The mundane and natural serpent is a fairly unremarkable creature. Her slit-pupil eyes, while striking, possess no particular power save to block sand and dust without closing. A transparent eyelid doesn't cut it in a variety of situations, but a standard viper or garter snake has no need for anything more fancy. And they are too stupid to resent that. Snakes are slow. Snakes are simple.
"Slow and simple," Limini cooed, stroking the lovely woman's cheek as her eyelids fluttered and little gasps slipped from her, "
slow and simple
."
"S-Slow," the lamia whimpered, and her transparent eyelids fluttered desperately. Her eyes were, to Limini's vision, blank white orbs. Her skin was a deep bronze, her black hair done up in elaborate hanging braids. 'Ssssimple..."
Limini smiled, pouring her magic into her victim. Down below, her left hand petted the lamia's flat tummy, rubbed over the loosening coils that even now held her in more of a feeble, needy grip than a tight constriction. Her hands tingled with power as the lamia's tail grew looser and looser, her lovely dark lips quivering with delight.
"Ain't that nice?" the bounty hunter purred, leaning in to plant a little kiss on the lamia's cheek. The fey whipered and nodded as her lips conveyed even more brainwashing power into her. "Ain't you a good li'l squirmy worm for Limini?"
"Uuuuh..." The lamia's head lolled. "Sssssquirmy..."
Limini loved this moment, when her prey finally gave in fully. It was almost as delicious as the moment where her prey started to repeat what she said, which had happened about five minutes ago. Once they were repeating what you said, it was all over. She only wished she could see the lamia's dreamy, glazed-over green eyes. But work before pleasure.
"Everything moves so quick 'round you, sugar," she purred, petting the lamia's hair, "an' you're just a dumb, slow, simple serpent! Poor li'l thing. All it takes is a sunbeam to get you turnin' to a soft, squishy mess."
In the shadows, the lamia stared at her, visibly shaking with effort of resisting.
Limini's grin widened as she slowly leaned forward, pushing them both out of the tree's shadow and back onto the boulder - and right into the sunlight.
The lamia sank back with a moaned, "Mmmessss..." and practically melted onto the hot stone. She blinked up at the human mindweaver, and any semblance of shame or fear had given way to pure adoration - and happiness that she had so underestimated her would-be plaything.
Limini lickled her lips.
That's two down.
She glanced up, tongue in her cheek, gauging the sun.
I've got four hours til sundown. The first one's rock'll be coolin' off in... maybe an hour after that. Time for one more.
Limini nodded and sat down on the boulder beside the sleepy, submissive beastfey, giving a slight smirk. She reached down and delicately stroked the lamia's cheek, admiring her elegant work. Many mindweavers just used the term 'mindweaving' as a catch-all, but Limini was an
artist
. The magic was strong enough to hold any victim tight, but delicate enough to be modified or removed for a new master. Someone would pay good money for this woman as a slave.
Some would call Limini a bad person, and many had tried to stop her over the years. But Limini was a Western Plains cowgirl, and a
former
employee of the Milky Baroness. Fey were just fey. They weren't really
people
. Besides, they all thanked her for this in the end. The slime girl bound in Limini's bottle at her hip begged to thank her every night.
And she was a professional. Nothing got in her way, and she didn't have any weaknesses to exploit like others in the business. This was no time to play, tempting as this sundrunk snakegirl was.
"Tell me, little worm," she said softly, continuing to stroke the lamia's cheek as she whimpered and whined. "Who else is in this forest? Any other lovely snakes like you in the area?"
"Um..." Seyvia blinked rapidly, her eyes half-closed as the warm sun shone down upon her. Her green scales glittered beautifully. "I... uh-huh..."
"Good girl," Limini encouraged, sending sweet little pulses of pleasure into her captive. "You're being very good. Where are they?"
Seyvia hesitated, and guessing she was struggling with the idea of betraying her friends, Limini cheated a little with her other hand, playing with her breasts.
"W... waterfall..." the lamia cried, her voice distant. "She's... g-gopher snake..."
"
Gooood
," Limini encouraged, though she already knew about that one. Poor Tenifer was basking on the waterfall shore right now, eagerly awaiting Limini's return. "Who else?"
Seyvia hesitated again. Limini flicked and pinched her nipples, savoring her little squeaks, happily tormenting her until she whispered, "Th-thicket. Rose thicket. East. But - "
"Gooooooood," Limini sang, and poured even more lovely sensation into the shaking serpentwoman. "Good girl. Is she a mage like Tenifer was?"
"N-No..." Seyvia mumbled, her voice hoarse with excitement. "But... she's, um... you can't... m-mustn't..."
Limini was getting seriously turned on, and she decided it was time to cut this short before she got carreied away. "Silly girl," she breathed, stoking Seyvia's hair. "Don't worry. I won't hurt your friend."
"But she's - "
"You'll be together again soon," Limini cooed, leaning close. "You're gonna sleep now, alright, sugar?"
"Buh... but..." Seyvia's eyelids were drifting closed as Limini admired those wide, pale eyes. "Sh-She's not... not..."
"Shh. Be a good girl. Take your goodnight kiss." Limini pressed her lips to Seyvia's and poured in one last flow of sleepy bliss, moaning against her.
Seyvia's moan slowly trickled into soft whines, then tiny sounds, then nothing. She went limp, her eyes closing at last.
Limini puled back and smirked, leaping to her feet. She turned to a nearby tree and started taking back down her equipment and clothes.
Two down. One to go.
~ ~ ~ ~
Limini almost skipped through the sunny Maple Wood as she sought out the meadow. Things were going well. Ever since the close call with the slime girls a month ago - it was a month, right? - she'd been a lot more cautious in her captures. She didn't want any more near misses. The Pale Eye Pendant she wore around her neck hadn't been cheap, but up against lamias... well, Limini could resist a lamia, but she was done with silly risks.
Wearing the Pendant, Limini literally couldn't see eyes - not even her own in a mirror. All eyes appeared as blank white orbs, like reality was a collage and she'd cut holes everywhere. Creepy, but effective at preventing hypnosis.
She'd installed another precaution, at her ex-employer's light suggestion. She couldn't quite recall visiting the Milky Baroness since the slime girls, so she supposed this was old advice. She'd placed in her own brain a self-trigger around the words "good girl", which would automatically cause her magic to give her a bit of a jolt whenever someone else said the words. It was unpleasant. Like vertigo. And triggers were sort of a problem for some, since they created a light toll on the caster's mind, but she was careful to refresh the spell regularly so it didn't overtax her. And it was worth it to eliminate that risk.
The grass shone like emeralds up ahead, and Limini guessed that this was the clearing. She grinned as she entered, admiring the view.
The Maple Wood was known for three things: Its maple syrup slime girls, which she had carefully avoided, its lamias, and its sugar glider girls. The woman lying in the center of the verdant, glimmering glen had big, pointed ears and a long, fluffy gray tail. Her eyes were large and white, with mask-like markings around them. Her tongue lolled out as she lay back and wriggled, mouth open to receive the dripping sap from a tap nailed into a branch high above.
Limini smirked and strolled in. This was the lamia's pet, no doubt, kept in line with sugar and spirals and everything nice. Sugar gliderfolk were infamously weak for all kinds of sugar, even maple sap straight from the trees. Left alone, they could brew that stuff into potent concoctions to secure equally sugary playmates - but who could leave such a pretty thing alone?
"Hey, there, sugar," she said, giggling slightly as she reached down and stroked the glidergirl's soft, silky hair. "Where's your missus?"
"Uh... ah... gah..." The glidergirl clearly couldn't speak. She just whimpered, eagerly receiving the sap from above. She was a mess from it, her whole buxom form dripping with sap that had missed the mark - her cheeks and breasts were particularly messy.
Limini chuckled and let the beastfey go, rising to her feet. Maybe later. Glidergirls weren't as high on her priorities, though it would have been nice to get a look at those no-doubt glazed, spiraling eyes...
Hearing a soft impact, Limini turned around. Behind her had dropped a length of crimson serpentine coil. The scales glistened and almost glowed in the sunlight.
She heard another soft impact, and adjusted her hat as she noticed the coils slowly spilling around her. They were particularly long - she'd never seen a lamia quite that size before. "Well, there you are."
There was one last impact, and she turned with a knowing grin as a truly lovely creature descended to the ground between her and the glidergirl. The lamia had a very large mouth, and pillowy, kissable lips that would make a milk kitten jealous. Her skin was a pale coral-red. She had a lovely round face, a cute button nose, and a ripe, buxom form. Her wide hips gave way to long, serpentine scales which shimmered a deep fire brick-red.
"Hi there," the serpent woman purred, her enormous eyes a perfect blank white as she smiled back at Limini. Her coils started to slither around her, drawing closer and closer. "A
pleassssure
to meet you."
Limini licked her lips. "Oh, the pleasure's
all
mine."
~ ~ ~ ~
"Well, then," the serpentwoman said, her voice sibilant and sweet as pouring sugar. "What have we
here?"
She wound around Limini almost faster than she could react. The coils drew tighter. "A
cowgirl
, is it?" She laughed, the tip of her tail flicking her hat down over her eyes.
Limini reached up and adjusted her hat, biting her lip. She tried to make a show of stammering. "I-I, um... Limini. My name's Limini, I mean."
"
Limini
." The creature pronounced the name with such attention, it might as well have been orgasmic. "My name is
Celessste
." She fluttered her eyelashes, leaning in slightly, giving Limini a nice, inescapable view of eyes that probably would have been a little overwhelming if she could see them. "What
bringsss
you to my humble home?"
Limini blinked rapidly, allowing a fake glaze to enter her eyes. She swallowed. "I... I don't, um..." She could feel the coils slipping over her feet, slowly sliding up her ankles. They were very warm - had this lamia been sunning herself? They had an almost vibrant quality to them, like the lamia was purring, and felt very soft and gentle as they slipped over her knees. "... remember?" she whimpered.
"Aw." Celeste tutted, shaking her head. Limini made sure to move her own head in time with Celeste's. It was the little details that sold it. "
Sssilly
girl. You don't remember why you're here?"
"Um." Limini tried to look uncertain as she slipped her mind outward, testing Celeste's mental defenses with the gentlest of touches. A genuine look of uncertainty struck her, though, as she made contact.
Most mortal mental defenses felt like walls, or fences - solid barriers she had to punch through or slip between. Most fey mental defenses felt like hedges, forests, or vines - shifting and living barriers that would recover quickly and catch her up if Limini didn't carefully root them out.
But Celeste's mind felt like fire. Trying to establish mental contact was like trying to reach into a fire for a burning log - panicky and intense, almost painful. She pulled back quickly with a whimper.
Celeste didn't seem to have noticed. She continued to slowly wind around her, grinning as the coils got tighter and tighter, slowly climbing up her legs, riding up her short skirt. She wasn't a lamia at all. She was a fiend - some kind that Limini didn't know about. Her heartrate quickened.
And Celeste seemed to feel that and misinterpret it, because she cooed in sympathy. "Aw, don't worry,
Limini
." She stroked her head, not unlike how Limini had stroked the glider's a moment ago. "I'm sure we can remember together, can't we?"
"Uh... y-yes." Limini was off-balance now, but she recovered quickly. Those gleaming white orbs still dominated her gaze, and as long as they did that, it meant she still thought Limini was hypnotized. She swayed slightly - returning to Celeste's gentle rhythm - and reached her magic through those coils again. "Together..."
She wasn't really listening. She was checking this fire. Limini had caught lust sprites before, and to be sure, their defenses were nothing like this - more like a ring of torches you could step between than a blaze - but the same principles applied. She circled around Celeste's mind even as she slowly rotated, feeling a little dizzy as she kept pace. It wasn't a log in the center of the blaze. Behind the fire, Celeste's will was soft, malleable, like a piece of maple candy. She licked her lips. She just had to be slow and gentle, gradually work her way in.
