The Umbral Messiah Pt. 03

Tanner let out a growl, and leaned forward. His strong, strong hand closed around her mouth, fingers digging into her cheek ever so slightly rougher than Sari had expected. Sari couldn't help it. Her palm rubbed along her bulge, then shoved her pants. She bucked her hips and her girldick sprang free. Throbbing. Eager. She was a Rebis girl, so the shape of her cock had been changed by her potions as she had grown into herself - it was a distinctly feminine member, and she throbbed with a need, a desperate need.

Tanner flung Charlotte onto the bed in his room. His shoulders and back flexed as he tugged his tunic off over his head, revealing his muscular form and Sari locked her thighs around a pillow. Holding it. She bucked her hips, fucking against the pillow, panting, whispering under her breath. "Oh Dragons...oh Dragons." Her mewl was desperate. Needy. Her eyes were locked on Charlotte - her body obscured by the larger, masculine form of Tanner as he crawled onto the bed. His cock bobbed for a moment as he pinned the noble girl down, muffling her moan. The movement was brutal. Fierce. He thrust into her and the muffled groan that escaped his palm wrung from Sari a gasp.

Jealousy and lust mingled together in her belly like a rich poison as Sari bucked her hips faster and faster, grinding desperately against the pillow. She bit her own knuckle to keep from screaming as Tanner began to take Charlotte. To ravage her. His balls clapped against her ass as he took her roughly enough that the whole bed quaked. Sari's eyes became blurry with lust as she closed them to slits, panting.

She could fuck Charlotte like that.

She could fuck her harder.

Better.

"Nnnhhh!" Sari moaned, trembling as Tanner threw his head back - and at the same moment as the two of them came, a rapping knock came at the door to the guest house. Sari quivered, choked back a moan, and soaked her pillow with her spunk, her balls tightening as she came and came and came again, the shame of it burning through her, the arousal heightened by her own hatred of her pettiness, her jealousy. She choked back an almost sob as the door to the guesthouse actually opened and a voice called up the stairs-

"Sari?"

It was...

Charlotte?

Sari jerked herself upright, gasping, the vision gone and yanked her pants up. She stumbled, almost fell, and choked out. "Just a second! I was...practicing!" She flung the pillow behind the bed, hiding the stains, as Charlotte came up the stairs, smiling brightly. Sari stretched her arms behind her back, hoping she didn't look too disheveled. Charlotte was in a slightly more modest, darker dress with a red scarf around her throat, her shoulders bared. Her hair looked tousled and her cheeks were faintly aglow.

"Mmm, smell that?" Rana purred, walking around behind Charlotte's back. She reached between the other girl's thighs. "I feel that." Her fingers slipped lewdly between the magess thighs, while Charlotte looked at Sari with innocent unawareness. "Her cunny is full of thick. Heavy. Cum."

"I've never met a magician who is so physical!" Charlotte said, brightly. "You do those sword exercises every day?"

Sari nodded, cheeks burning.

"Well, I hope it's all right to eat after one - my uncle has sent me to cordially invite you to dinner," she said, curtsying.

"Will, uh, Ser Seldon be there?" Sari asked.

"Oh, my fiance?" Sari asked. "N-No, uh, it's not really considered proper for a man to be with his wife to be before the ceremony."

"Naughty naughty," Rana crooned.

"So, he had to head home, after polishing off some work," Charlotte said.

"I'm sure he worked hard and fast," Rana said, whispering in her other ear as Sari tried to ignore the succubi. She managed to choke out a quick 'aye!' and Charlotte held out her hand and Sari took it - and together, they headed for the manor home of Menelag.

***

One Eye crawled slowly along the wall above the guard and the pretty servant girl. The guard's silver tongue had worked - the servant girl's breasts were out in the moonlight and she was sighing happily into his mouth. One Eye crawled down into the darkened shadows at the end of the alleyway. There, she slid her claws silently along the wall - and found the catch she was hunting for.

All castles and fortified towns, were built with many such doors. Secret exits. Secret entrances. Tricks and tools and traps for sieges.

Her fingers found the latch. She undid it. Her palm pressed to magic. She closed her one good eye and felt the cold touch of the Corpse King through her mind. The magic that helped to obscure the door faded away.

One Eye stepped back as the door rasped open. Men in black armor, panting softly after a swift jog through shadows, emerged from the doorway. One. Two. Five. Ten. The first two were at the guard and the girl before the last two were in. The guard sprawled on the ground, blood streaming from his slit throat, while the girl was bound and shoved quietly into a nook, to pass the night in terror and fear. The last two who entered were robed, scarred figures, smelling of void magic.

One of them caressed One Eye, gently. "Excellent work, ghoul."

One Eye grinned and stood to her tall, narrow height. She lifted her chin, letting the necromancer scritch her under her chin.

She liked being petted.

"Now," the necromancer whispered. "We have another door for you to open. This order is from the Corpse King himself."

The image flared.

A gate before a manor home. Two banners, dim in the moonlight, of roses and falcons.

One Eye churred and hissed and then scrambled along the wall of the nearest building, coming to the roof. She started to lope from roof to roof, leaping across, occasionally using her grappling hook to swing herself around lonely watchtowers. With each leap, the manor drew closer. With each leap, One Eye's eye glittered with more hunger.

And in the alleyway, the warriors and necromancers jogged through shadows, trusting to stealth and to speed.

***

Lord Menelag was cut from a lot of the same cloth as Master Phenrig. Like Phenrig, he was an experienced mage - and like Phenrig, he was balding and had an age that could be somewhere between a century and an early fifties. However, it was here that he separated from Phenrig, in Sari's opinion. Phenrig was content for his quiet reclusive life, out in far wilderness, with summoned servitors to do his various bidding.

Lord Menelag, meanwhile, was a magician and a noble lord. He was part of the free council of Shandil, and he had servants of men, elf, gnome and more. He wore a fanciful robe that was bedecked in silver and gold thread, and he drank from goblets of pressed gold with jewels set in them - all signs of his wealth and his splendor. Despite that, the dining room was relatively modest, with only himself, his niece Charlotte, Sari, and the serving staff within, and the staff mostly brought drinks when a flagon ran low.

"Needless to say, the necromancers are of little matter to me," Menelag said as the second remove was brought away and the main course was brought to the table. Sari, already feeling faintly overstuffed from the appetizers, nodded and looked concerned at the same time. Menelag continued, his voice boisterous and confident. "In three centuries, no one has ever breached the walls of Shandil through any method - even treachery has failed before the second wall. And not a soul in this city would truck with a necromancer, not a soul."

"Aren't you worried about the Corpse King? He's not just a necromancer," Charlotte said. She glanced at Sari. "Have you heard of his origin?"

Sari shook her head. "M-Most of my studies are more focused on ancient history than current."

"The common wisdom is that he was an exile from the Academy of Lucrecia Rayla, spurned by their mage-queen Lunena herself. But there's rumors that he is beginning to work to suit himself to the prophecy of the Umbral Messiah," Charlotte explained.

"Y-You can't fit yourself to a prophecy, that's not how prophecies work," Sari said, confused.

"It depends on your opinion on these things, now doesn't it?" Charlotte said, smiling. "If someone fulfills every point of a prophecy, then who is to say they weren't the prophetic figure - even if they did so with intention and aiming to do so. It's only hubris if it fails. There are several examples of folks from history who pulled off that kind of maneuver, the Neverlord of Vanderash, Chis'am-"

"Chis'am was entombed in glass for all time!" Sari exclaimed.

Charlotte giggled and poked her nose from across the corner of the table they shared. "As was prophesied, Sari!"

Menelag chuckled. "This is the danger of debating my willful niece, young Sari," he said, gaily. Then, his features grew grim. "But whether the Corpse King fits prophecy or not, his earthly goals are dangerous enough. Fortunately, they are poorly aimed. A siege is a poor method to steal a single artifact."

Sari nodded. "I-I've been meaning to ask about that, my lord-"

Menelag waved his hand. "Please, call me Menelag, my fair guest."

Sari drunk back a quick shot of the watered down ale to steady herself. She swore she had just felt Charlotte's foot brushing against hers. The bump of her nose had left her heart spinning as if she was a teenage idiot.

"You are a teenage idiot," Rana crooned in her ear from where she perched on Sari's chair.

"Menelag," Sari said, firmly. "What is it that, uh, you need the Chanti crystal for? And, um, what is the prophecy of the Umbral Messiah? I...I don't think I've heard that one."

"One of the old Ninth Dragon prophecies, said to have been penned before the Silver Crown was forged," Menelag said. "It involves the nature of the Void, what old books call the Umbra. A child of uncertain parentage who has traveled twice bearing arts of magic and war too, will shattered the ancient boundaries laid by the Ninth Dragon and allow the void to enter all. There are quite a few debates about what each part means - the uncertain parentage means it applies to most people in these tumultuous times, while travel often refers to a transmutation or transformation-"

"As the Corpse Lord has become a true revenant," Charlotte said, eagerly. "That is, he has returned from the dead under his own power, that means he's already transitioned once!"

"Quite," Menelag said, amused by his niece's excitement.

"And if the rumors are true and he was once a member of the Academy, then he'd have cast off his oaths! That's another transformation - those oaths are magically binding!" Charlotte said, her eyes gleaming.

"And he leads an army and is a magician," Sari said, rubbing her chin. "And if the void enters the world...that means the undead would reign over all."

"Assuming, of course, it's not referring to the demons," Menelag murmured.

"Demons don't want to rule the world," Charlotte said, frowning. "They are corrupting agents, timeless. They have no context without us - and that context is what they crave so badly. They want a past and a future, which they only aquire through interactions with us."

"That is what is written in the Daemonomicon," Sari said, blushing. "But have you ever read the Mad Scrolls of Menusus?"

Charlotte squeaked and jerked her head around. Her eyes shone so excitedly that Sari felt like she had just gained ten feet in height. "You've read the Mad Scrolls?"

"A-A translation of them!" Sari said, trying to sound respectable and scholarly.

"Eee!" Charlotte squeaked.

"My niece, please, do not overburden our guest with your questions after dinner," Menelag said, dryly. "She is here to be comforted and rested, not to be wrung out like a prisoner on the Thief Taker's rack."

"I only have...some..." Charlotte said, her voice evasive, while Sari wanted to say that she didn't mind, she'd answer any questions that Charlotte had. Rana chortled quietly.

"Funny, I thought you wanted her on a rack," she purred. Sari, who had just been taking a drink, choked on it.

"The crystal, in fact, relates back to the prophecy," Menelag continued. "If the Corpse Lord is to fulfill it in its totality, he will need a piece of the Ninth Dragon to shatter the barriers. And the Ninth Dragon's...ahem...reliquary is deep within the Temple Island of Rarous, protected by an Orcish witch-queen named Araktesh. Her kingdom is powerful, well defended, and very secretive. However, my communications with Araktesh have confirmed that the Ninth Dragon's reliquary is indeed deep within the temple complex of Rarous, at the heart of their extinct volcano. They concealed it within using a previously extant Chanti puzzle chamber."

Sari gasped. "And the Chanti Crystal is the only way to activate it!"

"Precisely!" Menelag said.

"But why not leave it there? If the orcs have a kingdom to defend it..." Sari said, frowning. Then it clicked. "...but the Corpse King would still threaten us. And the Ninth Dragon's relics are a bane to the undead!"

"I told you she was a sharp one," Charlotte said, cheerfully, to her uncle, who inclined his head. She turned back to Sari, holding her hands up as she explained. "We get the Ninth Dragon's reliquary, we can destroy the Corpse King and end his shot at the prophecy for good, saving not just our lands, but the orcs on Rarous and half the world. Even if the Corpse King doesn't become the Umbral Messiah, he's still a terrible threat."

Sari frowned. "And that's why there's a ship in the harbor, being prepared..."

"It will bear a kings ransom to offer to Arktesh, as well as my lovely niece, to serve as the diplomatic envoy," Menelag said. "And, I hope, the Hero of Shandil Road?"

Sari smiled, brightly. Excitement bloomed in her breast at the idea of sailing on a ship to a far off exotic island, to meet orcs, to stop a world shaking evil. All of it buzzed through her veins like the finest wine and she sprang to her feet. "You have my might and my magic for this expedition, Lord Menelag."

Menelag laughed. Charlotte looked at Sari as if Sari was indeed ten feet tall. And Sari felt the warm glow of her confidence until Charlotte bustled off to begin packing - they were going to sail at dawn. Then Menelag's features darkened and he stepped over towards Sari, drawing his arm around her. His voice was soft.

"I know precisely what it is that your master is trying to pull," he said, quietly. "And I smell the stink of your passenger..."

Sari froze. Her blood ran cold. She felt as if she had stepped into dangerous, dangerous waters.

"Swear to me - you will not allow Charlotte to come to harm," Menelag said, quietly. "On your name and your soul."

Sari blinked. "Of course, I-"

"Swear it!"

The voice that had emerged from Lord Menelag was the voice not of a king or a lord nor some peddler of simple tricks. It had been the voice of a true and powerful wizard, resonant and as hard to resist as a waterfall.

"I swear on my name, my soul and my honor too," Sari whispered.

"Good." Menelag slapped Sari's shoulders. "Now, get yourself to bed! We have a big day tomorrow."

Sari nodded. Rana and her walked off towards the exit, towards the guest house. Rana was unusually subdued. Together, they walked into the night.

"Well," Sari said, softly. "...this is getting interesting."

She and Rana headed to the guest house.

As a shadow crawled down the inner wall and ducked into the gatehouse. Claws flashed.

And almost silently, gears began to creak...

As the gate opened. Inch. By. Inch.

TO BE CONTINUED