Introduction:

CAPITAL NAMES mean the story is being told from that person's perspective. Dashed lines indicate where the sex in the story is and physical descriptions of the characters. Important plot points are listed at the bottom.

Chapter Twenty-One

LEVERIA

All last night I watched Elena from the enchanted mirror I had hidden in the ceiling of her cell. I sipped my wine and smoked my cigarettes as I pondered what the hell was going through my head. One half of my mind told me to continue the torture, to beat this defiant dyke into the ground until there was nothing left of her. The other half told me something different. I was still a young woman, and had never given much thought to what my life would be like after Father died. The toll of his wife’s ‘betrayal’ and Yavara’s revelation were wearing him of his years. In just a matter of weeks, my father had gone from a man of energy and passion, to a decrepit geriatric with sunken eyes. He still had decades of life left in him, but the very act of living seamed to wear on him day after day. Even the news of his son in my womb didn’t awaken the passion I needed from him.

And here was this creature, a beautiful woman with the gift of a man. She was intelligent, brave and funny, and she hated the ground I walked on. Maybe it was the competitiveness within me that drew me to her; she was my sister’s lover, and I wanted to take her from Yavara mind, body and soul. Maybe it was my twisted mind reveling in the idea of making someone who hated me want me. But there was something else dwelling with in me, something true: I didn’t love my father like I used to. I deceived him and surpassed him, and that made him unattractive to me. My father showed his weakness and vulnerability to me, and while I embraced and comforted him in his hour of need (which was a crisis of my own design), I found myself increasingly repulsed by how easy it had been for me to take what was his. Daddy was right about me all those years ago: power is my only true love, and he no longer possessed it.

Elena, on the other hand, saw right through my guise of control and turned the whole thing on its head. She saw my power and sneered at its demonstration. I was always planning on raping her, but she seduced me anyway; she seduced me mentally. Sex was always a game of power for me: either I was the one in control, or my father was. I walked into Elena’s cell the one in power, and in the heat of my lust, she took it from me.

No…I gave it to her.

That was it right there, I gave Elena the power willingly. Through her cunning, wit and sexual potency, she made me want to give her control. That’s why I felt this conflict. I’d never given up power of any kind willingly before, and she had that power over me. Elena had the power to make me not desire power.

Is that what being in love is?

I took a candid look at my relationship with my father. Not once did I willingly yield an inch to him. I learned from him, loved him as a mentor and a man, but I never gave him my power. I always kept that for myself. A darker thought began to creep into my mind: was I ever actually in love with my father? I loved him, sure, I adored his attention, yes, I respected his opinions and held his ideas in high regard, absolutely. But during any part of my relationship with him, did I once ask myself what was best for him? No. No, I took everything I could from him, and now that he had nothing left to give me, a sinking realization was forming that I never was in love the man.

Oh my god, I thought to myself, I am such a fucked up person.

I might be falling in love with Elena Straltaira.

BROCK

I was planning on going to The Maples with a horde at my back, but Zander insisted we didn’t have time. We traveled to Castle Alkandra, where Titus was making considerable progress on the structure. The great hall had already been rebuilt, and the ramparts and towers were close to being done. Massive trolls lifted tons of stone on their backs and stacked the walls high in a matter of hours. They moved from the quarry to the silver mines, unloading mountains of raw silver and dropping it onto Ardeni cargo vessels. Titus stood in his black robe, shouting directions to the behemoths behind his mask.

“Zander!” Titus exclaimed when he saw the wizard, “I haven’t seen you in a hundred years.”

“Titus,” Zander replied curtly, “it’s good to see you’re making progress.”

“I was saddened to hear of Prestira’s fate,” Titus said, shaking his head, “I have no words-”

“Then don’t speak them.” Zander cut him off, “Where are the Terdini and Protaki?”

“Far side of the west wall, digging a moat.” Titus replied.

“Brock,” Zander said to me, “fetch ten of your best men and make your way to those ruins over there, I have a portal concealed behind that fountain.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I have dealings I need to discuss with Titus, and I don’t have time to explain them.” Zander responded.

I didn’t bother giving the old man shit; he’d just lost Prestira, and I understood the pain. I walked to the west wall to find both of my tribes digging a trench thirty feet deep and fifty feet across.

“Hey Dad,” Trenok said as he wiped the sweat from his brow, “I heard the meeting with The Ten didn’t go very well.”

“You heard correctly.” I grunted. Trenok was growing stronger by the day, and my failure to secure the clan’s place would no doubt embolden him to make a move for chieftain soon. Trenok looked at me for a bit, his muscles tensing slightly. I raised an eyebrow to the boy and nonchalantly pivoted my heel into the dirt. Trenok acknowledged my offensive stance and gave me a grin before he resumed his digging. Trenok might have been able to toss me right then and there, but he understood that now wasn’t a good time. Our clan was in limbo, and I needed to strengthen our position before passing it down to my boy.

I picked out ten men and swiftly greeted my people before making it to the place where Zander’s portal was concealed. Zander came up to me with eighteen vampires following him.

“I convinced Titus to lend you coin and some of his children,” Zander said, “you’ll need them for what you’re about to do.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“There are eighteen minor clan leaders in The Maples,” Zander said, “and we don’t have the time to convince them one by one.”

“I’m not seeing what your point is.”

“We’re going to kill them all.”

“There’s no honor in that!” I yelled angrily, “the clans will not follow me after assassinating their leaders! Orcs do not respect back stabbers and hitmen!”

“No,” Zander said coldly, “they’ll follow you because you killed every chieftain in The Maples in one night, and left your symbol carved into their desecrated corpses. We don’t have time to earn respect anymore, we’ll take fear instead.”

“Tyrants are rewarded as they have ruled, Zander.” I growled, “You’re condemning me to a life of looking over my shoulder.”

“You won’t rule over clans once you’re Froktora,” Zander replied, “you’ll rule over chieftains. If you do not do this, Brock, I swear to you, I will throw Yavara’s support behind one of The Ten and add your clan as a prize for incentive.”

“Watch it, old man...” I growled.

“If you don’t want a chieftain of The Tundra branding the symbol of The Gorge on his arm, you better get those fucking clans, Brock.” Zander said as he positioned his staff threateningly, “Because if we don’t have an army within a month, we are all going to die.”

I stared down at the wizard. Zander was always an asshole, but now he was ruthless. Prestira’s death hardened him, and forced his focus onto a singular goal. He was going to put Yavara on that throne come hell or high water, and everyone but her was rapidly becoming expendable to him. Zander stared his determination into my eyes and opened the portal. I gave him a cold look back and walked through it.

ELENA

Leveria squeezed the sponge into the bucket before gently washing me. She hummed quietly to herself and cleaned my cuts and the dirt off my body. I laid on my bed and looked at her with a confused expression, but she just smiled back and continued to wash me with the sponge. She gently blotted my skin from my neck to my breasts and down my torso. She stopped just short of my cock and let out a giggle before washing that as well. I felt myself get hard, and Leveria responded my running a finger down the length of my shaft and laughing girlishly. She spread my cheeks and washed my nethers, taking a few moments to tease me with her fingers before moving the sponge down my legs.

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Leveria was wearing the devil outfit she had promised me, and it was extremely distracting. The costume included a tight, red corset with laces that tied together over a ‘V’ opening that started at her breasts (which were straining to stay put), and traveled down to her navel. She wore red silk panties that bore a fake little tail protruding from between her full cheeks. Her legs were barely covered with a pair of tight fishnet stockings, which extended down into a pair of red high-heeled shoes. Completing the outfit was a set of fake bat wings attached to the back of her corset, and a little red headband baring little red horns. Her hair was braided in two platinum ponytails that ran down both sides of the crown of her head.

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“How do you think we should do your hair today?” her gentle voice asked.

“Just let it flow.” I said.

Leveria undid my braided pony tail and began to wet my hair with cool water. Her fingers tenderly massaged my scalp as she lathered the shampoo. She gently washed the foam from my hair, keeping a hand on my brow to make sure water didn’t get into my eyes.

“Glendian, Adarian.” Leveria called as she dried my hair.

Headmaster Glendian and Ranger Adarian entered the room. Both gave me a pitied expression, and I returned Adarian’s gaze with one of cold rage.

“Glendian,” Leveria said, “Elena needs clothes and a new toe.”

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“Yes, my queen.” Glendian said with a reluctant tone. Glendian twirled his fingers and collection of white fabrics flew from his bag. They stitched together about my body until my angel outfit was complete. I looked down at the white dress that now clung to my body. It was a strapless garment that started just above my nipples and ended too short to cover the tip of my cock. A set of feathered angel wings were sewn to the back of the dress, but the outfit was conspicuously missing something.

“Where’s the halo?” I asked Leveria.

“I’ve got it right here.” Leveria smiled as she held up a golden cock ring. She pushed it down my half-hard member and giggled in delight.

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I looked cautiously up at Leveria as her mage healed my foot. I had no idea what the fuck was going on anymore, but I was pretty sure this was a new and exciting method of torture Leveria had concocted. She’d try to put me at ease, heal the wounds she inflicted, and then lay the hammer down and torture me all over again.

“Well?” she asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.

“It’s straighter than it used to be.” I said.

“How does it feel?”

There was definitely something weird about Leveria. She was asking me questions with this odd upward inflection, as though she were genuinely interested in the well-being of my foot.

“Like a toe.” I replied plainly.

“That’s good,” Leveria said, smiling awkwardly, “that’s…exactly how it should feel.”

“Yeah…” I responded. Is this bitch on drugs?

“Adarian,” Leveria said to her head ranger, “remove Elena from her wrist binds and strap her ankles to that chair.”

Adarian held my hands in place as he removed the straps. I looked for any opening to launch an attack, but he was too careful to present me with one. As he tied my hands behind my back he whispered under his breath.

“Why the fuck are you still alive?” he asked through an exhale.

I didn’t respond to Adarian. I let him strap my legs to the chair and chain my wrists to its arms.

“Those can be looser.” Leveria said, beckoning to the shackles around my wrists.

Adarian looked up at Leveria with an alarmed expression, “My queen-”

“Looser, Adarian.” Leveria said. Adarian sighed and allowed nine inches of slack on each chain, giving me enough arm mobility to easily strangle Leveria if I got the opportunity.

“Thank you, Adarian, Glendian,” Leveria said, “that will be all.”

Adarian and Glendian left the room, and Leveria sat in a chair across from me. Leveria put some pastries on the table and beckoned me to eat. I was famished, and greedily accepted the meal. Leveria watched me with a studious expression as I devoured the food. When I finished, I looked up at Leveria for an indication of what was next, but she just sat and smiled.

“So…” I said, “are we going to fuck or…”

“Why didn’t you kill yourself?” Leveria asked.

“Huh?” I said stupidly. Leveria had caught me off guard with that one.

“The pill April gave to you,” Leveria said, “you put it in your mouth, but you didn’t swallow it.”

I looked around the room until I spotted the mirror that was in the ceiling. It was tiny for enchanted glass, only a few inches wide.

“You haven’t told Adarian you know about April.” I replied, “I’m surprised the beast is still living.”

“A kitsune is hardly a threat,” Leveria smiled, “and Adarian’s escapades are not a concern of mine unless they interfere with his work. It’s funny; Adarian never covers his mirror after he’s done using it. A simple enchantment can keep the line open on one end while the observing party appears to be gone. Just yesterday, Adarian was getting a blowjob from April while he talked to me. The entire time it was happening, he was so worried that I’d catch on.”

“Do you enjoy watching people?” I asked.

“I do,” Leveria said, “I like to observe people when they think they’re alone. You get a true sense of who that person really is.”

“Everyone picks their nose and farts, Leveria,” I said, “and you’re not getting a glimpse into the soul of someone by watching them masturbate.”

“Ha!” Leveria laughed, “you are a funny one, Elena. But you still haven’t told me: why are you still alive?”

“I couldn’t kill myself when I had this to look forward to.” I said, gesturing to Leveria’s outfit.

“That’s flattering,” Leveria smiled sincerely, “but I’m serious.”

“So am I.” I replied.

“Is it because of your love for Yavara?” Leveria asked as she lit a cigarette, “I mean… that must be it; you’re holding out hope that you will see her again.”

“No,” I said honestly, “that hope was gone the moment we stepped through these gates.”

“So why keep living?” Leveria asked through a cloud of smoke, “Why not just end it all?”

“Because I enjoy you.” I said. And one day you’ll fuck up, and my teeth will rip a hole in your throat.

“And I enjoy you, Elena,” Leveria smiled, “but that doesn’t change the fact that if I were in your shoes, I’d be looking for an out. You don’t enjoy the sex enough to endure what you think is coming.”

“I don’t know, Leveria,” I said, smiling slyly, “maybe you fucked me into changing my mind.”

“You’re such a smartass!” Leveria laughed and slapped my thigh. Her laugh sounded so real and genuine. It was flirtatious and almost loving, and it was creeping me the fuck out. Leveria’s new game must be to make me as emotionally uncomfortable as possible, and it was working. I wasn’t sure if Leveria simply lacked the social skills developed in adolescence (she did spend her teen years fucking her dad for fuck’s sake), or if she was just that great an actor, but the familiarity was getting downright excruciating. I could take getting my toe cut off with a dull knife, but talking with this woman was agonizingly awkward.

“I’ll tell you why I didn’t bite the capsule,” I said, “if you tell me what your game is.”

“What do you mean?” Leveria asked.

“This whole thing you’re doing,” I said, “the washing, the healing, the looser chains, the food, the sex, all of that can be explained as a method of making me comfortable before you bring the hammer down. But the way you’re acting, Leveria, it’s fucking with me.”

Leveria shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She looked away and took a drag from her cigarette.

“I uhh…” Leveria said nervously, flicking the ash from her square, “I like you, Elena.”

“Sure, Leveria, I like you too. Now what’s the real play?”

“There is no play,” Leveria said, “the reason I’m being nice to you is because I genuinely like you.”

“What?” I laughed, “like, you have feelings for me?!”

“I know,” Leveria said, blushing and pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, “it’s stupid. You hate me, and I’m supposed to hate you, but I don’t. When I saw April give you the pill last night, I almost ran to the portal to try and stop you from biting it. Not because I didn’t want you to die so easily, but because I didn’t want you to die at all.”

“Leveria,” I laughed, astonished at this new development, “what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I’m fucked up,” Leveria laughed with me, “I know it, but I can’t help myself. I want to be with you.”

“Oh my god!” I wheezed, my chest heaving, “Exactly how do you think your little romantic fantasy is going to play out?”

“Ideally?” Leveria said through a chuckle, “I make love to you every day. I share my feelings with you and you begin to realize I’m not such a monster. You develop Stockholm syndrome and fall deeply in love with me.”

“Holy shit,” I said, “that’s one hell of a fantasy. You are without a doubt, the most disturbed individual I’ve ever met.”

“I know it’s never going to happen, but I can deal with the one-sidedness of our relationship,” Leveria said through a smile, “I can’t make you not hate me, and I can’t make myself hate you, as hard as I tried. So, I’m going to enjoy your hatred for however long it lasts. Now, Elena, tell me why you haven’t bit that pill; I bet you’re really thinking about it now.”

“Undo my binds,” I said, “and I’ll show you why I’m still alive.”

“That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“My cell, my rules, sister.” I smiled.

“Ooooh,” Leveria smiled at me, “you’re holding out on a chance to kill me!”

“Bingo.”

“OK, Elena,” Leveria said as she stood up, “I’ll release you.”

“What?!”

“Sure,” Leveria smiled while pulling out the keys to my shackles, “I want to do whatever you want to do, Elena.”

Leveria unlocked the shackles around my ankles and wrists and stood back. I flexed and rolled my aching joints before looking back up at her. She stood just a foot away from me, still smiling down. I couldn’t feel the effects of any spell, and she was completely unarmed. I smiled back up at her and made my decision. I jumped on the bitch, knocking her over with a leg kick before wrapping my hands around her throat.

BROCK

My ten men and I stepped through the portal and into the heart of The Maples. The jagged snow-capped peaks of the Spearhead Mountains towered over us, and the perpetual autumn colors of the maples painted a forest of deciduous flame. I took a moment to breathe the sweet air that the syrup trees yielded before the vampires came in behind me.

“What’s the plan, Brock?” asked Jefrok, my second in command on this mission.

“We’ll position ourselves at The Broken Pass,” I said pointing to a canyon that cut through The Spearheads, “that is where the clans here meet with the centaurs to trade. There’s an ancient citadel deep in the canyon that the tribes use as a meeting place in time of strife.”

“Why are we going there?” Jefrok asked.

“To negotiate with the centaurs.”

“We’re not here for the centaurs, Brock,” Jefrok said, “we’re here for the tribes.”

“No, that’s why they’re here,” I said pointing to the vampires, “and when they do their deed, five thousand orcs will descend upon The Broken Pass to find out what the fuck just happened.”

“And there they’ll see Brock Terdini, the man whose symbol was just carved into the chests of their dead leaders.”

“Which is why we’ll need back up,” I laughed, “because they are going to be fucking pissed..”

“Brock,” Jefrok said, clapping a hand on my shoulder, “I’ve followed you through some stupid missions, but this one, this one is fucking suicidal.”

“It really is,” I laughed, “but we have a small chance. The centaurs are Alkandra loyalists, so it will be easy to convince them to join Yavara; it will be much harder to convince them to save our asses.”

“What do we have to negotiate with?”

“Ivanka, Tiffany,” I said to Titus’ blood-daughters, “how much gold are you carrying?”

“Ten thousand a piece.” Tiffany said.

“That might help ease negotiations,” I laughed, “we’ll all meet at the citadel after midnight. Vampires, bring me the heads of the chieftains. Leave my symbol on their chests and a message to their people to meet me at The Broken Pass.”

“We’re never making it out of that fucking canyon.” Jefrok said.

“Maybe,” I smiled, “but if we do, Jefrok, every inch of this land from The Spruces to The Willows will be mine.”

LEVERIA

Elena’s hands were constricting around my throat. I felt her body pushing forward, putting her whole weight on my windpipe. It aroused me like nothing else. While she jerked violently to kill me, I was rubbing my thighs together in arousal. I felt the air leave my lungs and the pressure in my eyes build up. I looked into the hate-filled gaze of Elena. Her face was twisted in rage, her teeth gnashing and her eyes bulging. I let her choke the life out of me a little longer before I played my hand. I draped her mother’s necklace over my face. Elena’s expression changed from hatred to horror.

“What did you do to her?!” she screamed.

I choked out an answer. Elena pulled her hands from my throat and brought her face inches from mine.

“Where is she?!”

“Alive,” I coughed, “and at her estate in Traughtius.”

“Bullshit!”

“I’ll take you to see her if you like,” I said as I massaged my throat, “we can go anywhere you want.”

“How did you get this?”

“She sent it to me,” I said, pulling myself up to a seated position, “I told her we had captured you, and that you needed support from family during your time of need.”

“This is a threat.”

“It’s a promise, Elena,” I smiled, “I don’t make threats. If I die, so does she, it’s as simple as that.”

Elena knelt on the ground, the golden necklace hanging from her open palm. She looked at it, and then at me.

“What the fuck do you want from me?” she asked.

“Whatever you want, Elena.” I replied, “I will do whatever you want to do, but I have two conditions: you cannot kill me, and you must stay by my side. So, Elena, what do you want to do?”

"Kill you."

"That was one of my conditions."

"I still want to do it."

"How about you think of something we can do together that doesn't involve death?" I said.

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“You sure are doubling down on this Stockholm syndrome fantasy.” Elena said, smiling up at me.

“Do you like it?” I asked, leaning into her, “Because I think it’s hot.”

“Are you going to change me?” Elena asked as she pressed her body against me, “Are you going to make me need you?”

“That’s right, Elena,” I gasped in passion, “I’m going to make you want me as I want you.”

“You’re going to make me love you through extortion,” Elena smiled as she pulled her dress down, her bronze breasts popping out with a delightful bounce, “you’re going to convince me that you’re all I ever wanted in this world.”

“Yes.” I hissed as I brought my mouth around her pink nipple and sucked.

Elena moaned delectably as I drew gently from her breasts. I gazed into her eyes and slowly rotated my lips. I felt her member engorging on my thigh. It rose from beneath her dress, the white fabric sliding down the shaft and revealing the golden ring I had put on her earlier. Elena slowly got up and sat back in the chair, my body rising with her as my mouth stayed attached to her nipple. She pulled up her dress and guided my head downward. I slid my tongue down her exposed torso until I reached her base. I licked around her shaft slowly, keeping our gaze locked and teasing her. Her brow furrowed and her moth opened slightly to yield a moan of need. I smiled up at her and gave the woman what she wanted.

My lips opened and sealed around her head. I traced both my hands up her thighs until they met in the middle on against her taint. While rotating my mouth on her tip, I began to caress her soft pedals with one hand, and circle her spokes with the other. Elena’s arms pushed against the chair and her hips began to slowly gyrate. She bit her lip and stared her desire with pleading eyes. I took her cock into my mouth slowly, keeping my lips tight and my tongue flat against her shaft. The hand teasing her slit entered her and massaged her ceiling as the hand circling her rim pinched together at the fingers and slowly pushed in. Elena’s moans of pleasure excited me, and I began to feel my pussy ache with emptiness and flow with need. My lips finally pushed against Elena’s base as the hand in her ass disappeared to the wrist. Elena grabbed my head and kept it pressed to her pelvis while her hips thrust up. She stayed in that position, her ass hanging off the chair and her back arching to me. I rotated my fist in her ass and slowly pulled it out.

Elena screamed out as her insides came with my hand. I looked down from my blowjob to see Elena’s beautiful rose-bud prolapse protruding from her rim.

“Oh my god,” I laughed, “Elena, I turned you inside out!”

“Taste it!” Elena cried, her thighs quivering with pleasure.

I pulled my hand out of her pussy and licked my way down her taint. I spread her ass and pressed my mouth to her soft inner skin. Elena’s head moved from side to side as she moaned. One of her hands stroked her cock while the other began to rub her slit. I opened my mouth and took her soft prolapse into me. I sucked gently, running my tongue through the pedals of her bud while I drew with my lips. Her rectal flesh was so soft and delicate, and by the tenor of Elena’s moans, it must be extremely sensitive as well. I tenderly explored her insides with my tongue and lips, figuring out how Elena wanted me to eat her by the pitch of her voice. She loved what I was doing to her, and it excited me. I’d never tried anything like this before, and I wanted Elena to do it to me; but only if she wanted to.

“Did you ever do anything like this before?” I asked her as my fingers gently probed her prolapse.

“No,” Elena moaned, “it feels so good!”

“Can you do it to me?” I asked eagerly.

“Do you want me to turn you inside out?” Elena asked, her eyes half-mast in lust.

“Yes,” I whispered “please, Elena.”

Elena smiled down at me and grabbed one of the shackles that had restrained her. “Come over here, Leveria,” she smiled, “you’re been a bad little devil.”

I left Elena’s anus outside of her body and excitedly got into the chair. Elena clamped my wrist to the chair’s arms before bringing her mouth down to my crotch. Her teeth bit into the fabric of my panties and she slowly guided them past my ankles.

“Open your legs and move forward.” She commanded. I obeyed, spreading my legs to her and pushing my ass of the edge of the seat. She pulled my panties off and strapped by ankles to the legs of the chair.

“You’ve been such a naughty little girl, Leveria,” Elena teased as her fingers traced back and forth along my taint, “you killed your mother,” Elena pushed a finger into my ass, “you raped my friend,” Elena added another finger, “and you murdered her when you were done with her.” Elena pushed her whole hand into my ass.

I jerked forward against my restraints, my back arching from the chair. “Yes!” I cried, “I tortured and killed your friend!” I panted like a bitch as Elena formed a fist inside of me, “I raped and killed my mother!” Elena rotated her fist, “I fucked my father!” Elena drove her fist deeper, “I tortured you and I deserve this!” I screamed, “Torture me more!”

Elena opened her fist inside me until her fingers were flat. She looked up at me with wild eyes as she brought her other hand to my gape.

“No!” I screamed, thrashing against my binds, “I can’t take another one!”

“Too bad,” sneered Elena, “because I’m doing it anyway.”

Elena pushed her fingers next to her wrist and slowly entered me. I felt my rim stretch to agonizing levels. I gritted my teeth and flung my head back as the pain arced through me. My bosom thrust forward as my spine arched.

“That’s it,” Elena whispered, “that’s a good little bitch.”

I growled to the ceiling at the excruciating sensation. Elena’s fingers slid into me deeper and deeper, expanding me wider than ever before. My growls turned to a scream as Elena’s palms met inside of me. She curled both hands into a fist, forcing a spasm to blast through me.

“This is what you get, Leveria,” Elena teased, “you want to be with me so bad, well this is how it’s going to be. I’m going to make you pay for the things you’ve done to me every time we fuck. I’m going to let you know how much I fucking hate you.”

“Yes!” I screamed as my body adjusted to the pain, “punish me Elena! Hurt me! Torture me!”

Elena slowly thrust both fists inside my ass. My head flew forward and gazed into her hate-filled eyes. The pain slowly receded and the pleasure began to come. My exacerbated growls turned to into lecherous moans. My muscles relaxed, and I savored the feeling of Elena’s fists breaking me open. My back rested against the chair and I gave into her, letting my body react freely to her intrusion. Elena gave me an evil smile and pushed in even deeper. My moan rose in intensity until it was a scream. My eyes opened wide and my mouth gaped. She pushed deeper and deeper until she was to her elbows. I sobbed my pleasure, my body twitching in elation as I was defiled like never before. She was so good. She growled in excitement and power as she rotated her arms inside of me. My pussy was flowing down my taint and onto her wrists, the pleasure in my rectum began to burn throughout my whole body.

“Are you ready, Leveria?” she asked.

“Yes!’ I gasped, “Turn me inside out!”

Elena grinned and slowly pulled her arms out of me. I groaned in pleasure as my insides relaxed to their former positions. She pulled slowly until she got to her wrists, and then yanked out as hard as she could. My whole body wrenched violently in pain and I screamed out.

“Oh,” Elena laughed, “did I hurt you?”

My lips twitched and my eyes quivered. I breathed heavily as my body recovered from the blow.

“Look, Leveria,” Elena said sweetly, beckoning my eyes down, “you’re so pretty down here.”

I looked down at the rose bud that was bulging from my asshole. It was red, moist and adorned with thin, fleshy pedals.

“Do you want me to play with it?” Elena asked, her breath blowing against it.

“Please!” I moaned, “Please play with my out-turned asshole!”

“I can’t hear you…”

“Please, Elena!” I begged, “Please defile me more! I’m just your little anal whore!”

“That’s right,” Elena laughed, “You’re my little whore-queen.”

I submissively nodded. Elena gently placed my prolapse between her fingers and lowered her lips to it. Her wet, warm mouth sucked on my sensitive innards. It felt so fucking good; ever little motion of her mouth tickled me invasively. I moaned and slowly gyrated my hips, my body expressing my need without my permission. Elena’s tongue slipped from between her lips and invaded the folds of my bud. My legs strained against their binds as I felt the familiar pressure begin to build.

“You’re not allowed to come yet,” Elena sneered, “not until I say so.”

I clenched my body and tried to hold back, forcing my prolapse to recede into my ass.

“No…” I sighed.

“It’s OK, Leveria,” Elena smiled, “you can push it out now that I’ve loosened you up.”

Elena took a hand and pressed a finger on opposite sides of my gape, “We just need to encourage it a little to come out and play.” She said softly.

Elena undid the straps on my ankles and guided my legs to separate. I held my legs up with my shackled hands and spread myself wide. Elena’s fingers gently pressed against the sides of my rim as I pushed my anal muscles. I felt my insides ball up and move down my rectum. Elena saw the movement inside me and curled her fingers into my rim, spreading me open. I moaned as I pushed outward until I finally felt the bulge release outside of me. Elena giggled in delight.

“See Leveria,” she smiled, “you can do it all by yourself.”

I smiled lustfully down at the hybrid elf as her tongue descended. She gently traced the lines of my pedals, working her way inward until she found the middle. She dipped her tongue into the hole at the center of my bud and bore into me. I bit my lip and laid my head back against the chair. Elena’s soft tongue invaded the ovule of my flower, wet slurping noises leaking from her mouth. She closed her lips around my prolapse and gently sucked it all the way out of me. Pleasant moans flowed from my content lips as I savored this new, alien feeling. It felt so fucking good. It was a part of me I didn’t even know I had, and it was so sensitive. Her fingers gently squished my prolapse as she pulled with her mouth and pushed with her tongue. My moans turned to breathless gasps and whimpers. Her eyes turned upward at the sounds of my approval, and she began to work even harder. She opened wide and took the whole flower into her mouth, looking up at me as she tenderly sucked. I held her gaze for a moment before my eyes rolled back in pleasure.

“I think we got it worked out enough,” Elena smiled down at her work, “do you want me to fuck this pretty little asshole?”

“YES!” I screamed.

Elena undid the shackles on my wrist and guided my hands to her breasts. I squeezed her as she undid the lacing on my corset. My tits popped out as the laces unraveled, and Elena took a nipple in each hand and pinched hard. She pulled away from me, forcing my chest forward and my back to curve. I rested my thighs on the arms of the chair to give her better access, and I bit my lip excitedly. Elena smiled down and pressed her tip to my outturned asshole. She pushed in.

ELENA

I didn’t know why Leveria felt how she did about me, and I didn’t really care at the moment. I was doing something sexually new, and doing it to someone I hated somehow made it better. Leveria’s soft innards gave way to the head of my cock. I pushed in until her prolapse enveloped my shaft, and then pushed in further until it went back inside of her. Leveria cried out her pleasure and tilted her head back. I pulled on her nipples as I pushed into her gape. Her scream intensified as I penetrated deeper and pulled harder.

I took a moment to marvel at the sight of Leveria’s skin coming completely out of her when I retreated. It was like I was wearing a condom made of stone-cold-bitch. She fucking loved it, too. Every time I pushed in I felt her relax for me, and every time I pulled out, she clenched so that she would come out with me. I’d be lying if I said didn’t enjoy it. She sunk her fingers into my bronze breasts while I pulled her nipples from her pale ones. I was slow, but firm with my movements. I wanted her to savor the pain, but not to be taken by it; not yet.

Leveria’s eyes were half-mast with lust, her mouth curled into an open smile. Her pale thighs protruded from the strings of her fishnet stockings, the fat of her legs squeezing little squares between the lacing. I released her nipples, watching as they bounced back to her, and then filled my hands with her thick legs. She squeezed harder on my breasts, tilting her head up and moaning, a few teeth pulling on her bottom lip from the corner of her mouth. I moaned with her, the feeling of her destroyed asshole sheathed around my cock prompting me to vocalize my pleasure.

We moved slowly and sensually for a while, gyrating with long, passionate thrusts. I took my time to drive deeply, to savor her insides as they clung to me. Leveria’s hips rocked back and forth with me, her body shifting in a slow, lustful dance. It was time to do away with sensuality and fuck this bitch’s brains out like she wanted.

I pulled all the way out and then thrust in hard. Leveria’s body shifted violently upward against the back of the chair, her half-close eyes opened wide, and her lips parted in shock. I jack-hammered my way into the woman, driving my hatred into the passion. Ripples of flesh flowed in waves up her ass and thighs, and her pale breasts shook violently. Leveria’s skin still came out with my cock, but now I was pushing and pulling harder than before. Leveria’s back wrenched into and arch and her head smashed roughly against the chair. She writhed in pleasure, screaming my name. Her pussy gushed its approval, little spurts of her juices flying out with each deep thrust. One of Leveria’s hands braced her body against the arm of the chair while the other sunk four fingers into her frothing slit. She looked up at me with wide eyes and a quivering mouth. She spread her pussy for me, showing me how much her body appreciated what I was doing. I pinched my fingers together and drove a hand into her cunt. Leveria abdomen shot forward and her pelvis lurched. I turned my hand around inside her and gripped my cock from between her holes.

“Oh my god!” Leveria sobbed in pleasure.

“Shut your fucking mouth, whore!” I screamed as I slapped her hard across the face. Leveria’s horned-headband flew across the room. Her head whipped to the side, a bright red print forming on her cheek.

“Again!” she pleaded. I complied, this time with a backhand across the other cheek. Leveria let out a yelp and her pussy clenched around me. She was fucking loving it.

I picked the bitch up by her thighs and spun her around until she faced away. I pushed down on her back until it arched the way I wanted it, and then I grabbed her two ponytails in one hand and ripped her head backward, forcing her to look up at me. Her eyes quivered and her mouth drooled from her lips. I pulled my hand from her dripping cunt and forced as much of it as I could into her mouth. Her teeth pressed against my middle knuckles and her lips sucked greedily. She kept her slutty gaze fixed with mine as she tasted herself.

I pulled my hand from her mouth and punished her with a series of brutal slaps across the ass. I felt her insides contract in response, her juices spurting in pleasure. Leveria screamed out with each blow, her voice rising and rising with increasing euphoria. I gritted my teeth and drove in as hard and fast as I could. Leveria’s eyes rolled into her head and her mouth screamed a fluctuating flow of primal noises. I ripped the batwings off her corset and pulled her body up against me, squishing my tits against her back. I yanked her hair back again and licked the side of her face. She opened her mouth for a kiss, and I just laughed pushed my palm over her face. She licked my fingers anyway, as though she didn’t really care what part of me she kissed. I laughed at her audacity and pulled her legs out from under her.

Leveria was lighter than her sister, which made it a lot easier to fuck her while she dangled helplessly in the air. Her thick ass cheeks pressed against my pelvis as she gyrated on top of me, willing me to brutalize her more. She looked at me with a smile, as though she were challenging me to fuck her even harder. I accepted the challenge and pressed the bitch against the stone wall of my cell. I forced her body into the rough surface with a flurry of thrusts. I wanted to break the bitch down the middle, and she wanted me to do it too.

I felt Leveria spasm uncontrollably around me. She screamed against the stones, her back flexing as convulsions of pleasure shot through her. The pressure in my loins began to build, but I held back on it. I forced more and more of myself into her desecrated asshole, driving her to climax. Leveria looked back at me with tear-filled eyes as the ecstasy burned its way into her mind. Her lips trembled, her eyes quivered, her back wrenched and her legs shook. Her whole body tensed violently as a high-pitched shriek blasted from her gaping mouth. I felt her shoot her juices all over me and the wall. She held her soprano note as another orgasm came right after. Her eyes writhed, her irises rolled, and she clenched her ass around me and blasted another stream of juices all over me.

I didn’t give the bitch time to recover. I pulled out of her ruined asshole and pushed her to her knees. The head of my cock pressed against her lips and she greedily tasted her shit hole. I throat fucked her viciously, forcing her to choke and gag around me. She looked up at me with burning desire in her eyes. She wanted me to rape her throat. Her drool hung from her chin in strings and her tears steaked dark eye liner down her disheveled, slutty face. I blasted my thrusts down her throat, making her choke on me until I finally pushed her head forward and unloaded. I screamed a feminine roar and my legs gave out. Leveria caught me by the ass and guided me down as she greedily drank from my cock. Her lipstick smeared all over her face and her hair was stringy mess, but she took me in gratefully, cleaning her asshole off my cock. I gave her an encouraging pat on the head before I collapsed in exhaustion.

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Leveria cleaned the rest of her ass off my cock before reaching down and pushing my prolapse back into me. She pushed her own rose bud into her and then collapsed beside me. She tried to snuggle next to me, but I pushed her away. She just laughed and laid down beside me.

“How long are we going to play this game?” I asked her.

“I’m extremely persistent.” She giggled.

“That you are. You share that in common with your sister.”

“What else do we have in common?” she asked me, “I mean physically, sexually.”

“You give better head. Yavara does almost everything else better.”

“Even anal?”

“It’s not even a contest in that department,” I said, “anal is Yavara’s motif. Her first sexual experience was taking it in the ass from an orc. That how she found out she was Alkandi incarnate.”

“What?!”

“Yeah,” I laughed, “Yavara didn’t know who she was until that night. I found the evidence of her struggle when I tracked her; she killed nine orcs but her branch broke before she could kill Brock. Yavara told me she learned to love the rape; something about her succubus DNA or some shit.”

“No, no, no,” Leveria said, sitting up, “there’s no way Yavara found out on accident. She must have known all along!”

“I’m sorry Leveria,” I smiled, “but Yavara and you do not share your strategic mind. Yavara had sex with Brock and started to change. Zander came along and told her it was because she was the reincarnation of Alkandi. Zander took Yavara to the astral plane, where Yavara rejected Alkandi so that she could return home to her family. The only reason she ended up changing at all, was because Alkandi took over Zander’s body and fucked Yavara into submission.”

“Hold on,” Leveria said, “you’re telling me that Yavara actually allied with a tribe leader, partnered with Zander Fredeon and Prestira Rasloraca, convinced Titus to join her, secured a loan from King Dreus, and learned telepathy and telekinesis all within the span of weeks?!”

“Yeah!” I said, laughing at Leveria’s shock, “And it took you damn near a decade of fucking your dad to move up one spot and become queen!”

“Holy shit,” Leveria said as she pulled out a cigarette and lit it, “I thought…I mean she must have…this whole time I was wrong. I underestimated her.”

“She’s an amazing woman.”

“She really is.” Leveria said as she blew out a cloud.

“Hey, can I have one? My pipe broke when I was captured.”

“Sure.” Leveria said, handing me a square. I put it to my lips and she lit it for me.

“So now that you know Yavara’s not the conniving cunt that you are, are you still going to attack her?”

“Of course,” Leveria smiled, “do you really think she’ll keep her army in The Great Forest?”

“I do,” I replied, “it’s one of the reasons I stayed with her; she won’t attack The Highlands.”

“Yes she will,” Leveria said, blowing out a cloud of smoke, “now you’re underestimating her.”

“You’re projecting yourself onto her, Leveria,” I said through a pull of smoke, “she’d never bring war to her former people.”

“Oh?” Leveria smiled, “because we’re in The Highlands right now.”

“…and?”

“You’re here, Elena,” Leveria said, “Which means she’ll be here very soon.”

YAVARA

The afternoon sun burned relentlessly on my back. The watchmen at the gate of Castle Thorum were on high alert, no doubt expecting reprisal from their capture of Elena. Despite the heavy guard presence, this was the thinnest they would be, and time was not our side. I gave the order. Rose looked up at me and nodded, before disappearing in perfect camouflage. One by one, the three hundred nymphs below me faded into the background of the foliage. I didn’t see them moving to the gates, but I could hear the rustling of leaves and the cracking of branches beneath me. I took a deep breath, and shot into the sky.

The warning horn sounded almost immediately. I saw the green uniforms of rangers scrambling on the ramparts. A ballista fired its spear at me. I dodged it to the left and rocketed forward. Another shot at me, this one I stopped and let fall. I advanced until I was a hundred yards from the wall, and then they rained hell on me. Every remaining ballista shot in quick succession, launching over seventy heavy projectile right at me. I dropped out of the sky and blocked five of them before stopping myself just a few yards off the ground. I reached out with my mind to find the position of the nymphs, and growled when I realized they were still three hundred yards out. I had moved too soon.

Hundreds of flaming arrows arced from the battlements. I shot through them, shattering the ones in my path with a telekinetic blast before racing upward out of shooting range. I looked down at the tower hundreds of feet below me, and an idea popped into my mind. The walls were too thick to budge with telekinesis, but the ceilings and roof were made of shingles and plank wood. I positioned myself a few hundred feet above the tower, and dropped like a stone.

ROSE

Yavara was doing a great job distracting the rangers, but we were still too far out. We raced through the trees and stopped just before the clearing. I watched with rapt attention as Yavara narrowly dodged a salvo of ballista and dropped just a few feet above the ground. She needed to get higher, or we would be hit by incidental fire. Yavara climbed into the sky, and the arrows and ballista followed her. Now was the time.

We got on our bellies and crawled through the grass, progressively changing our camouflage as we moved over different textures of rock and weeds. If we moved too fast, the camouflage wouldn’t adjust quickly enough, and we’d be exposed. Yavara climbed in elevation until she was nearly a thousand feet off the ground, and then she dived like an eagle right into the top of the tower. I heard a thunderous crash and saw an explosion of shrapnel. I watched in amazement as debris shot from the windows of each floor of the tower as Yavara crashed through them.

I made it to the wall of Castle Thorum and slowly began to scale it. My muscles ached and my fingers bled, but I kept climbing. My sisters followed behind, moving slowly, adjusting their camouflage. I made it to the top of the wall and peered over the battlements. This wall was mostly empty, only a single guard pacing nervously as the others rushed to the tower. I spotted a rack full of swords at the far end of the wall. I waited until he turned around, and then made a break for the weapon stash. I grabbed a sword as my camouflage failed me, and drove it into the guard’s back, covering his mouth with my palm to muffle his scream. I crouched behind the wall as my sisters flowed over it. We distributed the weapons until one of every three of us was armed. I quietly drew up a plan: the one hundred armed sisters would attack, and the unarmed sisters would follow and pick up weapons as they became available. I looked my sisters in the eyes and nodded. I didn’t have a war cry, but I shrieked out anyway and charged down the steps of the wall.

RANGER ADARIAN

“What the fuck is going on?!” I yelled to the watch commander.

“Yavara,” he stammered, “she crashed through the tower.”

“What?!”

“Yavara has taken out the tower,” the man said shaking, “she collapsed every floor, she went right through the beams.”

I turned heel and sprinted down the hall.

“Adarian,” the watch commander yelled, “where are you going?”

“The queen!” I yelled back, “She was up there!”

ELENA

I didn’t know what happened. One second the warning horn had sounded, a few seconds after that, and I was dangling from the edge of the floor, looking a hundred feet down at blackness.

“Elena!” Leveria shouted, “give me your hand!”

“Oh fuck off, Leveria.” I said as I hoisted myself up.

“It seemed a little too cliché,” Leveria laughed, “I cringed when I said it.”

“What the fuck was that?”

“Your girlfriend.” Leveria said as she looked down at the destruction.

“It couldn’t be…”

“Who the fuck else would do this?” Leveria laughed, “It does feel good to be vindicated.”

I stared down at the abyss that Yavara had created.

“You could throw me down it,” Leveria said, “I couldn’t stop you. You could kill me now and go to your queen.”

“It wouldn’t stop the war,” I mumbled, “not after she did this. It’s not worth it to have my mother die.”

“You’re right,” Leveria said, “this fortress is a symbol of Highland imperialism; it has kept elves safe for over a thousand years. Any dissenters in The Highlands will fall in line after news of this reaches them. This is good.”

“It might be worth it to get you to shut the fuck up.”

“You’re breaking your mother’s heart.”

“Fuck off, Leveria,” I said as I turned around, “let’s go to Bentius.”

Leveria jumped on me and pushed me to the floor. A ballista spear blasted right where my head just was and through the wall on the other side. I gawked at the hole in the wall where my face was just a second ago.

“Ha!” Leveria said weakly, “Now you owe me.”

There was a gash an inch deep and half an inch wide that ran across Leveria’s back and shoulders. It didn’t bleed for a second, and I could see the muscles and fat underneath. And then it began to flow like fountain of crimson.

“How bad is it?” Leveria asked, “It feels bad, but I’m afraid to look.”

“It’s not that bad,” I lied, “c’mon, we need to get to the portal.”

Leveria murmured in pain as I helped her to her feet. I supported her on my side and walked along the hole in the floor to the frame that used to hold my cell door. The hallway was a minefield of holes that dropped for hundreds of feet and loose floorboards. I guided the two of us inch by inch until we reached the mage’s office. Glendian was cursing wildly and shooting spells out the window. He dropped to the ground as a salvo of ballista shot blasted through the room. Leveria screamed as shrapnel ripped through her body. I looked down to see that I had just unknowingly used the queen of The Highlands as a meat shield. Leveria coughed up blood and slumped into my arms.

“Glendian!” I yelled at the mage.

Glendian turned around and looked at Leveria, and then looked at me.

“Would it really be that great a loss?” he asked.

“My mother will die if she does,” I said, “and now I owe her.”

“Fine!” Glendian yelled as another salvo blew through the room, “I can’t do it here, get to the portal!”

Glendian helped me drag Leveria to the portal frame before he summoned it. We jumped through and into his office in Bentius.

ROSE

I charged headlong into the backs of the rangers, taking out three of them before they knew what happened. My sisters came in right behind and completed the ambush, cutting down the remaining platoon before they had a chance to retaliate. We tossed our unarmed sisters their weapons and moved to the courtyard. A wall of arrows immediately cut down ten of my sisters as they tried to make it through the entrance. We hugged the wall and I peered around to get a glimpse of what we were facing.

Another platoon of rangers was sitting and waiting for us, no doubt ready after witnessing our last ambush.

“Juno,” I said to one of my captains, “take your squad around the outside of the courtyard wall and keep them pinned with arrows. How many bows did we pick up?”

“Around thirty.”

“Shoot blindly over the wall, don’t expose yourself. Fire four volleys and then stop.”

Juno took thirty sisters around the courtyard wall and lined them up. They fired a volley into the courtyard, yielding two ranger casualties. The rangers took cover as the second and third volley rained down, taking out five more. I held up my hand to stall the fourth volley. The rangers began to move from their cover and I threw my hand up and charged.

The rangers took aim at me and then immediately ducked as the fourth volley rained on them. My sisters and I ran into their cover spots and overwhelmed them. We lost two sisters for every ranger we took down; we were no match for them in even combat. At the end of the skirmish, I was down fifty-three sisters. We collected the weapons of the elves and our fallen and distributed them among the last unarmed group. We’d secured courtyard and one of the walls, but we’d need to move up to the second wall fast before the enemy entrenched.

YAVARA

I landed in the basement of the castle and looked up at the destruction I had wrought. Nearly a hundred broken bodies had come down with me to the basement. There was a hole that cut through the middle of the tower from the top all the way down. Beams and wood planks rained down from the shattered floors, along with the occasional body. I didn’t know where they were keeping Elena, but I was betting it would be in the tower. I just hoped I didn’t accidentally kill her.

That was fucking reckless.

I guided my body off the ground, moving up one floor and then rotating quickly to search for survivors. I did the same thing as I ascended the tower, moving slowly between floors and then rapidly spinning to make sure I wasn’t caught in the back. I cleared the tower floor by floor, crushing rangers against the wall if I found them. I made my way to the top floor and found the mage’s office where a portal closed a second before.

I was too late.

The head ranger’s office was placed across the mage’s. I walked through what was left of the room. The bed was balancing dangerously on three legs as the fourth hung over the abyss. There was an enchanted mirror on the wall. I pressed it, waiting to see Leveria’s smug face appear again. Nobody answered. I pressed it again, and still no answer. I heard a whimper and I turned to the sound of it. There was a fox trapped beneath a pile of rubble. I remembered visiting Castle Thorum when I was twelve, and this very fox was here. I moved the rubble off its body and it immediately scampered around, sniffing and whining. A blast of ballista shot ran through the room and I fell to the floor and took cover. The fox raced into my arms and shivered beneath me in terror. I put her in my bag and looked out the window. The nymphs had taken control of the ballista on the first wall, and were shooting up at the second. But they were missing high on almost every shot and taking punishment with every failure. I jumped out the window and descended on the rangers below me.

ROSE

The rangers had barricaded the stairs to the second wall, but they hadn’t pulled up the ladders yet. I sent two hundred sisters to the ladders as the remaining fifty of us manned the ballista on the first wall and fired up on the second. It took us a few minutes to figure out how to use these fucking things, and once we had the mechanics down, aiming was a whole other challenge. We manned twenty ballista and shot them in salvo, but we missed high and blasted the tower three consecutive times. The rangers on the second wall did not miss. For every salvo we fired, they fired two, and with deadly accuracy. After our first shot, we were rained down with two blasts that took out four of our ballista and ten sisters. Their bodies were shot to pieces with the force of the projectile, and their shrieks of agony filled my ears. A second salvo came down as we were loading the projectile, and it took out two of our ballista and set one of them off into a ladder. I watched in horror as twenty of my sisters fell shrieking forty feet down.

A mage was blasting fire spells at us from the high window at the top of the tower. I loaded dual-shot spear heads into the ballista and blasted it. Our high aim worked for us this time, as the two spears crashed into the high tower with a burst of dust and rock. Another salvo came down from the second wall and took out three of our ballista and five of my sisters. We were losing women fast, and the sisters scaling the ladders weren’t moving fast enough. We fired our last salvo as the second wall blasted us with theirs. My ballista rocketed backward and I was thrown to the edge of the wall. Juno grabbed my foot before I fell and hoisted me up right before another volley of ballista crashed into our wall. Juno was lurched from my hand and carried screaming over the edge with a spear embedded firmly in her stomach.

The rest of the sisters manning the ballista routed. I ushered the terrified women to cover and passed out the bows we had taken. There were less than twenty of us left, and I doubted we could provide cover for the sisters climbing the ladders, but we needed to do something or they would be slaughtered.

“Ready…” I said to my terrified sisters. Their hands fumbled and slipped trying to notch the arrows.

“Aim…” My sisters were holding the bows all wrong, we’d be lucky to even hit the wall. The ballista on the second wall adjusted their sites and aimed down at us.

“Fire!” I yelled. Our volley shot out as their salvo unloaded. I screamed as the ballista rained down on us with deadly accuracy. Stones crumbled and rock-shrapnel flew in the air. Only three of us remained unhurt, and the rangers were starting to cut the ladders down. We were fucked.

RANGER ADARIAN

The steps to the tower had been destroyed completely. When I said to the watch commander that I was looking for the queen, I lied. I looked up to my office, shouting April’s name. A bushy red head peaked up at me from the hole in the floor, and my heartbeat slowed for the first time. I waved to her and signaled that she should stay put before returning to my men.

The watch commander had done a commendable job breaking up the ballista strikes from the first wall, but he had failed to notice they were just providing cover for the nymphs scaling the second wall. I urged my men forward and began to cut the ropes. I saw the fear-stricken faces of the horned women below me as I sawed through the only thing keeping them from falling to their deaths. I felt a sting of pity, but this was war, and they knew the risks. I cut through one of the ropes, sending the ladder careening to the side. A good number of nymphs couldn’t keep their grip and fell screaming to the battlements of the first wall. A began to cut the second rope when I was thrown ten feet to the side.

Yavara came crashing down on us, lifting our ballista from their foundations and throwing them into my men. The crushed and mangled remains of my rangers showered over me as the survivors ran in terror. The nymphs climbed over the wall and hacked down what was left of our defenders as Yavara threw the runners fifty feet into the air and then watched them drop.

I pulled out my sword and charged head-long into the nymphs. I was stopped as my blade fell inches from one of their faces.

“Adarian,” Yavara called to me as she descended to the battlements, “where is Elena?”

PLOT POINTS

Leveria realizes that she was never in love with her father, and instead lusted for the power he possessed. Leveria tries to reconcile here feeling toward Elena.

Leveria releases Elena from her chains. Elena tries to kill Leveria, but Leveria tells Elena that if she is killed, Elena's mother will die.

Leveria and Elena do butt-stuff. Elena still hates Leveria, and Leveria accepts the one-sidedness of their relationship. Because Leveria is fucking crazy.

Titus and the trolls are rebuilding Castle Alkandra. Zander requests 18 vampires to accompany Brock to The Maples.

Brock takes ten of his men and 18 vampires to The Maples to kill the 18 minor orc chieftains. Brock plans to cut a deal with the centaurs that live in the Spearhead Mountains in order to make sure the clans don't kill him.

Elena reveals to Leveria that Yavara did not know about her past selves. Leveria always assumed Yavara knew the whole time.

Yavara and the nymphs take Castle Thorum, but at a heavy cost.

Elena and Leveria leave through a portal to Bentius. Leveria is badly wounded in the attack when she saves Elena.

Yavara captures Adarian and Rose, though Yavara does not know that Rose is a kitsune yet.

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