Main Pairing: F human x two M gnolls threesome
Kinks/TWs: Mild fantasy violence, Interspecies, small language barrier, threesome, oral, vaginal, spitroast, creampie, cum swallowing, scent enjoyment, mild biting and scratching, breeding kink towards the end
--
Adelin's crystal lantern lit the cavern in bright green. She held the light straight ahead, her other hand wrapped around the handle of her sheathed sword. Insects and rats scuttled away from the intruder as she delved deeper into the tunnels.
It was part of a long-abandoned mining network. Fledgling adventurer groups often ventured into these tunnels in search of loot or valuable raw materials left behind -- the few monsters that settled in here weren't especially dangerous, making it ideal for new parties to gain some valuable experience.
At least, that was the case before more and more adventurers started disappearing in these tunnels.
There was no shortage of rumors from the nearby town. Some thought it was an especially fearsome monster making the mines its new home. Others blamed the nearby gnoll population, accusing them of mugging and killing inexperienced adventurers for their gear.
Whatever the reason, Adelin's mission was to put a stop to it.
As an experienced spellblade, she doubted that whatever resided in these caves could be much of a threat to her. It was the type of bounty she would usually leave for younger adventurers to gain some renown... But with how many had seemingly gone lost, she took it upon herself to investigate.
Something crunched beneath her feet.
She drew her sword halfway and shined her light on the floor. It didn't move, and could've been easily mistaken for a large, dead bug at first glance before she took a closer look -- it was a shell of clear chitin. Something had molted out of this.
"Cave scorpions..." Adelin muttered, kicking the shell aside.
On their own, cave scorpions weren't especially dangerous, but they weren't known to reside around here, and a sudden appearance almost always meant that a queen scorpion was making its nest.
If that were the case, then it would certainly explain the missing adventurers.
The narrow cavern led into an open shaft with numerous tunnels leading to different areas of the cave network.
Adelin looked at her map. This landmark was the central mining shaft, and there was supposed to be an elevator -- left behind from when the mines were in use -- that adventures used to quickly get from place to place. It was a common courtesy to reset the elevator's position back to this point for the next group. A lever sat next to where the elevator was supposed to be.
Adelin pulled it, and the mechanical grinding of a gear and pulley system echoed across the cavern walls.
Suddenly, something else rang out from deeper within the caves. It was a yelp, and clearly one of pain or distress. Her hand tightened on her sword.
"Too slow..." she said, watching the elevator sluggishly descend towards her position. If someone was in peril, then mere seconds could be the difference between life and death.
Adelin reached into a satchel hanging from her a belt -- a bag of holding, capable of carrying far, far more than its size would suggest in an extra-dimensional pocket space. As a solo adventurer, Adelin needed to be prepared for any situation. After a moment of fishing around, she pulled out a crossbow, modified with a rope and grappling hook.
She fired it at the top ledge. The hooks bit into stone, and after checking to make sure the grip could hold, Adelin rappeled up the shaft, pulling herself up to the topmost cavern. She was sure the cry came from up there.
"I'm coming! Just hold on!" she shouted, breaking into a sprint with her sword drawn.
Her echoing voice was met with high-pitched chittering. At the end of the tunnel, a trio of cave scorpions stood in her path, each one about the size of a watermelon. Their claws clacked, and violet spittle dripped from gnashing mandibles. Their tails tensed, poised and ready to thrust.
"Out of my way." Adelin hissed.
"Skreeeeee!" One of the scorpions leaped right at her.
'Kreta-sleas!'
Adelin incanted the spell in her mind. In one smooth, practiced motion, she both drew her sword and wreathed the blade in a coating of arcane fire, bathing the cave walls in blazing light. She slashed the cave scorpion in twain. Two sizzling, cauterized halves of its body fell motionless to the ground.
Another scorpion was climbing along the wall towards her. She casually severed the stinger right from its tail with a slash, and before the creature could even screech in pain, drove her sword through its head.
As for the final scorpion, she released her spell as a projectile blast, engulfing it in searing hot flame.
There wasn't much time to admire her handiwork. Remembering the urgency at hand, she continued running. A pungent odor of death and rot struck Adelin as she made her way into the cavern. Littered across the floor were scorpion carcasses -- looking as if they'd been hacked apart by someone else.
Finally, the cavern emptied into a wide-open chamber, and her suspicions were confirmed.
The decomposing remnants of fallen adventurers were scattered on the ground. For all their hopes and aspirations of glory, they ended up as little more than food for the queen and her brood. The scorpion queen nested at the opposite end of the chamber -- It was about the size of a horse-drawn carriage, covered in an armor shell of dark brown, reinforced chitin plating. Eight glowing violet eyes trained on her. Its mandibles clacked and gnashed, each fang as long as her forearm.
Writhing atop and around the queen were its many children, like a sea of wriggling legs and stingers. No doubt, they were eager for the fresh meal stumbling right into their nest.
Adelin drew her blade. Perhaps she would have to let her hair down a bit for this one.
Something else appeared in the corner of her vision -- not a scorpion, but a furred figure crouched behind a boulder, watching the scene play out with wide yellow eyes.
A gnoll? Was he the one crying out earlier?
She cast the thought aside. If need be, she could deal with it later. There were far more pressing matters to attend to as the swarm of hatchling scorpions descended upon her.
'Teal-sleas!'
With another magic incantation, her blade ignited and crackled with sparks of electricity. Right now, those hatchlings posed the greatest threat with their sheer numbers, and they had to be dealt with quickly. She focused the thunder magic around her blade and slashed at the swarm. A blindingly bright arc of lightning shot from her blade and weaved through the air -- then another, and another as she kept swinging her sword, sending out wave after wave of arc-shaped projectiles.
Tendrils of electricity grasped the scorpion hatchlings and sent them into uncontrollable convulsions. Smoke rose from their small arachnid bodies as they fried in an instant, filling the cavern with a stinging stench of charred chitin.
The queen stood unaffected, however. Trails of lightning fizzled out against its protective plating, and it shrieked with rage as its brood was undone in a matter of seconds. Tail poised to sting and claws at the ready, it charged for her.
Adelin leaped back just in time to avoid being bisected with a claw swipe. She kept her eyes on its tail -- getting stung by one of its children would've been a painful annoyance, likely costing her a healing and antivenom potion, but the queen's stinger could very well impale her if she wasn't careful. This fight needed to end quickly.
'Gaia-sleas!'
Her sword's aura of lightning evaporated. Instead of glowing with visible magic, it was weighed down with great heaviness, pulling small chunks of rock from the ground that orbited around the blade. Wielding the power of stone, Adelin waited for the queen to make its move.
She would only have one shot at this.
Just as predicted, the stinger shot forth with incredible speed and precision -- like a hawk diving for prey.
Luckily, Adelin was faster.
She dashed aside as that massive stinger bit into the ground. When the queen tried to pull her tail back, it stayed firmly lodged into the rocky earth.
Now was her chance.
With a furious shout, she plunged her sword into the bulbous base of its stinger and grasped the hilt, focusing her magic directly into the blade. Chitin flesh began hardening into stone. It spread out from the stab wound and reached to the stinger, binding it to the ground.
The queen shrieked and chittered. Petrification crept down along its tail, threatening to turn the entire creature to stone. It tugged desperately on its tail, harder and harder in panic... Until it ripped free with a horrific, crunchy sound of tearing flesh. Dark green ichor sprayed from its gaping, thrashing tail stump as the queen shrieked with pure agony and rage.
Adelin pulled her sword out of the petrified stinger and dodged its flailing claws.
"No more."
Standing mere inches from its quivering mandibles, she plunged her sword into the ground and channeled a burst of arcane power. The ground rumbled. Before the queen even had a chance to bite or claw her, stalagmites of earth erupted from the floor like spears beneath it, piercing its soft underbelly and punching through the underside of its armor.
Half a dozen lances of earth impaled the scorpion queen. It twitched and chittered weakly, blood gurgling from its jaws in a final, whimpering death rattle until it finally went still.
Adelin huffed and wiped her forehead. She hadn't expected to break a sweat in here.
"What a mess..." she said, looking across the carnage -- not just at the results of her battle, but the corpses of slain adventurers. These poor folks probably had friends and family back in town, wondering what had became of them.
