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Story Codes: Fantasy, Magic, Violence

For a list of all The God’s Passionate Love, other World of Erasthay stories, maps, and glossaryclick here

Comments are very welcome. I would like all criticism, positive and negative, so long as it’s
constructive, and feedback is very appreciated.

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Click here for Chapter 13.

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Ahlona – Lake Tur, The Kingdom of Valya

The Mermaid’s Tickler groaned as she slipped the docks from Sher-Vex and headed out into the calm waters of Lake Tur. The besotted crew, all fawning over Lady Alloria, unfurled sails under the barking command of their captain, Artix. The shaved-head man hovered by the busty noblewoman, glancing at her periodically.

“Come on, you limp-dick buggers,” he growled, “Lady Alloria wants us travelin’ swift. You can do better ‘n that!” He glanced at her. “Right? They can do better?”

“Of course they can,” Alloria said, a smile of pure delight on her face. She was no longer soaked in cum like she had when she’d arrived at the inn an hour ago. “Then I’ll be so happy with them all.”

The sailors redoubled their efforts.

I sighed. It was my second time on a boat, but this time the thrill of the first time wasn’t here. Crossing the Ompo Sea had filled me with excitement at the novelty of sailing. I wasn’t weighed down with worry. I turned to stare out at the vast waters of Lake Tur, searching for the island that was our goal. My wings fluttered. I swayed, hands folded before my naked breasts.

“You don’t like this plan,” Stefan said.

I glanced at my mage and master. He stared at me with concern in his eyes. He stood tall in his blue robes, looking handsome and commanding this morning. Strong while I felt so weak all of a sudden.

“We’re not hunting the Lawbreaker any longer,” I said, using Sir Bryce’s term for the villain who threatened Pater.

“No, we’re going to ambush him where we expect him to be,” he said.

“I suppose.” I swallowed. “I just feel like we’re getting further from him. What if Verdik was our best chance to find him, but we let that goblin lead us down the wrong trail?”

“I think Sir Bryce knows what he is doing.” He smiled. “It’s not like we have any other way to track the Lawbreaker. If Slata can’t do it, what other choice do we have?”

“I suppose.” I let out a heavy sigh. “But using Cernere’s stolen artifacts?” A shiver ran through me. “Nothing good comes from her. She’s chaos. Unpredictable.”

“She’s fun,” Illina said. The thief lounged against the railing nearby, her fiery hair whipping in the wind. “We’re going to have fun today. Ooh, breaking into the vault will be a thrill.” A shiver ran through her. “Barg, let’s go have fun!”

The thief pushed off and headed for the prow. Barg, not looking nearly as nonchalant as Illina, trailed after her. I fluttered my wings and glanced out at the lake again. I hoped this worked. That trusting in the artifacts Cernere held in her Vault was the way to defeat the Lawbreaker.

If we were wrong…

So much was at stake. If one God could die, then they all could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Illina

I was so excited about what was coming. I couldn’t contain it. I wanted to scream it out to the heavens. My pussy was molten with lust. I reached the bow of the boat. I wiggled my hips, bending over to stare out at the lake. My hands grabbed the prow itself, fingers clutching hard to the smooth wood.

Barg came up behind me. I threw a look over my shoulder and smiled at him. He looked so somber. So serious. He was worried about me. About today. My mother had died, so I guess I understood. But I could do this. I felt it. I had made preparations. I would go in there with my weapons and alchemical devices.

Mother didn’t have Shasti and her amazing concoctions. They would prove the difference.

“Mmm, I am so excited, Barg,” I said, wiggling my rump. “Want to feel how excited I am.”

He snorted. “Really, Illina.”

“Sure,” I said. “Mother’s nineteen rule comes to mind. I’m horny. I can’t be distracted while we’re in the middle of the job, so let’s do it now. Nothing else’s going on but watching Alloria’s sailors fawn over her like a bunch of virgin boys seeing cunt for the first time.”

“You truly are not concerned?” he asked.

“Why be concerned?” I asked. “I’m going to do this, Barg. I’m going to break into the Black Vault and prove myself the best thief in the world. Better than Mother. Definitely better than that dumb Minx.”

His hands grabbed my waist through my toga. “You just want me to fuck you hard from behind. Plow into that naughty, juicy cunt of yours?”

The rhythm of my heart sped up, pumping heat through my circulatory system. “Oh, yes,” I moaned. I bent over, thrusting my ass at him. I wiggled it back and forth. “Feel how hot juicy I am. I am dripping beneath my toga.”

A flood of juices worked down my thighs. My salty scent permeated out through my robes. I licked my lips, the breeze rippling over my head. The rush of the ship knifing through the lake water mixed with the sound of my pumping heart.

“I want to feel that knot in me, Barg,” I moaned. “I want to cum on that dick and howl out to Cernere. Give her a warning.”

“A warning?” he said.

“I’m not violating Mother’s eighth rule,” I said. “I’m not bragging to Cernere and revealing my intentions. She’s a Goddess. She probably knows no matter what. She wants me to break into her Vault. She wants me to be clever enough to get through all her traps and claim what’s inside.” I threw a look over my shoulder at him. “Don’t you want to feel what’s inside of my vault?”

“I’ve been in a time or two,” he said, his hands hiking up my toga. The hidden alchemical items in it rattled.

“Mmm, but you can break into my vault whenever you want,” I groaned. “You’re that good. No matter how hard I try, I can’t keep you out.”

“Hard?” He snorted. “You’ve never once tried hard to keep me out. Why, I remember the first time when you told me you were a woman and that I had to fuck you. Right then. Right there.”

“Because you had defeated all my defenses,” I moaned. “With that sexy bod of yours. With the way, you look at me. Come on! Ram that dick in me. Love my pussy. I know you savor it. I know your dick aches to be in my cunt right now.” I thrust my ass back, pressing into his crotch. “I can feel your tool. Mmm, so ready to pick my lock. Slide it in.”

“Gods, you are a wanton, little trollop,” he said and hauled my toga up the rest of the way. The air kissed over my naked ass and hairless cunt.

“I am!” I moaned. “Mmm, fuck me with that jolly good cock of yours.”

His hands caressed my ass. His fingers dimpled my butt-cheeks. “Illina, you shall howl your head off on my ‘jolly-good’ cock.”

“Promises, promises! I hear a lot of talk. Not a lot of action!” I gripped the prow hard, staring out at the horizon.

Something appeared on it. A dark shadow. The island?

Cloth rustled. Then a hard cock smacked into my rump. I groaned in delight at the feel of Barg’s shaft. My lover had the best dick. None better, and I’d enjoyed so many. I would let almost anyone into my vault. Sex was something to revel in.

But it was the best with Barg. I’d stolen him from the memory of my mother. I dragged him out of his depression with my passion. I knew mother would be thrilled that he had stopped moping. I bit my lower lip as that cock slid down and down my rump.

He nuzzled into my pussy.

“Yes, yes, Barg, pick my lock!” I gasped.

He thrust into me, growling, “Illina!”

That amazing cock slammed into my pussy. He penetrated into my depths. My eyes widened in delight at the feel of his cock thrusting deeper and deeper into me. I shuddered, a huge grin on my face. This heat swept through my body. This wild delight that would have me gasping and moaning and shuddering on his cock.

His balls smacked into my clit. Then he pulled back. I squeezed down on him, my passion mixing with the creaking of the ship and the fluttering of the billowing sails. Water rushed and splashed. Cooling spray drifted across my hot face.

His hands gripped my hips, holding tight to me as he plundered my cunt with his powerful strokes. He knew just how to use his big lock pick on me. I stared at the island growing on the horizon, my excitement mounting while the pleasure surged through me.

“Oh, yes, yes, Barg!” I moaned. “I’m going to do it! I’m going to defeat Cernere’s Black Vault!” I shuddered. “I’m going to penetrate her. Just like you’re pounding my cunt! Going to tickle open Cernere’s black cunt and plunder her!”

“Yes!” he growled, his hands tightening their grip on me. He buried his cock with powerful strokes into my snatch, just slamming to the hilt in me. “You absolutely will. A smashing robbery. You’ll defeat her vault, plunder her goodies, and leave her gasping.”

“Leave me gasping, Barg!”

I squeezed my cunt down on his cock while the pleasure flowed through my nervous system. Those electric tingles turned the gears in my mind faster. They clicked and whirled with the bliss Barg’s cock gave me.

His heavy balls smacked into my clit. The pleasure burst from them. The heat swept through me. Wild waves of bliss that blazed through my mind. I groaned, squeezing my cunt down on him. I savored every inch of his dick plundering me.

His hands slid up from my hips. He felt up my toga, passing the various alchemical concoctions and weapons secreted about my body. He found my small breasts. He squeezed them. He massaged my little nipples as his dick pounded into me hard. Fast. He buried his cock to the hilt in me.

The pleasure surged through me. My head tossed from side to side, the wind ruffling my hair. I groaned, squeezing my cunt down on his dick. The bliss flowed through my body. I whimpered and moaned, my twat gripping his big dick.

“Oh, Barg, yes, yes!” I gasped. “Slam that dick into me. That’s incredible. Ooh, you’re plundering my pussy. Cernere’s black cunt, that’s how to fuck a woman.”

“Gods, yes!” he snarled. “Let me feel that pussy spasm on my dick. Let me feel that jolly good cunt writhe and convulse. I will pick your lock and open up your passion!”

“Yes!”

My moans echoed out over the lake. Little stars danced across my vision as more pleasure flooded my circulatory system. My heart pounded at its fastest rhythm, hurtling blood through my body. My mind whirled away, bathed in the impulses shooting out of my cunt.

I humped back into his strokes. I gripped his cock. I massaged him with my tight and juicy cunt, aching for my orgasm to burst through me. For my bliss to drown me. I hurtled closer and closer with his every stroke.

His fingers pinched my nipples through my toga.

His cock buried to the hilt in my cunt.

“Barg!” I shouted and came.

My pleasure burst through my pussy. Powerful surges electrified my nervous system. My brain went haywire. I bucked and moaned, my cunt spasming around Barg’s cock. His shaft plunged into my spasming depths.

“You picked me, Barg!” I gasped. “Now plunder me! Enjoy my vault!”

“Yes!” he snarled, thrusting away hard.

My pussy writhed around him as his knot swelled. I gasped as the swollen base of his cock pounded into my cunt over and over again. He pressed against my pussy lips. His heat surged through me. This wild passion that would consume me.

He slammed his knot into my cuntlips again and again. His hands squeezed my tits through my toga while he growled and snarled, sounding more monster than man now. My orgasms rippled from one to the other, kept alive by his thrusting cock. My labia stretched and stretched.

He popped into my cunt. Tied me.

“Cernere’s black cunt!” I gasped and came even harder.

“Gods, what a vault!” he howled and erupted in me.

His hot cum jetted into my pussy. The pleasure swept through my nervous system. It bathed my mind. My gears whirled so fast. My body swayed and gasped. My back arched, pressing into Barg’s broad frame. He held me as I trembled against him. More and more of his spunk flooded me.

All his seed. My pussy drank it up. Stored it in my womb. I groaned, my twat writhing and spasming around him. His knot swelled at the entrance to my cunt while he growled into my ear. He licked it. Nibbled on it.

“That is jolly good cunt,” he whispered. “The best vault in the world.”

“Yes!” I moaned, my pussy writhing and rippling around his cock. I milked out the last of his jizz. “Ooh, Barg, that was incredible. You know that I love you, right?”

“I know,” he said.

My body blazed from my orgasm. My nervous system felt alive, tingling with the bliss. I floated on a cloud. I stared at that approaching island and shouted, “I love Barg! He’s my partner. And he’s going to watch me break into your vault, Cernere!”

He nuzzled his lips into my ear. “I love you, too. You’re going to do it. You’re going to violate Cernere’s vault and skip out with a smile on your face.”

“Gods, yes,” I moaned, feeling so loved. We were knotted together, united in the most intimate way possible. I savored it as I trembled in his arms. I was so glad I had Barg. I smiled, feeling so relaxed and loose.

So ready to plunder Cernere’s treasures.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Barg

It was a delight to be knotted to Illina.

Her pussy squeezed around my hard cock. The base swelled. Trapped in her pussy. I held her as she squirmed, her excitement infectious. She would do it. I believed in her. She wouldn’t make her mother’s mistake.

This time, I would be with Illina. I would make sure that she stayed safe.

I hugged my thief to me as I watched the island grow closer and closer. The sailors shouted, rushing around the deck. Green trees dotted the island, a rocky shore surrounding it. Nothing looked special about it. Nothing about it shouted, “Here lies Cernere’s private vault. The treasures of the gods abound inside.”

It was prosaic.

Illina trembled more and more. Her pussy clenched around my dick as the sailors reefed the sails. The ship slowed to a stop as it came as close as possible. A heavy anchor plummeted over the side. Shouts were given. The longboat unslung.

My knot softened. I groaned as I pulled out of my lover, sad to escape her embrace. I treasured being in her. It was a treat every time. I pulled out of her and she let out a soft sigh. I turned around, my dick hanging limp.

“Shall we break into Cernere’s vault?” I asked, offering Illina my arm like she were my lady.

She took it with a bright smile on her lips. “Mmm, yes. I have a pussy full of cum and my blood on fire. It’s the perfect time to do it!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leywife Monica

The sailors hopped out of the rowboat into the waters of the lake and pulled it the last few feet onto the rocky beach. Gravel rustled beneath the hull. Illina leaped off, her toga fluttering around her. She landed with grace, her eagerness obvious. She looked like a little girl staring at a plate full of tarts fresh from the oven.

Bryce stepped off in her wake. My husband’s armor rattled about him. He had the same eagerness. He had tried to get the Ambrosia once. He knew the Lawbreaker would go for the Black Spire eventually. It was the best place to find him. The only place he would go. We would be there to stop him.

So we had to be able to survive that terrible island. The original Ambrosia was a powerful elixir. Potent. It would be dangerous for us to drink it outside of the deathly aura that legends said surrounded the Black Spire. That magic of the Ambrosia that would normally be too strong for mortals would become a ward to keep us alive.

Hopefully.

I rubbed my belly. No, Bryce would not risk my life and my baby’s. I smiled, eager for the day the Lawbreaker was dead so my knight and I could settle down. He would make such a good father. I had seen him with Stefan. Talking to the young man, giving him advice, guiding him. I glanced at the mage and smiled, remembering last night.

That was a delightful threesome with him and his angel.

I drew in a deep breath as I stepped onto the island. Confidence suffused me. From here, we would head to the confrontation with the Lawbreaker. I ached to protect Pater. To guard the God who had descended to his world and made such sweet love to me. It had been indescribable to lie with him.

Mortal lovers paled. Even Bryce.

I closed my eyes, smiling as I rubbed my stomach. I could feel my child growing in me. Our child. Divine and precious, proof the passion we shared that one glorious evening. My blood rushed through my body.

Words echoed around me.

A hand shook my shoulder.

I blinked and opened my eyes to see Bryce before me. “Are you okay? You were ignoring us.”

“Sorry, sorry,” I said, flushing with embarrassment now, the heat in my pussy blazing. “Just thinking about how we got here and where we’re going. This is momentous, Bryce.”

“Yes, it is,” he said.

“Come on,” Illina said. “There’s a path.”

I shook my head. She was about to break into the Goddess of Crime’s treasure vault, and she looked like a little girl eager for her nameday gift. Illina’s youthful face animated with excitement. Her toga rustled around her. The amethyst necklace she purloined from Alloria gleamed about her throat.

“Yes, yes, let’s let the child have her fun,” Alloria said.

“Feel free to stay behind,” said Illina. “Your sailors all look like they’re in need. You finally found your calling. They can tie you to the prow as their figurehead and fuck your cunt whenever they get hard.”

Alloria flashed her a vile smile.

I sighed. I understood why the two sniped at each other—Alloria had tried to kill us all—but she was now tied to my Bryce. She was in our lives until we could break the spell. It would be easier if Illina just returned the necklace.

Alloria stepped off along with Stefan and Ahlona. The angel had a pensive look on her face, lips narrowed, wings folded around her body like a cloak. Stefan rubbed his hands together. He hovered between excitement and a more stoic reserve.

Was he trying to emulate Bryce? I smiled at that. My knight would make an excellent father.

As I walked beside him down the path, Illina rushing ahead, I found myself thinking more and more of the future. Once we had the Ambrosia, what could stand in the way? The Lawbreaker would be punished. My friends and betrothed would be avenged. Pater would be protected. My future seemed so vast before me.

I couldn’t wait.

The path wound through the trees. They were evergreens, all covered in shaggy coats. They were different from the ones in Secare, their trunks almost crimson. Their needles not so thick. Vines grew around their roots, creeping over the ground and budding with small, orange berries. Too bright a color to be edible.

Soon, the path opened onto a grassy glade with a large, metal disk in the center. It was easily fifteen feet across and showed no signs of weathering. Beside it thrust up a plinth made of the same shiny metal. My brow furrowed as I stared at it. There was something curious about the metal. It wasn’t steel, though it was silvery.

“Is that adamantium?” asked Alloria.

“Yes,” said Illina. “The disc is impervious to any tools. None can batter through it. And they have tried. You will only break your tools trying.”

“It opens if you solve the puzzle on the plinth,” said Bryce. “It reveals a pool of water. There is a door with a lock in it. That is where your mother met her end, I’m afraid.”

“I know,” Illina said, standing before the plinth. She pulled out a folded bundle of parchment and unrolled it. “The puzzle must be solved in the correct manner. One wrong move locks it up for a day. Luckily, my mother had figured out the solution before coming here.”

“How?” Stefan asked. He stood by the disc, examining its smooth surface.

“Cernere’s clues she’s hidden around the world,” explained Illina. “My mother spent a lifetime collecting them and figuring out how they pertained to this.”

The plinth had a grid of ten by ten little squares set side by side. Only one square was missing. It seemed to form a complicated picture, but its nature eluded me. Too jumbled up. Illina glanced at her notes, took a deep breath, and began manipulating it.

She worked fast, sliding tiles over one space at a time, manipulating them around the plinth. She glanced at her papers over and over again, but she sometimes was already moving. It was like she was merely confirming what she had memorized.

We stood around her, watching her work. Bryce stood stiff. I trembled, excitement swishing through me. Stefan had a look of fascination while Ahlona kept glancing at the disc. Alloria sought to affect boredom, but she kept sneaking glances at it. Barg paced. If he had any hair, he would bristle.

The image that formed was a complicated pattern of geometric lines. They swirled and danced in a seemingly chaotic pattern. She solved the left and top edges and worked her way inward, making smaller and smaller boxes to manipulate until she was down to the final three pieces. A quick series of confident movements, and she slotted the pieces into place.

A smooth, whisking sound hissed from the disc. It broke into three pieces and retracted beneath the grass. A pool of clear water appeared, a cylinder that seemed to go down thirty or so feet to a flat bottom. Opposite the plinth, at the bottom of the pool, was a shadowed recess.

“Time to get wet,” Illina said, a big grin on her face. She unwound her toga from her naked body. In moments, she stood naked. She flexed her limbs and fingers. A nervous shiver ran through her body. She let out a brief shout of exhilaration. “Ooh, let’s do this!”

She dug into her toga and pulled out an elixir. She tossed her head back and quaffed it in three gulps. A shudder ran through her and she grimaced. She spat to the side. Her red hair danced around her face.

“Shasti has to make that taste better,” she groaned. Then her hand rubbed at her stomach. “Oh. Oh, my.”

“What is that?” I asked.

“Potion to let me breathe underwater. I’m not drowning today. Cernere’ll have to kill me some other way.”

“Don’t joke about that!” I said and hugged the thief. I kissed her on the mouth. “Be safe, Illina. We need you.”

“I plan on it,” she said. “Best thief in the world!”

Alloria snorted.

Illina played with the amethyst necklace she wore. “I stole your most prized possession off your neck, and you didn’t even notice.”

“You distracted me,” the noblewoman hissed, her cheeks blushing a dark blue.

Illina winked. Then she bent down and pulled out a small, leather-wrapped bundle. She took a deep breath and then dived smoothly into the water. She kicked her way down to the bottom while the anxiety in my heart tightened.

Barg paced around the pool while I squirmed.

Now we had to wait on our thief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Barg

Fear squeezed about my heart as I paced the pool. Illina had vanished into the recessed alcove. I couldn’t even see her. How would I know if she were in danger? My entire body ached to be down there. At her side.

I growled as I marched around the pool. Fear squeezed tight about my heart. This pool had taken Hathila from me. I didn’t want to lose Illina to it, too. I glanced at Bryce standing beside the worried leywife. The paladin looked as impassive as ever, his face all stone.

If Illina died, I would rip out his throat. She was precious. Not just because she was the last of her line of clockworks, but because she was mine. My love. My breathing quickened. The pressure in my skull squeezed tighter with every throb of my heart.

“She better not drown in there,” muttered Alloria, staring into the pool. “She has my necklace.”

I snarled at her.

The noblewoman paled and retreated from the pool. “If she drowns, I can swim down there and get it.” She gave me another look. Backed up further. “If. If. I’m sure she’ll be fine. Yes, yes, she’s too good, after all.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Illina

I held my breath as I kicked down to the bottom of the pool. I stared into the shadowed alcove. It led to a round door. Like the sides of the pool, it was made of adamantium. How much did Cernere use? She must have encased her entire vault in the precious metal.

She must have stolen so much of it.

I grinned in delight. My Goddess was amazing.

I kicked my way into the recessed shaft. I barely had any light to work down here, but that was fine. My hair drifted around me as I let my eyes adjust. While I held my breath, the need to inhale didn’t rise in me. No burning in my lungs. No desperate need to kick to the surface.

That was good.

The door had a lock in the center. Mother would have tried to pick it. It must be a complicated lock. One that she couldn’t manage to pick on a single breath of air. That sounded like a challenge. Now the real question was, why didn’t she go up for air?

Once my eyes had adjusted, I began my examination visually of the door. It appeared to be a single cast. I could see no joints in it. It was recessed into a frame by a good foot. That seemed excessive. I stared at the rim around it, looking for something. I drifted in the water, my heart pumping heat through me. My digestive system worked harder to keep me warm in the cold liquid.

I smiled when I saw it. On the left side of the frame was a hatch. It was a little more than foot tall. The rest was solid adamantium save for that spot. I unfurled my thief tools. It was full of lock picks, of various cuts, rakes, a few shims, tension wrenches, small crowbars, a chisel, jeweler’s hammer, pair of pliers, tin snips. All the things that I might need to disable a device. I pulled out the small crowbar.

My fingers felt along the hatch, feeling for anything that might trigger if I pried at it. The joint was solid. I barely could feel it. It would be easily missed in the gloom here. Mother wouldn’t have had time to examine anything. Not on a single breath of air.

Sloppy of her.

I pressed my crowbar into the seem. I worked to get it and pry at it. My body shifted. I was floating, buoyant in the water, and was unable to provide any resistance that standing would give. That made this more difficult. I pressed my feet against the far frame to brace myself and tried again.

I got a better bite on the seam. I torqued back the crowbar. I felt resistance for a moment. My muscles flexed. The tool popped out. I sighed out a mouthful of bubbles. They ran along my face as I tried again.

And again.

I just couldn’t get the end of the crowbar into the seem enough. It was too tight. I swam down to my waiting tools on the bottom. I pulled out the chisel and hammer. It’d try brute strength to get into the hatch.

It scared me. Whatever happened to my mother, it came from that hatch. I wanted to neutralize it. If it was an attack that would just kill me outright, it wouldn’t matter how long I could hold my breath. I placed the chisel against the seem.

It was hard to swing the hammer. The water resisted me. I struck the chisel end, but it felt like a feeble blow. As if I were infirmed. I growled my frustration, more bubbles bursting around me, and tried again. I slammed my hammer with all my force.

The water dragged at me. It clung to my limb, slowing me down.

chink

I scowled. That wasn’t the hearty ring I wanted to hear. I tried again, but the harder I swung, the more I felt the water pushing out of my way.

“Clever,” I said aloud in a cloud of bubbles.

I didn’t have the strength to overcome the water. I tried with the crowbar a few more times, working it from every spot, but I just couldn’t get it to bite. I sighed and replaced those tools. I had to pick the lock and be ready for whatever trap I would spring. At least I knew about it.

That gave me an edge.

I pulled out a tension wrench. It was a flat piece of metal bent at one end at a ninety-degree angle. This let me keep pressure on the cylinder and hold up any of the pins that I had successfully picked. This lock would be a challenge.

I studied the keyway. Narrow. That would make it harder, too. Not much room to work with. I went with a slender pick. It was a thin cylinder of metal that bent at the tip to a blunt hook. I could push up pins with it. I didn’t even bother trying to rake it.

That was a brute force method. You just slid a rake in, one of the pieces that looked shaped like a key. You worked it in and out of the lock rapidly, raking the pins in the hopes of pushing them all up at once. It worked well on cheap locks, faster than picking them, but Cernere wouldn’t employ anything like that.

I would be facing trick pins and false sets.

If I wasn’t underwater, I would take a deep breath. The potion was still keeping me alive. I was, according to Shasti, drawing air out of water. It seemed ridiculous to me, but she claimed that was how fish survived. Drinking the air dissolved in liquid.

How could air dissolve?

Now I was just stalling. Thinking dumb things to hold off triggering the trap that would rip my head off or something.

Tensed, I slipped the tension wrench into the bottom of the keyway and turned it. I had to keep steady pressure on that to ensure the pins didn’t fall down and undo all my hard work. Next, I inserted the pick itself into the top of the keyway. I probed inside the lock, feeling long the top. I felt the pins, counting them as I went. They all felt stiff. No give. A cheap lock had three or four pins, a good lock six.

This had ten.

The trap still hadn’t sprung. I squirmed more, glancing over at the panel. What would trigger it? When I had half the pins picked? This was a ten-pin lock. What rogue could pick this on a single breath of air?

I slid my pick along, testing them. They all felt firm except pin seven. I pushed. A click echoed as it flowed smoothly up and felt set. At the same moment, as I felt it sliding into place, the panel burst open. I jerked, legs kicking.

Before I could dodge out of the way, a metal band snapped around my neck. I gasped as this snug collar fitted about my neck and held me in place. Bubbles screamed from my lips. My legs kicked and thrashed as a moment of panic took over me.

I could survive underwater until the potion ran out. I didn’t need to panic but…

Flashes of my mother filled my mind. This was how she died. Thrashing, kicking, trying to get free of this metal band. Her air running out. Her vision growing darker and darker. She would have been frantic to break free.

Horror, anger, and grief swept through me. My heart’s pounding rhythm hurtled blood through my circulatory system. My mind clicked away, gears grinding in sorrow. My skin crawled beneath the metal band.

Could she have done anything? I explored the collar with my fingers. It felt like one piece. How had it snapped around my neck so easily? I struggled to remember that frightening moment it sprang. Had it smacked into the back of my neck and then curled around me. What sort of metal did that? Magic? Enchanted?

That wasn’t Cernere’s Style. She preferred mechanical devices. Things that were fair. Objects that could be defeated by the clever. My fingers found one end of the metal slipped not the arm. It must be locked in place. So how could I release it?

I spent another minute probing the arm but felt no keyholes. No external method. Pick the lock, I supposed, but I wasn’t about to give up yet. I grabbed my leather roll that held my tools with my toes. Having nimble toes could be useful. I picked it up with care, all the tools tied in place. My leg bent, bringing the roll to my hands.

I grabbed a shim.

It was nothing more than a strip of metal beaten as flat as possible. It could slip into objects and find catches inside. You could use it to pop open devices. Maybe this one. I probed the shim against where the band vanished into the arm, seeking to slide it in and disrupt whatever mechanism held it in place.

The shim bent. I grit my teeth and kept fiddling with it. I couldn’t get the shim to slide into the gap. My tool was too thick. I held it up before me. It was as thin as a cunt hair. The tolerances of the construction of this device were impressive.

“Krab,” I muttered in realization. The God of Crafting. He built the original clockwork woman. This had his handiwork all over it. “Don’t you have any standards? Will you make something for anyone?”

She knew the answer to that. He would. If they paid. If the brought him something interesting.

So, my mother’s only hope—my only hope—was picking the lock itself.

I slipped the shim back into my pouch and let it drop to the floor. I had to start picking all over again, of course. My Tension wrench and pick were still in the lock. I grabbed them and set to work on the pins.

Sometimes, you had to pick pins in a certain order. These were countermeasures to make things harder for a thief. The tension wrench changed how a lock worked normally. The pins would be free to slide up and down but by twisting the cylinder ever so slightly, I put pressure on them. If I didn’t do that, they would just fall back down the moment I moved onto the next.

But it meant I had to constantly feel around to find the next pin to work.

The seventh popped up fine. That loosened up the second. It clicked as I pushed it up. I frowned. Was that a false set? If the pins were spools, narrower in the middle than top and bottom, you could push the pin up halfway and not realize it because the cylinder would turn ever so slightly. Then the pin would be stuck, feel like it was set when it wasn’t.

I kept working. I didn’t have to worry about running out of air. I couldn’t imagine picking this lock without some means of breathing. The collar just ensured every thief who tried didn’t get to escape back to the surface to realize their mistake.

Pin after pin clicked up. Some felt threaded like a screw, catching multiple times. I had them all up, and I still couldn’t turn the cylinder freely. That meant I definitely had false sets. Pins that had tricked me to think they were pushed up all the way.

I had to start playing with them. This was dangerous. I had to relax a small amount of tension to push the wider bottoms up and out of the way. It ran the risk of set pins falling back down and needing to be picked all over again.

I worked with patience. Pushing, probing, letting my fingers guide the way. The second pin was a false set, not pushed up all the way. So was the eighth. Still, the lock wouldn’t turn. I found another on the first pin. That was a bitch to manipulate. My tool was almost out of the lock, denying me any good leverage.

“Yes,” I hissed when it clicked into place. The cylinder turned smoothly to the right ninety degrees.

A mechanism twanged inside of the door. A click echoed from the collar. The metal band popped out. The arm retracted. As it did, the metal rubbed across my neck and Alloria’s jewelry. The curled end straightened and then slid past me. It must be an alloy able to hold two separate shapes.

What had Krab concocted that with?

Free, I pulled out my pick and tension wrench. I slipped them into my leather warp and bundled them up. Then I grabbed the door’s handle. Feet planted against the bottom rim, I pulled on the door. It creaked. Groaned. A pressure held it closed.

A sucking rush roared. I broke the seal and the door jerked in my hand. I grinned, pulling harder on it. It creaked open onto a dark space that moved. Something writhed inside. It lunged at me, battering into the door and wrenching it from my hands.

Tentacles engulfed me.

I kicked and screamed as they seized me. They held me tight, wrapped about my body. The creature beyond the vault drove me back into the center of the pool. I crashed into the far end. Slimy tentacles covered in suction cups gripped me.

A baby kraken? Cernere’s black cunt!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leywife Monica

I stared down at the water, watching, waiting. It felt like forever. Barg prowled around the pool, staring down to the recess where Illina had vanished. I quivered, wondering how long she could hold her breath.

“I should go down there,” Barg muttered.

“She is fine,” Bryce said. “If she died, her body would be floating to the surface. That was what happened to the mother. The moment I pulled her out of the water, the mechanism closed upon me.”

“You don’t know that,” muttered Barg. “It’s been close to an hour. What could she be dealing with?”

“Cernere’s mechanism,” said Ahlona.

“I can use my magic to find out if she lives,” Stefan said. He pulled out a vial from his robe stoppered by a cork.

“I know she is alive, too,” I said. “She’s good. Best thief in the world, right?”

“So she likes to boast,” Barg muttered. “She is good, but… Gods damn, I let her mother die. I wasn’t there for her. I was a hundred miles away watching over Illina. I’m supposed to protect her, not let her kill herself the same way her mother did. Drink the damn—

The water burst into an explosion of froth.

I gasped as the water heaved and then splashed over the edge of the rim. It spilled around our feet, soaking through my shoes and the hem of my robe. I stepped back. Bryce moved to the edge, peering into the depths. Barg snarled as he stared into the water.

“What is it?” I asked.

Then I saw it. A dark shape thrashed in the water. The surface shattered into colliding waves. More liquid splashed over the rim. Barg snarled and pulled off his toga as his form changed, flowing into his bestial shape.

“Kraken,” Stefan gasped. He popped off the cork of the vial and tossed back the pussy juices.

I gasped and harnessed the power brimming in my womb. The desire to protect and defend my new friend. I could see Illina’s pale form in the grip of the dark tentacles. They had her wrapped up. They engulfed her. Held her tight. She kicked and thrashed, struggling to break free of the monster’s grip. Her red hair flowed about her head.

The kraken moved so fast. It slammed her into the side of the pool then pulled her in close. My ball of energy risked hurting her. I hesitated, fear gripping me. I didn’t know what to do. I looked at Bryce. He stood at the edge, staring down into the water.

“Do something?” I gasped at him.

“Do what?” he demanded. “Drown?”

Barg, turned into his sleek hound form, dove into the water.

To be continued…

Click here for Chapter 15.

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I have released a part 41 of the revamped Devil’s Pact on Smashwords. Read this post for more information if you’re interested!