A Scandal of a Magical Sort Ch. 08

"Stand back!" he said, holding up a long sword. Mels and Gallard obeyed, and with the way cleared, he swung at the rusty chains with a roar. They shattered against his blade, and Mels managed to catch her before she fell forward.

"Lady Evette?" he asked, trying to get her to respond. She picked up her head to look at Mels, studied his face, and grew a wicked smile. She tackled him to the ground as she ground her crotch against him.

"Oh, little prince!" She exclaimed as she rubbed her suddenly wet pussy against his cock. "I've enjoyed our little game, but unfortunately, you've lost." She silenced any protest by shoving her tongue down his throat.

"MELSIE!" Christi shouted as she grabbed Evette's left arm to get her off him, with Aylala taking the other side. They got the noble to stand on her feet, but she continued to thrust her pelvis at him. Mels remained on the floor, more confused than anything.

"Melyssi, are you alright?!" Aylala asked as she restrained the lady.

"Uh-huh," Mels said simply, as he lied still.

"Of course the lucky twat is fine!" Korogon said, letting slip of jealousy. "Question is what's wrong with Evette?"

Before anyone could answer, tendrils of rock erupted from the ground, quickly restraining the whole party, and forcing their weapons out of their hands. As they struggled to move even an inch their attention was drawn to the entrance to the room. Mels felt a wave of Corruption roll over him, and he found himself quickly becoming aroused. They saw a shapely nymphling cultist approach them, though she was not like the others. Her stone mask only covered her mouth, bearing a fanged smile with a long, slippery tongue. Her ribbons were interconnected along her fair-skinned body like a net, a flowing dress that brushed the floor, yet did nothing to cover her naughty bits. Her flowing black hair hung in front of her vicious eyes. Beside her were six massive cultists, holding onto scabbards containing their equally massive long swords.

"Oh silver mage, are you having trouble with Lady Evette?" she said in a smooth, sadistic voice, unapologetically sultry. The stone tendrils grasped at every inch of their body, gagging any response they might had. Meanwhile, Evette stood there with crazed eyes, tweaking her nipples and rubbing her pussy, loudly moaning.

"Priestess Glynna!" the lady shouted between her gasps. "Please! You promised me the prince! YOU PROMISED!"

The priestess chuckled in response and she snapped her fingers twice rapidly. Evette instantly fell limp into a deep sleep, but instead of hitting the ground, she fell into her own set of stone tentacles. They held up her sleeping body as they moved her beside Glynna, who gleefully traced her belly button.

"To answer your question, centaur, she has learned the truth," she said. "She now knows to let the true desires of her heart sing! You all should envy her freedom!"

Though Mels could barely move his head, he turned to the sound of nails against stone. He saw Aylala, eyes brimming with fury, scratching at her restraints, leaving traces of golden energy. He felt as wind once again pick up in the room, though it was much weaker than before, and the cultists remained unbothered. Glynna gestured towards her hulking guards, and five of them stepped forward, removing their swords from their scabbards. With another gesture, the whole party was forced to kneel forward, and the tendrils separated just enough to bare their necks. But also their mouths.

"Fear not, despite you're actions, I will present you a mercy," she said. "Pledge yourselves, and I promise the truth you will learn will become a beautiful voice in a dawning chorus!"

"Let Lady Evette go!"

"Let Melsie go!"

"You don't know what you're doing!"

"You don't want me to walk around nude."

"Go suck a dick, lady!"

Glynna simply chuckled at their responses. "It's always a pity to snuff a voice. But we can't allow you to interrupt us." With a nod to the guards, they each took a stance beside a party member, and the stone tendrils silenced them once more. She turned to walk out of the room with Lady Evette beside her.

As the guard beside Mels raised his blade, he looked at Christi and Aylala beside him. Christi's stalwart, silver eyes looked back at him, and despite being constrained, she strained to reach out to him. His executioner raised his sword as Mels reached back in turn, just enough to brush fingertips. He felt his heart filled with golden flame, and they smiled at one another.

When the sword was brought down, it passed through his neck without harm, as Mels' body was engulfed in flame once again, along with the stone tendrils. His would-be executioner, as well as the others, stepped back as Mels became a roaring fireball. Glynna turned back, and could only watch as Mels flew into the other guards knocking them down. He circled the room, picking up his sword, before flying straight at the priestess, but she waved her arm, willing more stone tentacles to cover the entrance. Mels emerged from the fire as he braced against the wall, weaving tightly together, too tight to pass through. Unable to find a way past, he turned back to the others still trapped.

"Well done, Melyssi!" Aylala exclaimed as he rushed to Christi's stone cage first. She smiled up at him with purple eyes as he began to summon forth holy fire once more.

"Look out!" Korgon warned, allowing Mels to block a guard's sword. He stepped back, sword in hand, seeing all five guards stand up wielding their swords. They approached like a pack of lions, as their ribbon clothing came to life, poised for attack. Mels could not deny he was scared, but brimming with determination, he took a stance and braced, as this sword came alight with golden flame. He would let them come to him.

After the guards took a few steps, however, they came to a stop suddenly, and strangely, four of them began to moan sensually. It was then that Mels noticed that those four were fully erect and leaking pre, and he lessened his stance in mild embarrassment. The four of them tried to lift his swords but were seemingly too aroused to do so as they moaned in pleasure, falling on their knees and masturbating. In a few moments, they came all at once, falling on their backs as their loads covered their crotch and the ground. Soon after they fell asleep, snoring pleasantly in their afterglow.

Needless to say, everyone was quite bewildered.

"What the fuck was that?" Christi said, stealing the words right out of everyone's mouths. In his confusion, Mels nearly forgot that one remained standing, and he braced with his sword yet again. The cultist responded by dropping his weapon and letting his ribbon clothing fall onto his body. He raised his hands, and Mels went to swing, but stopped as the cultist, instead of attacking, clapped twice. Somehow, this caused the stone cages of the rest of the group to crumble instantly. Watching the perplexing cultist they went to grab their respective weapons.

Mels, however, lowered his sword. "Do you want to help us?" he asked the strange guard, who remained still. "Did you want to leave the cult?"

The masked man said nothing but instead twirled in place and took a bow. Behind Mels the woven stone door crumbled to dust and pebbles, allowing them passage. Thoroughly confused, Mels took a few glances at the open passageway, then back at the still-bowing cultist.

"Who are you?" he asked, slowly stepping towards the strange man before being pulled back by Christi.

"We don't have time for thanks," Aylala stated. "We need to catch Glynna and Evette. They're going to perform the ritual!"

Mels was then snapped out of his confused state, and went with her and the rest of the party, who made their exit. He gave one final glance back into the room as they left, however, to see the strange man stand up straight. He brought a hand to his mask, and moved it down, just enough to reveal his mess of inky black curls. As well as glowing, purple eyes.

The man gave a sly wink as the group made their leave.

Mels could feel all sorts of questions bubble up in him, but he let them go as he focused on the chase. Being pulled by Christi, he met her eyes once more, and they exchanged knowing smiles as their body began to ignite and they began to run faster. Meanwhile, Korgon allowed Aylala and Gallard to climb onto his back as his upper half transformed into that of a jaguar.

"Straight ahead!" Gallard yelled as they all dashed forward. Moments later they came to another t-section and saw Glynna and Evette, now surrounded by a dozen-strong congregation. She looked back, eyes filled with anger.

With a flourish she weaved another stone wall in front of her, forcing the group to turn.

"Dammit!" Korgon shouted as they ran. "That bitch is obstinate!"

"We'll have to go the long way around!" Gallard stated, pulling out his maps. "I can guide us, but we have to move fast!"

"Say no more!" Aylala responded as she raised her staff above her head. Mels felt as the raging winds from before flowed through the halls of the Veins. Mels grew a knowing smile as he glomped onto Christi, causing them both to be enveloped in holy flame as they became a golden fireball once more. They quickly picked up speed as they rode the wind, and similarly, Korgon began to gallop just as quickly.

"FUCK YEAH!" he shouted over the winds. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING BUT KEEP DOING IT!"

At incredible speeds the group made haste through the Veins, being guided by mildly panicked Gallard, as he clutched onto his robes. Occasionally they would run into small groups of cultists attempting to attack them, but between the wind, Mels and Christi's fireball, and Korgon now swinging his warhammer, they weren't an issue.

However, the group began to hear rumbling come from the walls of the Veins. Not knowing what to expect, they were caught off guard as stone tendrils wove a new wall right in front of them

"SHIT!" Korgon yelped as he clawed at the ground to halt himself.

"WE'RE CLOSE, COME ON!" Gallard screeched. The group turned around and picked up speed once again, but now in addition to roaming cultists, they had to dodge stone tendrils as they attempted to block their path. They even began to shoot from the walls to grab at Korgon, but Mels and Christi would burst through them. In fact, the flames grew in ferocity and speed, and when they came up to another woven wall, they broke through in an explosion of golden fire.

"LETS FUCKING GO!" Korgon shouted, mirroring the whole party's elation. They all sped forward, quickly approaching a purple light. In seconds they were at the end of the hallway, and they all came to a screeching stop.

The whole party stood on a cliff looking down into a room as large as a castle courtyard. They were mystified by the sight of what seemed to be a frozen pool of tinged purple and pink light. Even more so by the dark shape of what appeared to be a giant closed eye underneath its surface. Ringed around the frozen purple lake was a congregation of cultists, sitting and singing with their arms raised above their heads. In the center, the party found their prize, priestess Glynna standing proudly with her arms outstretched to the ceiling, and the sleeping body of Lady Evette floated above.

The ceiling was engulfed in shadows, and floating in them were six purple eyes, large and misty watching over the gathered cultists. The Corruption here was immense, but the whole group stood tall.

"Are you all ready?" Aylala asked, staring straight ahead.

Mels unsheathed his sword with one hand and held on Christi's with another. The whole party followed suit.

"As I'll ever be," Mels said bravely.

"Let's end this," Christi said.

The party jumped down, their descent slowed by Aylala's wind, and landed before the congregation. Glynna stared at them, seemingly ready to rip out their throats with her teeth.

"SERMON'S OVER, LADY!" Korgon roared, now taking the form of a bear. They all rushed forward toward the priestess.

"STUBORN AS YE MIGHT BE," Glynna shouted in kind. "HIS WILL SHALL BE DONE!" Above her, the purple eyes glowed brighter, and her net-like dress undid itself. Like her fellow cultists, they floated around her poised to attack, but hers ignited into tendrils of purple flame. She chuckled darkly as they flew forward at the group.

Each member of the group was met with their own flaming ribbons and deflected them. Mels parried them with his flaming sword, encased in Christi's fiery form. They stabbed at him rabidly and he parried each one, but was being slowly pushed back as he did. Though he did not turn to see, he figured that the others struggled against the lashing, fiery whips. Beginning to worry they would not be able to advance, familiar strong winds picked up behind him, violent enough to blow back the ribbons.

Seeing an opening, Mels and Christi flew at Glynna as a fireball. Just as they reached her, she snapped toward them with vibrant purple eyes. Instead of hitting her, Mels found himself surrounded by darkness, Corruption enveloping every inch of his body. He tried to look around and find Christi but could see nothing but misty shadows.

With an echoing cackle, Mels and Christi were thrown back into reality, roughly bouncing against the ground. He managed to slow himself by stabbing into the ground, holding onto Christi.

"We can't touch her!" Christi yelled. "I think she's being protected by-"

She was interrupted by Korgon's lustful screams. Looking over they saw a limb of shadow stretch from the ceiling, picking up the centaur. They sensually rolled over his limbs and body, and his cock was hanging from his sheath as it produced a stream of pre cum. And from his moans, he seemed close to cumming.

Aylala attempted to call out to Korgon but was interrupted as the priestess's flaming ribbons flew at the remaining four of them. Mels was just barely able to deflect them, flinging Christi's fire at them.

"Entranced?" Glynna said with renewed sadistic glee. "You should be. The glory of Aggameth is truly a sight to behold!"

Four more shadowy tentacles reached down to the party. Mels and Christi prepared to push them pack with holy fire, but they felt themselves be pulled away just as the Aggameth's limbs crashed into the ground. Their waists were wrapped in Gallard's branches, and combined with Aylala's wind, they managed to weave and dodge the shadow tentacles and tried to grab them. Mels could hardly think, but he couldn't help but notice that they needed to go back on the offensive.

Just as he tried to grab onto Christi's hands, the two of them and Aylala were thrown onto the ground. Mels looked back to see that a cultist had stood up from the circle and used her ribbons to grab onto Gallard from behind. He broke out with his staff and tried to run, but it was too late, as a tentacle grabbed onto his leg. He was pulled up as more tentacles wrapped around him, and he started to moan in pleasure as well and drop his staff, a noticeable erection in his pants.

"YOU SHALL SUBMIT!" Glynna proclaimed. Even more shadowy tentacles rushed from the dark ceiling, heading straight for the trio. Mels took a stance to slash out at them, but just before they could reach they were beaten back by a wall of wind. He turned to see Aylala holding tightly onto his staff as it glowed brightly, conjuring a bubble of wind around him and Christi. More and more tentacles tried to penetrate the bubble, only to be deflected by the wind.

"What now?!" Christi asked as they were given a moment to think. As the tentacles continued to beat against Aylala's wind, Aylala groaned in pain, and the bubble shrank.

"We don't have much time!" Aylala managed. "The ritual is about to be complete! We only have one option left now!"

Mels' heart began to race as he looked up to the floating Evette. Shadowy limbs, identical to the ones trying to break through the bubble grabbed onto her. They slowly pulled her up to the bright purple eyes above them, and as they did, Mels felt the whole room begin to shake. A deep rumble sounded all around them. The shaking caused all of them to fall down onto each other, yet Aylala still managed to hold up the bubble even as it shrank even smaller, and the effort caused her to gasp painfully.

"Come close, please," she said weakly. Mels and Christi obeyed and came close to her face.

"Aylala," Mels said, his voice filled with worry.

"Don't worry Melyssi," she all but whispered. "Christine and I have one more lesson for you, involving Lady Evette. One that will save all of us."

Mels looked at both of their faces and noticed that Christi bore a cocky smile. For the first time in a while, he felt that he wasn't in sync with his lover, and despite everything, it both scared and excited him.

All he could do when she held out her hand was take it, and he did. They became a golden fireball once more, being taken up by Aylala's wind, but something felt different. Mels was suddenly aware of every inch of his body, and he felt just as solid as he did normally. The sensation felt awfully familiar and in the few precious seconds they had as shadows rained upon them, he realized it was how he felt when he was in Christi's mind.

At that moment, without really knowing why, he felt himself smile as he and Christi flew out of Aylala's bubble, effortlessly dodging through the shadows and straight towards Lady Evette. When they reached her, everything went white as Mels felt himself fall away from reality.

--

Mels opened his eyes as if waking from a dream, looking up to a bright blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds. Feeling the soft grass against his back he couldn't help but enjoy the view, feeling at peace and fully energized. He did not know how long he lay there, but eventually, he faintly remembered that he had been in a cave, deep underground trying to stop a demonic ritual. And that wherever he is, he must be there to stop it. Filled with resolve, he went to stand on his feet.

Only to realize that he was nude. Again.

Mels chuckled to himself and closed his eyes to focus. He managed to conjure pants for himself, and deciding it was enough, began to take in his surroundings. He stood in a grassy clearing, full of trees enclosing him on all sides. Looking into the forest, he tried to decide which direction he would head when his thoughts were interrupted by a quite faint sound coming from his right. He strained to listen in that direction, and he managed to hear it again. A woman's giggles. In fact, they sounded an awful lot like-

Christi!

He immediately headed into the forest towards the giggles. Despite the density of the greenery, he had no problem as he ran through the trees, and the giggles were becoming less and less faint. In a few moments, he approached the forest's edge and burst through the trees. He could only run a few more steps before he had to stop himself as he nearly fell into a lake. Taking a step back he looked out to see it wasn't a lake, but an enormous river, stretching out perfectly before him and moving so slowly that the water appeared to be still. On the opposite side he noticed that strangely, instead of more lush forests, he saw a field of dead trees, their bark a sickly gray. He wanted to question it but he heard Christi's giggles again, coming from the river.

He looked a little to his left to see a gazebo he somehow missed before, intricately designed and made of marble, sitting in the river's center. He walked along the shore long enough to hopefully be able to see inside of it. He was still quite far from it, but he was able to see through its gates and glimpsed what appeared to be two bodies on top of one another. Mels waited to hear a giggle but instead was met with something better.

Two women moaning and kissing.

With his curiosity peaking, he looked out into the water in front of him and, seeing that it was shallow, began to wade through the river towards the gazebo. His splashing through the water didn't seem to bother the two figures, which as he got closer, he began to realize were two women, one lying on top of the other.