Disclaimer: these stories are a work of fiction.
Back: Chapter Seven
“The first step in tackling vampires,” Alyssa said to Nali, “is to get a cleric.”
They went to the local temple, where the cleric looked down his nose at them.
“We do not associate with collaborators of ancient inhuman horrors,” he sneered.
Beside Alyssa, Nali stirred.
Alyssa said quickly, “Yes, but vampires…”
Nali cut in, “Your failure to protect the women these monsters are preying upon is inexcusable and unacceptable! Join our fight or we will punish you!”
Alyssa dragged her outside. “Come on, let’s just go take care of these vampires ourselves.”
“But Alyssa! These clerics are part of the oppression by not taking action!”
“Yes, well, we’re not going force clerics to fight against their will, whatever their failings.”
In the vampire’s den they quickly ran into a stalemate.
The vampires weren’t able to get through their armor, but turned into mist whenever Alyssa and Nali attacked them.
Alyssa had the idea of blowing the vampires in mist form towards sunlight with a tabletop she used like a giant fan, but even with both Alyssa and Nali herding them at the same time, the vampires kept slipping around them.
Alyssa said, “We’re going to need Cawyn for this.”
“Oh no,” said Nali.
“Oh, yes.”
Back at the Illusti’s castle, Cawyn’s cries of pleasure echoed.
Although the Illusti had complete control over their sexuality, he appeared to follow their own sexual desire, ravishing them when they were feeling horny.
The other night had been an example, where he had somehow sensed that she was in the mood for rough sex.
Nali was ravished less frequently, usually after a victory in battle.
And Cawyn… well, Cawyn was ravished every day.
Sometimes all day.
Not wanting to interrupt, Alyssa had a leisurely meal. When the castle had been quiet for a bit, she went to Cawyn’s chambers.
Two hunky guys were rubbing Cawyn’s feet, and a third was peeling grapes for her.
Alyssa rolled her eyes.
“Come on,” she said, “we need your help clearing out a nest of vampires.”
“No way!” cried Cawyn.
“Yes way!” said Alyssa.
Back at the vampire den.
“Eew! It’s dark!” said Cawyn.
“Eew! It’s dirty in here!”
“Eew! Cobwebs! Eew! Spiders!”
“Eew! These vampires are disgusting!”
While Cawyn complained continuously, the three of them were able to drive the vampires into the sunlight.
“I hate you!” said Cawyn to Alyssa.
Alyssa walked along the river bank, enjoying the feel of the breeze and sunlight on her skin.
The Illusti had showed her how to mentally control the armor, so that she could retract it. Subject to his override of course.
And she wasn’t able to retract it fully, it remained in place over her breasts and privates. The Illusti maintained complete control over her sexuality, where she could neither pleasure herself, or prevent him from bringing her pleasure.
But there were other pleasures. Alyssa stretched luxuriously, enjoying the sensation of having bare skin again.
She had once seen a fanciful drawing of a group of adventurers, with all the female warriors inexplicably showing a maximum amount of skin, wearing nothing but utterly impractical bikini armor.
She grinned at the thought that she now looked like that drawing, naked aside from her own bikini armor, the sword across her back, and the dagger at her belt.
She heard a loud “THUNK!” and looked down in surprise to see that her armor had flickered into existence above her heart, a shattered crossbow bolt falling to her feet.
Oh. Someone had just tried to kill her.
A good shot too.
She mentally called to her armor and in an eye blink it once again covered her from head to toe. She rushed forward with inhuman speed in the direction the bolt had come from. Within a second she burst through the concealing bushes where a man was ratcheting his crossbow for a second shot.
Abandoning his half-cocked crossbow he drew his sword and shouting “Die traitor!” he swung at her, his sword bouncing off her invulnerable armor. Her return blow decapitated him.
Alyssa resumed her walk along the riverbank, feeling troubled.
She didn’t mind having killed that idiot. She was an adventurer, and that’s what she did for a living: things tried to kill her, and she killed them back.
Shooting at her with the crossbow, catching her unawares with her guard down, that had been good tactics.
Taking a swing at her when everyone in the five kingdoms knew that the Queen-Consort’s armor was invulnerable was just stupid.
He should have run away when his first attack failed.
Or said, “Oh my gosh! Did that hit you? I’m so sorry! I was just doing some target practice here for some reason in the wilderness miles and miles away from anything and I didn’t realize you were there.”
No, she wasn’t worried about him.
But he had called her “traitor”. Was she a traitor?
If she had been leading a raid against an ancient inhuman energy sucking monstrosity, and she had run into one of his lieutenants or “Queen-Consorts” or whatever, she wouldn’t have hesitated. Monster, kill. That’s what she did.
Alyssa didn’t like morally ambiguous situations. That’s what priests and judges were for. If you were wondering if something was good or not, you asked a priest. If you caught someone and it wasn’t clear if they should be killed or not, you hauled them off to a judge, there was a trial or whatever, and then they killed them.
So, she could ask a priest. “Hey, priest, do you think I should be in league with an ancient inhuman energy sucking monstrosity?”
She kicked discordantly at a rock, which exploded with a crack that echoed across the water.
It wasn’t like he ate babies or anything. All he did was gain energy when he fulfilled their sexual desires. Which they had agreed to. Asked for.
Yet if the Illusti was evil, or turned evil, then what? She couldn’t kill him. Sneak attacks didn’t do any good, as the idiot had just demonstrated.
Well, if she wanted to kill her, what would she do?
Alyssa mulled.
Well, the armor protected her from anything, but she still needed to breath, didn’t she? Alyssa tried holding her breath, and she wasn’t able to hold it any longer than usual.
OK, so if she were caught in a fire, the armor would protect her against the heat, but maybe she could still die from smoke inhalation. Or from drowning.
On the other hand, with the inhuman speed and strength of the armor, if she got caught in a fire she could simply run out of it. Or if she fell into water, she could swim to safety. Chains wouldn’t hold her, and magic didn’t work on the armor either.
Wait… hadn’t the Illusti said that Alyssa had “broken” his prison?
Maybe the sarcophagus could trap him.
Alyssa couldn’t flicker across the world like the Illusti could with what Alyssa called his “seven league boots” magic, but she could run fast in the armor.
It only took her the afternoon to return to the crypt.
Next: Chapter Nine
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