Acquiring a Sage
Fair warning: this one is a bit darker than my other stories. Please look at the tags to decide if it is for you. Namely, there is a fair bit of noncon, mind control and bimbofication. That said, I hope you read on and enjoy it. As always, feedback is appreciated.
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"DOWN!"
Sveta's powerful voice reverberated through the cave and drew Simon's attention to the arrow flying towards his head, just in time to dive out of the way. Like all Goblin weapons, it was an ugly, primitive thing, its tip made out of low quality bronze. Still, even a primitive weapon would be enough to kill the young wizard, unarmored as he was. Besides, the filthy creatures smeared their implements in their own excrement, so even if the wound didn't kill you immediately, there was a good chance that the gangrene would.
Luckily for him, Simon did not conform to the stereotype of the bookish spellworker, whose only workout consisted of getting scrolls from the library's top shelves. He wasn't as powerfully muscled as his barbarian companion, but there was no unnecessary fat on him and his reflexes had been honed by putting himself in mortal danger time and again. The two adventurers had been working together long enough for Simon to react on pure instinct, dropping down and letting the projectile pass over him.
The shooter chittered angrily in its people's harsh tongue as it dropped the bow and drew a gleaming dagger made out of dark obsidian. A cruel smile spread over its face as it stalked towards the fallen wizard, making cutting motions towards his stomach. Hastily, Simon called upon the Aether, a small bolt of fire forming in his hand. He needn't have bothered, however, as mere moments before he could unleash his power, a giant, double bladed war ax descended on the goblin, cleaving it in twain and showering the wizard with gore and entrails.
"Eternal fire," the young human cursed, "can't you be a little more careful where you point that thing? My whole robe stinks of goblin."
"Oh, quit whining," the blonde barbarian answered good naturedly as she offered him a hand and easily pulled him up to his feet. "Would you rather be gutted by the little fella? And besides, you can clean your robe with one of your little tricks."
Simon snorted once in annoyance before letting it go. Sveta was right. A quick cantrip cleaned his body of the grime and blood before the two of them continued onward through the cave system.
"I don't like this," Simon murmured as he carefully examined the walls and ground of the tunnel. Ominous shadows danced in the light of the Amulets of Eternal Light hanging around the two companions' necks. "We've been at this for hours and all we have encountered are some traps and a few lone snipers. The sentries should have informed the rest of the nest by now."
"Perhaps, perhaps not." Sveta's voice didn't sound concerned at all, even though her eyes never stopped examining the darkness in front of them. "But goblins are cowards. They'll never fight you alone if they can employ swarm tactics. I'm sure they have retreated to the breeding chamber, waiting for us and hoping that their traps will soften us up for the grand finale. It's also possible that they are having one of their orgies. That always distracts them."
At the mention of "orgies" and "breeding chambers" Simon's hand involuntarily crept to his potion belt, assuring him for what must have been the tenth or twentieth time that the antidote bottle was still there and hale. Goblins weren't a natural species, but a consequence of Aether corruption. It always started with a humanoid who found himself in a place where the Veil was weak and the Aether sapped into the Material Plane. If their will wasn't strong enough to master the corruption and they were of a sufficiently vile disposition, the energy of chaos turned them into goblinoids - depending on their original race either goblins, hobgoblins or bugbears. If the new goblin king, as those beasts were called, wasn't found quickly enough, the infestation would spread. Goblins were only ever male, but that didn't stop them from multiplying at an astonishing rate. A goblin's sperm had addictive and transformative qualities that the young wizard would have found quite fascinating if they hadn't been a threat to him at the moment.
If a goblin mated with a humanoid, that person, no matter their original gender, would turn into a voluptuous female, their feminine traits enhanced and their mind transformed. After a short time, there wasn't much left of the victim but a receptacle for the goblins' cum, their greatest joy and aspiration in life to mate again and again and to give birth to as many of the little monsters as possible. The process could be reversed, but only if the antidote was administered quickly enough.
Nobody knew how long this particular infestation had been allowed to fester, but it must have been quite some time. The local villagers hadn't suspected anything at first when people started vanishing - it was a dangerous world after all, here on the Borderlands, where life was often short and brutal. But when the disappearances had piled up and someone had spotted small, green-skinned scouts, people had put two and two together and called for the Guild. As the two only halfway competent members of the local branch, Simon and Sveta had been dispatched to deal with the problem.
"Any guess on how big the nest has gotten?" Simon continued, more to fill the oppressive silence than out of any real desire for knowledge.
Sveta shrugged. "Who knows? Guessing from when the beasties were first seen? A lot. To be honest, probably more than I would normally be comfortable to fight with just one partner. If it was feasible, I would have preferred to just smoke them out."
But that would also have killed any victims the goblins still had with them, so the two adventurers had refrained from taking the easy route.
The melodic voice of his barbarian friend had a soothing effect on Simon. It was deep, with a strong northern accent, stressing the harder vowels and consonants. Her appearance also helped to guide his mind to...other matters. Her muscular body was clad only in a bandeau and a tiny thong, both made of dark leather and barely enough to contain her generous curves. Simon let himself fall back a bit, admiring the way she moved, like a tiger stalking its prey. His mind conjured images of the powerful woman laying under him, those muscular legs wrapped around his back while he flooded her womb with his seed.
"Eyes forward, soldier," Sveta chuckled. "As much as I like it when men stare at my ass, there are better times than in the middle of a goblin infested dungeon."