== VORTEX QUEST 1-5 ==
== CRAWLWAY SLAUGHTER ==
The crawlway was a collection of space-bending shortcuts. Points that were a dozen miles apart on the 'surface' of Jheyr'Udd, were connected by leisurely minutes in the complex tunnel network in defiance of physics.
Goro had felt crammed in the demonic fortress and not looked forward to a serious cave system, but the crawlway surprised him.
Mostly wide enough to drive a jeep through, sometimes narrowing to a corridor, occasionally widening to the size of a house, the tunnels were often interrupted by holes in the ceiling that let light in.
Stretches of shimmering gems and glowing mushrooms swirling in patterns around the tunnel walls were supplemented by the occasional lantern pointed at signage-cairns.
It could have been picturesque, if not for all the skulls -- from naturally formed rock ones or real bone speared at forks to mark territory.
The crawlways were well utilized along the main routes. Gnomes rushed along the edges like furry avalanches. A chained Croc was dragged along by two hellions in full armor. Tumorous, sloshing bloodvarks -- a mix of cow and elephant and blood bags - were hurried along by the whips of lizardmen. A Sleuthken sniffed the area with its hyena-like snout, seeking chameleon slugs which were then speared by its handler Kobold, the plump slugs-on-sticks filling bags on the cow-sized creature's hunchback.
The yellow-scaled slaver the demigods had kidnapped led them, clad in only a loincloth and wooden jewelry. The four avatars of heaven were naked. Nobody paid enough attention to a gaggle of slaves to notice the dick cages.
"What's your name?" Chay asked their 'guard', once more looking up from the red book he kept checking.
"Vnvn'Rlaaa'ee," the Kobold said with a fanged-smile.
It meant Black Tear. Maybe a poetic way of saying 'drop of blood'? Goro was neither a poet nor a linguist but the dinos didn't seem overly subtle.
Chay kept his finger on a sketch in the book. "So Black Tear, why aren't you leading us directly through the Darkfoot Passage?"
"Too dangerous. Lisks are nesting there now."
The leader's eyes narrowed. "Didn't see any warnings at the fork."
"Pathwriter Customs is slow in these lower parts. Maybe there's already been a Clearance Expedition but I'd be surprised."
Chay didn't respond so Goro figured it was true. The Thai guy with a thick ass seemed able to read people magically well. Goro stayed ready to punt the slaver into the ceiling anyway.
"Aaand," Chay started again, "why aren't we taking the Frontfang Bridge?"
"Claimed by the Grubslurper clan. Do you have the obols to pay for passage? Didn't think so."
Chay shrugged. "We could try talking our way past. But fine, keep leading."
Goro shuffled his mark of madness around. It slid on his skin anywhere he willed it. He kept it on the inside of his thigh when they passed other creatures, but made it roam his body otherwise. He liked it on his neck, looking like a thug.
Xane was practicing illusions and juggled flames. If somebody passed the group, it was his 'job' to have a dick covering his aegis and walk up front. Now he was wearing an illusory backwards baseball cap.
"Hey wizard," Chay said with a flick to the mage's neck. "Keep it subtle, you're making people notice us."
"Sorry," Xane said and turned the baseball cap into a crown with a smirk. "Better? Hehe."
"No."
"Fuck, whatever bitch." The crown vanished. "I'm getting stronger though. See here." An orange butterfly sat down on *either* round, striated shoulder. "I can make two motes now."
"That's *not* subtle," Chay said. "But congrats on the power-up. I think we're all growing."
Goro grunted and gave Xane an affirmative punch between the shoulder blades. He was glad to have a familiar face with him on this adventure of heroic nudity.
They passed another line of six naked human slaves, half of them scuffling and drooling, the others more alive. All were hunky and bald or buzzed, some were covered in marks from slave-driver whips, but looked otherwise healthy.
Goro had long noticed how diverse the slaves were. Their demigod gang would have stood out for being all East Asian if it wasn't for their different levels of tan. Having long hair made Goro stand out the most.
"Black Tear," Chay said. "Where do humans come from?"
"The Reapers." The triple-horned dino made it sound like a grocery store around the corner.
"How?"
"I... don't know. We just buy and sell them."
"Where are the chicks?" Xane asked.
"Huh?" Black Tear made.
"Females slaves? Naked humans with tits, horny for a rescuer? Hopefully just as athletic as the males there."
The Kobold shrugged. "These are what our Reaper gives us."
"I'm so horny," Marcus said, once again, mostly to himself.
"Shut up," Goro said, which made Marcus flinch.
The massive Japanese hunk sighed. He should probably play nice. "Me too. Just... don't remind me."
Marcus gave him a thumbs up and made a mouth-zipping gesture.
Goro was swimming in horniness like he never hadn't, not even during sex. Every round rock looked like boobs, every crack in the wall like a vagina begging to be humped. He was going to rape the first pussy he saw -- he'd find a way, aegis be damned.
He expected the others to feel the same but nobody broached the subject because nobody wanted to acknowledge that they had all just rode dick and would do it again. Goro was fine with that. He was still perfectly straight. He'd keep fucking pussy for the rest of his life once the abyss was beaten. But he was no stranger to playing with his ass and right now, he'd do what it took to get relief.
Chay kept needling Black Tear for information, while reading in a different book.
Goro grabbed one of the books from Chay's bead net and flipped through. Maybe this tomb could teach him how to activate arcane weapons.
"Chapter Seven: Arcane conversion through Ether-conductive unipolarity matrices" sounded promising.
The berserker moved his tattoo to his left forearm, which seemed to help holding the book steady without effort. Maybe this way he'd stop craving a cumshot with every step.
===***===
A long flight of stairs upward ended outside, at a path along a cliff face, many miles from their entrance point. The aurora far above shone onto a field of stalks swaying like ocean waves despite a lack of breeze.
The cliff edge was secured by chains on iron spires, leading to a narrow staircase spiraling maybe half a mile up to another cavern.
There was also an elevator platform of dark wood, hanging on slack chains that lead all the way up. It was flanked by abandoned guard posts.
On the elevator was a huge hamster wheel and a head-sized garnet in an array of cables.
"Typical," Black Tear said. "Nobody here, so we can use the cargo lift, but the gem is empty so we can't."
"Gem?" Chay said.
Goro pointed the book at the red crystal. "Psychaceous Rubinite. A battery, if I understand. The basis of technology here." He handed the book to the leader.
"Right, sure," the Kobold said, gesturing at the garnet. "Normally here's a vark driving the wheel to save power. Unless one of you stays back and runs we'll have to walk up anyway."
"Say no more," Xane said and stepped forward with his chest raised. "What am I a god for if I can't turn a wheel? Everybody hop on."
There was no railing, let alone other safety features. Once the five of them had taken a stand, Xane placed a hand on the wheel's center beam, arm flexed, and fed momentum to the device.
The elevator jerked to life and their rise began.
"What are you gonna do after?" Marcus asked their crawlway-Sherpa. Chay threw him a glance.
Black Tear looked off the platform's edge. "The life of a 'clan-less' is short and brutal. I'll see what's left of the Blood-Feasters and if I can go back."
Goro was glad nobody offered the creature to join them. Although, part of him wanted to feel the monster dick again. The stretching had been a sensation beyond anything he had previously known. Nothing like using his penis but incredibly pleasuring.
Staring at the abyssal landscape Goro imagined all the willing pussy he'd pump his seed into as soon as the aegis was behind him.
Marcus was rubbing his own nipples, spread thighs quivering. "Fffffuck, I'm sooo..." He caught Goro's eyes, "I'm not saying it, okay? But I'm going crazy. Think we should, uh, relieve some pressure again. Xane?"
The thaum-mage huffed. "I'm not your personal magic finger. Plus I'm busy. Use your own hand."
Chay slammed his book shut and tied it back up with the bead string. "Okay, I've had enough. We're gonna take a break and cream one out. Piss first."
Black Tear face-palmed. "You can't jerk off in the crawlways. It's suspicious enough I'm letting slaves *talk*."
The elevator moved into a shaft, which came out in a ballroom-sized cave without a ceiling. Above them the cliff continued to an immense skull, green sparkling ectoplasm rushing from the eyes.
Goro was sweating as much as his friends in the crawlway heat and welcomed a light breeze whistling in from above. Having spent his life at the gym had taught him to relish in the feeling of sweat, so he didn't complain.
The cave's walls were perfectly smooth and patterned with sediment layers and painted totems. A crawlway entrance lay on either side. Chutes led away in several directions - slides leading into darkness, labeled by pandemonic runes.
"Welcome to the Whiteblood Chute Splitter," Black Tear said. "That slide there will take you a skull-roll away from the Holy Spire."
Chay nodded, so Goro trusted the words were correct. He stayed on his guard, of course. The naked Thai college jock wasn't omniscient.
"People won't be nice to free roaming slaves," the Kobold said, backing away. "Don't stay out in the open or a Wretcher will get you. Oh, whoever leads the Bloodeaters will be hunting you, I'm guessing. I'd rather never meet you again."
The crawlway-Sherpa dashed off and jumped down a chute labeled 'Gweee Overpass'.
The naked demigods were alone, all sweat gleaming muscle and unfulfilled desire.
"Ninty-nine percent sure horn-boy was lying," Chay said. "He expects us to die instantly if we go down that tube. No idea what waits at the end of it that makes him so confident but I'm okay not finding out."
Goro made a mental note to kill any yellow triceratops looking assholes on the spot in case any of them were Black Tear.
"Then where do we go?" Marcus asked, bouncing on his heels.
"Let me see," Chay said, leafing through the cartography book. "This doesn't have the whole crawlway. We already passed a dozen intersections that aren't marked in here. I have some guesses... Fuck, hide."
The men pressed themselves into a corner.
