Late To The Party

I'd joined my new companions several weeks back, when they were stocking up on supplies in a hamlet I was passing through. I was a wayfarer with a weapon, and they were short on strength, so this seemed to be a mutually beneficial arrangement. They'd lost some of their troupe in a recent encounter with a midara princess, and were eager to get their fellow travellers back.

I'm Bors, by the way. An aspiring mercenary, looking for any place I can learn the tricks of the trade. My new companions were Dario, a surly fencer, Monty, an upbeat bard with mandolin and a raunchy ballad for any occassion, and Felix, an alchemist with a pyromanic streak. The party members we were meant to retrieve were Mona, a kindhearted cleric, and Damian, a barbarian from the wilds. Needless to say, it was a colourful bunch.

The midara princess had come to the attention of the party after she had invaded their dreams by accident. The more powerful a midara gets, the more followers she wants, and she collects them by broadcasting lustful visions into the sleep of commoners in the area, beckoning them to come to her lair to taste forbidden pleasures. The party was unimpressed and felt a bit violated, so they decided to rid the area of her presence. Such questing usually paid for itself, as midara were known to surround themselves with luxuries that could be hawked to the nearest store for cold, hard coin.

Turns out the midara princess was not to be trifled with. Princess is a rather meaningless title (any midara uses it to invoke the imagery of fair beauties from courtly romances), but she had a following of other midara that overwhelmed the group, leaving some of them charmed and the others fleeing with their pants around their ankles. This time, however, it was personal, and they were prepared.

We did some questing together to get into the swing of things, learn to play off each other's strengths and weaknesses and generally weaken the midara princess' power base. We routed a bunch of goblins that were acting as her supply line, destroyed a cursed artifact before it could corrupt any of the forest creatures, and killed a necromancer who was planning to raise a graveyard as an affectionate gesture to his newfound lover. All this time, the midara princess didn't really give a sign, which made us more suspicious. Was she preparing something or did she just not care that much for anything that wasn't a body she could fuck?

Only one way to find out, which is why we currently standing in front of the tower of the princess. It was shaped like a cock: two smaller domes said to the side of the tower itself, which resembled a shaft, blue ivy clinging on like veins on the pinkish stone. The top of the tower was a large dome that was supposed to be the head, I presume. Lounging around the entrance of the place were several guards. At least, I thought they were guards, but they were just lazing about with dopey grins. Dario observed for a bit and then said: "These people pose no danger, she just left them here to mock us."

We pressed forward and the guards just threw lewd smiles at us, making no effort to get up. "You've got to pick Mindy, she's the best in bed.", "No, try Lindy, the trick she does with her legs will ruin you for any woman for the rest of time.", "They're philistines, Cindy should be the love of everyone's life." they shouted at us in turn. The rest of the party seemed to be irritated by the taunts, but I was just fascinated by the effect the midara had had on these people. I've always had the image in my head of their victims by husks drained of life or maniacal devotees, but these just seemed to have the artificial jollyness of the average drunkard.

We entered the bottom floor of the tower, a hall with candles and carpet, a stair to the side and sealed entrances to the adjacent domes. As we entered, a thick metal gate slammed down behind us. I panicked, but the others assured me this had also happened the previous time, and the gate would open if the midara princess decided she was done toying with us. I wondered if this was just a game to her, a way to keep getting a steady supply of fresh manmeat. A beguiling voice echoed across the hall, seemingly coming from everywhere: "Ah, my guests have returned, and you've even brought me a present! I assure you, the others are doing fine, in fact Mona and Damian are decorating her new room right now to celebrate your arrival. You can find them on the top floor, if you don't get stuck lovestruck on the way there." Dario grimaced, Monty put a reassuring hand on my shoulder and Felix just looked bored.

The voice continued: "Oh, and another thing. I'm testing a new magic spell I created, named the Love Bomb. Since none of you are experts on the subject, I'll keep it simple. The Love Bomb is a concentrated dose of my charm powers, released all at once. If you are in the range of the spell, you'll succumb to my will without me having to do even a little thing. If you try to run, or if I think you're not playing along well with the challenges I've set before you, with a simple snap of my fingers you and all your companions will become my mindless thralls. So, be a sport and try to enjoy yourself!" Then, silence, only interrupted by Dario's cursing. Looks like we didn't have a choice now.

I wanted to examine the room for any traps or valuables, but the rest of the guys ushered me towards the sealed door on the left. "We've gotten the first floor the previous time, and it looks like she didn't make any changes to the layout," Monty explained helpfully. "You can open the left door by answers the three questions the knocker will ask you." I nodded, and looked at the golden ornament, a maiden holding a ring with both her hands. I knocked it, and the maiden came to life. "Hello sweetie, answers these questions three, and this room I'll free," she rhymed. "You're a newcomer to this game, so tell me, what's your name?" I answered Bors. "Next up, answer me without lies, what colours do you like in women's hair and eyes?" I thought about it a bit, and replied: "Red and green, respectively." She nodded, and continued: "Finally, you'll have to confide in me, what is your secret fantasy?" Oh heavens, this was embarassing. Back during my childhood, I had read a story about a knight being seduced by a fairy queen, forever leaving the mortal realm to be her lover. The story had pretty illustrations of said queen, which had served as fuel for my erotic fantasies for the better part of a decade. I sighed: "To be taken away by a fairy queen." My companions gave no reaction to this confession, and I realized they probably went through the same process. The maiden merely giggled before returning to her still state again, and the door opened.

As we entered the dome, I looked up to see fragments of crystal embedded in the ceiling, illuminating the space in a soft glow. Long mirrors aligned the walls of the place, and in the middle a midara with pink hair and a pink bodysuit was posing, looking at herself from various angles and blowing kisses. She turned around, her eyes darting between us, and I gulped. Pink eyes, pink lipstick, pink everything, in a sensual slender form. The midara noticed my instant attraction and flashed her pearly whites, before speaking: "Hi boys, I'm Kiki, your entertainment for tonight." Dario had his rapier out, Monty was ready to bolster our courage with a tune, I was clutching my mace, and Felix was fiddling around in his bag for something explosive, so it was one of her against four of us. Dario sneered: "You seem to overestimate yourself, you wench. Step aside and hand us whatever we need to progress through this ghastly place." "Who says I'm by myself? I do so love gatherings!" the midara tithered. And suddenly four copies stepped out of the mirrors, waving and winking, so she had US outnumbered.

"Alright, let's destroy the mirrors!" I blurted out instantly. A look of panic flashed across the pinkette's face, and she suddenly gestured for more copies to pour out of the mirrors. I made a beeline for the nearest one, intercepted by a copy of the midara opening her arms in an inviting hug. In the adrenaline rush her charm had little effect on me and I maced the clone, who burst into a cloud of pink dust that made me cover my mouth and nose with one hand. No doubt it would be adverse to breathe it in. I swung my mace and copy after copy dissolved in my path. I kept my eyes on the mirror, doing my best to ignore the deep cleavage and doe eyes of my assailants. With a mighty yell, I broke one of the four mirrors, and took a moment to see how my companions were doing. Felix succeeded in breaking another mirror with a bang as his alchemist's fire destroyed a handful of copies in collateral damage, but the resulting cloud of pink covered him in a rush, causing him to cough as he inhaled the lovely mist. Dario was surrounded by copies that taunting him with wiggles, giggles and air kisses as he furiously pierced and dodged, a copy always ready to replace any he decimated. Monty had little to defend himself with and was out of commission, a copy on each arm that kissed his cheeks and urged him to play something romantic for them. He could not help but comply. My face suddenly jerked to the side and pink lips quashed against mine, making time come to a standstill as my wide eyes drank in the beauty of the passionate pinkette. Being kissed by a midara isn't just a magical sensation, but a deeply physical one. Her tongue massaged mine, and she send waves of relaxation crashing through my body. She briefly paused, resting her forehead against mine and a look of fondness came over her. "You figured out the trick. You're relatively resistant to my charms. You deserve the main course," she teased me. She pressed my body into hers, but my mace was in the way. Her hands tried to losen my grip on the weapon subtly, but with a last burst of fortitude I instead jabbed her in the side with the weapon. She let out an ouch that was echoed by all the copies.

And with that fact, the tide turned. I had figured out her weakness again. All the copies felt what she felt. Dario struck down three in a flash, Monty pushed his amorous companions away, and Felix had recovered enough to rush past a few stunned clones and toss another explosive at a mirror. Three down, one to go. I clubbed the main midara again and all the copies fell flat on the floor. This gave Dario time to break the final mirror, and with a scream of frustration the original midara exploded into pink dust herself, along with all the derivations. After we had dusted ourselves off and Felix had given us each a swig of holy water to fortify our will, we made our way back to the main hall, only to see that the other door had opened now. Dario thanked me, telling me my quick thinking had saved us, but that the stakes seemed to be higher from the start now. We shouldn't go into the right dome without some form of strategy.

We discussed at length, and I pointed out several weak spots in the others' plans, so we collectively came up with a final set of tactics. We needed to be fast, so Monty would play a ballad that boosted our agility. Dario was best at occupying opponents, so he would engage any strong midara while I tried to bash through any lesser opponents with blunt force. Felix was the wild card: his alchemist's fire was dangerous in a melee, but effective against groups. He'd either use his other special potions, or else would simply blast the room while we backed off in case a battle did not go our way.

With that in mind, we entered the dome on the right.

Great start to the story. Especially liked the variation on the old three questions. I wonder what the others have answered. I suspect that will be discovered later, before Bors finds his fairy queen. "Being kissed by a midara isn't just a magical sensation, but a deeply physical one." seems to be spot on.

The next room was filled with all sorts of treasure. Piles of coins, treasure chests, marble statues, luxury lamps, jewels, you name it. However, this just blatantly screamed trap, a trap we probably had no choice but to spring. Felix pointed to an inscription on the wall which read: "Find the greatest treasure in the room to proceed". Dario opined that we should take the riddle as literally as possible and look for the largest statue, Felix said it was probably something small and humble, Monty just sighed that the obvious answer was love and that we should just get it over with and trigger whatever made midara come out, and I pondered it was probably a cheesy moral about friendship.

We decided to split up as we searched to save time, despite the fact that it might spring an ambush. We were all a bit antsy. Dario started comparing the statues throughout the room with each other. He soon became fascinated with a statue of a ballerina doing a split, her lips pursed and head angled forwards. Certainly the base she stood on made this the largest statue. Monty just said down on a treasure chest and plucked his strings, waiting listlessly for whatever was to come. I tried to read the inscription again, examining whether or not there were any clues I'd missed. Felix was holding a lamp, reading the engravings on it. Suddenly I felt a jolt in my mind, which I guessed was a magical suggestion. I looked in the direction of the entrance, and a formerly invisible woman in the ragtag clothes of a brigand waved back at me. Then things moved fast. As I tried to call the other men, I saw Dario press a kiss on the lips of the statue, Monty being thrown of the chest as it suddenly flipped open, and Felix rubbing the lamp. We were screwed.

I tried to turn back to my own opponent, but I couldn't make myself look away. The brigand lady pressed her boobs into my back and whispered into my ear: "Sorry hun, but I stole your attention. You can enjoy watching the fate of your comrades." Dario shook his head and watched as the outer layer of the statue crumbled, revealing the ballerina midara to be very much alive. She stretched and revealed net panties under her skirt, causing Dario to stop drawing his weapon mid-motion. She smiled at his fascination and darted around him, wrapping a stocking-clad leg around the man from behind, pleasantly rubbing his crotch. Dario tried to elbow her, but she simply swung to the other side, kissing him on the cheek. Now that she was face-to-face, she instantly flashed him another smile that turned the normally dour duelist all sunniness and blush, before using her deft tongue to scour out all vestiges of the sap's willpower. She whispered something in his ear, and Dario pulled down his pants. The ballerina turned around, made a bridge of her body and began sucking his cock in this unusual position.

The thief now turned my attention to Monty, who was pouring coins in the golden smallclothes of the brown midara that had emerged from the chest. She wiggled her hips and danced around him, pressing a kiss on the bard's face whenever he stuffed a generous helping in her clinking clothes. Soon the clothes became too heavy and they snapped loose. That was the cue for the midara to drag Monty into the chest she had previously occupied, before closing the lid on the pair. I could soon hear moaning sounds emerge through the keyhole.

The brigand turned my attention again. Felix was enthralled by what I guessed was a spirit that had come from the lamp. She was wearing blue clothing that belonged right home in a harem. She had just finished a speech: "...and aside from that, you may wish for anything. No murder, no immortality, and no turning the heart of others. However, it says nothing about your own heart..." Felix thought about it. While still floating, the spirit wrapped her arms around the alchemist. "I can fulfill any fantasy you have, no matter how raunchy. But sex is fleeting. Wouldn't you want love for yourself instead..." she trailed off, drawing circles on his chest with her finger. Felix nodded and spoke in a monotone: "I wish to fall in love." The spirit snapped her fingers, and turned the alchemist around, snogging him from the bottom of her heart. Felix's pupils turned into pink hearts themselves. "Now, you have two wishes left. What are they gonna be?", the spirit asked. "Anything for you to be happy," Felix nearly shouted. He now also had fire in his heart as well as in his chemical supplies. "But I'm already happy, darling, now that I've got you!", the spirit said back excitedly. "But could you use your final wish to get us all back to our respective rooms?" she continued with puppy eyes. Felix nodded, and she snapped her fingers, all paired-up people disappearing in a flash.

I felt my attention under my control again and swung my mace backwards, but the brigand had jumped backwards already. She was petite and cute, with a slight tan, black bangs and brown eyes. Her clothes were a lose collection of belts and buckles over ripped jeans and a tunic. She winked at me. "What a predicament. I hope you put up more of a fight, hon.", she taunted. I was angry now and swung my mace at her. She dodged and her hand turned into a blur, seemingly going through me. I suddenly panicked. Three of my companions were abducted, and I was here alone with a midara who seemed to have strange abilities I couldn't figure out. I began to back away from my opponent. She smirked: "Aw, did I steal your courage? My powers allow me to steal everything, no matter whether it's nailed down or not." She rushed me and her hand turned into a blur again, going through me while I cowered. I was now naked, but the panic seemed to have gone away. She was holding my clothes in her arms, neatly folded. She tossed them over her shoulder. So, she could only steal one thing at the time. Good to know. She looked pleased I was putting up resistance again, and she once again turned her arm into a blur, ready to pounce. By now, I knew how she manouevred, as she constantly did the same move. I opted for a feint, but as she moved, she suddenly turned and grabbed me by the collar, violently kissing me. There was no love there, just animal lust to dominate. I headbutted her in response, which pleased here, as she dove in for another kiss again. I suddenly found myself choking, and I grabbed at my throat. "Stealing kisses, or stealing your breath with a kiss," the strange brigand laughed, "all in a day's work. But the charade has gone on long enough. First I'll steal your will, and then I'll steal your virginity, darling." Just as I could breathe again, she once again went through me with a blurry arm. And...she looked confused at a piece of paper in her hand. I wasted no time and delivered a mace strike to her head that made the midara crumble like a sack of potatoes. She stole my will alright. I quickly dressed myself, dumped the body of the unconscious midara in the open chest, pocketed my will and looked to see if I could go upstairs through the staircase in the hall.

It turned out I could. Whether through sheer luck or wits, I had come this far. I wasn't gonna go down by a cheap love bomb spell, and so pressed on.

Hey man, awesome content so far! Looking forward to reading more of it. I'd especially like to see the inclusion of the other guys' perspectives/encounters in the next entry.