Emerald Forest

The organs were like miniature throats for swallowing down prey, who, once they emerged from the other end, would slip directly into the waiting stomach below them.

With the mouth of the creature open, Octavius' senses had full appreciation of the contents contained within. The huge fleshy body reeked of sex, and when the wizard bore that in mind, it was apparent that the slow, drawn-out moans coming from within weren't ones of pain... they were ones of... pleasure...

It was a prodigium phage, Octavius was sure of it. A creature who corrupted its surrounding environment with magical energy. It explained how the mud – a fairly inanimate substance had seemingly come alive and toyed with Octavius' and Boggins' bodies.

The swamp had also given the perfect disguise for the phage's 'bait' – the swamp girls, who now crawled about on the floor as if starved of oxygen.

As Octavius walked up the body of the phage itself then, he wasn't surprised to see the outlines of limbs slowly flailing about inside the creature, while some unfortunates had their entire bodies pressed so firmly against the edge of the phage that Octavius could see entire people, their bodies pushed into sexual overdrive, pulsing against the membrane that contained them.

Thinner, tendril-like roots stemmed from the bottom of the creature, in an intricate fleshy lattice, burrowing into the floor.

The roots were leeching nutrients out of the floor, and pumping it into the phage, which would in turn be producing a nutritious mulch, which would be lathered over the people inside, before being absorbed into their skin and keeping them alive.

But inside the phage, the nutrients would become mixed with the monster's own secretions, which would overstimulate the pleasure centres of its preys' brains, burying their awareness beneath forced orgasm after forced orgasm, each one more stimulating than the last.

The demon would then once more consume the dregs of the liquid it contained within itself and gorge on the genetic material contained within the sexual fluids.

Octavius panicked for a moment, scared that Boggins had fallen foul of the phage, when he spied the young man's sword and clothing, lying in a heap near one of the sets of 'bait'.
In the fleshy tube connecting the two girls to the main phage body, he spied a Boggins-shaped lump twisting and contorting.

As he walked towards the discarded sword, one of the two girls limply threw her hand out towards his crotch, only to miss and collapse on the floor once more.

Picking the blade up, Octavius sliced the tube open, resulting in a scream of pain from every one of the assorted women.

He pulled out the filthy adventurer, dragging him clear of the reach of the phage, before dashing back in to collect their equipment.

Clear of the phage's enchantments, a thick, slick coating of what looked like mud evaporated off Boggins' skin, carried into the air on a pale brown smoke.

"Come on," Octvaius said to his naked companion, tossing his clothes, armour and sword at his feet.

"Time we got out of here and tracked down Anna."

Boggins groggily pulled on his breastplate and dragged his line of sight upon the prodigium phage, which lay stationary, quivering.

Inside it, the collected bodies of men and women contorted and writhed as the entity continued to feed from their fluids.

"What about the people trapped inside that thing?"

"Forget it," dismissed Octavius.

"Their minds and bodies will have been dependent on the demon's secretions for so long, they simply won't be able to function in the harsh light of day.

"Killing it now would mean a slow, painful death for them, and besides, it won't be in a rush to create any more camouflage for a while, given what's just happened.

"The greater kindness would be to just leave them."

Boggins shrugged.

"You know best," he said.

True, thought Octavius as he turned to leave.
But if that was the case, why did he feel a guilty queasiness in the pit of his stomach?