Keyholder Demoness Bk. 03 Ch. 09

It took a full day to install Charity in the Promontory. Each of Charity's five new leashes (from her wrists, ankles, and the top of her head) were passed through appropriately sized channels in the rock of the cave where she would dwell. Deep inside the stone, springs, pulleys and capstans controlled the extent to which the chains move, thus controlling Charity's freedom within her space.

Luckily, a clever web of supports hanging from above, carried much of the load of the heavy chains, and allowed Charity to move about without too much trouble. She could climb into a nice, cozy nest when she wanted to sleep. She could maneuver her way to a narrow chasm to eliminate her waste. She could step down into a cool stream that flowed out of the cave to bathe or soak.

Of course, all the chain leashes prevented her from reaching any of the walls. She could walk towards the opening of the cave, but was stopped well back from the entrance. Indeed, several days were spent drilling heavy metal bars vertically and horizontally across the opening - their ends buried deep in the stone. Empusa then used a bit of magic to harden the grid until it was a single seamless, impenetrable gate.

It was commonly believed that the power of the Source Witch is in her extreme need for physical human contact. So, every effort was made with the understanding that no one would ever pass the gate again. There was no door.

Of course, there was one point of human contact that Charity would still enjoy. On one wall of the cave, holes were provided where a sufficiently sized breast could be squeezed. Those whose calling was to be wet nurses were employed. They entered the Promontory at an alternative entrance and pressed themselves against the holes.

Charity could not touch them with her hands. She had to approach to the greatest extent allowed by her chains and then lean forward, letting the chains take her weight. The engineering was so precise that only Charity's nose and lips could achieve the range necessary to nurse.

When it was time for Charity to be used as a Source Witch, the capstans would be turned and the leashing chains would shorten, forcing Charity to move so she was facing out the entrance of the cave. Her arms would be pulled up and out and her legs stretched apart until her body was lifted from the floor of the cave in an extreme spread eagle, leaving her with no wiggle room at all.

Then Killdoll would be used to excite Charity to the very extreme precipice of physical arousal where her brain could function no more than to send her body instructions to writhe (which the chains prevented from ever happening). She would be left in this state for hours as Empusa performed her great feats of magic, transforming the people of her queendom. Her belt would shine like a beacon out the mouth of the cave - its blue light visible far out at sea.

Surprisingly, Charity was not particularly distressed by any of this at all. Her life was dictated by a powerful reward system. Any simple pleasure, such as a nap or a splash in the water, or a brief oral stimulation and a full stomach brought her such happiness that she began to forget about how small her subset of simple pleasures was compared to those available to any other normal woman.

When she heard the capstans start to turn in the walls and her leashing chains began to shorten, she would begin to shake with a thrill of arousal. Although she never tripped over the precipice of orgasm, her extreme, extended existence at the very edge became the ultimate point of pleasure where she would, literally, float in a timeless ecstasy.

One of the first presentations of magic that Empusa performed after Charity had been installed as the new Source Witch involved (tick), the groomer who had helped Charity escape the menagerie the year before. She had been wrapped in a strict harness of chains. The harness had been attached to a larger web of chains that spanned the area of a six foot diameter ring. (tick) was held tightly with her arms stretched up past her head and her legs held wide in an upside down Y.

(tick)'s ring was rolled up to the Promontory where Charity could see. Killdoll was stroked to orgasm and Charity tightened in her chains, shining brightly with arousal. Empusa spoke a powerful incantation drawing from the magic that Charity sourced and slowly (tick)'s flesh began to transform. Her skin turned gray first, then began to shine with a mirrored finish. Her features froze, reflecting a look of sheer terror.

After the spell was complete, Empusa approached (tick) and rapped her knuckles on her abdomen creating a ringing hollow metallic sound. She explained to the crowd gathered in the amphitheater to watch that (tick)'s loyalty to the Source Witch made her the perfect candidate to forever guard their new treasure. Everything that made (tick) a sentient being was now forever bound within her metal body and she would watch over the area, unblinking, forever more.

The ring with (tick) held inside was raised high above the entrance to the Promontory and left to slowly sway in the wind through the days and months and years going forward.

Charity, of course, understood none of this as she was totally blissed out on endorphins and incapable of understanding any form of human language anymore.

Next, Empusa began to work on her transformational skills. Her very first attempt to create a faerie after installing Charity was an incredible success. When she threw the newly transformed faerie into the air, not only did she fly immediately and with great confidence, but she even emitted a pleasant glowing light as she made a track across the evening sky.

Soon Empusa was making all kinds of transformations - pony girls with pony parts, hybrid cat girls that were not hairless and ugly. Members of Empusa's Queendom with all variety of callings were being satisfied. New creatures were flying through the skies and running through the forests. Rituals were held often and the evening's transformees would wait in a cage-like area for their turn to be transformed by Empusa. Some evenings went so well for Empusa that she even drafted individuals from the general crowd if the candidate pool in the cage was empty. Some citizens found that Empusa was "learning" an individual's calling before the individual did.

At some point a crazed citizen ran up to the gate protecting Charity from human contact. She threw a dagger at Charity which was luckily deflected by a chain and fell harmlessly to the ground. Charity was busy splashing in the stream of water and did not even notice.

No one knows what happened to the assassin, but it is said that the sewage system in the nearby town suddenly improved vastly.

Empusa decided that a second outer grid of bars needed to be established to protect the Source Witch from attacks. She no longer allowed women to get a close look at Charity and began a campaign explaining how incredibly dangerous a Source Witch is. Indeed, by this time, Charity was well known to be the undisputed, greatest Source Witch of all time.

And so it was... during the hardening of the new secondary gate that something strange occurred...

<>--+-

Charity was held stretched out taut and on the very edge of orgasm, maximally blissed out when suddenly there was a blinding white flash followed by the sound of a gentle breeze blowing through an infinite field of wind chimes.

Charity collapsed on the floor of her cave, suddenly totally unrestrained. She was finally able to writhe as her brain commanded, but by the time she did she had already dropped too far away from the edge of orgasm to claw her way back.

She opened her eyes and looked at her right wrist. The leash chain was missing. The anchoring ring half submerged into her flesh was still present but the chain was gone. The same was true for her left wrist and her ankles. Charity felt the top of her head and found that leash gone as well. Even her original leash embedded in her sternum was gone.

When she looked around, she saw the source of the wind chime sounds. It was as though all the links of chains suddenly were no longer connected, but rather individual circles and they rained down into her cave.

Charity ran her hands down over her waist. All her body rings were still present, but any type of chain had somehow fallen away.

Charity looked out the mouth of her cave. The gates were gone. Somehow all the bars had broken into identical sections - each about six inches in length. There was no longer any structural integrity and the gates had simply collapsed.

There was nothing between Charity and the world outside her cave. There was nothing anchoring Charity in this place. She sat and thought for a bit. Supposedly, Empusa would appear soon and fix everything. She was not ready to give up her home which had a nice nest and clean water and occasional oral stimulation. She decided that she would sit and wait and Empusa would rebuild the chains and the gate.

After a minute or two. She looked out the mouth of the cave again. In the distance she could see Killdoll strapped into her framework. Her handlers seemed to be in some sort of panic. They were no longer stroking that special place on Killdoll's crotch's faceplate. Charity remembered how Killdoll used to draw funny pictures of butts in the dirt with her.

Charity realized that she could go over to where Killdoll was. She could easily walk out of the cave and then come back after touching Killdoll just once or twice. She could try to make one of those butt etchings in the dirt.

Charity took a closer look at Killdoll. She was still strapped tightly in her upside down Y framework, but she was flexing her hips somehow in some kind of rhythmic fashion - once left, then twice to the right. Boom - cah - cah... Boom - cah - cah...

Charity heard music in her head. Music forgotten from far away in another time. "Twisting and turning your feelings are burning..." She didn't actually hear the words in her head. She FELT them though. "... you're breaking the girl..." She heard the tune in her head. Boom, cah, cah. Boom, cah, cah. "...think you're so clever... but now you must sever... you're breaking the girl..."

"HOPE!" It was not a word in Charity's head. It was an image. "HOPE!"

Charity looked further past Killdoll, down the hill through the amphitheater, past the stage and over the cliff. That was where they had sent Hope. That is where Charity was going to go. And she was going to go there right now. She no longer cared about the oral stimulation or the cool water or her nice nest. She only knew one thing: "HOPE!"

Charity stood and walked out of the Promontory.

Down below, the crowds went into a panicked frenzy seeing the green Source Witch free from her cage. Empusa, on the other hand, was yelling at guards to move into action to capture Charity as quickly as possible. Ten or so guards were heading up toward her very quickly.

"HOPE!" Charity started to run towards the cliff's edge behind the stage. Her legs were still strong and she was fast. She lowered her shoulder and knocked one guard to the ground. She would have to get through many more.

Suddenly, a host of flickering lights appeared from over the rock wall behind where Killdoll was mounted. There was a buzzing roar as a swarm of faeries flew down towards the amphitheater - faeries that Empusa had recently made from the women of her queendom - many were zipping around Empusa's head who was waving her arms wildly trying to protect herself and no longer directing the guards.

It was pure chaos. But through it all, Charity maintained only a single thought: "HOPE!" She sped towards the cliff's edge.

A number of guards were waiting for her though. They were equipped with some sort of net and were well placed to deploy it with precision and efficiency. Charity's brain no longer held the concept of a net. She continued headlong towards the ocean and directly towards their trap.

But, as she ran, something big streaked past her on her left, running much faster than she could ever hope to. It was Hazel and Garnet, moving at top speed! Their heads were down and traveling straight at the guards. The more intelligent guards dropped the net and dove away.

Charity heard some kind of impact - the sounds of breaking bone. Now there was nothing in her way and when she reached the edge of the cliff, she jumped out as far as she could.

It felt like she fell for a long time before she hit the water. She went under a long way and pumped her arms, struggling to get to the surface again. She was no longer weighted down by all her leashes, but she still wore many pounds of rings. Her head broke the surface and she took a deep breath before the turbulent waves washed over her again.

She had landed in a place where the land formed a large bowl. As the water from the previous wave washed from the bowl, the rip-tide caught Charity and she was quickly sucked hundreds of yards from the shore. After two quick breaths, she was already more than a quarter mile out to sea. She went under, uncertain if she would surface ever again, tiring and spinning in the current.

Then she felt a hand grab her. The hand came from below, not from above. Charity opened her eyes and saw a beautiful woman with long black hair floating in front of her, smiling. The woman leaned in and kissed Charity on the lips. Charity felt her lungs fill with air. She felt her body buzz with renewed arousal. She smiled dumbly and relaxed as the woman pulled her deeper underwater.

Charity woke up and found that she was moving along underwater at a great speed. She luxuriated in the feel of the water washing past her skin. Her arms and legs fluttered uselessly behind her. She was on her back, held in the arms of a powerfully strong woman whose body was flexing up and down against her own. The woman had a long, powerful tail that was propelling them through the water at great speed. Every once in a while the woman would turn her face down to Charity's and kiss her - another breath of air, another kiss of ecstasy.

Charity looked to her side. There were maybe thirty women... mermaids! Mermaids swimming along with them. Charity closed her eyes again.

She had no idea how long they swam. Sometimes when she opened her eyes it was dark, sometimes not. The woman who was carrying her seemed to change from time to time...

Finally, Charity was jolted awake by a rough, scratchy sensation on her back. She opened her eyes to find she was no longer underwater. She was looking up into the eyes of the black haired mermaid. The mermaid leant down and kissed Charity one last time, then giggled and flopped around awkwardly in the sand again. A shallow wave washed up the beach and with a flap of her tail and a splash, the mermaid was gone.

Charity turned onto her side and proceeded to cough up her own ocean of water. She thought that she'd never get it all out of her system. Finally, though, she had the strength to look around.

"Welcome to Paradise, Charity," a voice said in her head. Charity was staring into the face of a particularly large, particularly beautiful, green-skinned woman with a brilliant pair of antlers growing from her head.

"Hello again, it's me! I am the Goddess Dammasch!" the woman said. Actually, the words were more like an image that appeared in Charity's mind. "You are in Paradise now and I know that you are driven by a particular purpose but I think you may still appreciate a quick look around."

The Goddess extended a hand and helped Charity stand. A normal sized human woman walked up with some rectangular fluffy cloth that she placed in Charity's hands. Charity promptly dropped the cloth into the sand so she could wipe the ocean water from her eyes with her hands, then followed the Goddess up the beach.

They walked into a very symmetrically shaped, brightly lit cave with walls that could be swung about and provided access to various branches of the cave system.

"This is Agent Smith and Agent Jones most recently from your earth, although neither were from there originally. They are actually both alternative versions of my sister, Aradale," the Goddess explained as they passed a pair of women. Charity had no idea what was going on, but continued to jog along, keeping up with the Goddess' brisk pace.

"Ah! Here is Perit and Metolius!" the Goddess said.

In Charity's mind's eye, she received the image of two women, who she recognized. However there was only a single woman standing in front of her with a mix of attributes from the two drawn from her memories. She was wondering if she should be seeing a second woman. The woman made some sound with her mouth.

Charity shook her head and hurried to keep up with Dammash.

They walked through some more caves, then out, under the sunny sky where there was vegetation and flowing water.

"Believe it or not, this is that woman named Tam who once dated your former girlfriend," the Goddess was pointing at a stone statue of a naked woman kneeling with her knees spread wide and her hands clasped behind her head. The statue wore a blindfold and a form-fitting panel was strapped over her mouth - each accessory rendered in stone. "She is art now, but her essence is forever tied to this statue. Oh! Look! And here is Blue! Your ex-girlfriend."

It WAS Blue! Except she was bald now. Charity smiled when Blue made sounds with her mouth. She was wearing a beautiful tight collar with a fancy disk hanging from the front with an upside down Y etched on the surface. Charity briefly reached out and touched the disk, before turning away and catching up with the Goddess once more, leaving Blue behind with a hand possessively resting on Tam's statue.

They walked down along one side of a very clean chasm. "Look up there in the window! It's Faith! She's waving at you," the Goddess said.

Charity followed the Goddess' eyes since she had no concept of a window. But, yes, up there she could see Faith. She wanted to go to her. She ran across the chasm and placed her hands on the wall, looking for a way to climb up. Climbing is hard when you don't have thumbs. Maybe there was another way up? She began to jog along the wall looking for a way up.

"No time for this, Love," the Goddess said, directing Charity along. Charity stomped her foot and looked up to where she had seen Faith. Then the image of Hope appeared in her head and she completely forgot about Faith and jogged to catch up with the Goddess again.

"Just down this hall," the Goddess said.

They traveled down a long dark tunnel and passed through a special place where the Goddess knew the wall could move. They entered a brightly lit cave. "There she is!"

Charity saw the people-container. She ran to it and jumped up on top of it. She could see Hope underneath the surface, frozen, trapped in a tight steel cage. Charity scratched desperately at the surface of the container with her fingernails. It was slippery. She stood up and thumped the transparent lid with the heel of her foot, trying to break through, but the surface was very hard. Soon she was jumping up and down.

"Come down, Charity," the Goddess said. "I'm trying to bring you to her."

Charity jumped down impatiently.

The Goddess pointed. Charity saw another container just like Hope's, but the lid was open. Charity walked up and looked in. It was filled with a thick white fluid. She touched the fluid. A little sticky. She tasted it. Hmm... familiar.

"Up here, Love," the Goddess said, gently grasping Charity's shoulder and helping her climb up on a plinth upon which stood a human shaped cage. The Goddess firmly pushed Charity backwards into the cage. "Put your arms down by your sides."

When the Goddess shut the door the cage immediately began to shrink down around Charity's body.

"Huuuuh!" Charity definitely did not like this. The Goddess had stepped away from her. She was no longer paying attention. "Huuuuh!" Hope! Imagine Hope!