. The linen was like that well of power, only spread out over a massive length rather than concentrated within a much smaller and more compact artifact. The principle should be the same. Make the animating magic work against itself and it should create a chain reaction down the entire length.

Forcing his mostly wrapped fingers together Draev focused on tapping into the energy of the bindings rather than trying to oppose it, seeking out the weave of magic that coursed along its entire length just as much as the weave of cotton fibers made up its physical form. Finding it, Draev sent out a disruptive ripple, immediately feeling the strip become slack as the disruption traveled down its length. Heartened by his success Draev struggled to free his arms, touching another of the strips and sending a wave of discordant power along its body. When all was done the artificer sat, partially wrapped, upon the staircase, the strips nothing more than the linen they were prior to Moleeka’s enchantment. Draev had little time to congratulate himself, however the ritual still continued along. Fighting his way clear of the wrappings, the artificer found his feet once again and pounded up the steps, throwing caution in the wind. If Moleeka hadn’t detected his intrusion by the loss of her enchanted minions by now, then she wasn’t going to.

Draev bolted past the squirming genie, her indignant, muffled cries falling on deaf ears for now. At last the top of the ziggurat became level with his eyes, as well as the slab of stone in which the golden artifacts sat, glowing fiercely, and the stone altar before them, playing host to a tightly wrapped female mummy who wiggled erotically against her inescapable bonds. Draev has spent enough time studying the staggering figure of Moleeka Sik’darbi to know that it was likely her lying on the altar, though why exactly she was wrapped was a mystery to him. A mystery he would have to unravel a little later.

The ritual seemed simple enough, the vertical line of golden artifacts created a magical circuit through which the necessary power flowed, creating a link between this world and which ever world the sorceress desired to send it to. Slipping past the altar Draev chose one of the smaller artifacts, one shaped like a gazelle, and set his fingers to the task of prying it free of the hole it was set in. It did not give readily, the magic coursing through the golden object created a sort of vacuum behind it, Draev’s fingers straining as he kept pulling. The magic began to pulse erratically now, sometimes very strong, sometime weak. Feeling as if he were seated too close to a fire the artificer’s face grew uncomfortably warm as powerful energies washed past it, eyes squinted against the intense glow. With a final heave backwards, one that almost sent him prone the gazelle figurine came loose, the glow disappearing almost immediately from the others. The tingle of active magic in the air faded quickly, noticeable by both Draev, and the mummified sorceress, the mystic bands that held her in place disappearing as she wiggled, rocking back-and-forth in confusion.

Dropping the icon unceremoniously to the ziggurat floor Draev exhaled a deep breath and tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. Whatever she had planned, he had narrowly avoided its completion, and now had a little time to gather his thoughts. Moleeka was no threat to him at the moment, as if she were capable of freeing herself she would have done so by now. Deciding it would be best to make sure that this woman before him was indeed the dangerous sorceress Draev approached the mummy, and, fingers seeking out one of the folds along her shoulder, pried it away. The linen gave away reluctantly, as if stuck by some glue, assuring him that even her most violent struggles would not allow her to free herself. In the dim light mocha-colored skin, a sliver of it, revealed itself to his eyes. It was her.

Feeling the strange fingers touching her make the sorceress’s body snap rigid, and long, angry whine faintly audible from her gagged mouth. She knew that the ritual was interrupted and that now the one who did it was standing over her helpless body. She did not seem like the sort of person who enjoyed these sort of situations. In no immediate danger Draev found his gaze passing slowly over the curves and bulges of the bound woman before him; of the globular breasts, each capped with an erect nipple which still managed to wobble slightly despite the tight binding they had received; of the slight indentation between the woman’s legs that spoke of the smooth nether lips located there, and the tightness of the wrappings against them.  She was a dangerous, selfish and currently, very angry woman, but Draev had to admit in his heart of hearts she was also a fabulously attractive woman, one whose curvy body seemed made for this sort of stringent bondage.

These thoughts of bondage made the artificer’s mind turn to where Daa and Saril may be. Would she have used them in part of the ritual, or where they else where in the manor above? Draev didn’t want to risk Moleeka getting a spell off or shouting a command word by asking her where they were. She likely wouldn’t tell him anyways. Perhaps Jegna would know.

Tearing his gaze from the unintentionally sensual squirming of the trapped sorceress Draev descended the stairs, his gaze instantly finding the dijinn’s blue-skinned posterior, the twin mounds of smooth flesh jiggling and clenching with each attempt to pry herself free of her bonds. A slight smile formed on the artificer’s lips as he slowly approached her, catching her eye as she looked over her shoulder at him. Her eyes were wide and her eyebrows bent down near her nose in a look of pleading irritation, a "well, get on with it” look Draev had never experienced coming from her. His left hand, guided by something other than his conscious thoughts, sought out her rump and cupped her cheeks possessively, drawing more whines and struggles from her.
" Mpphh! Mmm! Mmmmmm! " she mewed, trying to pull her hips away from his hand but failing miserably, succeeding only in thrusting out her breasts further. Breaking her gaze for only a moment Draev glanced down and saw the chunk of elemental earth sitting on the stone floor directly below her, blocking the entrance to her lamp. With it so close to her she would be weaker even than a normal mortal woman, the thought of which forced a murmur of arousal from his throat, his cock, which had stiffened slightly from the sight of Moleeka’s gyrations, grew a little more.

Jegna had never been truly helpless, always feigning it to tease and torment him. Now though, now she was actually at his mercy, her hips seeming to be at just the right height for him to do something with her, if he wished it. Interrupting these dreamy thoughts, though was the sight of a stout metal container rolling slightly on the floor, its stopper chained tightly to the top. Daa! She was alright as well! Ignoring Jegna’s increasingly irritated, muffled demands Draev casually kicked the elemental earth away, the dark piece of stone tumbling off the side of the ziggurat and into the gloom below. Stooping down to grasp the metal container Draev felt it squirm in his hand, the slimbiote within knowing that she was being lifted, but by who and for what reason unknown to her.

Fiddling with the chains a bit Draev was able to slip it free of the metal loops that were holding in place, the swirling ooze within in pausing for a moment and then sent the metal top flying off, the glistening black slime gushing forth from her metal confinement and pooling on the stone landing, quickly taking a human form.
" If you’ve harmed her...! " Daa began, images of black, scything blades and rending tentacles filling Draev’s mind, the normally perky and cheerful mental voice of the intelligent slime now dark and deep, letting to whom she spoke know that she would follow through with her threats. Panicking and unsettled by the slimbiote’s murderous mood Draev dropped the container with a 'clank’ and put up his hands defensively, sending his own thoughts to her.
" Daa, no! Seccus is gone, you’re safe, " he assured her.

The black horror that Daa had been shaping herself into immediately ceased growing, the pointed spines and whipping tentacles slipping back into her rapidly solidifying form.
" Oh Master! I was so worried! Are you alright? " she gasped in surprise and joy, as soon as she was capable of such a thing she dashed forward and embraced him tightly, her ebony face beaming, simulated eyes wide with happiness.
" I’m fine Daa, but I don’t know where Saril is,  do you? " he inquired, feeling a sudden burst of guilt and worry from his servant’s mind.
" No, Master, I’m sorry, so sorry. I-I tried to protect her, to resist that crystal’s effect on me, but it was as if I were his puppet. He forced me into that container and kept me there while he...did things to Saril. It was horrid, not knowing what was happening to her, that I couldn’t help her... " the slimbiote explained, her mental voice tinged with deep sadness, simulated fingers clutching his arms tightly for support.
" Easy, Daa. I know exactly how you feel. We need to find her, and I may need your help. "
" I will do anything to find her, Master. I owe you both that much, " she agreed readily.
" I also see you have not freed Jegna, who seems quite irate with you, " the slimbiote observed, a touch of playfulness in her tone, looking past him to the wiggling genie.
" Heh, yeah, though perhaps she knows where Saril is, " Draev considered, turning to face the blue-skinned elemental woman yet again.

Walking up to Jegna Draev moved his cupped hand over the line of glowing runes that sealed her lips together, breaking the enchantment and allowing her to speak again, which she did immediately and quite loudly as well.
" Draev! I hope you enjoyed having me like this but the joke is over! Release me at
once! " she commanded, ceasing in her struggles to fix him with a withering glare. Draev crossed his arms and put his best blasé face on, appearing unfazed by her angry orders.
" Jegna, do you know what Moleeka did with Saril? " he asked.
" No, now let me go and find her yourself. I can’t bear to be this...weak any longer, " she huffed, expansive breasts rising and falling rapidly with her frustrated exhalation.
" Too bad you can’t help. As for your bonds I may need all of my magic to find her, so you’ll just have to hang in there a bit longer. I’ll let you down soon though, be sure of that, " Draev smirked, looking away from her and beginning to ascend the stairs again, Daa in tow.
" Draev! Release me, or you’ll suffer such dire consequences you’ll shudder every time you even think of my name! " she promised loudly, trying to watch him over her shoulder and wiggling her hips in anger.
" And I’ll shudder every time I remember you like this, " the artificer smiled to himself, speaking under his breath and ignoring the genie’s other threats and protests.

Once again the mummified form of Moleeka lay before him, as vulnerable in her current state as one not versed in magic. She had made little progress with trying to slide off of the altar, and none in her effort to wriggle free of her bindings.
" I’m going to pry the wrappings free of her mouth, " Draev explained mentally to Daa,
" you be ready to fill her mouth if she tries to yell out a command word for something or cast a spell, understand? "
" Yes Master, " she replied simply, taking a position right next to the stone table.

Leaning down and trying to ignore the struggling woman’s large breasts inches away Draev picked at the linen strips covering the sorceress’s mouth, surprised by how many layers there were. His erection pressed tightly against the edge of the altar, distracting him as he worked. Eventually Moleeka’d dusky lips came into view, parted slightly to reveal the large wad of linen stuffed into her oral cavity. Pinching the sodden wad with his index finger and thumb Draev managed to wiggle it free, a deep, throaty gasp of air escaping the bound woman’s mouth as it did. The sorceress took a few more breaths before she spoke, her lips pulled tight against her teeth in displeasure.
" Who dares interrupt my ceremony?! You do not know with whom you are dealing
with! " she threatened.
" You and I know each other very well, Moleeka Ski’darbi, though I imagine you are surprised to hear my voice, " Draev responded evenly, speaking slightly louder than he would normally considering how her entire head was wrapped.
" You continue to be a thorn in my side artificer! Make no mistake my helpless state is temporary and you will suffer horribly for your intrusion, " the mummified woman snarled, struggling a bit more to emphasize the point. Tired of her threats Draev asked her simply and directly his question;
" Where is the elf woman Saril? Where have you hidden her? "
" Her life is mine now, and yours is forfeit the moment you set foot in this chamber! " Moleeka swore, the next words out of her mouth the words of magic.

Draev didn’t even have to think the command before Daa jammed her black fingers into the sorceress’s mouth, eliciting a surprised, muffled yelp from the bound woman. She wiggled atop the altar in protest, her words once again unintelligible yet distinctly angry.
" What do we do now, Master? " Daa wondered, turning her head to regard his face.
Draev considered his options as his gaze ran over the struggling woman, helpless yet so defiant.
" I could threaten to suffocate her, " the slimbiote reasoned, her fingers losing their solid form and covering over the woman’s entire mouth, two tendrils snaking towards her defenseless nostrils. The artificer winced at the thought, even though he had to admit that the idea had merit. Moleeka was an evil woman, one who may have done something horrible to Saril, but he wasn’t going to torture her as well, threaten her very life for the information. He would not stoop to her level.
" Can you not read her mind? " Draev asked Daa wordlessly.
" No, I am sorry, Master, but she guards her thoughts well, though occasionally something slips past her barrier. Unpleasant thoughts about torture and death regarding you, " she spat distastefully. Draev sighed in frustration, his mind a jumble of conflicting emotions and morals of the undeniable eroticism of her futile wriggles and growing concern for his bodyguard. Moleeka’s life was in his hands at the moment, as was Saril’s. How could he get to one without doing the unthinkable to the other?

" Master, I have something else, " the slimbiote informed him, cocking her head as if thinking.
" Yes, what is it? " he pressed, frowning in concentration.
" It is slight, only the briefest of emotions and images slipping past her guard, but, I can sense she is aroused by her helplessness, by the mummification specifically. She was able to indulge in her fetish only once and awhile before, commanding her animated wrappings to bind her in the privacy of her own bedroom, fantasizing about being lorded over and controlled by a being far superior to her, one which she would allow to do whatever they wished with her body in exchange for some of that power. It is...interesting, " Daa admitted. Draev too, shifted uncomfortably upon hearing the bound woman’s innermost desires, desires with which she struggled against as violently as she did the bindings.
" Hmm, perhaps we can use this to our advantage, " the artificer grinned wickedly, his mind already working. " All things torturous do not necessarily involve pain..., " he finished, trailing off.
Daa picked up on his thoughts easily, her own mouth twisting into a smile.
” You are quite right, my Master, and truth be told I am much more experienced and comfortable with inflicting pleasure and not pain on another being. I will do my best. "

Draev took a few steps back as Daa climbed on top of the altar, Moleeka squirming in what could be best described as irritated uncertainty. The slimbiote took up a position straddled the mummified sorceress, pinning her beneath her weight, her glistening black body nestling up against the white linen. Daa then began to melt, or at least it seemed that way, fingers of inky slime trickling down over Moleeka’s wrapped body, following the contours of it, slowly but surely erasing any sign of the bandages that enwrapped her. Draev felt his breathing grow heavier and his heart began to pump harder as more and more of Moleeka disappeared under the silent, glistening assault, still struggling and "mmpphh”ing in protest. Before long the woman’s entire body was encased in the black ooze, Daa attacking the bandages, dissolving them like she would have if she were one of her carnivorous kin, yet leaving the woman underneath unharmed.

The trapped sorceress’s movements became more and more pronounced as the rigid bandages gave away to the much more flexible sheath of Daa, the woman’s staggeringly gorgeous form soon clearly defined in a smooth, flawless black skin. She wriggled and grunted, arms still pinned behind her back, thrashing her legs around, unfettered breasts wobbling and bouncing unashamedly. Arcing her back and screaming, or at least making as loud a noise was possible, she rolled onto her side and scrunched up into an almost fetal position. It was obvious to Draev that she lost some sense of direction otherwise she wouldn’t have stuck her flexing, bulging rump directly towards him, lower legs kicking. The artificer’s fingers curled into fists of self-restraint as he observed Daa beginning to fill Moleeka’s orifices, the black ooze pooling around her puckered ass and delicate nether lips before pushing its way inside, growing thicker and longer with each passing moment. It was torture for him too, having to watch Daa do this to her, knowing that he should not interfere with her work, yet he couldn’t help feel that she was doing this to tease him.

Moleeka whined at the intrusion, her gagged murmurs sounding very angry and threatening as she wriggled like a landed fish atop the stone altar, seeking an escape that was not there. Her grunts soon became more tortured and rhythmic, however, the muscles along her hips and ass cheeks flexing and tensing as she sought to push the slimbiote out of her, but ended up only heightening the sensations. Shaking her sheathed head in denial the sorceress attempted to roll off of the altar, perhaps to try and use the pain of falling to refocus her mind on resisting the pleasurable attack. Daa sensed this, however, and reacted swiftly, tendrils of ooze snaking out from the backs of the sorceress’s thighs and attaching to her calves, the chains of slime then quivering as they drew her lower and upper legs together, forcing the woman’s rump out even more and limiting her movements to a violent rocking. Chains of ooze slipped free from around the bound woman’s nipples and fixed themselves to the tops of her shapely, bulging thighs, drawing her struggling body into a tight, glistening ball of feminine wiggles and groans.

Once the captive was more secure Daa returned her focus to assaulting her most sensitive regions, a thick, textured shaft squirming and pumping into her mouth, vagina and anus, nipples being twisted and rubbed, ear lobes nibbled on, neck licked. Moleeka’s struggles became more and more involuntary, changing from efforts to escape to unconscious shudders and twitches from particularly strong moments of sensual distress. Draev’s breath was hissing out from between clenched teeth now, anxiously shifting is weight from foot-to-foot, erection noticeable even under his dark, loose clothing.
" Is she...breaking? " he asked the slimbiote distractedly, trying to tear his eyes off the highly arousing scene.
Daa giggled as she worked, her mental voice sounding as breathy and pleased as if she herself were the one being stimulated.
" She has a strong will, my Master, but her arousal is almost as strong and growing. She fights between her duty to her gods and her desire for self-gratification. She yearns for them both, and I keep quietly reminding her that only one option is available to her now, she might as well give in. She is stubborn, but just give me some more time, " the slimbiote promised.
" I...see, Daa. Keep...going, " Draev telepathically urged, folding his arms tightly across his chest and looking at the ceiling.
" Will...Master be alright as well? You seem rather...distracted since I began. "
The artificer grumbled something and made his conflicting urges known only in images and emotions, his mind trying to slip back to thinking about his own hands running over the ebon-sheathed flesh of the helpless woman only feet away from him.
" Hmm, I may have to ask you for help if she doesn’t give in soon. Perhaps the feeling of a warm, throbbing cock rubbing against her entrance will convince her to see our point of view better. "
" Daa! " Draev mentally yelled at her, seething with frustration. The intelligent slime just giggled innocently and continued to work, creating slender tentacles near the tips of Moleeka’s hips and lightly whipping her protruding buttocks. Draev began to pace, casting his eyes occasionally over to the black, erotic ball quivering atop the altar and immediately regretting it as it increased his own frustration five-fold.
" Perhaps you can entertain yourself with Jegna, Master. You seemed to quite enjoy her awkward position. "

Unable to endure the sight of the sorceress’s bound form any longer Draev pounded down the stairs towards the landing that the genie hovered just above, slowing to a stop as the woman’s thin, undulating cry of rapture reached his ears, finally orgasming, every muscle, fold and bulge shaking and trembling in its intense grip.
" Draev, I’m going to ask you nicely, politely. Free me and let me return to my lamp, please. We can have some fun a little later, after I have regained some of my strength. I’ll even pretend to be bound if you want it that much, I swear it, " the dijnn asked, keeping her voice even and calm though not being able to completely banish a small strain of pleading from it. Lust flowing through his veins as thick as blood Draev walked up behind the bound elemental woman and grabbed a thick clump of hair near the middle of its blue length with his left hand, pulling back forcefully. Jegna actually whimpered quietly as her head tilted back, twisting in her bonds weakly.
" Please Draev, let me go, " she asked again, her own breaths noticeably deepening.
" Why wait until later when we can do everything we want here and now? " he asked, sliding his body up close behind her and whispering into her ear. The blue-skinned woman shivered and a weak groan escaped her throat as he pushed his erection in between her rounded cheeks, reflexively wiggling to try and escape its probing touch.
" You can’t...have me like this. You’re just a fleshy mortal, I’m as wild and free as the winds themselves, " she argued in a small, distracted voice, her eyes almost closing as she pushed back onto his pillar of manhood.
" Right now you’re just a woman, and I’m just a man, doing what our bodies tell, nay, demand that we do. What does it matter if one of use cannot move away? " Draev countered, his right hand sliding up from Jegna’s hip to underneath her breast, pushing it up as if to display it, relishing its erotic weight.
" You...can’t..., " she protested, squirming against her bonds in yet another pointless attempt to escape.

Draev’s mouth sought out and fastened to the side of Jegna’s long, elegant neck, his lips, then tongue, then teeth each pressing their distinct textures onto the taut, sensitive flesh there, drawing a lilting, girly gasp from the bound genie. Her head shake of denial was barely noticeable as Draev’s hand slipped back down across her sculpted belly to the juncture of her spread legs, his fingers blindly seeking out the firm, moist nub of her clitoris. When he found it he twirled and pushed demandingly on it, pulling her hips further back onto him, the pre-cum oozing from the tip making the front of his black breeches sticky. Any thoughts or words that the trapped elemental was planning to argue with next were abandoned as she slowly ground her posterior against his hips.
" By the f-four winds I want to feel your naked shaft against me, inside of me, " she exclaimed breathlessly, head lolling in blissful surrender.
Draev’s hand released her silky blue tresses and slid down to his belt, fingers fumbling with the buckle.
" Master, I almost have her beat. Please come back up the stairs, " Daa messaged to him.

His right arm trembling with self-restraint Draev pried himself away from the lush, scented body of the helpless dijnn and, taking a few deep breaths, began to ascend the stairs yet again.
" Draev, don’t leave me like this, you can’t. Take me, " Jegna groaned, wiggling her torso while arcing her back, the sides of her mammoth breasts clearly visible as they swayed past the gentle curves of her ribcage.
Sputtering curses under his breath a very frazzled artificer once again set his eyes on the struggling form of yet another voluptuous female, Daa having made some changes since he was last here.

The glistening, dark skin of the sorceress’s rump was exposed now, only a thin line of slime anchored the two large intruders still working within her. The woman’s natural juices oozed from around the thick, firm shaft within her, trickling over the perfect arc of flesh created by the lower of her two buttocks. Draev gasped and nearly collapsed to his knees as he saw this, heard the blissful, muffled whimpering of the sorceress who had surrendered herself completely to the erotic torment and her own desire for it.
" Daa, why...did...! " the artificer wanted to shout at her, angry with his servant only so far as he could not understand why she was teasing him so.
" This image will haunt your mind for years to come, Master, and I will get to bask in your blissful recollections as well. It’s something for the both of us, " she explained nonchalantly, a mischievous edge still in her mental voice. " Plus, I do honestly require your assistance to progress any further. Despite my best efforts she has managed to lock the knowledge of Saril’s whereabouts behind a mental shield, a core of iron will. I sense that she will not submit such information to the servant of any one, no matter how powerful they may be. She might, however, be willing to give that information to you, if you persuaded her properly. "
" Persuaded? Uh, I-I’m afraid I don’t quite follow you, " Draev asked, wondering if Daa could mean exactly what he thought she did.
" Yes, Master, you do understand. It is exactly like that. You begin and I will coach you along by telling you what she wants. Remember, you must sound domineering, powerful. You’ve had some practice with that in the past, have you not? " the intelligent slime giggled again before shifting her mass around.

The slimbiote slid out of Moleeka’s thoroughly stuffed vagina, a slight slurping noise clearly audible as Daa withdrew, clear trails of the sorceress’s own juices making her perspiring skin glisten all the more. The helpless woman was now completely exposed to him, Daa creating a cushion underneath the captive and sliding her along the top of the altar so that her rump was facing Draev directly and the bulging flesh hung just on the edge of the stone table. An offering for the artificer. Moleeka still wriggled weakly, moaning as her hips shifted slightly, trying to regain a clear head after what must have been a mind blowing series of orgasms at the hands of her ebon tormentor.
" Place your hand upon her ass possessively, Master. Establish your superiority. Make her very aware of what you can do to her. "

Still trying to reconcile his lust for her body and his revulsion for her cruel mind Draev hesitated a moment before setting a hand on her left buttock and squeezed firmly, a thin groan from him accompanying the wet noise the shifting of her cheeks created. Moleeka stirred, mumbling something and squirming a bit more, trying to look past her body to who now touched her. Daa obliged by removing a narrow section over her eyes and pulling taut the ooze over the left side of her neck and face, supporting her head somewhat. The sorceress’s eyes grew wide as he saw him standing there, his intense gaze sweeping over her prepared body, the sight of his hips blocked by the curve of her own. She scowled and struggled more, her muffled grunts sounding more forceful, demanding.
" Show her who is in charge, Master. She is regaining her confidence and focus. You do this for Saril don’t forget, " Daa reminded him with a slight scolding tone in her telepathic voice.

Reacting without really thinking Draev’s hand left the warm, pleasant sensation of her skin and raised up, only to slap back down hard on the meaty part of her ass, causing her cheeks to jiggle deliciously and a very feminine and surprised squeak to escape past her sealed lips. When she "mmmphhed " something angrily at him again his hand rose and fell, this time his palm gripping the flesh he had just slapped His lust filtering into his line of thinking a wicked grin crept onto the artificer’s face, one of supreme male confidence. Moleeka seemed to notice this change quite quickly, her cheeks clenching as if to try and remove the sight of her exposed sex from his eyes and his thoughts.
" Tell me. Tell me where she is, what you did with the elf woman, " Draev demanded, his voice flat and dangerous, at least that’s what he was aiming for. It felt odd, in a very real situation he would have to play a role that wasn’t quite him. The stubbornness returned to Moleeka’s dark eyes, twisting in her bonds and tensing her entire body as if trying to prepare herself for whatever he had coming next.
" Good, Master, but you need to show you are not bluffing. Pull down your pants. Expose yourself, let her feel just the tip and let her sense of touch tell her what her eyes cannot. "

The muscles of his cheeks rolling under his skin in tight-lipped control over his hesitation Draev mechanically reached down to his waistband and began unbuckling his belt, never taking his eyes off of the sorceress’s. Her gaze wavered between returning his gaze to glancing down past her rump, trying to see what transpired there. Draev’s rigid shaft, pulsing with hunger sprung impatiently free from its cloth prison, wobbling in the cool cavern air, the very tip of his foreskin brushing against Moleeka’s naked posterior. Letting his breeches fall to his ankles Draev once again placed his right hand on her upper ass cheek, then, with increasing pressure, began to pull the mound of perfectly formed flesh upward, parting her. The dusky-skinned captive squirmed more, her sounds no longer carrying the defiant edge they held but moments ago. Draev wanted so very much to drive his cock home into her moist opening, to plunge into that warm and wet tunnel that had been so thoroughly prepared for him. He had to restrain himself, though, or give her the impression that he was not in control of himself and the situation, something that she could manipulate. Try not to let an inescapably bound woman know that I want terribly to fuck her, yes, that will be very easy Draev thought to himself with some chagrin.

" Tell me! " he demanded, pausing before speaking any more to confer with Daa.
" Uh, Daa, is she more scared that I will take her, or that I won’t? "
" That you will, Master. She can control her urges despite her predicament and my ministrations, but if we added a dominant man into the scenario, she would lose control and tell us what we want to hear. "
Digesting this information Draev carried on with his threat, pushing his hips forward so that the rounded end of his penis brushed against her glistening lips, another whine escaping past the sorceress’s sealed mouth.

" To have one such as yourself, so powerful and commanding under my complete control is almost maddening. Touching places that my eyes have roamed, that you would deny me in any other situation but I can take and taste as much as I want now. I see the defiance in your eyes still, but I also see something more, something lurking behind your façade. Something weak and womanly, something that just wants to give into the pleasure and feel filled and complete. I can do that. I will do that. Only the barest of whims keeps me outside of you right now, because we both know that if I were to push forward, " the artificer explained fiercely, pushing his hips forward and stifling a grunt of pleasure in his throat as the foreskin peeled back and his purple, velvet smooth head wormed its way readily past her fleshy gates.

With tiny whimpers she struggled weakly, which only facilitated his entrance, almost as if she were moving to grant him easier access rather than to let her denial be known to him in her body movements. She felt magnificent wiggling on the tip of him, laid bare and open to his eyes, hands and cock, her interior almost feverishly hot and wet enough that any movement, be it further in, or back out for another plunge would require little more than the thought to do so.
" Good, Master. Her shield wavered for a moment when you slipped inside, her concentration focused on the sensation rather than keeping me out. Keep going, " the slimbiote prompted.
" Hmph, " Draev snorted with a grin, teeth clenched in an effort to control the overwhelming urge to slam forward into her, " I’ve barely begun and already I saw your resolve slip. You’ve denied yourself pleasure for so long, kept yourself aloof and untouchable, that you’ll writhe like a whore under my simplest touch. I expected better of one such as you. "
Moleeka wailed something, her body twitching, dark eyes closing tight behind long, thick lashes.

" Almost there my Master. I will free her mouth so that she may speak, keep dominating her and give her something to focus on other than me. I think you know what I mean, " the intelligent ooze finished slyly, Draev almost envisioning a wink from her in his mind’s eye.
Frantic, slightly whistling gusts of air from the sorceress’s nostrils changed to greedy gasps from between dark lips just freed from the slimbiote’s black grasp. Large, eye-catching breasts, still sheathed behind a thin layer of glistening ebony, alternatively bulged and receded as they pressed against her thighs with each deep breath.
" No...you c-can’t...! You mustn’t, " Moleeka pleaded breathlessly, her words sounding unintentionally meek.
" Oh, mustn’t I? " Draev gave in response, the muscles all across his body tensing and then launching himself forward, his bare hips slapping against her exposed rump, shaft parting her plush interior like a knife through water, stopping only when the very tip struck her innermost depths and his flat hips forced a noticeable divot in her perfectly rounded ass cheeks. Moleeka’s response was somewhere between a gasp and a scream, tossing her head back as her entire body snapped rigid, inner walls clamping down on his member with surprising strength. This, coupled with the firm, flexible shaft that Daa had placed deep inside her ass made the sorceress grip onto him with all the strength that a hand could.
" That’s right, " Draev hissed, hand clutching into her quivering hip with the desperate hold of a drowning man to a bit of flotsam, fingers dimpling the mocha flesh " lay there and clench. That’s all you can do. Let every part of you glide over my presence, feeling every ridge, bump and inch keenly. "

The artificer made the mistake of glancing down to where his hips pressed insistently against her folded and protruding buttocks, not even able to see the tiniest sliver of his shaft outside of the alluring, all-encompassing femininity he was buried within. His toes inside his boots scrunched tightly against the interior sole as the sight forced a body-wide shudder from him. A heady mixture of the thrill of making love to a new woman with so much for his hands and eyes to take in, the stringent, inescapable bondage she was ensnared by and the urgency of finding Saril assaulting Draev’s mind and resolve, some tiny portion of himself wondering who exactly was in charge right now.

Daa’s voice and his own primal instincts blended together as he began to ram forward again and again into her, timing his thrusts with his breaths, each exhalation ending in a body-jarring push forward and a hiss from between tightly clamped teeth. The wounds he had received from the sword-wielding guard still stung painfully with each strenuous push, but were only a mild distraction when compared to the pleasure he was feeling now. Daa had anchored the sorceress well to the altar top, additional strands of ooze snaking out and a fixing to points along its surface to keep the helpless woman from moving away from Draev either willingly or as a result of the fucking she was receiving. All three minds involved in the sex were focused solely on the passing of each second and what variation in sensation, sight and sound each moment brought.

Her Master cared deeply for Saril, Daa knew this, knew this perhaps even a little better than they both did themselves, being privy to thoughts they did not dwell upon or heed. Master was having sex with this woman to find out where she was hiding her, even now a small part of his mind reminding him of the real reason he was doing this. Master didn’t like Moleeka, but his distaste for her mind had been washed away by his physical attraction to her body, humanoids more often than not listening to the animalistic parts of them than the logical, rational part. She could understand this, having spent most of her life as a carnivorous slime and guiding herself along according to variations in light and vibration, attacking and absorbing animals when hungry. Now, however, she had self-awareness, and she could not simply exist as she had before. Still, when she felt the emotions and energy from a humanoid creature like she did now from the two of them she felt an odd sense of serenity, like it harkened back to those more simple times of urge and action.

Times like this where she was reminded of her instinctive, predatory side also brought something else out inside Daa. Her submissiveness to Master loosened under the vibrant emotional energy filling her form, her instincts telling her to drain as much from the opportunity as possible, to once again become the aggressor. Master was almost beside himself with pleasure, the situation so tailored to his fetishes that he couldn’t have planned it with such precision. The sorceress too, had dreamt of times like this, where she could surrender her obligations and duties and indulge in the affections of a powerful male who focused all his attentions onto her. The situation was perfect, and Daa would make sure that both her Master’s objective was achieved, and that the slimbiote herself would get the most out of this chance encounter as well.
It would be very simple to do, too.

" Her defenses are melting under your touch, Master. Keep going. She’ll give in soon, I can sense it, " the slimbiote offered as encouragement.
" I don’t know...how much more I can take, " Draev confessed to her, holding back the inevitable release only with a hair-breadth of self-control.
" Try to, Master, for Saril’s sake. I will see if I can help, " she responded sincerely, failing to mention that the help would only make things worse for her embattled superior. Daa once again began to pinch and twist the woman’s nipples, suckling them with simulated lips, making it seems as if hands gripped them possessively, Moleeka’s mind too awash in pleasure to differentiate between his touch and the slimbiote’s. The sorceress’s increased wiggling caused Draev to gasp loudly, his pace faltering.
" Daa, I have to...stop or I’ll come...and lose my power over her, " he gasped mentally to her, starting to slide himself out of  her moist, throbbing opening.
" No Master! You are so close to breaking her, hang in there! " the slimbiote begged, sending more of her substance into Moleeka’s ass, thickening the plug there, forcing her vaginal walls to clench down even harder on the artificer’s shaft, pinning him inside her. Ooze creeped up along the woman’s hips, sliding over his gripping hands and sealing them there. Draev tugged and pulled, but he could not pull away from the bound woman,
nor slip out despite the natural lubricating fluids oozing from around his buried cock.

" Daa! This....doesn’t help, what are you...? " the understandably shocked Draev demanded of her.
" This is for Saril. You must break her, and if you leave now you’ll give her a chance to recover. Bear down and fuck her! Demand that she tell you where she’s hidden her, " Daa mentally shouted, an unfamiliar vein of authority showing through in her voice. Finding some yet hidden reserve Draev resumed his fierce pounding, closing his eyes so that the sight of Moleeka’s jostling, curvy body before him wouldn’t break his resolve. His movements were noticeably less pronounced now, scarely able to move his shaft inside her such was the pressure upon him.
" Tell me! " Draev roared, desperate yet trying not to let it show in his movements or voice. Moleeka’s mouth moved, as if she were speaking something, but no sound came out. A moment later, however, eyes still squeezed tight against the torturous pleasure words, words of magic tumbled past her lips as her willpower finally yielded, a flood of information suddenly available to Daa’s mental probes. The last syllable of her spell came out as a scream as she climaxed, the sound echoing all around the large chamber as the grinding of stone heralded the lowering of the slabs upon which the mummified sacrifices were magically strapped to.
" You did it Master! " Daa squealed in delight, soaking up the pleasure Moleeka’s intense, body-shuddering orgasm along with the method by which the women had been prepared for the ceremony.
" Did...it, " Draev puffed aloud, his pace slowing.
" Yes, you can free her now. She along with what appears to be seven other tightly mummified and likely nude young women await your rescuing touch, and after that, you can release Jegna, all helpless and spread open as she is right now, " Daa continued, sending images of what she was seeing to his mind. With a choking gasp the barely contained urge for release burst within Draev’s mind, the hot, uphoric rush of pleasure from his loins cascading along his nerves and muscles to encompass his entire body. Black ooze slipped around Moleeka’s eyes and mouth, rendering her blind and mute again as a sheet of ebony slime pouring over her buttocks, shutting the sight of her skin away from sight, meeting at the cleft of her cheek and sealing her nether lips shut as well, containing the warm mixture of white semen and clear juices within her.

Draev strained and pulled, pushed and fought as he came inside her almost impossibly tight opening, her helpless body an anchor fixing in him place, unable to pull out of her convulsing feminine chamber, or pull his hands off the firm, twitching mounds of her buttocks. His cum had filled her beyond capacity, not a single trace of it escaping, however, from the seal Daa had created around his shaft, keeping the captive woman’s interior drenched in sticky liquid. The artificer’s legs trembled and threatened to give out from under him, held upright only by locking his knees and leaning forward. Eventually the pleasure subsided, leaving only a burning ache along his member and the squishing of the trapped fluids surrounding it. The muscles along the sides of his torso clenched with each titanic breath he took, trying to play catch-up for the times during the orgasm where his breathing had stopped completely.
" Daa... " he mentally asked, knowing the slimbiote would be able to fill in the blanks of his request easily enough.
" Of course, Master, but let me clean you off first. Can’t let any of that go to waste now can we? " she replied in a pleased tone, forming a pair of lips around the base of his flaccid shaft and, with careful precision, sucked him clean as he slipped free of Moleeka’s vagina. The ooze covering his hands released him as well, and soon the artificer was standing, panting and trembling a pace away from the altar, watching as the sorceress’s trapped body continued to squirm. He saw Daa once again form a large, likely studded and ribbed phallus inside the helpless woman’s vagina and began to push away, faint squelching noises escaping the area as the slimbiote absorbed the trapped cum still within her.
" I’ll keep her occupied, Master. Go to Saril, " Daa suggested, still feeling a little hungry after all that action and renewed her torment of her captive, Moleeka too exhausted to do little more but quiver and whimper under her all-encompassing touch.

Stiffly reaching down to his fallen leggings Draev hauled them up awkwardly and fumbled with the belt, glancing up and groaning quietly as he watched the glistening black rump clench and flex in response to the stimulation being inflicted upon it. Almost as an after-thought the artificer moved around the altar towards the stone slab into which the golden items were fastened. Reaching up he pried loose the scarab, the artifact that has begun this whole mess in the first place. It was far too dangerous to sell, Draev belated realized. He would take it to his guild’s Forbidden Vault and declare it artifacta non grata, it spending the rest of its existence in some musty shelf safely tucked away behind some of the most complex and powerful security in the known world. Moleeka or anyone else with such mad designs should never be allowed to keep it. The gleaming golden item disappeared in a dimensional pocket he opened, Draev glad to be rid of the sight of it.

Making his way slowly down the stairs his eyes then fixed on Jegna, who hung limp in her restraints, jutting breasts rising and falling in deep, slow breaths. She stirred as she approached, looking at him past curly blue hair that had fallen around her face.
" So, you had your fun with her. I guess you have no reason now to keep me like this, " she reasoned, straining against her bonds slightly. It wasn’t hard to sense the disappointment in her voice, nor miss the look in her gold eyes, but Draev reminded himself he hadn’t exactly had a choice in the matter.
" I guess not. However, I do know that the memory of this circumstance will haunt you for some time to come, perhaps, some day in the future you’ll want to know what it feels like to be truly helpless and under my control we when make love, " he countered, touching the shackles and dismissing them one at a time as he spoke. Drifting down to stand on the stone landing the genie turned and looked him straight in the eyes, her haughty attitude already back in place.
" In your dreams, mortal. I’ll be sure to tease you with the memories of this day when once again I’m atop you, setting the pace, " she snorted, leaning in as if for a kiss then turning her head aside as Draev moved to return it.

The artificer responded by suddenly bobbing his upper body forward, inclining his head as if making for her neck, hissing as he did so. Jegna gasped breathlessly and recoiled a step, her features then hardening as she realized he had gotten past her guard and revealed a still vulnerable and needy woman beneath her tough outer shell. Without saying a word more the djinn turned into her mist form and slipped eagerly back into her brass lamp, Draev leaving it there for the time being as he made his way to the cavern floor.

It was as Daa had told him. Squared off sections of the wall, invisible in their upright position had slid open to reveal a single mummified woman atop each, Draev easily spotting the small, curvy bundle that was the elven bodyguard squirming on one of the closer ones. Jogging over to the stone slab his eyes traced over her seamlessly and rather needlessly bound form, the sight of her like still fanning the recently quenched flames of arousal within his body. Deciding to waste no more time Draev reached up with his index finger and touched the crown of the cursed woman’s head, then drawing the tip of it down along her body, summoning up magical power as he did so. The wrappings parted as if burned through as his finger traveled along, leaving the tanned skin of Saril unharmed beneath. The magical bands that had held her in place seemed to have deactivated when the slab had lowered, nothing impeding his advance down her body. Her eyes, blinking rapidly against the relatively bright light and tears that had dried at the corners fixed on his face and she moaned loudly and struggled harder, eyebrows rising in recognition and relief.  

When at last her lips were free of the bandages Draev helped her draw the wad of moist linen out of her mouth, Saril’s voice breaking from emotion and dryness as she spoke.
" Draev! By the gods I thought I would never see you again, " she exclaimed, eyes once again beginning to glisten with freshly summoned tears. Ceasing in his work Draev reached down and gently scooped her up, pressing her tightly against his chest, his own throat growing dry from realizing how close he had come to losing her.
" It’s okay now. We’re together and the danger has passed. I’m just paying you back for the dozens of times you’ve kept me from harm, " Draev assured her as he softly petted her hair and back as her small body shuddered with sobs.
" How did you find me? Where’s the witch Moleeka? Did you kill her? " Saril asked him once she regained her composure some time later, the artificer laying her back down on the slab and continuing his work on her bindings.
" We’ll have time for questions later. Right now I have a palace still crawling with guards and seven other captives to free. It won’t be easy. "
" Daa’s around right? I’ll pay those cultists back tenfold for even laying a finger on you and me, " she swore, noting the still angry cuts along Draev’s body.
" Daa’s around yes, but a little occupied with our hostess at the moment, " he informed her, hesitating around her crotch before running his finger over her wrapped vulva, eliciting a tiny gasp of surprise from the elven woman.
" Should tell her to eat the bitch, " Saril muttered darkly, lips pressed into a thin line.
" I think she is, just not in that way, " Draev assured her, turning the conversation away from that subject.
" So what do we do now? I assume you’ve freed Jegna’s whose likely still too weak to aid us in any meaningful way, and with Daa 'occupying’ Moleeka it’ll just be me and you against the guards, and we both know how much help I’ll be in this state, " Saril pointed out, sighing in frustration as she glanced over her nude body.
" Factor in the other captives and we have quite a problem, " the artificer agreed, summoning some blue silk to wrap her limbless body in. 

Saril thought on the subject for a time as Draev surveyed the rest of the room, his mind on the very same thing.
" Draev, this may not be related, but right before I was sealed away I felt her touch me lightly on my forehead and the spot tingled for a moment. What was that? " the elf finally asked, craning her neck to look at her companion.
" A mark of preservation. Pretty high-level magic despite the ease of its casting. It kept your bodily functions effectively in staisis while you were trapped. I can only assume that means some of these captives have been here for some time, perhaps weeks, " Draev answered, " why do you ask? "
Twisting her lips and frowning in thought Saril finally answered.
" How big an object can you fit in your little pocket dimensions? "
" It varies. I only have so much 'space’ to work with, but...oh, I see your reasoning, " Draev said, clueing in to her line of thinking.

It was an imperfect solution, all said and done, but given the circumstances, their only viable option other than leaving the women here while Draev and his small band escaped without them. Activating his translation spell the artificer explained to the women that they were being rescued, but the palace was still on high alert and he had no way to safely transport them all back to Tulain, so he was forced to do what he was about to do. That said, he opened up a pocket dimension at the very top of each slab in turn, and, touching as little of their wrapped bodies as he could, slid them inside. Some, despite his assurances still panicked and struggled, Draev’s jaw set in concentrating on getting them securely in place rather than how their mummified bodies looked. Some fifteen minutes later Draev had Saril’s sword, Jegna’s lamp and ring, and the metal bottle that Daa had been imprisoned in among his possessions. He had lost the ceramic one that she normally slept in, so the new metal one would have to do, once he had removed the chains that could lock the stopper in place. The objects were stowed away in a summoned leather pack slung on his back, the elven bodyguard resting in a makeshift sling hanging off his right shoulder.
" Daa? We’re ready to go, what’s your plan? " the artificer mentally called up to the slimbiote, still wincing slightly at the sight of the imprisoned sorceress.
" I was thinking letting you get clear of the palace and then slip away myself, joining up with you somewhere outside, " she responded, pondering the question.
" I’d prefer not to get separated, I have a place for you to stay should you need it, and there’s nothing saying that she won’t simply fly after us in a rage, minions in tow. "
" I could always bring her with us, " Daa offered.
" You can force her to do that? " Draev asked, arching an eyebrow.
" Sure, She’ll fight it a bit, but she’s too disoriented and weakened to put up much of a fight. I can make her do all sorts of other things too, if you wanted, " she trailed off, giggling.
Sighing, Draev responded with a shake of his head and faint smile.

The balled up woman on the stone altar began to stir, sections that had been sealed together previously peeling apart, the woman’s body underneath the sheath being manipulated like a puppet, contractions and pulling from the encasing slime forcing her to move. It was a little odd to see the trapped sorceress moving with a deft awareness of her surroundings considering she couldn’t see, standing beside the altar, waiting to follow Draev’s lead. Shifting a little uncomfortably at the sight of the ooze-encased woman standing obediently before him the artificer began to descend the stairs, trying not to picture those perfectly-shaped ebony breasts wobbling with each step in his mind.

Things went well until they reached the landing, Moleeka then having recovered enough from her fucking to begin to struggle against her captor, her torso twisting about and legs threatening to buckle under her in an effort to stop any further advance forward. Draev watched from the corner of his eye as the bound sorceress and the slimbiote wrestle for control of her toned, shapely body, everything that could jiggle enticingly doing so with gusto. Finally, Moleeka’s chest rising and falling rapidly from exertion she began to walk again, this time leading the way.
" Let me go first, Master. I’ll uncover part of her face so that the guards will recognize her and hold their attacks. "
" V-very well, " the artificer responded, his eyes automatically traveling down to the skin-tight black covering over Moleeka’s rump. Her arms were folded across her back and sealed in the ooze as well, Draev occasionally seeing muscles along her forearms tensing as she tried to pry them loose. Daa teased him still, her words from before reminding him that she could manipulate Moleeka’s unwilling body in almost any fashion he imagined on a whim. Placing his left hand on Saril’s back to steady her as he continued down the staircase Draev drew in a deep, calming breath, knowing that despite the pleasureable distractions they still weren’t in the clear just yet.

Draev barely had time to shake the image of Moleeka ascending the stairs, hips right in front of him before the small group found themselves at the top of the secret passage, only a door between them and a mansion of cultists on high alert, the ones that Draev had only incapacitated likely either found or awake by now. Reaching past the helpless sorceress Draev couldn’t help but brush Saril against Moleeka’s upper thighs and ass as he activated the hidden door’s switch, the stone slab noiselessly opening up. Moleeka resisted again, pulling away from the open pathway, perhaps embarrassed that her underlings would see her at the mercy of someone else. The sorceress wriggled and bent her knees attempting to fall to them, emitting angry 'mmpphhs’, which naturally caused her shaking rump to protrude directly towards the artificer behind her, his breath catching in his throat at the such an enticing sight.
" Hmm, perhaps a little bit of attention like before would 'prod’ her to move forward. Master, would you help me tame this little minx? " Daa asked sweetly, sending a mental image to Draev. Clearing his throat and flushing slightly with sheepish arousal, the artificer’s right hand swing back and slapped Moleeka sharply across the ass, causing a ripple in the meaty curves along her hips and a very feminine and shocked whine from her. Draev repeated the motion a second time, along with the words;
" March, or I’ll have Daa force you to crawl on your elbows and knees to the door and out of the compound, something we would all enjoy seeing very much, your minions included. "

The sorceress actually whimpered slightly as the image of her doing so flashed through her mind, her captivity drawn out, ass cheeks spread and swaying awkwardly with each torturous movement forward, all those eyes scouring her body, seeking out the dark crevices and folds that the thin coating of ooze would show in nearly natural detail. She paused for a moment, straightening herself out slightly, as if considering something....
" She’s thinking about resisting you just so you would have me do that to her, Master. She apparently didn’t get enough domination on the altar, now she yearns for it from the only person who has ever bested her. She by-passes her pride by telling herself that you’re doing this to her, and that she enjoys it only on some passive level. It’s really quite interesting, " the slimbiote informed him cheerfully, her coy tone hinting that the ball was in his court now.

As much of a once-in-a-lifetime experience that would be, Draev had to pass on it. Having her like that would be too much of a distraction to him while he was scanning corners and bushes for hidden guards, and take too long to get across the courtyard to the gate, let along a safe distance from the mansion. It was too risky. He vocalized his decision by pinching Moleeka on the left ass cheek.
" Move it along, I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of making me desire you again. You have a body to die for but a soul too blood-stained for anything more than what I just shared with you down there, which was a means to an end. "
The sorceress wiggled and huffed out a gust of air from her nostrils, his verbal slap likely more stinging that the ones he had given her backside, Moleeka straightening out and stiffly walking out into the hall, her sense of self returning when it was obvious the time for seduction and games was past.

It didn’t take long for them to be noticed, black-clothed guards dashing towards the duo only to freeze in their tracks as Daa made it abundantly clear who was taking the lead.
" We’re walking out of here, your mistress is our prisoner. Attempt something foolhardy and she will pay for it. I won’t kill her, just do something bad enough that she’ll take it out on you once we are clear, " Draev said with an evil grin and a glare at the nearest cultists. Moleeka apparently had quite the temper, the guards immediately backing off a good distance and making no overtly aggressive moves. Satisfied that they would be unmolested Draev prodded the sorceress forward, the pair moving towards the double doors, the left one partially open as a guard, apparently in the middle of passing through it, had stopped upon the artificer issuing the threat. The dark-clothed man readily gave ground as they approached him, the open night air promsing freedom as they exited the foyer.

" We’re almost out, " Draev said quietly to Saril, who must still feel awfully vulnerable in her current state.
" I know, I can smell the fresh air, " the shapely bundle hanging in the silken sling responded, " I can’t wait to be rid of this house and its owner for good. I haven’t had a good history with obsessive sorceresses and their abodes, "she reminded him with a sigh.
" My experiences with them have not been all pleasant either, " Draev admitted.
The metal gates remained closed for a short while after they reached them, only when Daa did something to Moleeka, causing her to yelp and wriggle in surprise did the gates open on her silent command. Backing out of the compound, making sure no daggers or crossbow bolts were heading toward his unprotected back, Draev and his companions and captive left the Alabaster Court behind, treading upon open desert sands.
" What now, oh heroic Master? It’ll be a long walk through the darkness to reach
Tulain, " Daa queried, " your dashing rescue seems to have hit a snag. "
Draev sighed.
" Yes well, at the time I was riding like the wind in order to reach you before something very terrible and final happened, not thinking about the logistics of bringing you all back with me. I left a horse at a cluster of rocks nearby and, gods willing, she is still there. It won’t be a quick journey back, but certainly a lot faster than if we walked. "
" It will be snug on the back of the horse with all of us, but releasing Moleeka so close to her manor and guards would be foolish, " Daa commented, " she’ll just have to ride with us, like she is, " the slimbiote concluded, a soft giggle brushing against the artificer’s mind.

Sighing again in a mixture of frustration and at her incorrigible teasing the pair walked over to the outcropping of rocks, where, relief flooding his body, the mare still stood, dissuaded from leaving by the small amount of water and her desire to rest after the fast ride here. Tugging the reins free of the rock niche they were wedged in Draev now had to figure out how to get Moleeka up, the bound woman shaking her head and threating to collapse on the ground again as she realized her humiliation was not ending any time soon.
" Just a little collective muscle and we’ll get her up, don’t worry Master, " Daa promised, struggling with the woman she encased, forcing her towards the black horse. Moving Saril around so that she now rested against the small of his back Draev advanced on Moleeka, who continued to try and fight against the ooze covering her, her full breasts wobbling, enticing targets as she did so. Pushing her against the mount’s side, bosom compressing against the animal’s ribs Daa drew up Moleeka’s right leg until it sat at a right angle, the sorceress wobbling unsteadily on only one foot.
" Now grab a nice handful of that ass of hers and lift up. Careful your fingers don’t slip somewhere too awkward, " Daa instructed.

Deciding to stop hesitating the artificer did just that, Moleeka squealing in protest as his hand slid onto her posterior tightly, palm straddling her two cheeks, and began to lift upward, her cheeks bulging slightly from the pressure. Black tendrils snaked up from her raised thigh, sliding over the horse and over, beginning to pull. Moleeka struggled even more but in her weakened state she was no match for the two of them, and with a little more pushing and inadvertent groping from Draev’s hand she was now seated on the horses’s saddle. Next, Daa forced the woman forward, creeping her ahead inch by inch until, with a push upwards and an indignant, muffled yelp from the sorceress she cleared the stiff leather horn at the front of the bowed saddle, leaving enough room for Draev to mount...behind her. Shaking his head at the slimbiote’s continued teasing he slid up into the saddle behind her, Moleeka’s rump just inches from his crotch, pressing tight against the protruding leather knob. She squirmed more as she was forced to lay against the horses’s neck, one sheathed breast on each side of its maned length, back arcing naturally, making the display of her rump to the artificer all the more obvious.
" Perfect, wait, almost perfect, " Daa corrected herself quickly, oozing over the saddle horn and sealing it to Moleeka’s bare flesh underneath. The sorceress squealed again and kicked her legs at the stiff knob now rubbing against her nether regions with intimate familiarity.
" There, now perfect. Don’t want her slipping off, " the slimbiote reasoned.

Taking up the reins Draev shifted Saril back around to the front and snapped the leather straps to get the mare moving at a walking pace. The shifting of weight between front and rear legs and the natural jostling of those atop a horse’s back caused Moleeka to rock up and down slightly, rubbing her sensitive areas against the leather horn with each second step. She moaned loudly in frustration as she swiftly realized her entire trip would be spent like this, one mirrored by Draev as he would have to endure the sight of her just ahead of him, rocking slightly, cheeks parted slightly, a rounded knob pressing against the cleft of her ass.
" A pity we couldn’t do this any other way, " the slimbiote 'tsked’ her tone anything but apologetic.

The dim light was a mixed blessing, Draev’s eyes frequently dropping down to peer at the shadowy convergence of the sorceress’s rump and the front of the saddle, detecting the faintest traces of wet noises with each shift in weight forward and back. Imagination filled in the gaps left by the eyes, of what it must look like. The artificer could easily conjure light forth, but decided against it. It would make his earlier condemnation of her seem rather hypocritical if he spent hours gazing upon her helpless form just before him, upon her inescapable sexual torment.
" She both loves and hates this, Master. She wishes you were taking her off to some lair where you would ravish her defenseless and highly aroused body after doing this to her, but at the same time remembers quite clearly your words from before and tries to fight off her desires. It is all so very delicious, emotion-wise, " Daa explained.
" I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, " Draev responded curtly, trying to keep his mind on other things, but not succeeding terribly well.
" There seems to be something poking my rear end, " Saril observed with a whisper, addressing Draev. Clearing his throat the artificer shift her around a bit, the soft, rounded flesh pressed against his obvious erection not helping him at all either.

" I didn’t say I didn’t like it, " the elf added, putting a slightly pouting tone in her quiet voice. Grunting in frustration, the actions of the three females around driving him crazy with implied sex the artificer set his jaw and settled in for a long, hard ride back to the city.