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Story Codes: Fantasy, Magic, Violence

For a list of all The Rogue’s Harem, 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 24.

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Note: Thanks to WRC 264 for beta reading this!

Sven Falk – Az, Princedom of Kivoneth, The Strifelands of Zeutch

Metal thundered forward. The iron body hurtled at me, a brutal sword clutched in the animated statue’s hand. My eyes scanned across the room in a heartbeat, glimpsing strange monsters lurking in the background while a massive blog of slime undulated in the center of the room, a shape buried inside of it.

I couldn’t focus on that as the statue charged straight at me, face twisted in a mask of anger. A face I recognized.

“Scatter!” I snarled at my women as Prince Meinard charged at us. “Carsina, watch over Aingeal and Ava!” How was the bastard here already? We should have days before he arrived and—

“What happened to Master Theophil?” Carsina shouted behind me, her voice quivering with pain.

Prince Meinard reached me, his arm drew back. Sword slammed down at me. My new leather armor quivered. Shadows writhed around me as I flowed to the right. I moved with such speed and grace. My perception slowed to a crawl. The gray iron sword fell past me. I could follow its brutal progress. It moved like it swung through tar and—

The blade hit the stone floor.

Metal rang. Stone groaned. Chips of rocks exploded from the impact. He swung with enough force to shear through me despite how slow I perceived him moving. I shuddered as his head snapped to the left at me. His iron body creaked as his sword lashed out at me in a horizontal thrust.

Shadows dived down my wrist, forming the rapier of darkness while at the same time I ducked low. My armor gave me such mobility. Despite the death hurtling at me, I almost wanted to laugh in delight. It was like before I donned this armor, my body was wrapped up in iron chains, restraining my movements.

Now I was free.

The iron blade scythed over my head. I lunged my blade upward at Prince Meinard’s chest, a flowing blow of darkness. He was utterly open to attack. At my speed, Prince Meinard couldn’t even react to parry. He was still swinging as my rapier knifed at his chest. The shadowy point aimed right at his heart.

I struck.

My shadow blade bent and flexed. I felt the resistance in the grip. My blade didn’t penetrate his iron proxy at all. It didn’t even so much as scratch the surface. My exhilaration sank. I could flow like smoke, but my weapon couldn’t harm Prince Meinard.

“You corrupted my daughter!” howled Prince Meinard. His iron body groaned as he drew up his blade into a brutal swing at me.

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

Kora Falk

As Sven flowed beneath Prince Meinard’s attack, I stared in horror at the beige ooze writhing and convulsing. Inside of it was the shape of a thrashing man. Master Theophil. Carsina shouted in horror beside me as I stared at the silhouette of the old man thrashing in obvious pain.

“Save him, Ealaín!” I gasped, horror filling my soul. There were so many terrible things. Other monsters scuttled through the church. The women of my harem, my new wives, darted away from Sven, obeying his words. Nathalie and Greta, empowered by their new armor, didn’t flee away like they used to. Ava and Aingeal grabbed Carsina and dragged her down the hallway we just came from.

Ealaín charged forward.

My aoi si muse glowed as she rushed into battle. Weapons of light flashed into her hands. Her war hammer and ax had a graceful appearance to them, flowing with their own warm, golden hue. Her black skin appeared as negative space in the gaps of her shining accouterments. She became a living work of art as she rushed at the blob to save Theophil’s life.

I felt so helpless as Ealaín slammed her weapons down at the undulating blob. My hands went to my chest. I didn’t have any sort of weapons. I had no way to fight. To help save Theophil’s life. What could I do. My body shuddered. The amulet I wore around my neck brushed my hands.

I clutched it, squeezing the gem. All I could do was make illusions. I could paint something, but would that work against the blob? Did it even see? Could I use my dazing spell on him? Would it work on the thing? How did a massive blog of jelly see?

A twinge shivered through me. I had to do something.

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

Ealaín

My armor glowed brighter as I raised the two weapons of pulsing light. They felt weightless in my hands. What could I do with this armor? I felt it brimming with power. It held potential, but what could I do with it?

Could I save Theophil?

He thrashed inside the formless blog. I raised my weapons and swung hard, crying out. Shadows flashed around me as my weapons blazed brighter. It shed golden light across the blob, illuminating Theophil thrashing inside.

His body dissolved. The thing digested him.

My weapons landed against the blob. It slammed into the gelatinous surface. It rippled and jiggled like a bowl of jelly. I shuddered at the undulations. My skin crawled witnessing it. My weapons rebounded off of the elastic surface. The force made me stumble back.

The surface of the monster flowed suddenly. It gurgled as it moved. I gained my balance, shifting my feet beneath me as a bulge formed before me. It swelled like a bubble rising to the surface of a tar pit. Then it shot out at me, a battering fist of jelly. I swung my hammer, slamming into the protoplasm appendage. It slammed to the side.

My ax swung in at is body again. I shouted with all my might. I felt the power brimming in my armor swell into my weapon. It glowed like the sun. The light arced down at the appendage. I slammed into the narrow tentacle. My blade bit an inch into it. The appendage contorted and contracted. It shot back into the monster.

A gurgling snarl echoed. The entire surface contracted and rippled. Then more bulges formed.

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

Princess Ava

I grabbed the sobbing Carsina and tugged her away from the doorway, from her poor master trapped in that hideous monster devouring it. Sven’s words rang in my mind. He wanted Carsina to protect Aingeal and me. He knew what we would do. That we would be vulnerable.

And he knew that Carsina was unarmed and didn’t have any way to fight. He was protecting her, too. I had to get to a safe place so I could sink into the feyhound proxy with Aingeal. We needed the swift movement of the proxy mixed with Aingeal’s magical powers.

“No, no, no,” Carsina sobbed as I hauled her away. I gripped the diamond hammer in my other hand. It throbbed and pulsed in my hand. I could feel it reacting to the power flowing through the armor. I could feel my family fighting for their lives.

“CORRUPT MY DAUGHTER!” my father boomed, his voice ringing like a bell.

How was he here so fast? Did that even matter? No.

“In here!” Aingeal shouted. Her pink butterfly wings fluttered as she threw open the door to Carsina’s workshop.

“No, no, we have to save him!” Carsina shouted. “It’s eating him!”

“We are saving him!” I shouted at her. Did I used to be like her? Panicking during danger? I felt so helpless when the assassin ambushed my family in the Forest of Lhes after they appeared from Faerie. I thought I was weak. That there was nothing I could do.

I’d learned there was always something you could do.

“You need to watch over us,” I added. “Protect me. For Krab.”

“What?” Carsina asked, her blue eyes wide with tears.

I hauled her into the workshop. “I’m going to imbue. My body will be vulnerable. There’s monsters around. You need to watch over us.”

“We’re trusting you,” Aingeal added, her purple eyes flashing to me then rolled back in her head in exasperation. “Okay?”

“O-okay,” Carsina said, her words tight, hoarse.

I sank to the floor. Aingeal joined me. She grabbed my hand, smiling at me. My proxy’s pulsed and beckoned. I thrust my soul out at the feyhound, seizing Aingeal’s with me. We hurtled together in a bodiless rush. We hurtled through that void.

We filled the vessel. Aingeal and I became one.

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

Zanyia

I sprang to the right and…

Purred with silent delight at how far I jumped. I hurtled through the air jumping four times as far. It was amazing. The air rushed past my ears. My tail swished behind me while my mane of tawny hair flowed. I landed with grace before one of the monsters. It was a hideous things, looking like a massive dog. But it buzzed and hummed. Its entire body writhed and twitched.

“You look tasty,” the monster spoke. Its voice didn’t come from its muzzle, which didn’t move, but like its entire body had spoke, resonating with the same voice.

I shivered as I asked, “Do I? I’m so scrawny. Not much meat on my bones.”

“An appetizer before I enjoy the others,” the monster said, advancing on me.

Annoying anger surged through me. “Ooh, that’s so insulting. Appetizer? I am the complete meal!”

The triangular katars formed from the leather wrappings of my armor. The punching daggers thrust from my knuckles, the blades base thicker than my fists, each narrowing into sharp points. I smiled at the extensions to my body. I slashed with my new “claws” at the monster.

I sprang beneath its muzzle and struck it in the chest. My blade bit deep into the monster. I cut into its flesh, slashing through it with ease. I purred in delight at the wound I left in the monster, a deep strike to its chest and…

It didn’t bleed.

No blood gushed out of the deep wound. Instead, dead insects spilled out to rain on the ground, carapaces and wings severed by my attacks. I frowned at that. I looked at the monster and realized… it was a massive blob of insects that had formed into a body, their segmented bodies squished together to fashion the “scales” of its flesh.

“Yes, yes, such a morsel,” the monster said before it exploded apart into a humming swarm of angry insects.

“Las’s putrid cum!” I hissed as they surged at me, buzzing with hunger.

To be continued…

Click here for Chapter 26.

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I have released a part 43 of the revamped Devil’s Pact on Smashwords. Read this post for more information if you’re interested!