Darkly Descending

Lord Cyprian was quite intrigued when his men dragged the girl from her hiding place in the dungeons, not least because he'd been expecting someone else altogether. Unless his renegade apprentice had turned into a curvaceous, raven-haired maiden since he'd last looked (a spell far beyond his ability to cast,) it seemed an attractive intruder had been the one to go about the castle, destroying his machines and gathering up his journals. Her garments were odd as well; although he could recognize what she wore as a nightgown, it was a startlingly flimsy thing, very nearly see-through, and clung to her frame like no fabric he'd ever seen.It was certainly rare for pretty girls to break into his dungeons, but who was he to object to such a thing?

"No!" she shouted. "This is all a mistake! I'm not supposed to be here!" The guard dragging her by the hair laughed, baring the fangs he'd grown after Cyprian had worked his magic, The other, whose curse took the form of stubby ram horns, held her arms behind her back and nuzzled the side of her neck. The girl squirmed and struggled, but for all the merry chase she'd given them through the castle, her physical strength was not much to speak of.

"My lord!" said the fanged guard. "We caught this pretty little pest scurrying about your cellar. Shall we take her to your laboratory, or may we have a bit of fun with her first?" The girl picked up her struggles at this, and the guard pulled her hair tighter in response. She might have struggled even more if she had known what befell the victims of Cyprian's experiments in his laboratory.

Or did she already know? If she was the one who had been hiding in the halls, just what had she seen and done?

"Perhaps later," he said. "Your sort of fun is rather pedestrian to share with an honored guest. Show her to me, and I shall decide what I want from her."

"Please!" the girl said, as they brought her closer. "Lord Cyprian! Please, I'm not supposed to be here! It's your apprentice, Thomas! He lost his memory and was following all the clues through the castle. I was leading him- no, wait, I wasn't leading him, I wasn't helping him! I'm not from here, this is all a game, this isn't supposed to be real!"

So she knew the names Cyprian and Thomas, and she knew he had stolen the fool's memories. That was troublesome, but intriguing all the same. He looked her over appreciatively, enjoying the fear in her eyes. Yes, this evening's catch would be far more entertaining than dealing with some traitorous minion.

"You solved the puzzle of stone and iron?" he asked. She nodded, then continued babbling nonsense about playing a game, which he cut off with a casual slap across her face. "You are very clever, my sweet," he said. "A shame I shan't be using you for your mind."

Cyprian reached out and appraisingly hefted a breast through her white nightgown. The girl squeaked in shock, and her evident fright increased when he gave her an appreciative squeeze. His curse-touched men cackled as he ran his hands over her body, patting her shapely hips and gripping her soft thighs. Once, when he still ventured into public life, women had blushed and giggled over his handsome, angular face and white-blonde hair; no reaction from a flirtatious lady had been nearly as satisfying as this poor maiden's alarm.

"No," she said, "you don't understand, I'm from another world!"

That caught his attention! Could she be from his lost world of Carcosa, from which he'd fled as a fugitive so long ago? Now that his sorcerous experiments had allowed him to grow his own army of curse-touched beast-men with which to conquer his old home, he had been searching for a way back- but without the black star amulet that allowed planetary travel, his search had been fruitless. Could this girl be a Carcosan, who could tell him how his planet fared? Unlikely, he knew. Still, the possibility made her even more intriguing.

"Indeed? And how did you find yourself in a foreign castle in a foreign world, then?" Cyprian continued to grope her as he spoke, earning snickers from his beast-men.

"I was playing a game," she said, though she was having trouble keeping her voice steady as he pinched her nipples through the nightgown. "It was telling a story about this castle, and a man named Thomas who had lost his memory. He started to remember bad things he had done, and then he had to solve a puzzle- I mean, I had to solve the puzzle- and then I was here!"

"You solved it yourself, though?" he asked, now stroking a strand of hair away from her face.

"Of course I solved it myself! I don't read walkthroughs for the Blackout games. You've got to experience a horror game in a state of vulnerability!"

"You certainly succeeded there, my sweet" said Cyprian with a smile. All at once, he dug his nails into the top of her nightgown and ripped it open from neckline to waist. The girl twisted and shrieked, and the horned guard holding her reached one hand around to abuse her large bare breasts. Cyprian intended to do so himself- until he saw something nestled in her cleavage that could arrest even his lust.

"The Black Star Amulet..." he said. "I have spent my life searching for such a thing, and it comes delivered to me in my very own castle."

"It's just merch!" the girl cried out. "It's not even official, it's fanmade! I got it off etsy! It wasn't even based on this game, it was from the first in the series!"

"And yet it brought you here. Do you know how rare it is for someone to be able to use it? I had not thought to find another user in a hundred years, still less that they would make for such a comely bedwarmer."

Cyprian ripped the amulet from the girl's neck, and for the first time in centuries he felt the chill of its magic power, the same magic power that had brought him to this world. So many had died because he had wanted to find it again, and he had thought that once he found it, he would go home once more. What nonsense! He saw now how foolish he had been. There were worlds beyond any he knew, and now that he knew the amulet could move between any two of them, there was no need to abandon one for another. He could maintain his center of power in the castle, make a quick stop in his home land for the magical gear he had tried and failed to replicate, raid the girl's home world for sacrifices and concubines, and jump away from any powers that tried to stop him before they could catch up.

"My first conquest of this new universe," he said, and kissed her. She squirmed in his arms, but didn't move away from the kiss. "What is your name, dear one?"

"Janey," she said in a small whisper.

"Janey. Not much of a name for my bride by capture, but it will do."

"Bride?" the girl asked softly. Was it hope or fear he heard in her quivering voice?

"Should I hold out hope for another woman who traveled across universes just to offer me her-" he grabbed at her backside- "ample charms?"

Janey tried to slap him at that, one of the most foolish things she could have done. He twisted her arm in one swift motion, then dragged her over to a wall with tools conveniently hung upon it. If she was going to make a nuisance of herself with her hands, that was easily taken care of. He pulled down a small wooden stock and had her wrists within it before she had time to know what was going on.

"And now, my love," Cyprian said, "for your wedding ring!"

He closed the wrist stocks around her arms with a satisfying click, and the lock fixed it in place. Now that she could no longer struggle, he pressed his hands down between her legs; as he had hoped, she was readier for him than she would have cared to admit.

"Not only a lovely bride, but an eager one!" Cyprian mocked.

"I really like your voice actor..." was Janey's nonsensical reply. Whatever it was that she liked, at least it would make things easier.

It might have been more satisfying to tie her down on a table in his laboratory, show her every instrument of torture one by one, paint lines on her body, and make her beg him to rape her instead of whatever else he might have planned. Still, Cyprian thought as he shoved himself into her, there was something to be said for the brutal spontaneity of immediate conquest.

He hadn't thought to ask if she was a virgin, but she certainly shrieked like one. His men whistled and mocked her cries, and the sound speeded him onwards. How long had it been, he wondered as he fucked her, since he'd had the leisure to truly enjoy a captive? His experiments on the human body had grown increasingly desperate, but now he could feel uncomplicated pleasure with his beautiful victim. When she turned her head away from him, he gave another harsh thrust and pulled on her hair, jerking her back and forcing her to look him in the eye.

"You're a fine fuck, my sweet," Cyprian said to her between grunts. She moaned in response- and it wasn't an entirely despairing moan, he noticed. What would she do when he tied her up in ribbons and velvet cord and kept her on a leash beside him, so that he could help himself to her whenever the mood struck him? Would she climax on the spot, or would he have to force it out of her with hands and tools?

Janey's wrist stocks pressed up against Cyprian, but could do nothing to stop him reaching his own climax.

Next time, Cyprian thought as he caught his breath, he would take longer. There were many instruments that could be used to torment a woman with barely any physical damage at all, and he would enjoy the experimentation she offered. For the time being, the poor girl shivered naked upon the ground, and the sight was almost enough to move Cyprian to pity- not for her ravishment, but for her dignity.

"We'll have to clean you up and find some new clothes for you," he said. "I suspect you'll make for a pretty sight in a collar and a corset, curled up in a real bed. It's the least I can offer to a bride who gave me the Black Star Amulet as a dowry."

"You could have taken me to a real bed first," she said. Cyprian appreciated that she still had enough spirit to complain- it would make the rest of their companionship so much more interesting.

"It was an unconventional wedding night, perhaps, but enjoyable all the same. And," he said, feeling generous, "I hope you will not object to any liberties my groomsmen take tonight. It is a celebration, after all."

Janey screamed as the meaning of his words sank in, and the men fell upon her.