Drow's Dilemma Ep. 150: Solar

Author's Note:

A Drow's Dilemma began as a one-on-one roleplaying project and has been converted into a chapter-by-chapter format for weekly posting with the permission and assistance from my partner. It will contain a considerable amount of sexual themes such as femdom, lesbian, straight, 'reverse' rape, BDSM, group sex, romance, and other themes. The main goal of the story, however, is to tell an epic tale of adventures, gods and goddesses, fae, and nymphomaniacs. This episode and every episode to come will be available for free on Literotica for the foreseeable future. All characters that engage in sexual or suggestive situations are mentally and sexually mature: the human equivalent of 18 for their race.

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Solar

After finally having been given the go-ahead to attack, Ashyr grinned brilliantly as she hurtled through the air at Ceuphaera and began her aggressive attack. Aster took wing after her to provide support. Selene hung in the air next to Caleldir, ready to provide magical assistance and cover.

The Planetars quickly mobilized to assist their captain. Two of them converged on Aster, driving her back to where Althaia rode forward and evened the odds slightly before another two of them joined the fight, making it a four-on-two. The other four Planetars attacked Caleldir and Selene, leaving Ceuphaera to fight Ashyr alone.

It became very clear very quickly that House Duskhaven was in for an extremely difficult fight. While the individual Planetar soldiers were less powerful than the Duskhavens, they were much more experienced and far more disciplined. Any wounds that the party managed to inflict on them were quickly healed by their still-functional Divine Magic, a power source that Althaia and Aster no longer had access to.

Caleldir ended up mostly counter-spelling the Planetars, preventing any of the four attacking him and Selene from getting off any of their more powerful spells. Selene herself could cast arcane magic at will and use some of her new eromantic power to regenerate their wounds.

The battle turned into a stalemate after that. Althaia and Aster were completely overmatched by the four fallen angels and unable to do serious damage to them with all their healing and protections, but the succubus and the nymph were able to maneuver around the sulfurous soldiers enough to keep them from interfering in the other fights, with Althaia using her sword and shield to fend off the four greatswords constantly slashing at her and Aster supporting her with whatever magic she could, as they had quickly found out that defensive magic was far more useful than offensive. It ended up being a battle of stamina, but both sides had almost infinite amounts of it.

Caleldir and Selene, on the other hand, ended up having a slight advantage over their foes. Caleldir had perfected his ability to punch right through spell resistance and was spamming magic missiles at the Planetars. It was not much damage, but it did annoy and distract them, forcing them to heal themselves rather than attack. Any magical attacks they did try were met with him shutting them down through his continued counterspells. Their physical attacks he countered with the weapons he had learned to conjure from his soul energy in the manner of his father.

-I am going to need you to do my part of the plan,- Caleldir informed Selene over their psionic connection as he dodged one of the angel soldier's greatswords and caught another's attack on his soul-conjured blade. -I think you will have a better time disengaging than me.-

-We were supposed to work together,- Selene shot back, annoyed. But she started to disengage anyway; she saw the necessity of the change.

Ceuphaera started her battle with Ashyr by ably dodging aside and counterattacking with her spear, before discarding that weapon and drawing her blade. The fallen solar, being an order of magnitude larger than her already massive underlings, wielded a blade bigger than Ashyr's body with the nimbleness of a rogue with a dagger. Her sword was wreathed in the same blue flames that defined the rest of her, and Ashyr could feel lethal amounts of both flesh-searing heat and bone-chilling cold following after the blade as she narrowly avoided it.

"You have trained well, Matron," Ceuphaera boomed out. "A Dark Valkyrie. It is an honor to test the first and chief of your kind." She pulled back, waves of exhaustion pulsing out from her. "Now. Dodge this."

The fallen solar cast a ninth-level divine spell with her right hand, and a ninth-level occult spell with her left, singing forth both chants in unison as if she spoke in two voices. A black cloud filled with sulfurous fire emerged above, covering the battlefield. From it issued forth wind and rain so thick and fierce as to drive Ashyr to the ground and nearly blinding her. Acid rain, lightning strikes, and flaming hailstones screamed around her.

Then, the blue meteors fell, and the mountain groaned. The dark valkyrie shot from the massive cloud of acidic dust and flames, followed closely by Ceuphaera, chanting forth spell after spell while slashing and thrusting at Ashyr with her blade, blocking any returned blows with her shield. Ashyr didn't let any of those attacks hit. She didn't want to know what would happen to her if more than a feather was hit by her massive foe. Probably turn to pink mist.

Caleldir looked up at the fight above with awe and worry. The Planetars smirked, and for a moment they stopped attacking.

"Truly, our captain is magnificent!" one of the warrior angels reveled.

"The woman we followed into hell itself again and again!" another one declared.

"I followed my lady to hell and back too," Caleldir replied.

The Planetars looked back at him. The one nearest hefted her blade. "Well, then fight for her now! If you wish to help her in her battle, then defeat us!"

Caleldir took a deep breath and struck a stance with his twin soul blades. "If ever I needed to access my ghostly self's power," he breathed out, "it is now."

Selene glanced at Caleldir and then at the rest of the battlefield. He had been right about her ability to disengage. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about her. The Dark Elf Eromajin didn't take the time to celebrate. Instead, she got to work on some elaborate magicks at key points throughout the battlefield.

Ceuphaera continued to harry Ashyr across the sky, her powerful physical and magical attacks constantly almost connecting. Ashyr always managed to deflect or dodge at the last possible moment, which the new valkyrie found suspicious. There was no way this Solar was fighting to the best of her abilities. No, Ceuphaera was still testing her.

Probably a good thing, but it annoyed Ashyr.

With four of the fallen Planetars attacking him, Caleldir was hard-pressed and constantly pushed back. He ended up doing a lot of running, jumping, flying, and using magical decoys to avoid being bisected. He could not counterspell all four of them either, so he ended up taking a rather nasty magical pummeling.

-Are you almost ready with that trap, Selene?- Caleldir asked her in a strained mental tone. -Ashyr has Ceuphaera in position!-

-Start the next phase!- Selene announced to the party.

Caleldir took a deep breath and closed his eyes. -Aster, now!- Master and familiar connected, their movements perfectly synchronized as they cast the same spell twice in extremely rapid succession, using Aster's arcane power and Caleldir's magical expertise and ability to punch through all resistances. Before the Planetars could even react, four Banishments had been cast, and two were sent back with each spell. In the space of six seconds, all eight of them were gone, and Ceuphaera was alone on the field.

The fallen Solar looked down from her battle with Ashyr in shock. "Unexpected competence," she breathed out. "I underestimated the failed godling."

"He's amazing when he puts his mind to it!" Ashyr couldn't help gloating a bit. Her morale boosted, she redoubled her efforts, driving Ceuphaera towards the spot that Selene put in her head. "He's NOT a failed godling," she yelled, punctuating each word with a slash of her swords, Yin and Yang. "He is just newborn, by god standards."

Ceuphaera snorted. She blocked or deflected all of Ashyr's blows, though she did take a few steps back. "He is twelve centuries old. That is not a newborn." She grinned, the sadism in her face showing that at least part of her personality had changed with falling. Her tone changed, becoming cruel and coarse rather than her normal refined honor "As for his being an unambiguous failure, frankly, his being the breeding bitch of the Underdark is proof enough. Perhaps if he did become a god, it would be the god of rape victims!"

"That doesn't count," Ashyr said. She rolled her eyes, but she was still dipping and dodging and attacking, so the Solar would only be able to hear it in her voice. "Your disgraceful paladin god sealed away his power before he could come into it properly. Caleldir hadn't gotten his power back yet at the breeding point you're talking about. Hah! And now they're all underlings of his house! Harems will be in his portfolio!"

Ashyr was finding it surprisingly easy to talk and fight simultaneously. This was the hardest one-on-one match she'd ever experienced, but her new brain could run many times faster than before.

"You pass that test, then," Ceuphaera chuckled. "You are in surprising control of your temper, drow." Pushed back again, the fallen solar had backed into the trap that Selene had prepared.

As all four of the others activated their parts of the magic, a great sealing circle surrounded her. Ceuphaera was forced to the ground on one knee, breathing hard.

"And, you passed the final test from me," she added. The angel sighed, and sat down on a cushion of solid air, dropping her weapons onto the snow. "You win, House Duskhaven."

Above them, the valkyries cheered, then began flying back to their citadel.

Ashyr landed outside the entrapping circle, hands on her knees, breathing hard. The fighting fervor that had overtaken her finally abated somewhat. "That was a great fight!" The newborn Valkyrie panted. "We should spar more in the future!"

"She's the underling of our enemy, Ashyr," Selene reminded her cousin as she flew over and touched the ground beside her.

"Eh, enemy, sparring partner," Ashyr said with a shrug. "Selene! Why aren't you having fun? This is fun!"

"You're thriving, I see," Aster observed with a happy smile as she joined them along with Caleldir and Althaia.

"You said a lot of wrong things about Caleldir!" Althaia complained at Ceuphaera. "Knocking up nymphs is the reason he was put into this world by his mother, after all! He is starting to do his job as he was intended to!"

Ceuphaera sniffed at the queen. "Your race thinks of nothing but sex, nymphomaniac. All the Nylameia are like that and have always been like that. But Caleldir's father is a Titan. There is more to power than banging everything, no matter what nonsense She spouts."

"Who is she?" Caleldir asked.

"The succubus empress. Vilinixia Violetcrown, Empress of Souls. The daughter of Azathahuga the Lusting Void. By far the most dangerous of your foes, though she does not consider herself your enemy." The fallen Solar sighed, closing her eyes. "I wish that my honor did not mean that I have to be on the same side as that freakish creature."

"Is that why you did not fight us to the best of your ability?" Caleldir asked. "It was clear that you were holding back."

"Of course I was holding you back. If I had wanted you lot dead, I would have killed you," Ceuphaera said without a hint of self-doubt. "None of you are even close to a match for me. I merely had to fight you enough to fulfill my oath to test you. I am impressed and pleased that you passed my test. It gives me hope that you can oppose Violetcrown." She looked directly at Selene. "Not you, however. Violetcrown is the creator and mistress of all Eromajin. She is, in fact, a demigod with the Portfolio of 'Monster Girls'. If She gives you a command, you will fulfill it unless it goes completely against your core nature. Which command She would never give. She is too clever for that."

"Great," Selene said, annoyed. "I wish I had known we were going to fight her before turning myself - ugh, what was that term you used? Monster... Girl? Is that what she calls something like me?" She made a face of disgust.

"Is there a way to bolster her Will to resist commands? Or maybe block her mind and ears from any input but ours?" Aster asked.

"It is not a question of boosting her will," Ceuphaera replied. "It is a metaphysical truth that a deity has near-absolute control over their domains. She is only a demigod: but her domain is pseudo-succubi. Your will could be infinite, and it would be insufficient so long as she is a semi-divine being and you are not protected by such a being with at least as much claim over you and a similar level of power. Ears and mind can be blocked however you want: divine trumps all." She laughed bitterly. "Well, at least you both are now immune to Aralolth's absolute control over the drow, given that you are no longer true drow. The Spider Queen is a much worse mistress than Violetcrown, who is merely a weird, twisted pervert, not actually Evil."

"'Protected by a god', you say," Caleldir said slowly. "I understand your insinuation, but I am not a god. I cannot provide such protection."

"So, your intelligence is not just for magical doomsday devices." Ceuphaera fixed him with her gaze. "You are correct. The only way to prevent Violetcrown from taking control of Selene and that copper dragon you were experimenting on is to become a god and pull them into your portfolio, to combat her portfolio."

"Harems. His portfolio is harems," Althaia declared. "There is no god of harems, is there?"

"Aelsuna is the Goddess of Marriage." Ceuphaera shrugged. "Since harems are polygynous marriages they have always been in her portfolio."

"My Lady wants her little brother to be a god, though!" Althaia argued. "She would be happy to allow him to take a subdivision of her portfolio and use it for his own."

"I don't like the notion of being protected because I am in someone's harem," Selene grumbled. "It also seems to me that this Violetcrown's authority would still take precedence over his. If I'm going to be a liability, I will stay out of the fight." She crinkled her nose as a thought occurred to her. "Unless she can summon me?"

"You can still fight," Ceuphaera replied. "You just will be unable to win against Violetcrown. She almost never flexes her power over her creations. The worst she is likely to do is tell you to have sex with someone while she flies away. I do not know if she could summon you against your will, but I do know that she would not do so unless you signed a deal with her. She is very fair for a crazy semi-divine half-abomination. But even if she is more just than my long-fallen old master became near the end, she is still a massive danger to the world. There is a reason she was sealed. Then again, so was I, so I have no room to criticize. Only to warn you of the dangers you face."

"What of the dragoness?" Caleldir asked. "And the pixie?"

"The pixie... by the nature of what she is, I know nothing useful. I will tell you nothing about my mistress out of gratitude for her releasing me except that she is less powerful than Violetcrown, but much more powerful than any of you."

"What does she want from House Duskhaven?" Althaia asked. "Her Beautiful Grace did not tell me motives."

"I told you. She bears an ancient grudge. Dragons often do. She sought to manipulate Duskhaven to destroy itself by whispering ideas to disaffected males, and then by working for them as a 'disinterested mercenary'. That plan spiraled out of her control, and she followed you out of the cavern. She fell in love with Abanonda Blackdawn and decided to turn herself nymphen as consequence. Violetcrown gave her the way, but in the process my mistress... well, to be blunt, she discovered sex. She could always have it in male or female forms, but she never had a drive for it. And now she has the same libidinous desires as the nymphs as a whole."

"It is difficult for us to think of anything else," Althaia admitted.

The fallen solar nodded. "This reawakened her libido. Instead of wanting to destroy Duskhaven, she-"

"She wants to know if they are hot enough to fuck forever, and whether she should dom or sub them," Althaia said bluntly, face flush and eyes glittering purple.

"You veer between elegance and vulgarity rather quickly, nymph," the solar said with distaste. "I do not understand such libidinous drives myself." Seeing Althaia's questioning eyes on her extremely exposing armor, Ceuphaera raised her hand and continued. "I just wear this exposing valkyrie armor because it is the only sort of celestial steel that will still give me and my squad protection. I am not switching to infernal iron. We may have fallen, but we still have our pride."

"If you become a monster girl, you can learn the joys of sex too!" Althaia suggested cheerfully. Ceuphaera stared at her with withering contempt.

"I don't think she wishes to be under the control of Violetcrown," Selene grumbled.

"And not everyone wants a libido like a nylameia. Rather focus on perfecting their martial skills!" Ashyr said, playfully flexing her perfect feminine muscles.

"It's going to be interesting spending time with a valkyrie. The only ones I've known are the erinyes. From what I've seen, erinyes are more succubi than valkyrie... or maybe they altered their natural behavior for our sake?" Aster mused.

"Something worth exploring later, I'm sure," Selene said impatiently. "Ceuphaera, how can we defeat Violetcrown?"

"I do not know," the fallen solar replied, shaking her head. "My mistress will try to force a confrontation soon before the serpent finishes his divine theft and the dimensional lock is repaired, but Violetcrown will almost certainly only give a token effort of assisting. She will not let herself lose, but she will not stop my mistress from being defeated. Instead, she will watch, participate as ordered, and continue to build her power. Violetcrown will return your succubus allies to you if you manage to defeat my mistress. I advise avoiding confrontation with her and the pixie, attempting to make my mistress decide that she wants to work for or with you rather than rule you, and then informing the gods you trust of the threat that Violetcrown serves." Ceuphaera opened her eyes and looked directly at Selene. "Three days ago, we ended the Clachleom war."

"War in Clachleom?" Caleldir asked, shocked. "But... after Stormfist..."

"There was still a loose end," Ceuphaera stated. "Rubella Silverwisp plotted for centuries to seize control of the country, but there was another power."

"Princess Deardriu Scionlost's mother," Caleldir remembered. "The red dragon hiding in the highlands."

"The Empress of Fire and Blood, the Red Tyrant of the Lost Hills, the Acknowledged False Queen, the Mother of Infernos, the Last Inheritor of the Wealth of the Dead: the Red Dragon Vithantiel," Ceuphaera gave the list of titles calmly.

Althaia grimaced. "I have heard a lot of stories about her."

"So have I," Caleldir added. "Though only after my awakening. So... she is Deardriu's mother. I should have guessed that the woman had such an impressive pedigree. Vithantiel has burned entire kingdoms to the ground."

"Well, she will not do so ever again," Ceuphaera stated. "And not because she was killed." The solar shuddered. "I will make a long story very short. My mistress wished to acquire the fire of the greatest red dragon in the world: Vithantiel. But my mistress is not a creature of Chaos, despite being Evil. She is not the sort to just... take what she wants. Not without a cause. So, she made a deal with Vithantiel, knowing that the red dragon would break it. Sure enough, once Vithantiel had brought low the Storm King, banished the Cambion Queen, and beat down her daughter into temporary submission, she betrayed my mistress, attacking her with her thrall Deardriu while high off of her victory. My mistress beat Vithantiel and her daughter down and took her fire. She then gave mother and daughter alike to Violetcrown."