Grumbling at their luck, the companions had little choice but to continue on. Word apparently spread amongst the small communities of lizardmen, for though they felt watched on many occasions, three days later they left the swamp behind them. A stream paralleled the road they were on, but other then that no reminder of the swamp was left.
Another two days saw them entering the southwestern gate of Yolarch, and upon seeing Therius, the guards took them straightaway to see the Priestess-Queen of the theocratic city, though no fanfare or celebration was announced. Once in front of Lesbiche, the companions were surprised to find that court had been dismissed prior to their arrival, and further, that they met with her in her private chambers.
She thanked them repeatedly, seemingly the grateful mother throughout. Rewarding them with much gold, they felt quite proud of themselves and their sudden turn of luck. Pompey, however, felt something was amiss throughout the performance. As soon as they were dismissed from her presence to special rooms in the palace she herself had arranged for, he let his feelings be known to his companions.
Nordan blew such ill thoughts off, explaining that they were due the reward. Kelnozz was not so quick to invalidate Pompey's hunch, however. Either that or he merely sought an excuse to get himself in trouble again. Regardless, he was out later that night, prowling stealthily about the palace. He returned to Lesbiches private chambers and, distracting the guards by setting a harmless trap for a servant (tripping him up and making him spill his platter of dirty dinner plates), he slipped inside her suite of rooms. Immediately he felt the unexpected emptiness of the rooms. She was not there. Searching about, he discovered a secret door in a wall near her large bed that she had poorly tried to conceal.
Slipping through the darkened passage, Kelnozz briefly wondered how humans and other races without the ability to see as well in the dark as he could managed to get by. Convinced even more of the superiority of the dark elven race, he stopped at an intersection of passages and realized he had no idea which way to go. Randomly choosing, he turned right at the intersection. A few more turns, seemingly random, and he opened another secret door. This one turned out to be the Queen's audience room. Shrugging, Kelnozz returned the way he had came and took a different turn at the last crossroads.
He must have explored the passages for hours. He discovered a long tunnel that seemed endless. He guessed that it must lead out of the city. Another tunnel returned him to his own rooms. Further searching revealed the kitchen, two of the guard rooms, a harem in which slept eight scantily clad women, and finally the one which made him stop, a hidden room devoted to some dark god. The temple was occupied as well, by none other then the Queen herself. Therius Magnus was with her, and so were a few initiates and disciples of the evil religion. What made Kelnozz's breath catch in his throat was the figure on the alter. Her son. The Queen was indeed a priestess, but not of the order the people of Yolarch suspected. Instead of worshipping the generally benign God of Law and Order, Celos, she gave her soul to Bavorish, the God of death and murder.
Kelnozz could barely stop to appreciate Lesbiches jewelry adorned but otherwise nude form. He noted that she must have magic aiding her, for she did not appear nearly old enough to be the mother of her recently rediscovered son. He turned immediately to warn his companions when he heard something that made him stop. It was the noise of whimpering.
The prince, barely old enough to be a man, was magically held upon the altar spread eagled. For one so young as to have only just reached his majority, to be bound naked was no doubt a terrifying experience. He bore it well, considering Lesbiche's chanting and behavior. She held a wicked looking dagger with 4 curved blades coming out of the hilt. Not knowing how he knew, Kelnozz knew what the dagger was meant to do.
Lesbiche finished her chanting and crawled atop the altar with her son. There was no doubting her beauty, for her well rounded breasts swung freely as she leaned over the boy and her curved hips settled about his waist. Her long brown hair fell about the Ragnar's face, hiding his terrified expression from Kelnozz. The dark elf watched the evil priestess grinding her hips against her sons, drawing an erection from the barely adolescent boy in spite of the terror in his eyes. Satisfied, she threw her head back and allowed everyone to see the glint of lust in her eyes and the wicked smile she wore on her face. Lifting up her hips, she drove herself down on the boys burgeoning manhood.
Kelnozz's disgust took form at that point. Red eyes glowing with rage, the dark elf pushed open the secret door and burst into the room. Lesbiche's eyes flew to his and the evil grin she wore chilled him to the bone. Unholy guards came at him, overriding their surprise.
Kelnozz disemboweled the first one, then ducked the halberd of the next one and drove a longsword through the mans throat. He walked towards the altar, intent upon destroying the evil priestess when he had to stop and deal with two more guards that had not reacted as quickly. The first of these felt Kelnozz's steel in his stomach, and the second fell back cursing as a deep wound opened along his sword arm. Kelnozz turned to continue his assault upon the altar when he heard Therius finish chanting and a chill crept over his limbs. He took two more steps before he found his limbs refusing to obey him.
Helpless, Kelnozz watched as the boy whimpered and pleaded with his mother to release him as she raped him. Nature took its course, however, and very soon the young man was fighting against what was happening inside of him. The queen moaned loudly as her own powers were being augmented by the sexual energy flowing into her. She raised up so that she was sitting upon her son, still riding him to their inevitable orgasm. The sacrificial dagger was raised high in anticipation of the result of their writhing and pumping thighs.
Kelnozz gritted his teeth and fought against his imprisonment, but other then a bare minimum of facial muscle control, he could do nothing. Behind him, Therius was using his dark powers to save the mortally wounded guard and then heal the other one. The first two were clearly dead already.
Kelnozz felt an overpowering sickness pass through him as the energies in the room began to manifest. Ragnar could fight it no longer, and he thrust up into his mother, filling her with seed as though she were one of the many courtesans he had tumbled throughout his youth. Lesbiche drove the dagger down at the same time, the blades magically opening and spearing into the prince's chest. Her own orgasm overtook her then, making her writhe and grind her sex against her dying sons. They writhed against one another briefly, then she pulled the dagger free from his chest, holding his still beating heart within it's blades. With each beat blood spurt onto their naked and sweaty bodies. In spite of her sons final moments, she continued to grind herself against him, using her fey powers to draw every last bit of life from him.
Kelnozz watched in growing revulsion as the young man he had returned to his doom finally went limp, seeming to sag and deflate in death. Lesbiche continued to writhe against him, milking the corpses member and bringing herself another orgasm in the process. Satisfied at last, she climbed off of her murdered son and knelt in front of the altar. She began chanting again, completing the ritual by causing magical flames to erupt within the dagger and consume the cooling heart.
With the ritual completed, she rose and turned to face Kelnozz. Knowing him helpless, she walked up to him and ran her fingertips along his jawbone seductively. Inside he trembled with rage, but outside only the glow of his eyes showed his mood.
"You have witnessed something few people not of our order can boast to have seen," She whispered in his ear. "But don't worry, you won't escape with your life to tell anyone of it."
She backed up and smiled wickedly at him. He knew nothing of fear, only loathing and hatred of the woman before him. More so when she stepped forward again and began to undo the ties on his breeches. "It works best when the sacrifice is a virgin, but alas, keeping young Ragnar from sex would have driven his nannies insane. All the more so since one of them was his first."
"The ritual has to take place when they are adult," She continued, rubbing against him with her hands. "The sacrifice to Bavorish instills me with great power and extends my life years beyond count. He may have made a good King one day, but only by deposing me as Queen. Unacceptable."
"You and your companions will be killed and put on display in the public square for the murder of my son that my faithful servant Therius so readily recovered from his kidnappers," She said, having told Kelnozz all she wished of the ritual he had just witnessed. She dropped Kelnozz's breeches and took his flaccid member in her hands. "Just so you know the true futility of your situation, my son was never kidnapped, he escaped on his own when he chanced across this hidden temple to My Lord Bavorish and discovered the truth while wandering through the hidden passages in hopes of returning secretly from a celebration with the commoners of his coming of age."
