A Virtual Temptress

The last rays of the setting sun reflected the stained glass from a nearby cathedral, scattering its kaleidoscopic light across the cobblestones. Mottled red clouds drifted overhead, promising clear skies at least for tonight. The last raven squawked its farewell to the day's end, settling itself in for the night as passersby thinned to the occasional fleeting traveler.

Half-hidden behind a hedge as he eyed the Templar's barracks, Dan heard none of this. He was busy arguing with a demon.

"I simply do not understand you, Daniel," Lexi continued, her precise tone tinged with irritation. "I have done my utmost to understand the people of your world, and upon discovering a cultural tradition to which I relate, you dismiss my interest out of hand." The succubus was clad in a heavy red cloak, hood pulled over her head to hide her features.

"Listen, it's not..." Dan rubbed his eyes. "I'm glad you like Halloween. But I think you've misunderstood what it's about. That's all I'm saying."

Lexi's brows furrowed. "It is a celebration of licentiousness, is it not? I found it most refreshing. So many of your rituals hold little sense, after all. But an occasion to dress in seductive disguises? Simply delightful."

"Okay, but - actually, never mind. I'm glad you like it."

"Thank you," Lexi said, curtseying gracefully.

Dan checked the time again: 8:57pm, three minutes till shift change. They'd need to wait another five after that, just to be safe. From what he'd seen the Templars were punctual to a fault, but they only had one chance with this.

"Still," the pyromancer continued, checking the street again. "Was the outfit absolutely necessary?"

"Daniel, do I question how you cast your spells?"

"You do, actually. All the time."

Lexi waved her hand. "Nevertheless. Seduction is a performative art, and performance requires appropriate costuming. Besides," she said, smiling mischievously, "It looks very nice, don't you think so?"

Dan clenched his teeth, exhaling slowly through his nose. The outfit had cost $30 to have copied into an in-game model.

Maybe the internet was a mistake

, he thought to himself, not for the first time. He'd needed some way to explain the real world to the succubus, and in-game web browsers were simple enough to set up. She was certainly easier to talk to once he'd proven that he was from another world and that Blaze Firewilde was just a body he inhabited.

Lexi read voraciously, hungry for every scrap of information she could glean. She'd taken a particular interest in fairy tales, having noticed overlapping narratives between Dan's world and her own. This had led to Red Riding Hood, which had led to costumes, and then to Halloween. It was unsurprising, in retrospect, that she'd become so enamored with this particular outfit.

"Okay," Dan said. "Two minutes to showtime. You're sure this will work? We can still back out now. It's been a few days since you charmed him, right? Will the spell still hold?"

Lexi unclasped her cloak, sweeping it off in one fluid motion and pressing it into Dan's arms. She patted his cheek, then turned and began walking toward the gate. "You worry too much, Daniel."

Two blonde pigtails, each tied with a red ribbon, hung down from her dark red hood. Lexi's breasts were pressed tightly against her outfit, threatening to burst out of her top. A shiny black corset adorned her waist, further accentuating her bust. The dress ran just long enough to cover her from behind, but bending forward even slightly demonstrated the firm bounciness of her ass and how little her red lingerie left to the imagination. Her red leather boots were laced on either side, running up to her calves, heels clicking against the cobblestones..

Dan followed the succubus from a respectable distance, enjoying the view.

Then again,

he considered,

$30 wasn't

that

much money

.

Strictly to better our working relationship, of course.

* * * * *

Warringing Inquisition Barracks was a fortress. Its walls were reinforced stone and iron, windowless, with only one heavily armored door allowing entrance. No one was admitted under any circumstances save sanctioned members of the Templar Inquisition and each knew the others by name and voice. All of these were important to the structure's security. Most vital, however, was the fence.

The bars were seven centimeters in diameter, four centimeters apart, and constructed from elder bronze. The metal was a remnant from the ancient dwarves, now lost to time. The only way to break the stuff was melting it with dragonfire, and even then it took several minutes to soften. It was heavily magic resistant, dispersing even the most potent of enchantments, while itself being ensorcelled to allow no creature to slip through. The fence was ten meters high, topped with razor spikes, and seemed to repulse any efforts to leap, fly, or catapult over it. Tunneling efforts had likewise proven fruitless.

Over the two years of William's time with the Inquisition, adventurers had made increasingly creative efforts to cross the barricade. All had failed. Though gambling was discouraged among the Templar orders, there had been a moderate betting pool each month between Militia and Inquisition as to which guild would make the most outlandish attempt. Efforts had died down after the guilds realized there was absolutely nothing inside worth stealing: a Barracks' sole purpose was to guard the Templars as they slept.

Still, it was a position of pride to be elected as night sentry over the Barracks, and it was William's first sentry duty since his promotion to Brother of the Inquisition a week prior. Everyone was counting on him. The gate - and its guardian - were necessary to ensure swift response in the event of emergency. While it was rare for the orders to be awakened by nightfall, it was still their duty to keep alert at all hours. The Low Templars were efficient in their work but in times such as these, constant vigilance was necessary.

It was lonely work, and William was fine with that. He stood watch, ears perked for signs of assailants or alarms, cloak drawn against the chill of the night air. He didn't expect anyone to approach the gate.

He certainly hadn't expected

her

.

"Heyyy!"

William watched as she skipped toward him, breasts bouncing hypnotically as they strained against the tight cotton dress. Blonde hair in ribboned ringlets flowed out from under her red hood. Her eyes were shadowed and sultry, eager and bright, sinful and innocent. She waved at him, red lips parting into a smile.

"No," William muttered. "No, no, no. Not here. Not like this." He could feel his body heat rising, blood flowing downward. Ungentlemanly thoughts came unbidden to his mind, remembering her eyes staring up at him in the back room at the Precinct building as she pulled down his pants and... The Templar shook his head, willing the image to go away, but in truth he'd been plagued by the girl ever since that night. His memory of the whole affair remained fuzzy.

The healers had called it an aftereffect of demonic magic, but he wasn't so sure. Was it normal? To obsess this way over a girl he barely knew? It wasn't as though he could ask anyone, given the taboo of relationships within the Templar Orders. Purity in all things, Gaius had told him. But that purity had proven increasingly difficult to hold onto in the past few weeks. Doubt had begun to consume him. And now, well...

"Hey, William!" she called, sashaying up to the gate. "I brought you something!" Lexi pursed her plump red lips, rummaging in the wicker basket hanging off her left arm and producing a small paper package of strawberries. "I figured you could use something sweet since you'll be up all night."

The Templar exhaled slowly, trying to think of the right words. "That is very kind of you but I must remain at my post." He kept his tone neutral, staring straight ahead, but his eyes kept straying downward...

Lexi stood in front of the gate, cocking her hips to the side. "Aww," she pouted. "Are you sure? They're sooo yummy!" Lexi flicked open the package, pulling out a piece of fruit. "See!" She licked the underside slowly, pushing the strawberry between her lips before taking a bite. Red juice dribbled down her chin and onto her chest.

"Whoopsie!" she giggled, eyeing the drip as it slowly worked its way down her breast, outlining its curve before vanishing into her cleavage. William's eyes followed juice's progress, unable to look away from the creamy swell of the girl's breasts as they pressed against the thin cotton. He could see the outline of her nipples poking through, just barely below the fabric.

"I, um." William licked his lips. "Can't accept gifts while I'm on duty. But thank you, miss."

"Are you sure? I could just slip them through the gate."

The Templar smiled awkwardly, willing himself to stop staring, praying that the conversation would end soon. "It's enchanted. So you can't. Put anything through, I mean. The magic stops anything from coming inside."

Lexi furrowed her brows. "Oh no, that's too bad!" She slipped the package back into the basket, absentmindedly taking another bite of strawberry. "I thought maybe I could hang out and play with you for a while, but if you're busy..."

"Yes miss. On duty. All night." William was finding it difficult to breathe, but he was proud to have gotten the words out correctly. Monsters and cultists were one thing, but the Templar had no experience handling pretty girls. He had never been more thankful for the protection of the fortifications.

"But that doesn't mean we can't have fun, right?" She smirked, jutting her chest out and wiping the juice off with a slow, deliberate motion before sucking it off her finger.

"It doesn't?" William mumbled.

"Of course not! You like to masturbate, don't you William?"

"Um," William responded.

Who asks that

, he thought frantically? How should he respond? This would be easier if his heart weren't beating so quickly, if his brain didn't feel like a pile of scrambled eggs.

Two months ago, William's answer would have been a confident "no," but ever since that day at the Kelothite cathedral it had become a compulsion. Two or three times had worried him, but now it was up to six or seven sessions each day. Always to Lexi. She was just so beautiful, so perfectly sexy, so unbearably arousing.He needed to cum for her. Some rebellious part of his mind, long suppressed, whispered that he should say exactly that. But as he watched the girl's expression, he got the impression that she already knew.

"I thought you might. It feels sooo good to touch your penis, right?"

William nodded, then blushed furiously as he realized what he had done. Lexi smiled triumphantly.

"But it feels even better when a pretty girl tells you how to do it, you know?"

"Ah," William retorted.

"Do you think I'm pretty, William?" She sucked the juice out of the strawberry, casting the husk onto the grass.

"Well," William confided. "Uh."

"I mean, you've been staring at my boobs this whole time. And your cock seems

awfully

excited to see me." The succubus' eyes narrowed in concern. "Are you having trouble talking, sweetie?"

The Templar nodded miserably.

"Aww, that's okay! Why don't you show me how much you like me instead? All you have to do is pull down your pants and stroke for me, alright?" Lexi clapped her hands in delight as Wiliam fumbled to obey. "Good boy! Up and down, nice and slow." She mimed the motion with her hands, red nails gleaming in the torchlight. "Doesn't that feel nice?"

William couldn't say no. He didn't know how. It was wrong, exposing himself like this in a public place. While standing watch, no less! But with each murmured encouragement he grew more and more desperate to stare, to touch, to obey.

"So well behaved," purred Lexi as she watched the spellbound Templar. "Helpless and horny. Keep going, baby, it feels good to stop."

The heat between his legs became a furnace as William basked in her praise. He continued to edge, the realization slowly overtaking him that this was all he wanted: a pretty girl telling him what to do. The pleasure was important not for itself, but because obedience brought pleasure and he wanted so desperately to follow the girl's every command. His mouth hung slack, eyes glazed, expression vacant. There was no need to think. There was just submission to his mistress and the bliss only she could give him.

Lexi eyed her masturbating thrall with a self-satisfied expression. "Oh master!" she called over her shoulder. "We're ready to start!"

Dan had been keeping his head buried in a browser window to avoid collateral damage. At the signal, he stowed his research and began striding quickly toward the gate. There was Lexi, less clothed than before but still technically decent. And there was Templar William, stupefied and masturbating. The man did not look up at Dan's approach.

"Right," the pyromancer nodded. "Let's do this."

"William," the succubus said, "Would you be a doll and open the gate for us? No, I didn't say you could stop."

The man fumbled for the key hanging from his neck, using his one free hand to slot it into the door and turn. There was a heavy click as the gate opened. Nothing moved.

Putting his shoulder to the gate, Dan braced himself and pushed. The hinge creaked ominously as the door inched forward. "Damn it, Lexi, tell him to pull!"

With the combined strength of a masturbating Templar and an out of shape pyromancer, the gate at last picked up momentum and swung inward. The pair of intruders darted inside.

Dan looked around in hallowed awe. He was the first player since launch to breach a Templar barracks and here he was with no one to brag to. "Right," he said. "I'll start setting up. You deal with him and meet me inside, okay? I'll need you once the spell starts."

"Of course, master." Lexi's tail snaked out of her dress, wrapping itself possessively around the Templar's shaft. "Hands off," the succubus ordered, licking her lips as she eyed her prize. "You did very well, William. Time to reward you for being such a good boy." Her tail pulled him along like a leash as Lexi sauntered through the now open door of the barracks. "Let's find someplace a little more private, mm?"

* * * * *

Dan stepped through the archway, trailing his fingers reverently along the inscribed stonework. He inhaled, breathing in sweat, metal polish, and incense. The barracks. He was the first to breach its walls, plunder its secrets. Of course, he wasn't here for those. Dan had more secrets than he could handle as it was.

The foyer was broad and open, its decorations spartan. Two dining tables with six chairs apiece; a small kitchen, neatly kept, sitting off to the side; cold storage, courtesy of the Cryomancy Guild, for keeping perishables; a privy chamber, discretely tucked out of sight; and in the far corner were three large bookshelves. Dan's eyes widened - books were a rarity in Saga, typically containing important or hidden information. There was no time to explore it at present, but he made a mental note to examine the library another time.

Dan rubbed his hands together as he surveyed the room, then scanned his inventory and ran through the checklist. Chalk? Yes, he'd brought three sticks just in case. He had the ritual recorded, complete with notes, diagrams, and contracts. Candles, yes. Offering, yes. Everything was there.

He eyed the small glass filled with his own semen, then withdrew the second containing a drop of Lexi's blood. Both were necessary, she had said, if he wanted to do this properly. The original ritual, the one he'd learned as a Hellfire Adept, would let him summon an ordinary imp to do his bidding. But he wasn't here for a run of the mill demon, and he would certainly need more than one.

"Where to put the circle..." He couldn't move the tables - too much noise. Maybe if those two chairs were off to the side? Dan began rearranging furniture to make space, praying that no one would hear him and wake up. NPCs normally slept straight through the night, but some were programmed as light sleepers. Best to move quickly and avoid risks.

The summoning circle was easy enough to draw; it didn't have to be perfect, just close enough. Demons, apparently, were not that picky. He knelt on the floor, the wiki page and his own notes from Lexi pulled up in his overlay, working backward to avoid smudging anything with his movements. He stood, examining the writing and double checking his work.

Everything seemed in place. There was no sign of Lexi, who was no doubt still playing with her food, but Dan didn't have time to go track her down. He emptied the two vials into the center of the circle, stepped back, and began to chant under his breath. The spell rose inside him, not the warm comfort of pyromancy but the sickly vapor of dark magic. It filled his nose like spoiled meat. The words tumbled out naturally at first, but soon he was forced to mix in Lexi's modification and the process changed. Instead of Blaize Firewilde doing the reading, Dan had to forcibly enunciate each throat-scraping syllable. The circle began to glow, pink light flickering through the runes until the barracks was awash in its cotton candy glow.

As the final syllables rasped their way out of Dan's throat, the light flared. The candles guttered out. Within the circle, shapes began to form. Wisps of smoke coalesced into humanoid forms, then into flesh and blood. Moments later Dan was face to face with six young women, each with a pair of tiny horns and spaded tail. All of them were beautiful. All of them were naked. They were pressed against each other in the confines of the summoning circle, nubile bodies rubbing together, squirming as they fought to rearrange themselves. Dan watched in fascination. He had been expecting the imps to be pretty, but the young women in front of him were stunningly beautiful.

"Are you just going to stare?" asked a tall, extremely fit redhead. "Or are you going to let us out so we can have some fun?"

"It's so tight in here," moaned a petite girl with midnight black hair. She winked at Dan. "But not as tight as my pussy... Why don't you come over to us, mister, and you can find out?"

"Listen," said Dan, running through his prepared speech and pulling the contracts out. "Keep your voices down, we need to do this quickly. Just read through these, and - "

His words were drowned out by giggles and girlish shrieks. "I just want your cock so badly," cooed one of the imps. "I can't take it anymore! Just let us out so I can taste it."

Dan's eyes darted to the sleeping chamber doors.

Oh god

,

they're going to wake up the Templars. And I'm going to get murdered

.

"You called us all here," coaxed a sultry blonde with distractingly large breasts. "You think you can handle all six at once, naughty boy? Why don't you come and find out?" She crooked her finger, beckoning Dan forward with one hand and massaging her pussy with the other.

"That is quite enough." The noise fell immediately as the imps stared past Dan. "You have been summoned for a purpose," Lexi snarled, "And if you are too stupid to listen to your summoner, then he will dismiss you and find more willing assistants."

"You're, um. You're..." one of the imps stammered, pointing at Lexi.

Lexi eyed her, tapping a foot impatiently against the stone. "Yes?"

"Mistress, aren't you an Archfiend? Consort to the Infernal Throne?"