The Wicked Tower Pt. 23

Vel shook and shuddered. He nearly dropped her as he came, but instead pulled her violently to his hips and left himself buried to the hilt. When he was done, he slowly pulled her off and dropped her to the forest floor. The circlet stayed on her head, seemingly fixed there as the crown had been. He had a sudden fright and reached up, but the copper crown lifted easily off his head. He rested it back gently on his blond hair. His cock slowly deflated as he staggered to a nearby fallen log and sat. He was not surprised when Valeria began groaning and reached for her belly. It swelled and swelled. The magic of the place had a firm grip on her. "So, do I leave you here? Or take you back with me?" He caught bits of the dryad song. The words urged him to take her, to use her as proof of his rule. Vel didn't much like it, but if she was truly tamed...

"Ohhhhhh..." Valeria writhed in the moss. Her belly had stopped growing. She thought she felt a kick from inside. Her child was greeting her. She had traveled maybe two thirds of the way to full term in ten minutes. She stared down at the stretch marks on the globe of her belly. "You are the father... the father of my child..."

"Very well." Vel stood. "Let's see if we can find the exit."

~~

The sound of red capes cutting and battering the barricade was frightful. The four women had decided they couldn't leave until the heart was destroyed, but they didn't know whether they had another fight in them. They stood on either side of the barricade, swords drawn but hanging by their sides. A large timber fell to the floor.

Something changed in the room's light. Naevia was so focused on the impending breach by the guard, that it took a moment to place it. "The flame is out!"

At that instant, Minicia's scream found its voice. All four women turned toward the tower's heart. The wretched sound pierced into their very souls.

"Do we... save her?" Norbana had to yell to be heard.

"She is already dead." Circe's hands glowed with the azure light. She didn't know how much power she had in reserve. She prayed it was enough to take out the heart. Another timber fell from the barricade. "All of us, now," Circe yelled. All four women had a diminished glow about their hands. "One... two... three."

Blue energy shot across the room. In a flash, Minicia folded in on herself, bending and bending. The very air in the room warped, until with a final pop, Minicia and her scream were gone. The tower rumbled and dust fell from the ceiling above.

"We did it." Naevia slumped to the floor, her back against the wall. She wished herself out of the tower and back to Hekate. But nothing happened. "I'm spent. I can't... leave." She looked at the other women.

"Me too." Circe nodded.

Dellia sighed and slumped to the floor. "I can't go either. Norbana?"

Lady Norbana shrugged her shoulders. An azure circle filled with darkness opened before her. "Sorry," she said, and stepped through it.

"Wait!" Naevia stood as quickly as she could. "You can take us with..." But the circle closed and disappeared in an instant.

"Well, that was fucking selfish." Dellia shook her head. "At least we destroyed the heart."

Naevia sat next to her cousin and niece. They held each other as the tower shook and the barricade fell. There was now a hole in the doorway big enough for a man to climb through.

"You did it." From out of nowhere, Vel stood above the women, his hand possessively on the back of Valeria's neck.

"Oh, Vel." Even in that awful moment, a smile spread on Naevia's face. But that quickly gave way to a quizzical look as she took in the sight of her naked brother wearing a patinaed copper crown. The equally naked and very pregnant queen, and the circlet on her head with its glowing black stone further mystified Naevia. "You... freed the heart of the tower from its flame?"

"I had help." An arrow whistled past Vel. He moved himself and Valeria up against the wall, out of the line of sight of anyone shooting through the barricade. "Why are you all still here? It's done. We should leave."

Naevia held up her hands which glowed very weakly. "Our power is spent."

The tower lurched. There was the sound of something crashing overhead.

The floor canted, and Vel fell against the wall. "So, we die here?" Vel pulled his sister into his arms. "I have always loved you, Naevia."

"And I you, Your Grace." Naevia leaned up and kissed him on the lips. Another loud crash and the room lurched further at an odd angle.

"I can help." Valeria looked up at her new master with wide eyes.

"What?" Vel broke the kiss and looked at the former queen.

"I have some of the dryad magic in me now. Take my hands. With our combined power, we can leave." Valeria held out her hands. Vel took one and held his sister tight. Circe took the other.

"I don't trust her." Dellia stared, incredulous.

"But you trust me." Circe clasped Dellia's hand and closed her eyes. She concentrated everything she had on returning to her mother.

A crack sounded above them. But when the ceiling caved, it crushed no one. The five of them had all disappeared.