With a clash of steel Roderick's sword shattered the skeletal guard's rusted blade. The undead looked at the hilt with something like bewilderment seconds before Roderick's backstroke sent its skull flying.
"Come on you bony bastards!" the knight roared. "Come at me! You'll not stop me reaching my lady love!"
Had the rest of the undead populating the corridor been able to feel fear, they probably would have when facing the knight. His armour was in tatters from the trials he'd faced breaking into the lonely keep, baring a broad chest through rents in his shirt and pants. His hair was matted with sweat and his eyes grim with purpose. For his beloved princess had been stolen, kidnapped by a succubus in the dead of night, and he would see her again, no matter the odds.
But they had no fear, and surged towards him again, silent but for the rattle of bone against steel and stone.
Roderick bellowed and hacked into them, every swing of his sword shattering bone, snapping spines, or sundering skulls. Against such righteous wrath, they were nothing.
And then, it was done. Roderick lowered his sword, and realized he alone stood in the hall. The skeletal horde lay in pieces, and ahead, down the musty passage, a door waited, flanked by two torches burning a crimson flame.
At last.
At long last.
His heart soared as he hurried towards the waiting door, his senses straining for a hint of another trap. But no ghoul leapt out. No pit opened before him as he opened the door, and revealed the hidden chamber beyond.
Lanterns burned with tinted flames, illuminating the large room of hard stone pillars and the altar at the back. The stone slab rose out of the floor, engraved with strange markings that could have been script, or perhaps leering faces. Darkness hung heavy as black curtains, but all of that registered only dimly to Roderick when compared to the lovely woman resting on the altar.
She was utterly naked, and her body was as smooth and fair as if carved of ivory by some master sculptor. Her breasts were full and her lips soft, pouty and red. Her eyes were closed, her lovely face calm, framed by her golden hair.
Roderick's heart throbbed with love, but he approached with care. The succubus was known to hide her traps well, and he had no wish to spring one when so close to his beloved.
He reached the steps of the dais without incident, and couldn't hold himself back any longer. He surged up them, kneeling beside the lovely figure and gently lifting her by the shoulders.
"Katrina! Katrina, wake up!"
Her soft lashes fluttered open, and with sleepy eyes she looked at him. She opened them all the way with a gasp. "Roddy!" she cried.
He flushed at the nickname, but nodded. "It's me. Truly."
"Oh Roddy!" she cried, throwing her arms about him, hugging him tightly to her plump breasts. "I was afraid you'd never come!"
"Not all the hordes of hell could have kept me away," he said, returning her embrace. Gods but she was soft. Her hair was scented with lavender and filled his head with tingling.
"Oh Roddy, I knew you would. I was so frightened of being left all alone. Especially after the succubus... after she..."
Roderick pulled Katrina back, looking down at her with concern. "What? What happened? Did she do something to you?"
"I... I'm not sure, Roddy. I think she... she did something with my breasts."
Roderick's eyes were pulled magnetically to her magnificent bust as she cupped those firm orbs, the nipples hardened nubs of pink. Roderick swallowed thickly. "I... what did she do?"
"I... I'm not sure, Roddy. But she told me she would curse them. I haven't been able to discover what she's done. But maybe you could help me. You were always better at these things than I."
"I... that's true," Roderick said. "I've come against many forms of sorcery."
