Beyond Control

With the second hardest room of the level finished as a result of the possessed Sharzin forcing our hand, the remainder of the clearing went by with ease. After dealing with another two dozen ghoulish skeletons scattered amongst half a dozen rooms, all that remained was the boss and us. So, after a short lunch break of ye olde Phyllis Brand trail mix and jerky, it was finally time to storm the final room: the facility command post.

Crouching beside the locked door, I touched my temple. Immediately, I felt the connection with the triop take hold, and I began to whisper in a low voice.

“Okay, this is the facility's nerve centre." I breathed, glancing back at them. "To move down to the final level, we need to capture this space. Only then can we open the blast doors and take the supply elevator to the sand docks."

"We know, Iz." Rionriv spoke back into my mind. "Let's do it, already."

"Okay. Just remember, we need to try and pin the succubus down to a single spot. So choose your shots wisely. Alright, so—umm—let’s stick to the plan and—um—kill it. Go, team.”

With my pep talk over, the triop looked at me and, with a collective shake of their heads, slipped into their positions. I adjusted my crouched position closer to the proximity reader and readied the keycard. My breathing slowed as I prepared myself for the combat that was about to come. Touching at my tight chest, I exhaled a long breath in the moments before Aesandoral tapped my shoulder, alerting me that it was time. Then, with a swipe of the card and a familiar click of the door, I pushed my way into the room. Behind me, the two archers followed my lead, pushing past into the space, ready to release their arrows over my crouched body. But no arrows flew.

The succubus wasn’t there. 

Standing up, I glanced over the room. A semicircle of stone consoles, with celestinium plates atop them, made up most of the abandoned space. Hanging from the ceiling, a large cylindrical object covered in runic inscriptions descended ominously from behind the stations. And aside from toppled chairs, shifted tables, and a battered, insect-eaten rug, the control room was empty.

“What the hell?” The sorceress remarked from the doorway, looking to me and continuing, “Where is it?”

“It should be here,” I replied, cautiously examining the room for any sign of the devil. "Spread out and keep your eyes open. I'll get the system up and running."

Without a moment of further hesitation, I charged past everyone to the centralmost slab of stone and ran my hands over the celestinium plate that rested atop it. I knew this was the main console and where I'd be able to access the facility's networked systems. Luckily, I had been lazy with this portion of the lore, so the system wasn't a form of wacky, arcane tomfoolery and instead functioned much like a computer from World Eighty-Two. This meant that once the system was powered on, it would be easy to input the activation sequence I had written into the story.

Blowing the dust off the long-forgotten piece of arcane technology, I discovered the thin-slitted port resembling a floppy drive and quickly inserted the keycard. Instantly, the abandoned facility began to reinitialize. The waist-high slab of celestinium faintly glowed as it came online, revealing a set of illuminated squares that resembled a keyboard and a trackpad. A variety of buttons, knobs, and levers grew from the surrounding slab of runestone, presenting me with more arcane tomfoolery than I had anticipated. And then, before me, the wall came alive as small frames with images appeared, slowly panning left and right as they watched for threats. 

That was when I saw it. As the camera that watched over the sand docks took centre frame and scanned the dense fog, a creature began to take shape. Its form was massive with a long, thick neck carrying a terrifying head. My heart began to race as I realized what this obsidian-scaled beast was. What had scared away the chimera and taken the abandoned docks for its own. But before I could think any longer about what awaited us one level below, Sharzin's terrified shriek pulled me back to the current moment.

Not again! I thought as I turned back to face the group.

In the corner of the room, the tattered rug beneath Sharzin's feet had come alive and wrapped up the rogue. Her body struggled as the carpet coiled around her, pulling her hands down into its thick, woven mat as it began to smother her. I watched as Aesandoral moved to react, only to have the shifted table near her buck like a wild horse. With a solid kick, the archer took a shot to the chest and was knocked across the room, cracking the back of her head hard against the wall. Her body moved weakly as she tried to raise herself, all the while, the furniture charging her motionless form.

"Aes! Zin!" I cried out, readying myself to jump into the fray.

That was when I heard something that sent chills through my body. It was a voice that did not belong in this world. One that did not come from my companions. One that came to someone else. Someone that I was more intimately familiar with. A sweet, considerate voice whispering to me longingly.

“Hey, Tahvin.” The soft voice spoke—the voice of someone very much in the throes of first love.

Slowly turning back towards the console, my heart dropped. Sitting atop the stone slab with a gentle smile and loving look was Bryssa.

"Hey, cutie." She whispered, holding a hand up to her lips and giggling.

It—it can't be. I thought as logic and rationality fled my body in an instant.

She was exactly as I had remembered her in my dream, dressed in her schoolgirl uniform and gently twirling her brown hair with one hand as the other rubbed at her lips. Flashing me the timid smile that had won me over, my heart once again began to race. And, with that, the dim light of the room began to brighten as the world around us melted away. It was only us, and at that moment, we were back before all the trauma. Before the pain and tears. Back when we were young and very much in love.

Bryssa leaned in, whispering my name again as I reached out for her. Pulling her into my arms, I twirled her around, gently setting her to the ground before leaning in for a kiss. My heart began to ache as our lips met, and the feeling overwhelmed me. I could taste her once more. Taste the sweet passion that once caused all the anxiety to wash away. The wonderful flavour of a time when someone held me. Loved me. Made me feel special just for who I was and not what I could give them.

Then I heard it. A distant voice, like a cry echoing out on the wind. I wanted to ignore it. Forget all about what I was doing and stay in the embrace of my first love for as long as I could manage. But then the words broke through. Another familiar voice. Soft. Distant. Pleading.

“Ishara!” Rionriv’s voice reached my ears. "Fight back! Whatever you're seeing isn't real. You're ensorcelled!"

This isn’t real? The thought ripped me from the fantasy I had become trapped in. This isn't real!

In an instant, the lips I had cherished became rough, the taste of her mouth putrid, and before I could pull away, I noticed my aching chest once more. The pain in my heart hadn't come from love, but from a necromantic spell drawing my life from me. I felt the chill in my bones turn to icy daggers that drove deep into my body as fatigue quickly set in. Stumbling back into the console, my tired muscles threatening to give out on me any second, I stared forward in horror.

The devil shed its illusion and revealed its true form. It was a tall, plum-skinned ‘woman’ in red bottom heels and the skimpiest Veronica Secret’s lingerie that my imagination could form. A pair of golden ram’s horns protruded from its black hair, which accentuated the pitch-black eyes that stared through me.

“Oh, come on," The succubus' torturous moan slipped from its lips. "I know you’re hungry.”

I watched as, with a roll of its shoulders forward, the devil pressed its swollen breast out. Immediately, I felt the temptation once more to give in and become smothered in the bosom of the beast. But I maintained careful control over my mind as I slowly began to approach. With an anxious breath, barely holding it together, I quietly prayed the monster wouldn’t see through my bluff until it was too late. Continuing my march, I stepped within ten feet. Then five. The devil lowered its face to eye level and stretched a hand to me, all the while releasing the sexiest moans I had ever heard. Unfortunately, natural responses kicked in before I reached my target.

No. Don't get turned on. It's a monster! Stop it. Stop it!

Close enough to the beast, I swung twice with my holy water-soaked fists, watching as the devil stepped back, dodging both. Releasing a shriek that would rival that of a banshee, the fiend landed firmly on its stilettoes before lunging forward towards me once more. That was when I felt its clawed hand stabbing into my exposed gut. And while it wasn’t as deep as the ice spike had been, it was enough to cause me to cough blood over my body. I fought to glance up, looking at the cylinder above us and the faintly glowing runes. The trap was ready and simply needed to be activated.

Right where I wanted it.

Weakly, I reached back towards the console with the hopes of activating the defences, but as I did, the devil pulled me closer. My bloody hands slid over the celestinium plate, unable to take hold of the holographic keyboard. Unable to reach the set of keys that would activate the trap designed for both celestial and fiendish beings. 

Twisting its claw, I sprayed blood up once more over the two of us as I turned my head towards my occupied allies. Things were looking grim, having moved from bad to worse in the course of seconds.

In the corner, Sharzin continued to struggle against the rug's constricting hold. I could tell by her movements alone that she was drawing close to her limit and would soon be at risk of suffocating. Meanwhile, at the other end of the room, Aesandoral remained pinned up against the wall, unable to defend herself against the animated table's relentless slamming. Her face, battered and bruised, wore a terrified look as she struggled to fight back against the furniture in a close-range battle. And then there was me, currently being penetrated by devil-dommi-mommy. Unable to tickle the keys to freedom.

Crap. Crap. Crap. I weakly thought as I looked up at the sinister smile of the devil leaning in for another kiss. No. Not this way.

That was when I felt a surge of magic wrap around my body, and the spell I had seen Rionriv use in the chimera battle covered my body like a thin, red bubble. The magic flickered weakly, doing its best to remain active as it shielded me. Turning to look at her, immediately noticed that Aesandoral had a similar shimmer coating her. And then, with my eyes finally settling on the sorceress' worried expression, I watched as she stepped back through the control room's threshold before ripping the bandolier of bottles from her shoulder.

“Sorry, everyone!” She shouted, tossing the belt of remaining explosives and the second vial she had been magically supercharging into the space and ducking out of view.

As the bandolier landed, and the vial of glass shattered at the center of the space, a fiery detonation engulfed the control room. The inferno washed over my body, forcing the succubus to release me with a rip of its claws through my gut, before escaping the blast. Thrown back against the console, I felt my ribs break as I tumbled over the stone surface and cracked my head against the floor.

"God," I expelled with another helping of blood. "She's more dangerous without lightning."

Placing a hand to my gut, I released a burst of magical healing. The wounds radiated with holy light as they closed the most grievous wounds enough to allow me to remain conscious. Agonizing pain washed over me as bones fixed themselves, snapping back into place, no longer broken but not yet healed. And with enough energy remaining, I pushed myself up to look at the scorched room. With Aesandoral's table now in pieces and Sharzin's rug in tatters, I glanced at their relatively unscathed bodies. Thanks to Rionriv’s clever casting of her protective spell, we were only slightly crispy at the edges instead of fully charred.

“Oh, yay, you all made it.” Rionriv cheered from the doorway. “I wasn’t sure if the resistance spell was going to work.”

Just then, the succubus descended from the ceiling where it had escaped the worst of the blast. Its flesh, charred and badly burned in areas, was now naked as it landed. Bare feet touched the ground firmly, as it now directed its ire towards Rionriv.

“Distract it!” I yelled out as I leapt over the console and placed myself before the keyboard. "I'll activate the field."

Running my hands over the keys, I glanced at the screen and, to my surprise, I looked at a familiar version of the computer system that I had grown up with.

"It's a DOORS X-P system! I know this!"

Navigating to the start menu, I found a list of programmes that could be activated. There, I saw it, the 'Divine Defence' application and, dragging a finger over the trackpad to click it, I felt something grab hold of me. The devil had turned back to me when I wasn't looking, wrapping its arms around my waist as its hips gyrated into mine. The succubus's face leaned into my shoulder, its hands reaching down towards the shameful swelling in my trousers.

“Oooh, hnnng—” The devil moaned as it twisted my face towards it, leaning in for a fatal kiss that I knew would restore its health. “Fill my body with your youthful vigour.”

Yet again, my vision narrowed in on the seductress. With my horniness having unfortunately gotten the better of me yet again, I forgot the task I had promised to accomplish. And, while I knew this was an attempt to suck my life out, and not in a ‘have a smoke after’ kind of way, I was under its spell and hopelessly weak.

Weak. Weak. Weak. My mother’s voice bounced around my mind.

This creature’s lips met mine, and I felt the life essence transferring away to the monster. With every passing second, my body began to succumb to exhaustion as my mind grew exponentially more tired. But no matter how much I mentally fought, I was frozen in place.

Pathetic. Embarrassment.

The devil’s hands slipped beneath the scorched fabric towards my waist, but I couldn't move. By this point, the feeling had begun to leave my limbs and with every anxiety-induced beat of my heart, it forced an aching pain to rush through me. I was frozen as the succubus’ tongue explored my mouth, wrestling against my helpless lip lock.

Weak. Weak. Weak—

Then, it suddenly stopped. With a spittle of something in my mouth, my taste buds were overwhelmed with a familiar metallic flavour that I had already tasted on this trip.

The succubus was ripped away from me as my vision returned. Before me, standing firmly with her bow trained on the creature, a heavily breathing, exceptionally wounded Aesandoral stared angrily over my shoulder.

"Stay away from my Ishara!" Aesandoral screamed, jumping to the console before me and aiming down at the creature as she released another arrow. "You devil bish!"

I turned, looking back at the succubus that had been knocked away and was now pinned beneath brambles directly under the cylinder. Aesandoral had given me the moment I needed to activate the trap. Not wanting to waste our one opportunity, I focused on the keyboard, watching from the corner of my eye as the archer fired half a dozen more of her arrows into the fiend as I worked. 

Hitting the final key, I turned back to witness the runes above the succubus flaring to life, and a radiant shield surrounding the monster’s body. With a horrid shriek, the beast caught fire before it melted into a thick, black ichor and began to bubble away into nothingness.

"Aes, thanks," I spoke with a huff, lifting a weak hand to my lips and wiping away the blood. "I would have been a gooner—goner! I would have been a goner without you."

Aesandoral stared for a moment at the devilish mess, her face displaying relief that the job was done, until finally shifting her gaze down at me.

“Iz are you—eep!” She yelped, turning a bright shade of red and looking away. “Iz—you-you-you—”

“Ah!” Rionriv and Sharzin then shrieked from the other side of the room as they shielded their eyes.

With a quick hand motion, Rionriv cast a spell that placed a large mirror of ice before me, giving me a chance to inspect myself.

What I saw was a mess. The succubus had coughed its black blood into my mouth, which was smeared down my chin and mixed with my own life essence spilled over my tattered, flame-broiled shirt. The holes in said clothing were still bleeding profusely as I had not yet healed them properly from the engagement. But that was when the real problem presented itself.

When the devil had been torn from me by Aesandoral's shot, its hands had still been in my basketball shorts. That, paired with the weakened fibres from multiple near-death experiences, made for a combination that had finally dealt a deathblow to my shorts. So, there I was, soaked in blood, horribly wounded, dramatically fatigued, with my little buddy as hard as celestinium standing at attention and no pants to be seen.

My face flushed red as I felt a small piece of me die. Immediately dropping to the ground, I covered myself while yelling at my companions to shield their eyes as I fumbled for the remains of my shorts.

GAH! Kill me! I thought as embarrassment overwhelmed my senses. Who needs old trauma when you can get fresh trauma in a new world!