Margret’s massive boot slammed into the door just above the lock, splitting a wood plank as the door burst inward. She rushed in, shield raised and mace at the ready, with Sondra close behind her. Bushwack drew a poisoned dagger in her free hand and prepared to launch herself into the air. I did not know how I was going to contribute, but if the pixie could get me close I could at least provide a distraction.
Kirinhalut sat cross-legged in the middle of the room with her eyes closed, appearing to meditate. Even sitting on the floor, she was almost as tall as Margret. A glowing ball the size of a human fist hung from her choker, attached to the same ring that had once held my cage. Paying no heed to her increased size, Margret raised her mace to strike and charged at her, only to run into an invisible wall. The priest bounced back, and Kirinhalut languidly opened her eyes and turned her head to look at her.
“You must think I’m as dumb as you are,” Kirinhalut said flatly. “I must say, I’ve seen adventurers do some stupid things, but hiding an artifact under your pillow takes the cake. I figured something was wrong when I lost contact with my little bug, so I took measures to protect myself. The people here were so willing to help, too: all I had to do was tell them I lost my key on the road, and they lined up to help me open it! Once the orb was thoroughly cleansed, they even started giving me their height, though they’re a little less enthusiastic about that.”
Sondra began working to break the wall of force Kirinhalut had raised while Margret dealt with the succubus. “We can’t let you have the orb,” she started, “and you’re going to pay for what you’ve done. I don’t know how many lives you ruined before getting to us, but it stops now.”
Kirinhalut laughed, an awful, evil cackle that sounded like nails being driven into my ears. “Better groups than you have tried,” she responded. “I’m more powerful that I’ve ever been now, what makes you think your ragtag group with two members I wouldn’t even bother to wipe off my shoe will fare better than anyone else who’s tried to stop me?”
“Because we know what you are,” Margret shot back. “You’re a demon from the infinite layers of the Abyss, and we’re going to send you back with righteous fury! You don’t belong in this world!”
“You’re far from the first to learn my true nature, and I doubt you’ll be the last.” Kirinhalut scanned the group, looking like a bored socialite rather than a demon who should be scared for its life. With a sigh, she continued, “Clearly, even if it weren’t for your righteous crusade, you wouldn’t be satisfied unless I gave you the orb, which I have no intention of doing. While it would be so enjoyable to watch you cut down dozens of innocent people, I think it would be more fun to give you what you want.”
Kirinhalut smiled and uncrossed her legs to plant her feet on the ground. Her shins alone nearly reached Sondra’s chest, and as she continued to unfold her body it became clear just how bad of an idea fighting her physically was. She quickly filled the room, towering over the two humans in front of her, to say nothing of me and Bushwack, and had to squat so her head would not hit the ceiling. For a moment she stared down at us with her hands on her hips, trying to intimidate us into backing away.
When we did not budge, Kirinhalut got ready for a fight. She placed her hands flat against the ceiling and tried to stand, pressing up with her arms. Long, splintering cracks appeared where the ceiling met the walls, spreading along the joints as she pushed. The room shuddered, and with a loud crack the ceiling separated, causing debris to rain down from it. Kirinhalut hoisted it overhead and stood to her full height, dwarfing the others in the room, and tossed it behind her so it landed outside the inn. “Let’s see if you’re so eager to fight me now.”
Margret’s fire had not diminished even though she only came halfway up Kirinhalut’s thighs, and she took a bold step forward. No invisible barrier stopped her this time, and she moved to engage the giant succubus. She moved sideways to stand between the giant succubus’s feet, looking ready to strike at any moment. Margret banged the head of her mace against the rim of her shield, making a racket while she taunted her opponent. “Come on, take a swing at me you giant bitch!” she shouted. “Use your fists instead of cheap tricks for once!”
The noise was a diversion for Bushwack to get closer. Using Margret as cover she dove toward the floor, making my hair whip back from the speed. She reached the floor and cornered forward, causing my stomach to lurch from the sudden turn. Bushwack juked to the outside of Margret’s enormous boot and cruised along the planks in an attack run on Kirinhalut while noise filled the air above us. When she reached the tip of her shoe, Bushwack popped up to skim along it, preparing to strike at her ankle with a dagger.
Kirinhalut’s foot shot up, catching Bushwack in the chest with the toe. The sudden blow made her double over and her hands open wide, spilling me out of her grip. I bounced off the tip of her shoe and got thrown back into the air, spinning head over feet toward the door. Gravity caught me long before I could reach it and pulled me down, slamming me into the floorboards. My body skidded and rolled over the wood, coming to a stop in a pile of debris in front of the succubus.
Bushwack tumbled through the air, fighting to get back control, until Kirinhalut seized her in a fist. The pixie was completely engulfed by her tremendous hand, with not even a single hair poking out from it. “An amateurish tactic at best,” Kirinhalut taunted, clenching her fingers around Bushwack. She reared her arm back and flung the pixie out of her hand, sending a brown streak racing out of it. With a dull thud Bushwack hit the wall and briefly stuck to it, then limply fell to the floor.
Margret roared and attacked, slamming her gigantic boot down beside me while she swung her mace. Her single step made a calamitous boom, and a devastating quake radiated from the impact. It hit me while I was trying to get back to my feet, and the force staggered me down to one knee again. My insides quivered as they absorbed the power of her footfall, and I was so dizzy I had to remain still to keep from toppling over.
The mace hit Kirinhalut on her hip and did not even budge her. It barely made an indentation in her skin. Margret went for an overhead swing next, slamming her weapon into the succubus’s stomach with negligible effect. Before she could pull it away, Kirinhalut snatched it out of her hand and held it over her head. She gripped it with both hands and snapped it in half like a twig, then tossed the pieces aside. Though she was stunned by the loss of her weapon, Margret quickly recovered and threw a punch at Kirinhalut’s thigh.
Kirinhalut caught the punch in her hand, holding Margret’s fist tightly, then rotated her arm so Margret was twisted around. With her free hand she grabbed Margret’s shield, the tip of her middle finger nearly reaching the boss, and tugged on it. The two of them fought over control for a moment, but with her great size Kirinhalut had a clear strength advantage. She tore it off her forearm and threw it like a frisbee at the wall. Even though its edges were blunt it buried itself in the wall, protruding rigidly out from it like a sconce. Her hand swung back, delivering a powerful slap to Margret’s face that sent her stumbling into a nearby table.
None of Sondra’s spells had made any visible effect on Kirinhalut, and with their plan falling apart I realized it was up to me to buy her more time. I grabbed a splinter from the debris pile around me and used it as support to get back to my feet, then turned it so the sharp point faced toward her. Gripping it like a lance, I let out a great battle cry and charged forward to plunge it into Kirinhalut’s ankle.
Kirinhalut let loose a booming laugh when she saw me approaching. “We’ve been over this before, you gnat!” she proclaimed. “But if you want to join this hopeless fight I can oblige you.” She lifted a foot and moved it forward so the gigantic sole stretched over me. Her heel landed with a thud, sending a small tremor through the floor. “Let’s see how your puny body deals with getting stepped on without our link.”
Margret screamed, and the floor rumbled when her colossal boot set down beside me. She slammed into Kirinhalut, her shoulders landing just above her knees. It was enough to force her raised foot back from looming over me, but not much else. Her arms joined behind the succubus’s knees, and she tried to lift her into the air. No matter how hard she tried, though, she could not so much as budge Kirinhalut’s body, which only made her smirk.
Kirinhalut’s response was much more effective. She reached down and wrapped her hands around Margret’s waist, then hoisted her up like a doll. For a moment she let her simply dangle, letting her scream impotently in her grasp. When she grew bored of her complaints, Kirinhalut lifted her higher then threw her down in a crushing body slam. Margret’s landing caused a calamity, and the floor shook with a force I had never felt before. I stumbled to the side before falling down, throwing my improvised lance to the side.
“Come to think of it, stepping on you shows no more creativity than the rest of your imbecilic group,” Kirinhalut boomed as she looked down at me with contempt. “I have a much better idea that will lend itself to much more elaborate torments after I drag you all down with me.” She thrust a hand forward, fingers extended as though to grab something, and Sondra’s spell suddenly stopped in the middle of her casting. “I hope you two lovers have fun.”
A footfall thudded behind me, and I looked up to see Sondra leaning forward. She reached a hand down, and before I could get up her thumb and forefinger had already clamped around me. Sondra stood, making me yelp from the sudden ascent, and it felt like my insides remained on the floor below. When she was back at her full height, Sondra held me before her face, her enormous features looming over me. I struggled to escape her grasp, but her digits had a vice grip around me, and all I could do was wiggle between her fingertips.
Sondra’s blue eyes were glassy, with pupils dilated wide, and it was clear she was not in control of her actions. While she focused on me the tip of her tongue slid out from her mouth and moistened her top lip with two quick swipes. A low moan emanated from her throat and made my blood chill in its veins. “Your lips are so sweet,” she boomed, blasting me with a cloud of hot air. “I bet the rest of you is even sweeter.”
“No, don’t do this!” I protested as she moved me toward her lips. “She’s controlling you! Fight her influence and send her back where she came from, don’t eat me!” My words fell on deaf ears, if they reached them at all, and Sondra continued drawing me toward her mouth. Her lips parted, revealing the great beast of a tongue inside, laid flat as a welcoming mat. Sharp white teeth lined the entrance to the immense cavern, and dark ridges lined the roof leading back to a dark chamber.
I passed between her lips, and Sondra placed me on her tongue. Her fingers released me and I fell forward, getting coated in the slimy juices coating the great pink tentacle. Quickly I turned myself over so I was on my back and saw the horrific inside of her mouth, with bright white teeth casting deep shadows from the light entering her lips. Desperately I dashed forward to escape, but she jerked her tongue out from beneath me, dumping me into her frenulum. The light streaming in got narrower while she closed her lips, then it entirely disappeared when she sealed them shut. Sondra had trapped me inside her mouth, and there was no way out.
Her tongue struck me from above, mashing me into the soft tissue below. I tried to push it off me, but my hands only sank into the soft flesh until they reached a solid core of muscle they could not move aside. Pushing harder only made me sink deeper into the spongy tissue around my legs, and her tongue pressed down, forcing me further into her frenulum. Before long I could no longer stand against the mighty force of her tongue and laid down in defeat.
Sondra’s tongue let off me, giving me a moment of reprieve, before sliding beneath me. The tip lifted me out, making a great sucking sound as her frenulum released me, then I was balanced on the edge. As it danced back and forth a thick coating of saliva kept me firmly in place, and I was subjected to the intense forces of its sudden stops and starts. A low roar came from the back of her throat and bounced around inside her mouth, making me feel an inhuman fear.
She slammed me against the roof of her mouth, holding me against the soft tissue while her mouth formed around me. Slowly her tongue dragged me back, forcing me over the hard ridges of her palate. I was helpless to resist as her tongue continued moving, pressing me into the ribbing as I passed over it. Each one I hit elicited a new cry of pain, but nothing could match the fear when there were no more to go and I had reached the back of her mouth.
A jolt ran through Sondra’s body, and her tongue lowered releasing me from its iron grip. As I bounced on it, her lips parted a little, allowing a bit of light to filter into her mouth. Through the portal of her lips, I saw Kirinhalut staggering back, an arrow shaft protruding from her chest. Another arrow hit her in the throat, just below the orb, and she reached up with both hands to pull it out. Her head snapped back when a third one hit, drilling right between her teeth, and she disappeared in a flash of light.
Sondra’s tongue curled up, and saliva gathered around me. With a burst of air her tongue depressed, propelling me forward inside a glob of saliva. I landed in the middle of Sondra’s palm, and saliva splattered around me to cover her hand. The air smelled powerfully of brimstone, strong enough to overpower the lingering smells from inside Sondra’s mouth. She grabbed the collar of her robe and dabbed me dry, careful not to press her thumb down atop me.
Llelwyl strode into the room, bow clutched at her side, her white hair blown back by the wind from a fiend being banished. She looked around at Margret struggling to get off the floor and Sondra frantically trying to dry me off, totally missing Bushwack’s broken body against the wall. “Looks like I missed something,” she said, staring at the pile of ash in the middle of the room. “Why don’t one of you fill me in?”