Dagger and Crystal

* * * *

Finding the clearing with the old oak wasn't difficult. Behind me, the orc camp was full of roars and the noise of furious combat as the orcs tried to fill the power vacuum the death of their chieftain and the disappearance of their shaman had left. Before me, to the east, the first faint signs of dawn were visible.

Xandrith sat on a root of the gnarled, leafless tree, completely unharmed. When I stepped into the clearing, she looked up, a slow smile spreading on her lips.

"All done?" She nimbly rose off the root and stretched. "That was an exhilarating night but it won't change the fact you owe me. The two of us will have so much fun together."

I doubted it, especially after seeing the mad glint in her eyes. "Let's talk about things owed. How about you finally tell me what you want with me?"

Xandrith turned her back on me and walked away, heading for the eastern edge of the clearing. "All in good time, my dear Declan, all in good time."

* * * *

We walked for days, heading to the northeast. Xandrith didn't talk much, brushing aside all my attempts at conversation. When I was too tired to go on, we rested, with her standing guard through the night. Come to think of it, she never slept, she never ate. I already knew she was more than just an ordinary drow woman but what exactly was she? Did she summon that huge creature?

After a week of quiet walking, she stopped in front of a cave entrance.

"We'll rest here for today. Tomorrow, our paths will separate," Xandrith said, stepping into the cave. I followed her once my eyes had adjusted to the near-complete darkness. Xandrith rummaged in an alcove to the side, muttering to herself. A moment later, a fire erupted and I could make out my surroundings much clearer. This was no ordinary cave. Far from it. Every inch of wall surface had been lavishly decorated with intricate carvings. They depicted slender, elf-like figures engaged in acts of wanton cruelty and debauchery, often presided over by ones with eight legs growing out of their backs. There was spider imagery everywhere, from stylized spiders hugging sections of the wall carvings to spiderweb patterns. The midst of the cave held an ancient, rectangular stone block, buffed to a dull sheen by millennia of use. The center was stained dark.

"This is a shrine to the Chaos Queen," I unnecessarily observed. Cold dread ran down my spine.

"And here, all your questions shall be answered," Xandrith said. "Relax. I don't want to sacrifice you. Come." She pulled me to an archway hidden in one of the many alcoves of the cave and through a short tunnel. The next, much smaller cave was lit by luminescent fungi growing on the walls and ceiling, bathing the cave in an otherworldly, teal glow. The floor was relatively even and held a shallow pool, which was fed by a small waterfall coming down the far wall. Xandrith walked over to a small, ornate chest. She pulled several items from it. Towels, blankets, cushions and a few phials and tins.

"Strip," she ordered, placing down the tins and phials. Then she shook out the large blanket and placed the towels onto it.

"What for?"

"Let me explain. You will get your answers. After I have collected my due. And I don't want you sweaty and reeking. So, please remove your clothing and step into the water. I shall join you momentarily."

"You want-"

Xandrith, sliding clothing off her body, looked up. "What? Did you think I would ask you for a nice 'thank you' and take some gold and be gone? You didn't seem to have any trouble bedding a stinking half-orc so being able to lay with me shouldn't be any trouble at all. Or am I not appealing to you?" She caressed down her body, over her small, firm breasts, her flat stomach, down to her hairless mound. My mouth went dry. She was beautiful, in the same way sunlight reflecting off a shattered mirror might be beautiful. Without any further hesitation, I pulled off my clothes.

She came closer, her intense eyes boring into mine. "And if you don't want to... well, I can make you. Do you know what a Blood Oath is?"

I shook my head. "No."

"You really have much to learn about our kind, Declan," she purred, her hand closing around my manhood. She pulled, surprisingly gently, until we both stood in the knee-deep water.

"A Blood Oath is usually invoked between a Priestess and a subservient but untrustworthy male. Should the male harm the Priestess, he would sustain the same kind of pain. There are other benefits too. The Priestess can see and hear everything going on around said male. That's how I knew about you and that brutish woman you seem to adore so much." She made a face. "I know a few other tricks with said Blood Oath. Watch." She squatted down into the pool and scooped a few handfuls of water over her body. I shivered. It was as if she was pouring the water over me. Still looking into my eyes, she sat down and spread her legs, caressing slowly over her thighs. Goosebumps exploded on my skin as unseen fingertips mirrored her movements on my legs. Her smile widened as she caressed her slit, slowly, until her fingertip circled her slightly protruding clitoris. My member, painfully hard, throbbed as I experienced the circling sensation just below the tip.

"Once you've had me, you will tell me everything?" I asked her. I tried to use the cool water to calm my raging erection down, but it didn't let up. Xandrith, slowly playing with herself in front of me, beamed brightly.

"Yes, that's our deal. By the blood that binds us. Come now, I won't bite. Soap's in that octagonal tin. Get it for me, will you?"

Sighing, I stepped from the pool. I'd gone a mere two steps when my legs suddenly gave and it felt like a fist was closing around me, hungrily pumping my rod. I shot an angry look over my shoulder, only to see Xandrith, head tossed back, moaning as she drove two fingers deep into herself.

Wincing at the pain in my knees, I fetched the soap and returned to the pool. Grinning, Xandrith stood up and spread her arms to the side. "Me first, please. And keep your dick to yourself for the moment."

She turned her back to me. I opened the tin and rejoined her. The soap inside was a thick purple paste, scented with a strong, unfamiliar aroma, like a sunless garden full of forbidden flowers. I scooped up some of it, rubbed it in my hands and soaped up her back.

"It's always nicest when someone else does it," Xandrith purred, pushing out her ass. "Make me feel good."

I had a snarky remark on my tongue but the force of her order made me swallow it. I scooped up more soap and lovingly kneaded it into her smooth skin. She sighed appreciatively and spread her legs invitingly. "There too." More a whisper than an order but refusing wasn't an option for me. I lathered up my hands and slid them slowly, tenderly between her thighs. She ground her sex into my hands, her sighs turning into moans. Her hands joined mine, guiding my fingers in a thinly veiled semblance of washing her nether regions.

"Now my front," she gasped. I scooped more of that fragrant soap and lathered up her shoulders. She melted against me, trapping my rampant hardness between her butt cheeks and placed both hands on her breasts, her erect nipples poking into my palms. I was surprised at my own enthusiasm as I happily kneaded them.

"I knew you'd come around," Xandrith gasped, her butt grinding hungrily against me. "Bite me," she snapped, tilting her head to the side.

"What?"

"I know you want to."

I bent low, my lips caressing the soft spot between her neck and shoulder. Her hand snaked between us and clasped my rod, pumping it vigorously.

"I said 'bite' not 'lick' or 'kiss,'" she hissed. Without warning, she dug her fingernails into me, the pain arcing through my dick straight up into my brain. Growling, I dug my teeth into her skin. She tossed her head back and wailed, a strange, joyous exultation.

"Now you," she said, freeing herself from my reverse embrace. "Turn around."

I did as she ordered, turning my back to her. Sighing, she snuggled against me for a moment, her soaped-up hands caressing down my lean body, her fingertips bouncing off every rib. Her hands, leaving foamy trails, converged on my manhood. One closed again around the shaft, pumping, caressing, the other closed around my balls, cupping and squeezing them.

"You like that, huh? It makes you feel so good, huh? Wait what else I have in store for you, sweetling." I heard her grunt, a sound so utterly out of place in this situation, then there was cool air instead of her hot, soapy body against my back. Her hands were gone too. I wanted to turn around, see what had happened, but I couldn't. Eight limbs held me in place, sharp, hooked claws dug into my skin, held me rigid. Fighting against them would incur untold amounts of pain, torn skin, ripped flesh. All of that I knew in an instant.

"Shhh, it's all right. I won't hurt you. Much," came her voice. Then her hands were back, generously coated with soap. The hands slipped between my butt cheeks.

"What are you doing?" I hissed between clenched teeth.

"Making sure you are all clean and wet," she murmured. Then a little peal of laughter as her thumb slipped into my anus. "Oh, so tight. This will be fun." The top four appendages pushed down and I bent forwards, until I was on hands and knees in the pool. All the while Xandrith had her thumb up my ass, pumping it in and out. I tried to crawl away, wriggle free, do anything to get away from her, but she just held me tighter with these horrendous spider legs, cutting deep into my skin.

"Stop! That's not funny any more," I spat. I tried to turn my head, see what was happening behind me, but two of her spider legs came up and held my head. If I didn't want to lose my ears or eyes, I had to stare ahead. And suddenly there was this sensation between my butt cheeks, large, bulbous, soft and firm at the same time.

"This will be so nice. For me at least," Xandrith chuckled. "You'd better relax if you want to enjoy it too."

"What if I don't?" I snapped.

"I'll take what you owe me, one way or another. Your comfort is only of minor concern to me." Her hand closed again around my rod, caressing it. "But I'm told once the initial pain has subsided, even males love it this way."

She shoved, slowly, inexorably, and the ...thing entered me. I wailed this time as my anus was stretched to breaking point and beyond and ...it entered me, long, thick, throbbing. I redoubled my efforts to get away from her. Her spider legs dug deep, scraping over my shoulder blades. Warm blood pumped from the gashes and seeped over my skin. For all the pain, all the trouble, I accomplished absolutely nothing.

Xandrith gasped and moaned, enjoying herself very much while I tried my best not to lose consciousness at her merciless intrusion. It felt utterly alien, being invaded by that monstrous phallus. And I realized she had been lying all along. The pain didn't relent, it didn't get better. She laughed as she fucked me, long, hard strokes which felt as if her tip would burst through my mouth any moment. Occasionally, she would reach between my legs, fondle me, but there was no lust left, only humiliation and agony. I whimpered with every gut-wrenching, ass-splitting thrust. Hot blood seeped from the gash, trickling over my balls. Her hands roamed over my butt cheeks, between my legs, spreading the sticky liquid. Her gentle caresses were a sick contrast to the monster cock tearing up my insides. Now I desperately wanted to faint, to end the suffering. Barring that, I hoped I could submerge my head in the pool, drown myself, but her spider legs held me up as she raped me for what felt like hours. Days. Then, without warning, she screamed and pulled out. A hot cascade of liquid poured over me, sticking in my hair, slapping onto my back in long, hot ribbons, pooling in the crack of my butt and seeping over my balls, until it spattered into the pool in thick, fetid globs.

Xandrith panted, her hands making obscene wet sounds on her monstrous cock as she pumped it, blasting shot after shot of hot, stinking liquid onto me.

I sagged into the pool, tried to crawl away from her. She walked around the pool and bent low, digging her hands into my caked hair.

"Look at me, Declan," she ordered. I forced my eyes to look up and I saw what she really was. Growing from her back were eight long, slender spider legs, each tipped with a curved, blood-dripping claw. Her body was much larger than I had remembered her, easily standing ten feet tall, and between her thighs hung a bloodstained cock, almost as long as my arm and nearly as thick, still dripping gobs of infernal cum.

"You know, your mother took it much better than you. She even moaned as I fucked her."

"My- mother?"

Four of her spider legs picked me up and she carried me to where the blanket was. Almost gently, she put me down and knelt by my side.

"I know your mother. I was there when you were made. In fact, I helped. A lot."

"I don't understand... You- you're a Handmaiden, aren't you?"

"Oh yes. A Handmaiden." She smiled at me, the terrible smile of a demoness. Then she grabbed her monstrous cock and fed it to me. I tried to bite it, but my jaws couldn't work against its enormous circumference.

"Messenger and enforcer of the Chaos Queen," she murmured, over my helpless gagging. She tasted horrible, bitter, coppery, sour and like the soap she so generously had applied onto the both of us, the mixture of flavors retch-inducing.

She breathed heavier as she slowly fucked my mouth, barely getting the tip past my lips. She shuddered as she came, drowning me in another squall of her horrendous cum.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself. You have such a delicious mouth and you remind me of both your parents," she sighed. I rolled onto one shoulder, away from her, and retched, vomiting out that infernal, viscous fluid.

"Go away," I groaned. Everything hurt. My face, my ass and everything in between, where her sharp claws had cut me.

"But you'd miss out on such a delicious tale." One of her spider claws turned me back to face her. Another joined it, keeping my head from moving.

"Yours is a tale of two noble Houses, dear Declan. The drow house in question, House Quor'zel, a minor house in the city of Kil'Erva, and House Elbharyl, ruling House of the Elven kingdom of Sunleaf."

I snorted. "Don't tell me a prince of one and a princess of the other fell in love."

Xandrith's laughter tinkled off the walls of the cave. "Of course not. Mortal enemies they were. Whenever the drow came to the Surface, House Elbharyl mercilessly hunted them down. They took their role as protectors of their kind very seriously. Until one fateful day, two-hundred and two years ago. House Quor'zel had managed to secure the aid of a large mercenary group. Also, House Elbharyl had to deal with other matters, scattering their troops throughout their holding. Mustering her forces, Matron Quor'zel decided to deal with her arch-nemesis once and for all. A bold raid they executed, directly attacking the ancestral Hall of the Speakers and vanquishing the remaining defenders in a glorious display of magic and steel. In keeping with Drow tradition, they slew every single member of the royal Household, except for one. The youngest princess, Shilana, was spared. To serve as an example to all the other Elven Houses who thought of resisting the might of the Chaos Queen."

"They fed her and clothed her and sent her on her way?" I weakly asked.

"No. Every member of the war band who fancied it was allowed to plow her, which they gleefully did. One of those who had their way with the princess was the daughter of Matron Quor'zel, a young priestess by the name of Hael'quira. She was a paragon of the Queen's faith, a glorious beacon of malice. She decided to treat Shilana with the Queen's Favor. Have you heard of it?"

I shook my head. "You already said it. I know very little of your faith. And I don't want to."

"But this is very important. As you might know, all women of Elf blood have a rather hard time to bear children. In a society like the drow, where every daughter is a possible priestess, and thus another conduit to the Chaos Queen, being able to birth many daughters is an invaluable asset. Some ingenious priestesses developed the Queen's Favor, a ritual which makes the recipient very fertile for a few hours. It involves a Handmaiden preparing the recipient, and I was there. It was delicious. Shilana was such a tender beauty, even after a few dozen Drow had their way with her." She licked her lips, her hands absentmindedly playing with her monstrous cock.

"I don't understand. What would this ...Hael'quira gain from doing so?"

"Apart from watching your hated enemy be fucked by a Handmaiden, which, as I have seen, is very stimulating for certain people?"

My stomach heaved. "Yes, apart from that."

"Hael'quira had decided to immortalize that special night by gifting Shilana with a souvenir of their meeting. A child."

"But... how? That Hael'quira is a woman too, right?"

"With magic, my dear Declan, such trivialities as gender are meaningless. Hael'quira used a special spell to change the relevant parts of her, so she could seed Shilana after I prepared her sufficiently."

Comprehension loomed, like a black, gigantic tidal wave poised to raze the coastline. "And I..."

Xandrith's smile was radiant. "Yes. You are that child, Declan."

She rolled me onto my stomach and grabbed my hips with her elven hands.

"No! Stop!" I whimpered, much too drained to put up much of a fight. "Didn't you humiliate me enough?"

Her lips brushed my butt cheek, long tongue licking at the flesh. "No."

Then the tip of her cock was back, a bulbous harbinger of agony, circling the obscenely gaping ruin of my anus. She spat, the hot wetness landing between my cheeks. It slowly seeped into the crack and she massaged it into me with the tip of her cock.

"Your mother killed Hael'quira, Declan. Everything from now on is her fault."

She pushed. And she didn't stop, even after I fainted from the pain.

* * * *

I came to. My body hurt in unimaginable ways. I was naked and face down, on something very hard. For the longest time, I just laid there. Where I found the strength to open my eyes, I didn't know. The altar. Of course. She had dumped me on the altar, as a none-too-subtle reminder of what could have happened. Only, I wasn't dead. The dead couldn't be in this much pain. Directly in front of me, I saw two items. A piece of parchment, held in place by a small metal flask, chased with the eight-legged spider symbol of the Chaos Queen.

I struggled until I could inch my hand forward. The shaking appendage nearly knocked the bottle off the altar. It skidded across the smooth stone surface and stopped, teetering on the edge. I fumbled the parchment close to my face and read. In elegant, curved lettering, Xandrith had left some parting words.

Declan dearest,

Thank you for a wonderful night. I think the both of us will never forget what happened here. Too bad you fell unconscious before I could impart the final bits of crucial information. Your mother, Shilana Elbharyl, lives in Storm Harbour. From all I know, she leads a happy life, with a wonderful husband.

If you'd like to know what happened after that night with Hael'quira, I suggest you go and visit her. Ask her why she dumped you in that godforsaken hayloft.

Love always,

Xandrith

P.S. If you're reading this, you're not dead. Use the healing potion I left you. It's no poison. Would I ever lie to you?

My hands scrabbled for the potion. I managed to drag it close to my face by the fourth try, my fingers were that weak. How I managed to get the stopper out will be a mystery to my dying day but eventually the bitter liquid trickled into my mouth. To be honest, I really didn't care if it was a healing draught or poison, I wanted the pain to stop either way.