The Rivals Ch. 05: Orgy of Death

And he turned to the box and unlocked it. Without lifting the lid he stepped back and turned away. In moments he had a glass of wine in one hand and the other around the waist of the daughter of an Elector.

Knowing what to expect, Avilia felt the mellix's presence creep into the courtyard. Slowly and subtly, the temperature began to rise -- if not literally, at least figuratively. She found herself leaning against Sligh, her cheek almost touching his.

"Careful," he breathed. His voice entered her ears and found its way between her legs.

She turned her head until her lips grazed his neck. "Are we going to watch?"

His hands gripped the balustrade, white beneath the tan. Below, conversation was already breaking down as the first tentacles cautiously crept from the box and men and women began to kiss and grope each other.

Suddenly Sligh turned away from the courtyard. There was an almost wild look in his eyes. His tongue darted out to lick his lips, then he seized Avilia and pulled her towards him. "I have a better idea."

Their lips met and they stumbled away from the balustrade, arms around each other, their breath shallow. A heavy door on the opposite wall opened to Avilia's frantic grasping, and they stumbled through into an empty corridor.

She pressed Sligh against the wall, pressed herself against his body. One hand reached out to push the door shut. "Let's do this," she whispered against his mouth. "Let's fuck."

To judge by the hard, hot shape pressing against her leg he didn't need any convincing. His nimble hands were tugging at her waistcoat and shirt, seeking out the skin beneath.

She moaned softly as his fingers ran over her skin. A shiver tiptoed from the base of her skull, along her spine and between her legs. Finally! she thought. All doubt had vanished from her mind, from her heart. All questions about who they were and where they came from, where they might be headed. Here, with Sligh, this was where she wanted to be, what she wanted to do.

Her own fingers had found their way inside his breeches, reaching down to draw the hot shaft out. Sligh gave a gasp at her touch, and she laughed into his mouth. "I'm going to suck you off," she said softly. "You're going to explode in my mouth. But first," she let go and stepped back, "you owe me."

In moments she was helping him pull the tight breeches down over her arse and hips. Her boots made it more difficult, and she ended up kicking one off and pulling the leg free from the material. With the other boot still on, and her breeches bunched up around that ankle, she leaned back against the plastered wall with her feet apart. "Eat me!" she commanded.

He knelt before her on the floor and took her legs in his hands. His fingers stroked her softly, squeezing as they moved higher until they met the fold where her thigh became her arse. His eyes fixed on hers, he moved his face closer until his mouth was positioned below her pussy.

Without breaking eye contact, he stuck out his tongue and ran it along her slit. "There," she murmured. "Right there."

Still looking up at her, he licked her slowly, deliberately, his hands pulling her against his mouth. Pleasure in the sensations warred with worry. What if someone walks in? What if we're interrupted yet again?

Sligh didn't seem concerned, however. He took his time, letting his tongue and lips explore her. He found her button and sucked it gently into his mouth, then flicked it with the tip of his tongue.

She felt her cream leaking from her, mingling with his saliva as it trickled down the insides of her thighs. She'd always imagined he'd be good at this -- fantasised about it more often than she would have admitted before today -- and she wasn't disappointed.

Their eyes still locked, she let her fingers run through his hair, pressing his face slightly against her. He responded by sucking her button hard, once, twice, three times, sending shivers through her and making her moan.

She could feel the tension build up inside. She'd been wanting this for so long, wanting it from him!

Then one hand slid between her legs. She felt a finger slide along her slit, gathering her cream, then glide up through her crack. "Cheat!" she murmured, spreading her legs even wider.

She could tell from his eyes that he was grinning. They were the only part of his face that she could see, looking up at her over the short curly hair below her stomach.

Then the finger began to make gentle circles around her arse, never quite touching it. She felt a tingling as the nerve endings came alive, adding to the knot of fire that was already blossoming. Closer and closer the finger moved, and the anticipation built up higher and higher. She struggled to hold it back, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the wall. Her breath sounded ragged in her ears.

Then his fingertip pressed against her hole, and at precisely the same moment he sucked her button hard into her mouth. The dam burst inside her, and her climax exploded in white fire that wracked her body and sent shocks through her arms and legs.

Sligh's mouth slowed, but his finger stayed pressed against her hole. The sensations went on and on, decreasing in intensity until she pulled his head away with trembling hands and let herself slide down the wall until her bare arse touched the tiles.

When she opened her eyes Sligh's face was right before her. He was wearing that insufferable grin again, but she found herself smiling back. There was a hair stuck to his chin, and she reached out to pluck it from his skin.

He caught her hand before she could flick it away. "I get to make a wish," he said, and blew at the hair. For a moment it stuck to her finger, then it broke free and flew away, spiralling in the air before falling to the floor.

Avilia couldn't help giggling. Then she leaned forward and kissed him. She kept pressing forward until he tumbled over backwards. Following, she climbed on top of him.

His cock was still sticking out of his breeches, hard and swollen. She took hold of it and guided it to her slit. She was wet enough that he could have slid inside her in one motion, but she rubbed his head up and down a few times.

"Is this what you want?" she asked. She was still panting, both from the release a moment earlier and from anticipation of what was to come. "Do you want to be inside me?"

He nodded wordlessly, his hips rising up as if searching for her. She leaned down to kiss him, positioning his cock against her entrance. As their lips and tongues met, she pressed herself down onto his swollen head.

They both grunted at the same time, both laughed into each other's mouth. Avilia placed her hands on the floor beside Sligh's head and impaled herself slowly on his cock. It was hard and hot, filling her as if it had been made specially to fit her pussy.

Her breeches were still bunched up around one ankle, but she didn't care. Sligh's hands were on her arse, warm and rough. They squeezed her buttocks as she rose and fell.

"Put your finger where it was before," she murmured against his mouth, and was rewarded by a soft but insistent probing at her arsehole. She held still for a moment, relaxing and letting it enter her, then began to ride his cock in earnest.

They grunted and groaned, their bodies pressed together. Sligh pulled away from the kiss to bury his face in her neck. She heard him whispering to himself. It sounded like that poem he'd spoken into her earring.

A shudder ran through her, a small climax, and then another. His whispering became frantic. "Are you nearly there?" she breathed.

"Nghh," was all he said, but she felt his body start to shake, his rhythm become irregular.

Quickly she pulled herself off his cock and slid down until it was before her face, slick and glistening with her cream. She took it in her hand and opened her mouth, tasting herself as she engulfed the swollen head and sucked.

Almost instantly her mouth was stretched as he seemed to double in size. With a strangled moan he released, shooting a hot jet onto her tongue, then another and another.

She sucked gently, helping to draw out his climax as his body spasmed on the floor. One of his legs jerked beneath her, almost toppling her over. He was gasping, and she let him slip from her mouth. Still half swollen, his cock dropped onto his stomach and left a glistening trail as it slid down to his leg.

Avilia stretched out and lay down next to him on the hard, cold floor. They were both panting. She could still feel the influence of the fear-eater, battering against the thick door, but it seemed unable to break through the fog of contentment that filled her mind.

Sligh put his arm around her and pulled her close. The same satisfaction was written large on his face. His eyes were relaxed in a way she'd never seen them before. She turned her face to his and they kissed, long and slow, their arms around each other, their bodies pressed close.

Then Avilia pulled away. "We can't stay like this forever."

Sligh grimaced. "I wish we could, but I suppose you're right. There's murder to be done tonight."

===

Beyond the door Sligh could hear the sounds of the orgy become frantic. Moans of pleasure were becoming wails of something else -- unfillable desire, fear, even pain.

Avilia pushed herself upright, one hand still lingering on his chest. "We need to see what's going on."

"Careful," he said. "Use the earring." As the careless happiness from a moment earlier made way for worry about his immediate future, he felt waves of lust beat at the thick wood of the door.

They scrambled around as they straightened their clothing. Avilia hopped on one foot as her foot fought its way into the leg of her breeches. Sligh only needed to pull his up and lace them, and when he was done he retrieved Avilia's boot and helped her to put it on.

It felt naughty, like when he was young, hurrying to get dressed before one of his sisters found him with some girl. There was a thrill of enjoyment, just from sharing this experience with Avilia.

He seized her hand just as she took the earring from a pocket in her waistcoat. "Avilia," he began, then stopped. I don't know what to say!

She looked at him, then smiled and leaned forward to kiss him. "I know." She raised the earring to her ear and squeezed it in place. "Now let's make sure you live."

Sligh set part of his mind to reciting the Deed of Orda and joined her by the door. She turned the latch and carefully peered out through a crack. The sounds from below came more strongly, as did the fear-eater's presence.

Beside him he felt Avilia stiffen and bite her lip. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Over hills and under hills and through woods and fields, the wily archer rode his great charger. Oh, this poetry is so bad." The glance she threw him was amused, though.

They stepped cautiously out onto the gallery, staying low until they could peer over the balustrade. The sight below them was worse than Sligh had imagined.

There were naked bodies everywhere, entwined in groups of two, three or even four. Sligh spotted Terena's mother, the remains of her dress still clinging to her waist, sitting on a man's face -- the big man who'd carried the box -- and kissing a much younger woman who was riding his cock. The Princess's breasts were cupped by small hands on the ends of a pair of black tentacles.

Terena herself was on hands and knees, sucking her brother's shaft while a cock-shaped tentacles prodded in and out of her arse. Her brother's mouth was open and his tongue was wrestling with a tongue at the end of yet another tentacle.

The tentacles were everywhere. They spilled from the wooden box in a writhing black mass and crawled all over the enclosed garden, their hands, cocks and tongues squeezing, caressing and fucking the guests.

Sligh looked around, searching for Nemez. After a moment he spotted him. The man was undressed, two naked women in his arms while a third one -- old enough to be his grandmother -- was on her knees with his cock in her mouth. The group was almost covered in tentacles, stroking skin and probing at orifices.

The lustful scene was spoiled by the air of desperation. Already several of the guests were trying to crawl away, apparently exhausted but stopping to kiss and fondle naked bodies as they passed. The moans and grunts were interspersed with whimpers of fear. Somewhere behind a divan someone was retching.

Avilia was murmuring along to the poem in her ear. The charm seemed to be working, and he realised that his own mind was reciting the poem as well, keeping time with Avilia's whispers. He still felt the demon's lust, but it was a distant thing, like a memory at the back of his mind.

"This is... it's awful," Avilia said when she noticed him looking at her. "Those poor people. Being fucked to death, helpless to stop it."

Sligh felt guilt stir deep inside him. "Perhaps we should..."

"Kill Nemez now and get everyone out?" Avilia shot him a tight grin. "Leave the killing to me. You do the rest."

Grateful for the offer, Sligh handed her the spear that she'd left leaning against the wall. "Come on then. Try not to lose the earring."

Still keeping low, they made their way to the stairs down into the garden. Immediately a handful of tentacles began to writhe in their direction.

"This brings back memories," Sligh said, drawing his heavy daggers.

"Concentrate, Sligh, or you'll be a memory yourself."

The pair of them stepped out into the open, but came to a sudden halt as the air in the near corner of the garden split in a vertical black line. A tall figure emerged: lean, blue-cloaked and grey-skinned, bearing a gleaming sword.

"Shadowguard!" Avilia cried.

Sligh stared. He'd never seen one, and it was quite impressive. Its cloak flowed around it as it slid gracefully forward, slashing at tentacles as it went. The long blade in its hand cut effortlessly through the mellix's flesh and the Shadowguard left a trail of wriggling, wormlike remains in its wake.

The demon seemed to realise its danger. Tentacles retracted, leaving naked women and men dazed and staring, gasping for breath on cushions and couches. The Shadowguard was a blur of motion, its sword almost invisible as it moved relentlessly forward, hacking and slashing as it went.

Beside him, Sligh heard Avilia mutter a curse. "Fuck! If I'd known this I'd never have dared to attack one."

Tentacles surrounded the alien creature, but it seemed unruffled. It had fought its way to within three paces of the box, and the tentacles were becoming frenzied in their assault.

"Come on," Sligh said, sliding his daggers back into their sheaths. "Let's get these people out of here."

But Avilia shook her head. "I have my job still to do." And she started picking her way through the naked bodies and discarded clothes, spear at the ready.

Sligh looked after her, then turned to the nearest group of wide-eyed men and women. "Get up!" he told them. "Get out while the demon is distracted!"

Pulling them to their feet and shoving them towards the wide doors leading out of the enclosed garden, he looked around. His eye fell on Terena.

The Princess was still on hands and knees, looking around with wild eyes. Her gaze met Sligh's. "What happened?" she whispered.

He stepped towards her and knelt down. Her naked body was as artificially perfect as her face. He thought how easy it would be to sink one of his daggers into her flesh. Would that end the bloodmark? He didn't think so.

She must have seen the thoughts on his face, because she shrunk back, hands coming up as if to call forth a spell to protect herself. "Are you...?"

But the moment had passed. He knew he couldn't kill someone in cold blood -- that had been his problem with this job in the first place.

Instead he reached out his hands and helped her up. "Nemez had a mellix -- a fear-eater. This is what it does. The more emotion... well, you can see."

She turned to survey the garden. Naked men and women of all ages were stumbling towards the door, some helping others to stagger along. A few clutched some pieces of clothing to their bodies, as if to hide their shame. An old man wasn't moving, lying still while a silver-haired woman pounded fists on his chest with tears rolling down her face.

"Where is Nemez?" Terena asked.

Sligh stared at her. "That's what you're worried about? How about your mother, your brother?" He pushed her in the direction of the door. "By the Skies, woman, just-- just fuck off!"

For a moment he watched her walk away, shaking her head a little as if she was still dazed. Then he turned back to look for Avilia, and froze.

A bone-chilling dread was rolling across the garden in waves, emanating from the centre where the box stood. Its unnatural life threatened, the fear-eater had turned back to its primary weapon.

The glowstones around the box flickered and one died. The garden was cast in uneven shadows, the pleasant warmth of before making way for an eerie half-light.

All around, naked bodies began to stampede towards the door. A fat man fell and didn't get up. His face was a dark purple and his tongue lolled from his mouth. Wails and moans turned to screams, then shouts of anger and pain as people started to claw at each other in their desperation.

Sligh closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew he should be reciting the Deed of Orda, should let its mindless tediousness shield his emotions from the demon's insidious influence.

But it seemed too much effort. A coldness spread through his chest, draining the will from his mind. He was going to die. Either the bloodmark would kill him, or he'd be trampled in the press of bodies, or he'd be ripped apart by frantic hands as he tried to escape.

So this was it. All his scheming, all his cleverness, all just to die here, another nameless body in the dust after this disaster. Years of loneliness, of convincing himself he didn't need anyone, when the truth was that no-one wanted him. Not his mother, not his sisters. Not the Masters of the University. Not the women he'd seduced along the way.

"Sligh!"

Not even Avilia. She'd abandoned him as soon as someone better presented himself. Oh, he was good enough to fuck when she was horny. Or when she was under a demon's influence. But she'd never liked him. She'd made that clear enough.

The world would continue without him, a better place probably. He couldn't remember anyone who hadn't wanted to kill him sooner or later. Well, it would be over soon enough.

"Sligh!"

Strong hands seized his shoulders and shook. He opened his eyes. A pair of scuffed black boots stood before him, topped by white leather breeches. He followed them up to a pair of shapely thighs and a leather waistcoat. Then he gave a sigh and let his head drop back.

"Sligh!" The voice was insistent. Rough fingers jerked his chin up. "Sligh, look at me!"

It was Avilia. Probably come to tell him that she was leaving him again. "Go," he said. "Leave me to die."

"You're not going to die," she said firmly. "You can't die, I won't let you."

He tried to pull away, wrest free from her grasp, but she took his head in both hands and pulled him towards her. Their lips met, his listless, hers working fiercely. Faintly, like a far-off whisper, he heard his own voice. "An arrow he shot, but hit he did not, it flew over and high like a bird in the sky. The demon roared as its rage poured out from its eyes and into the sky..."

"That's really awful poetry," he murmured against Avilia's mouth.

Her lips twisted in a smile. "It is. Focus on it." She kissed him again. "You can't give up. What about Zretha?"

Zretha! His heart lurched, then settled back down. "Zretha can manage without me. She'll be happier by herself in the wasteland."