Author's Note:
A Drow's Dilemma began as a one-on-one roleplaying project and has been converted into a chapter-by-chapter format for weekly posting with the permission and assistance from my partner. It will contain a considerable amount of sexual themes such as femdom, lesbian, straight, 'reverse' rape, BDSM, group sex, romance, and other themes. The main goal of the story, however, is to tell an epic tale of adventures, gods and goddesses, fae, and nymphomaniacs. This episode and every episode to come will be available for free on Literotica for the foreseeable future. All characters that engage in sexual or suggestive situations are mentally and sexually mature: the human equivalent of 18 for their race.
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Episode 145: Stolen
Tsabdrin rushed up through the Oread-carved passages, using his magic to dress and armor himself as he ran. The closer he got to the surface, the more the earth rumbled and shook.
When he burst out into the open air, he saw the cause. All four of 'his' nymphs were engaged in a fight against a stream of monsters. Manticores, sphinxes, treants, elementals, and various humanoids, all pulled along with strange, jerky movements as if they were marionettes on invisible strings.
But the worst of them all, a sight which sent chills through him, was the Wendigo: a hideous abomination in the shape of a large humanoid with a carnivorous elk-like head and burnt, twisted stump-like legs. It, too, seemed to float in the air moving jerkily, its limbs contorted unnaturally even for its monstrous self.
Phaile was holding her own decently well against the weaker members of the horde, fighting in the ways that Tsabdrin himself had taught her with bow and blade. But the Oreads were doing far, far more. The earth-nymphs moved with shocking speed and overwhelming power. Their leaps into the air had enough force to send shockwaves around them. They were launching punches that shattered stone, performing kicks that smashed craters in the ground, and hurling boulders the size of small hills at the overwhelming force that converged upon them.
Nekaia, however, was tending to a grievously wounded red-haired human with visibly mechanical limbs. Said human attempted to struggle to her feet as he approached.
"Are... are you the one they call Tsabdrin of Duskhaven?" the redheaded human gasped with a voice that came more from machine than breath.
"Y-yes. I've heard about you," Tsabdrin responded. He didn't even try to search his mind for her name; he desperately wanted to fight. The drow resisted the urge only because this woman clearly had something critically important to say.
In the background, an allosaur leaped through the air to tackle a manticore to the ground. Its mate flanked it and together they tore it to pieces. Tsabdrin got the vague sense that his animal companions were enjoying themselves despite the mild terror they felt. He was glad they were confident in the homestead's abilities because he wasn't sure they could handle all this.
The redheaded human let out a long breath and slumped back down so Nekaia could continue treating her wounds. "I'm Cieraela," she stated. "I have a message for Ashyr and Caleldir. Tell them that the Empress of Souls has returned!"
"Who?" asked Nekaia. "I have never heard of her!"
"The succubi will know," Cieraela winced. "Tsabdrin, you have to run, before the Empress sees you! Once she catches the smell of your soul, it is over."
Tsabdrin glanced back at the fighting nymphs, his eyes wild. "I can't just leave them! The Empress of Souls? Is she going to kill them and destroy our lands? My livestock!"
"You cannot beat her," Cieraela said in despair. "None of us can. She is too powerful. Our only hope is to warn the others so they are prepared for her when she arrives. It is too late for your nymphs: she has the scent of their souls."
"Will she hurt them?" he asked again with more intensity. "I was told one of them is pregnant." He glanced over to Nekaia, wondering if she was the one. "I can't leave if I know The Empress will hurt her."
He didn't like the idea of the others getting hurt either but saw the logic in needing to warn Ashyr.
"Who told you one of us was pregnant?" Nekaia asked, her expression oddly neutral for the usually animated Naiad.
"The Empress will take their souls, then puppet their bodies to attack others." Cieraela gestured at the horde of creatures unnaturally jerking around, including the Wendigo that Ornia was currently in a stalemate with. "If you do not run now, she will do the same to you. The rest of us here are already doomed. She already put the Soul Trap on me."
"She did not Soul Trap us!" Nekaia said dubiously.
"No, but she did put a soul trace on the other three," Cieraela said despairingly. "I suppose you could still escape, Nekaia. But the others cannot."
"Oh, no..." Nekaia said, her neutral expression going to dread. "But... but Phaile is..." She looked back to Tsabdrin, confirming his fears.
"Shit," Tsabdrin swore under his breath. He had the irrational urge to stand and join the fray until everything stopped moving. His more rational mind knew that to save his daughter, he had to run away.
"Nekaia, let's go. Ashyr and Caleldir will save your sister and her unborn," Tsabdrin said as he took the young nymph by the hand. "Thank you, Cieraela. We'll carry your message."
"But... but..." Nekaia let out a long breath. "Yes. Yes. We have to run."
Cieraela stood up fully, her mechanical arm transforming into a blade. When she spoke, her voice was even more mechanical. "Biological Override Completed. This unit will distract designated hostile entity: Empress of Souls."
Over on the field, Olyrei had joined Ornia in the wendigo fight, and the two Oreads had punched the creature literal miles into the sky. It seemed to decompose in purple mist.
Then, the ground in front of Tsabdin and Nekaia exploded as a meteor covered in purple flame slammed into the earth, leaving a crater. In the center of the crater stood a twelve-foot-tall purple-skinned succubus in an over-the-top outfit that had more spikes than coverage. She carried a staff with a purple orb on top of it that radiated crushing power.
"I found you," the woman said in a voice as sultry as it was commanding. Cieraela flung herself at the succubus, only for the Empress to stop her dead with a blast from the orb. Cieraela vanished, and the Empress turned once more towards Tsabdrin and Nekaia.
Tsabdrin swore repeatedly under his breath. The allosaurs, who had already disengaged from battle, sprinted past the drow and nymph. Tsabdrin flung Nekaia onto Tooth just before he grabbed onto Nail. He urged the large dinosaurs forward faster than they had gone in their lives, pumping spells of swiftness into them.
A powerful blast of energy soared over Tsabdrin's head, just missing him. Phaile and the Oreads had attacked the Empress, upsetting her aim. But he heard another blast, and Nekaia gasped.
"She got Phaile!" Nekaia cried. Behind them, the Empress shook off the Oreads and started rapidly closing the gap between herself and Tsabdrin's group.
Nekaia gave Tsabdrin a loving smile, all the panic suddenly gone out from her face. "Sorry we couldn't help you," she said. Then leaped off the allosaur and tackled the Empress. The Oreads caught back up, and the ancient succubus was halted in her tracks.
Tsabdrin bared his teeth while tears of anger and frustration made it difficult for him to see clearly. Fortunately, his animal companions had no such issues. Their only focus was on running. All he had to do now was not stop them; they were buffed and they knew where they were going. But it was hard. So very hard.
He dug his face into Nail's scaly neck and forced himself to think about Ashyr. For once, even she could not dominate his thoughts. All he wanted to do was save his nymphs and his homestead. Ashyr. The only way to do that was to find her.
---
The Empress of Souls stood in the wreckage of what had been Tsabdrin's homestead. It had been a hard fight. Much harder than she had expected. Those Oreads... she grinned. Well, those Oreads would be a fine asset to add to her collection.
The ancient succubus looked into the Orb on her staff. She smiled to see the souls of her most recently vanquished foes still pounding at the clear barrier that kept in the vast mist. The two Oreads and two Naiads were now only tiny, semisolid, wispy figures in the undetailed shapes of their nude selves, bearing neither weapon nor spell.
"Your sacrifice was not entirely in vain, brave nymphs," she whispered, though she knew they could not hear her. "Your drow did manage to escape. Not that warning his allies will save him from my Mistress: the great Varyndaevyrress who released me from my prison."
She laughed and tapped the outside of the orb, which sent Phaile and Nekaia's souls deeper into the mist, causing them to vanish. The Oreads kept trying to break out, though. "It is useless, though your strength of will is commendable," the succubus crooned at the souls who could not hear her. "I know. Once inside, you have to be let out. You can try for five thousand years and not be any closer to escaping. At least you have your friends in there. I had to talk to myself all that time! Still do, silly, silly me!"