The Darkness Below 2: Natali

The Darkness Below chapter 2: Natali (Female Half-elf x Tentacle monster; non-con, heavy spanking, choking, tentacle rape, corruption.) (The story so far: A young druid feels something amiss in his domain communing with nature and recruits four other adventurers to assist him deal with the problem. The party of adventurers reaches first old ruins deep in the forest, where their rogue disappears without traces during the night. The next day, the remaining four adventurers continue their explorations and find a tunnel down to the Underdark. Tensions come to a boiling point between them, due to diverging opinions on the disappearance of the rogue and the source of the dark emanations stoking their negative feelings. Spurred on by a snide comment about ‘no honor amongst thieves’, the barbarian; the vanished rogue’s long-time companion, almost turns on the others. In an attempt to make everyone see reason the druid calls on a Thunderclap spell, but it has the unwanted side effect of making part of the ceiling collapse. The adventurers ultimately get separated as they try to escape the falling stones.) Raising her staff, Natali cast a simple breeze spell that moved the choking cloud of dust away from her. By Sehanine, that had been close! Stupid human… “Ravin?” she called as she gazed upon the pile of rocks that now blocked the way back to the surface. “Are you unhurt?” There was a lesson here, about the Thunderclap spell and underground expanses, she mentally snorted. But the druid had done that in order to… “By the gods, you almost crushed us!” Natali heard the only voice she didn’t wanted to hear rage at her. She turned around to face the pit fighter. Damn! She wouldn’t have been sorry if he’d been the one crushed under the collapsing ceiling! But, curse her ill luck, he seemed to be the only one of the three others to have escaped it. And of course, he would hold her responsible… “And how are we going to get out of here with you dropping the ceiling almost on our heads?” He continued to rant at her. “That was our way back to the surface!” Natali took a deep breath, anger rising in her once again. Didn’t that fool realize she wasn’t the one that had made the ceiling collapse, but the druid? And that he did so in an attempt to make him keep his wits instead of almost turning on her? She could understand him being anguished over the disappearance of his partner, but that sympathy only went so far… Anger boiled inside her, and she had to force herself not to strike him down with her magic. Crude, uncouth, unrefined… This one was the embodiment of every reason why elves loathed humans. Not that she disagreed with them from what she’d seen. The druid who’d requested her help had been… palatable; at least pretending to treat her like a real person and not just the font of arcane knowledge whose assistance he’d required. But this one: a mad hound needing a muzzle and chain, that’s all he was! “Let me see…” she hissed at him before ostensibly turning her attention to the collapsed tunnel. “It doesn’t look too severe. A Disintegrate spell should…” “Enough with your magic, witch!” the barbarian snarled at her. “Haven’t you done enough damage yet? Wasn’t Nua disappearing despite your ward enough?” A shiver crawled along Natali’s spine and only the fact he was standing just next to her kept her from unleashing her most potent spells upon him. Enough of this! That animal had hated her from the moment he’d set his eyes on her and he’d laid the blame for his partner’s disappearance squarely at her feet despite her not having anything to do with it. He had looked about to hit her, forcing the druid to intervene, and now he *again* held her responsible for his own rash and foolish behavior. That was the last straw. All right, you beast, enough is enough! I’ll teach you respect for your superiors the hard way. “Step back!” She answered evenly after pretending to consider the collapse once more. “I can deal with this quite easily, truth to be told.” She added as she mumbled an incantation, fed up with the man. “In fact, I’ll just teleport back home.” She smiled viciously as the magical energies swirled around her. “As for you? Rot down here for all I care! Farewell, *human*!” She spat the last word out with all the bile she could muster as the aetheric energies swirled around her, whisking her away. Without the young druid, she had no reason whatsoever to stay in that damn place, and she had better things to do than be forced to endure the company of an animal! The moment reality reasserted itself, Natali knew something had gone awry with her teleportation spell. Far from finding herself in the safety of her home, she’d appeared… Gods only knew where. A desolate plain stretched out in all directions as far as the eye could see, bathed in perpetual late twilight, the ground beneath her feet itself seemingly made of shadows… “Where in the Nine hells have I ended up?” she hissed aloud, carefully contained anger turning to vicious ranting. A teleportation mishap! Of all the indignities… “Curse that human and curse all of humanity with it!” Fuming, Natali took stock of her situation. Try as she could, she had no idea where she had ended. At least it wasn’t hostile to life like the Plane of Fire where she’d died in moments. But that was it for the good news. She had only committed to her memory one of the teleportation spells for the day, and none of Leomund’s shelter spells. Nor had she thought of committing any to parchment before setting out for this fool’s errand. She could only blame herself, but in the hassle after the rogue’s disappearance she’d memorized mostly combat spells. Overoptimistic, yes, but she’d believed that the situation would have been over by the end of the day. The teleportation spell she normally always kept as a final fail-safe would have gotten what remained of the party back to safety after they’d finished dealing with the problem… Curse that animal! Curse his rotten soul and all of his misbegotten kind! What her mother ever found attractive to one of those disgusting animals, she’d never understand. How she’d even accepted to bear one’s child and give birth to a half-blood was completely beyond her. And beyond her elven kindred, she could add. They hadn’t hesitated to make their displeasure at her mother’s perversion and her existence known. Too tall and too thick compared to them, never graceful or composed enough… Always too hotheaded, too impetuous… too *human*! It had gone to the point they’d refuse to grant her a mage’s license, despite having successfully passed all the tests. Gods only knew what havoc she would have wrought in their precious guild with her all too-human temper… Rage almost blinded her and she was more half of mind to get back there and do what she should have done all along… Enough! She took a deep breath to steady herself. As satisfying as entertaining thoughts of retribution was, it didn’t get a solution to her most pressing problem: what she needed now was a place to rest and recommit the necessary formulae to get out of here to her mind. Closing her eyes, she tried to feel for magic in the area but quickly gave up. Unfamiliar with her surroundings, she was getting parasite returns she couldn’t filter out from everywhere around her. The only thing the futile effort confirmed was that she no longer resided on the material plane. Who’d guessed? She was spared any further consideration as the ‘ground’ next to her rippled, a huge patch of shadow taking on an oily texture and substance as it swelled. Natali didn’t even wait to see what it was, rage and fear spurring her to action. Brandishing her staff, she released a volley of fiery arrows into whatever thing it was. She wasn’t in the mood to talk and had a lifelong amount of frustration to vent. Whatever that thing was, it would do for now. Her magic seemed to have little effect, though, the arrows merely fizzling out as they came in contact with the swelling darkness. Undaunted, Natali simply casted more spells, barraging the thing with fiery evocation after fiery evocation until she was forced to retreat. The thing was advancing on her slowly, tentacle-like tendrils lashing out almost at random and Natali backed away. She tried to encase the thing in an ice sphere, but it was too strong, shattering the barrier with little effort. Neither enfeebling ray nor fire orb seemed to have the slightest effect on the creature. And all the while, the being simply kept after, flailing blindly with its tendrils in order to… grab her? She had no idea what it wanted to do. She didn’t want to find out either. “Gah!” She spat as she pushed one of the tendrils away with her staff. “Down, you fiend!” The snaking appendage failed to get a grip on her but coiled around her magestaff, ripping it from her hands. Hard-pressed, the half-elf called upon one of her most powerful magicks, a ray of dark energy lancing out from her hand to play around the dark shape. But not even the fell power of a Disintegrate spell managed to stop the creature that unperturbably kept coming. Desperate, Natali attempted to call on an Elemental, intending to have the creatures distract one another while she legged it. Too bad for her staff, but she had to get out of here… To her astonishment, her call went unheeded. No massive stone figure rose from the ground to assist her. Wherever she was, her astral plea for assistance went unanswered. Something that had never happened before. Something that simply *should* never happen, the whole multiverse was connected through the Astral plane surrounding it. Astonishment made her brains freeze for a moment, and the small moment of dumbfounded distraction was too much. The thing ebbed forward, tendrils shooting out and getting a grip on her arm before she could back away. “You damned creature!” Natali hissed as she struggled to get her arm free. “Get the hell off me!” Far from obeying, another tendril wrapped around her leg lifting her into the air. Another soon joined, and another, and another, holding her arms secured at her back and her legs spread while they tore her robe away. The creature’s intent and why it hadn’t simply slapped the life out of her became suddenly clear. “Let me go, damn you, let me go!” She struggled, hissing the words of an incantation that failed to have any effect like the others. Molten anger was running through her veins at being treated like an *item*. As much as she wanted she could say she was used to being disdained by others; this was even worse. Even her elven ‘kin’ had the grace to treat her like a person. Unworthy and inferior, but a person nonetheless… “Nnngh!” she groaned as a tendril pushed against her lips, forcing its way inside her mouth to silence her. Just you wait… Ignoring the abominable taste, she bit down with all her strength, hoping to hurt or even sever the thing. But the rubbery tendril merely deformed, too squishy to be harmed by mere teeth. No matter how hard she bit down, the tendril didn’t even seem to feel it. It was hard to think. It was hard to do anything but choke and sputter and gasp for air as the thing seemingly attempted to push its tendril deeper into her throat. Pitiful squelching noises bubbled from her mouth. Drool and something thicker bubbled out of the corners of her lips and ran down her chin and neck as he pumped back and forth. Her tongue was pinned to the bottom of her jaw. She couldn't swallow. It had nowhere else to go but out. Eventually, the tendril invading her mouth withdrew and she spat out an impressive amount of slimy ooze and drool. ‘Augh!” She suddenly screamed. Another tendril had just slapped her pert behind, sending a jolt of pain through her body and leaving a bright red mark behind. “Stop that, you bastard!” “Augh! Aah!” more yelps escaped her lips as, far from relenting, the tendril continued to spank her without pause or mercy. The smooth, white skin of her butt quickly became bright red under the assault, pain lancing her whole body. Pain, but no damage. The creature, despite its immense strength, was actually pretty careful not to harm her for good. “Curse you to the Abyss, you damn monster!” she struggled vainly against the creature’s iron grip. She was an accomplished sorceress, dammit, not a thing to be toyed with. Her whole bottom was aflame with pain, but even worse was the humiliation of being spanked like an unruly child. Ignoring her outcry, the tendril merely came down again and again, as if spurred on by her resistance. Her squeals of pain became louder but she gritted her teeth and kept on struggling. She would not give in to that thing. Never give in. That had been her credo her whole life. After being forced to endure the scorn and censure of full-blood elves for having a human father for most of her life, she knew all about enduring. If only she could free her hand for but a second… The creature must have realized the futileness of its actions as it stopped hitting her rump, merely holding her aloft for a moment, as if considering what to do next. Natali sensed an opportunity and squirmed even mightier than before, almost popping her shoulder out of its socket as she wiggled her arm free. Without any option for finesse, she brought her arcane ring to bear and unloaded all the magic it contained straight at the body of the thing. It was a foolhardy gamble to expand all its power like that for it could very well backfire on her, but she was desperate. Energy danced around the oily form that seemed to shrink on itself for an instant, but her elation was short-lived. The discharge, strong enough to bring a dragon down, simply had no lasting effect on whatever her attacker was. A moment of slack-jawed surprise followed the utter lack of result from her most powerful magic, and her attacker wasted no time in seizing her arm again. Once more she found herself struggling vainly in the being’s grasp but this time, instead of trying to force its way in her mouth the tendril gripped her throat and squeezed. At the same time, the other tendril resumed caning her again, painful slap after painful slap hitting her bottom. Natali couldn't breathe and panic overcame her. She wrestled with her restrained limbs in desperation. Never in her life has she felt something more painful than this. Choking and spluttering, she opened her mouth in a vain attempt to get some oxygen, her tongue lolling out of her mouth as he body started to twitch. Blackness clung at her vision and against her will, tears started to well out of her eyes. It was going to kill her! She was spared the mercy of being choked into unconsciousness, though. Her attacker clearly wanted her to be aware, wanted to feel her writhe and spasm in pain helplessly as it continued to mercilessly slap her bottom. The tendril around her neck loosened, the creature granting her a moment to catch her breath. Natali coughed and gasped as she sucked air in desperately, the sweetness of oxygen relieving the burning of her lungs and the pain lancing her whole body. The creature allowed her to catch her breath, but as soon as her coughing fit subsisted it started constricting again, slowly squeezing her neck and once more choking the breath out of her. Again and again, the other tendril came down on her bottom, racking her with pain until her vision started swimming once more… “Stop!” she eventually whimpered after the fourth? Or was it fifth? Time the creature almost choked her. She’d stopped struggling at least two times ago and was now pitifully crying and drooling. Her whole world had become insufferable pain and she couldn’t take it anymore. “Stop! Please stop!” She begged. She wanted this nightmare to stop. The monster didn’t stop. If anything, her admission only spurred it on to torture her further, choking and slapping her with perverse sadism. Twice more she almost lost consciousness, but twice a particularly vicious jolt of pain kept her from falling into the merciful darkness. She squirmed, until her body was so exhausted she couldn’t even twitch voluntarily anymore. She screamed and begged until her voice was hoarse and she could barely whisper; all pretense at pride and resistance gone. Then, and only then, did it finally stop choking and beating her. To her surprise, another tendril started exploring between her legs. An involuntary, reflexive twitch making her try to close her legs was immediately punished by yet another agonizing slap, before that tendril started to slip between her buttcheeks. She let out a shrill shriek of pain as both tendrils pushed in against her like spears, invading her body hard. “Agh… No!” she spluttered. “No, take them out.” Her words were an unintelligible warble, but even had they been, it wouldn’t have changed anything. The long, flexible tentacles started to move in and out of her in unison, pounding hard and fast into her tight holes, reaching further in and spreading her wider open with each thrust. Natali could clearly feel them rub against one another with each movement as they invaded her, even as the physical pain of the debasement began to lessen; only to be replaced by the mental one of being helplessly violated. Another of the tendrils presented itself before her gaping open mouth and pressed in as well, stifling her pathetic mewls as it tried to push deep into her throat. With every limb restrained and every hole occupied, Natali became little more than an object on which her attacker could vent his lusts, violate her helpless broken body at his leisure. And still, the thing didn’t grant her the release of unconsciousness. Even as the tendril in her back made the front of her body bulge out, so deep it reached within her. Even as the one invading her folds reached her cervix and the entrance to her womb. Even as the one in her mouth forced its way past her gag reflex deeper down her throat. Whatever else it desired; her tormentor wanted her to remain conscious and feel everything it was doing to her in excruciating detail, racking her mind with her absolute helplessness just as it debased her body with its tendrils. ‘Make it stop.’ She finally pleaded mentally, breaking down completely and giving up, welcoming the darkness in. ‘Oh, Gods, please, anything; but make it stop. I’ll do anything, but make it stop! Just make it stop!’ It was as if the creature could read her mind, for in answer the three tendrils gave one final synchronized push and pulsated. Her body swelled out as her innards and womb were filled to the brim as all three ejaculated deep within her body then pulled back out; the creature letting go of her and letting her fall down, discarding her negligently as it was finished using her. The shock of the fall and the absence of fresh pain brought something resembling coherence to Natali’s mind again. She was free! Spluttering, overwhelmed by terror and suffering, she attempted to move away from the creature, gobs of its essence oozing from within her body as she pitifully crawled forward. She could see her spellbook where it laid discarded a few feet away. If she could only grab it, then she could try to… She’d barely made any progress before the thing flipped her onto her back with a nonchalant twist of tendril. It had no eyes but Natali was certain it was watching her intently, expectantly. She tried to flip back onto her belly but then she started to feel it, contractions starting deep within her body, invading her and paralyzing her. The strange sensation started to suffuse from her womb and stomach, where the creature had injected her with its essence. Looking down at her body, she could see her pale skin start to grey and darken, like fabric dipped in dye. She tried to move, but could not; her body simply unresponsive as it was… overtaken, violated even further, defiled from within. There was no pain. No pain at all... only a strange kind of numbness as her skin and innards crawled under the action of whatever was invading her. Terror tried to rise in her mind but it went away just as quickly. After what she’d been through just before, this was nothing. She could only look in morbid fascination at what was happening to her, the greyness spreading, spreading… Flowing from her core, the invading sensation cupped her buttocks like a lover, lapping lasciviously between her legs. It then swirled lazily over her hips to her front, the soft flesh there trembling with bizarre undulations. The pain that was still burning her body simply disappeared wherever the alien gray touched, its absence shooting through her like an orgasm as relief flooded in its wake. Trembling in confusion and relief, she saw her thighs darken before the grey shadow slowly licked down the length of her legs, whispered over her calves and finally washed over her feet after lapping around her ankles. This wasn’t bad, she thought. After that abominable torture, it felt just right. Tears began to flow from her eyes as the greyness rose up her torso, removing even more of the pain that still burned through her; her breasts becoming two hardening grey pears and her nipples perking up. Her arms went limp at her side as the invading essence reached her shoulders, relaxing her abused muscles as it flowed down her arms. No more pain… Eventually the grey film lapped at her chin chin like the rising tide, but Natali was no longer even thinking. Her mind was utterly blank with relief and acceptance of her fate as the sensation flowed over her face. Grey darkness descended as it passed across her eyes and the numbness finally reached the top of her skull. Then there was nothing. Nothing at all… A moment? an eternity? later, Natali came back to consciousness. Blinking in confusion, she wondered what just happened. She was naked… Why was she naked? And where the hell was she? This wasn’t her home? Memories started to trickle back in as she rose to stand on wobbly legs. She’d fought and… What had happened, really? She remembered the ordeal she’d been through, but… The fear was gone. The pain was gone. The shame was gone. The humiliation was gone. She felt… better than she’d ever felt all her life. A sensation of deep calm, of serenity welled up in her as the oily creature swelled its body in front of her. It was unmistakably her assailant... Assailant? No, the being hadn’t assailed her. Blinking, she tried to look further, to finally analyze the situation rationally. When her teleportation spell had fizzled, anger and loathing at the human beast breaking her concentration and making her focus on the emanation from the Heart of Darkness rather than her intended destination, she’d ended up in this being’s presence. And again, her anger and fear had done the rest. Instead of assessing the situation rationally, she’d lashed out in anger and terror, unleashing her magicks without rhyme or reason. If it had wanted her harm, the creature could have done so effortlessly, torn her limbs or head away without the slightest effort. No, it had actually gone to great lengths not to inflict any lasting harm on her frail body. Frail body? Yes, frail body. That’s what it thought, and she agreed. She was frail, fragile even, compared to it. It had gone to great lengths not to harm her frail body while… What had it done exactly, she wondered. The word ‘rape’ came to her mind again but she dismissed it. It hadn’t been physical pleasure the being had been after; nor even a need to reproduce. It hadn’t even enjoyed what it had done to her. Looking at the creature she suddenly *saw* a glimpse of what it was. It was beyond Natali’s mere mortal mind to truly fathom, but she had the impression of a struggle of cosmic proportion that ended in being broken, fragmented, shattered. A fragment of That-Which-Oozes, the Primordial Chaos. Trapped for an eternity on the Shadow Plane; she and the rest of them had been chasing a fragment of its essence it was trying to use to finally get free. ‘A gift…’ the answer finally came as a wordless thought-voice straight into her mind, along with the sights. It’s… His voice was gentle and contained a mix of happiness and eagerness. ‘I bestowed a tiny sliver of my essence upon you. It is that you feel coursing through you. We are united now, our essences entwined. All that you were, all that you are, all that you ever will be is now being an extension of my will. We are one, you and I.’ “… yes, Master!” Natali answered as she straightened to stand before him. The proclamation made her happy. The strange sensation was still crawling through her body, continuing to change her from within. Now that she realized what it was, what glorious gift she’d just been granted; it felt just right. Here was a being that didn’t care one single little shred that she was a *mere* half-elf; too human for her elven ‘kin’ and to elven for everything else. He accepted her exactly like she was; all of her. Unity. That’s what it had offered her. This was the most grandiose gift she’d ever received. “Why…” she started to ask after a moment considering her new situation. Curiosity racked her mind, but no resentment. She’d deserved a good trashing for assuming he’d been hostile and blazing away immediately, definitely. But since her magic could not harm him; why the quite extreme punishment? He could simply have restrained her and explained everything. She would have been just as eager to accept his gift and help him. A place where she would not be belittled for being a half-elf, someone who appreciated her like she was… She’d longed for such acceptance all her life! ‘It was sadly necessary. Had I not broken down your resistance completely, the sliver of essence I imparted to you would have killed you.’ Master’s mind-voice turned to sorrow and sadness. ‘You are not the first mortal from the Material Plane to end up here. You are the very first one that survived.’ “I… see…” she started to say, but words were futile. She could see it revealed before her eyes. His loneliness. His hopeful joy at stumbling upon a wounded human soldier from a realm she didn’t recognize. His wretchedness as he ended up killing him while attempting to help him and share his gift with him, just not to be alone any longer. That was all he ever wanted: take others in his embrace, accept them all in one glorious unity… How Natali understood, her mind and soul resonating in complete sympathy. How happy she was for his gift, even if it had been delivered in an unpleasant way. ‘Your companions seem to have destroyed the fragment of my essence I managed to push through to the Material Plane.’ Natali expected anger, or at least disappointment for having been part of those people; for her stupid blindness. But there was none, Master’s thought-voice was content, happy. ‘But it seems I have gained much more than I lost in the bargain. You have mastered the teleportation spell.’ “Yes, Master.” It wasn’t a question; he could see it in her mind clear enough. Still she answered. “But…” If he hoped for her to take him along back to the Material Plane, she would have to disappoint him… ‘Fret not, Natali.’ He purred in her mind and she fell to her knees, crying. It was but her name, but to hear it spoken without loathing, scorn or jealousy for once… To hear it spoken with warm approval, with happiness… It overwhelmed her. She cried in joy, and collapsed completely as his tendrils once more seized her, pulling her in a welcoming, sheltering, intimate embrace. Acceptance. By all the Gods, acceptance. What a wonderful gift! ‘Fret not, Natali.’ He repeated, just as tenderly as he enveloped her and cocooned her within his body. ‘I am well-aware opening the way for me is a task beyond the labors of a single mortal. Fret not. Rest. You are safe. You belong here. Now and forever more.’ Epilogue. Natali fumed. Two years of work, brought to ruin, because irksome meddlers couldn’t leave well-enough alone. Two years of building a network of people to start obtaining what was needed to hasten Master’s return, all brought to ruin by adventurers. Unluckily enough, she’d been away on an errand of her own and unable to nip their destruction in the bud. When she’d returned it was already too late, the heart had been ripped out of her network and the adventurers were coming for her. How she longed to vent some of that fury on their miserable forms herself… Bah. It was almost over anyway. The bumbling fools had fallen into her trap all too easily, lured into complacency by their initial easy successes. A couple of simple wards confusing them had allowed her to unleash her magicks at her leisure. The whole group of overconfident meddlers had soon found themselves paralyzed or twitching on the ground unable to stand, their strength completely sapped. With a look of cold contempt on her face, Natali had brought forth and unveiled the standing mirror she used to open a portal to where Master resided when she wanted to commune with him directly. It was far too small a portal to let him through, it would be like an human attempting to wriggle himself through a needle hole, but it was more than enough to let him deal with those damnable adventurers in person as he demanded. Natali looked at the scene before her eyes dispassionately. Master commanded and she obeyed, even if as far as she was concerned it was both a waste and much better than these meddlers deserved. A quick slash to the throat was already too good for them. A slow-acting agonizing poison making them shrivel away slowly in unbearable pain would be her choice. But Master was adamant: he wanted to try to share his gift of unity with them. By his will. She’d been surprised at first that his gift was so often refused, even if she’d witnessed the failures that had come before her. Master had been so desperate he had been driven to the self-destructive behavior of blindly sending bits and pieces of his essence through whatever minute crack between planes he could find in the hope someone would pick it up. She’d done more by her own in a few years to further Master’s plan to return to the Material Plane than he’d done in decades; and that always filled her with misplaced but irrepressible pride. But then idiots like these, and to be fair like she’d been; had to come and set it all back again. At least she’d had the decency to see the truth! Unsurprisingly for once, Master’s gift went unanswered this time as well. Two of the adventurers lay dead already, their husks shriveling as Master’s essence still vainly tried to assimilate them. And judging from how hard the third one was spasming, it wouldn’t be long until… There he goes, neck snapped. Useless wretch! A quick death is too merciful for your kind. This only left the final cloaked figure at her side. The only one of the quartet to sense the trap and actually threaten her, she’d needed to expand a paralysis spell to deal with that one. Acting on impulse she pulled the cloak away from her immobilized aggressor, idle curiosity wanting to see what he’d look like. Natali blinked in surprise at the revealed sight. A slender, lithe but definitely feminine frame clad in leather armor. Big hazel doe eyes that looked back at her, a fair visage framed by curly blonde locks with the tip of too pointy ears poking out in-between. Young. No more than twenty, if even that; a child by elven standards. But she was only half-elf, trapped between both worlds. Adult before her time. The girl sported an array of small tools at her belt and the fresh telltale scars of manacles around her wrists. A thief, then, a rogue. Probably ‘recruited’ straight out of her cell by the three others. “My, my…” Natali purred as she delicately brushed a couple of stray locks out of the young rogue’s visage. “What do we have here? Are you lost, little sister?” “Please, no!” the young rogue begged as Master’s tentacles started to reach out toward her after dropping the broken body of the last of the failures to accept his gift. “Please, don’t do that!” Mentally Natali requested him to wait for just a moment, sensing an opportunity. “Shht. Shed your fear, little sister.” She whispered, gently stroking the half-elf’s visage. “It’s a gift Master wants to share with you. A gift of acceptance and unity, the most wonderful of gifts that can be bestowed. You only need to accept it.” “A gift?” She whimpered with absolute terror in her voice. “It killed them.” Terror, but no regret at the fate of her companions or hatred directed toward her. This only cemented the idea in Natali’s head that the young rogue had been dragged here against her will, probably as part of a deal to avoid the gallows. “They killed themselves, little sister.” She corrected gently. “They refused to accept Master’s gift, their minds remaining closed to the truth. You can accept it… You only have to accept it.” The sorceress droned on as she continued to gently caress the young woman’s visage, her gaze boring into hers. The wretched feelings of her former life welled up from deep within her, memories she’d thought gone. Why she was drawing upon them now after having managed to ignore them for two years she could not fathom, but it simply *felt* right. This one, this young woman was like her! A half-breed! Shunned and unwanted, an outcast without a place in life to call her own. If only she could make her see the grandness of Master’s unity, she’d understand. She’d accept. “No more fear. No more hatred. No more disdain because of your very *nature*. Accept Master’s gift and be accepted in turn, just like you are.” She could feel Master’s approval at her deed, at her initiative. She was part of him, but she still had her own thoughts and experience and he trusted her, approved of her; allowed her to take charge. It made her giddy like she rarely had been. She had this. “Have no fear. Look at me, little sister.” Natali purred softly as Master’s tendrils crept in. Unlike for the other adventurers, he delicately bared the half-elven girl as Natali held her captive with her gaze, carefully and respectfully removing her leather armor and gear without any of the unpleasant and quite futile business of bludgeoning her into submission. “Look deep into my eyes, and have no fear.” She kept up with reassurances as his tendrils tenderly coiled around the young rogue, being considerate and gentle as they entered her body in order to impart her with a sliver of his essence. “Accept Master’s wonderful gift.” Natali had been amazed when he’d admitted the process of bestowing his gift was actually quite the unpleasant business for him, like blood being let for a living. Nor did he actually enjoy the physical violence necessary to break down a mortal’s resistance either. His own body was insensate; but he’d experienced enough of what ‘pain’ was through her to know he didn’t enjoy it. She’d been so wrong in her former life. So wrong about everything. But this time… This time they would succeed! She could feel it! “Shht.” She continued to hush the young woman as she cradled her head, holding her gaze captive. She’d barely shivered as Master’s tendrils had delicately entered her body taking utmost care not to hurt her, but that was the easy part. Now Natali needed to guide her, help her deny her instinct and welcome Master’s essence instead of resisting it. “No more fear. No more mockery behind your back.” Natali kept up with her reassuring cooing. “No more subtle public humiliations and revilement for being a sully on the purity of the elven race. No more being made feeling a freak and considered unworthy, an inferior being wherever you go; whatever you do. Accept this gift; and be accepted exactly like you are!” She suddenly realized she was drawing on her own memories and that the young rogue she was trying to comfort very well might have grown up amongst humans, to live a complete different form of hell. But it didn’t matter. She could see her words striking a chord deep within the younger woman. Beyond the terror and the fear and the suffering, she saw a sliver of recognition, of hope. Natali’s voice became heated as passion entered her voice. Oh yes, she’d been through a hell of her own growing up, just like Natali herself. But no more. By all the Gods, No! More! “Accept Master’s gift and I swear by all the Gods of the pantheon there will be no more of that. Accept it.” The other woman didn’t utter a sound, merely gasping like a fish out of water, but Natali saw Master’s shadowy essence was spreading smoothly within her body. “Yes, girl, that’s it.” She panted, her own innards clenching as she softly kissed the young rogue’s forehead in a tender gesture of reassurance. “Don’t resist. Let it flow through you. Let it remake you as part of a greater whole. Don’t resist. Accept it. Welcome it. Embrace it. Become one with it!” She continued as she fed the wonder and hope she could see grow in the other half-elf’s gaze. It empowered her as she ushered the rogue toward her own apotheosis. “Just let it flow through you without resisting, little sister. Just accept it.” ‘Natali.’ Her master suddenly ordered with urgency in his mind-voice, interrupting her passionate monologue. ‘You must make ready to leave. Time is of the essence.’ Although the very concept of disobeying Master was alien to her since their union, the corrupted sorceress found it physically painful to obey his command this time. She found it incredibly difficult to look away from the delectable spectacle of the other half-elf slowly becoming like her. Another like her. Another to share the glory of Master’s gift with. She’d never realized how much she’d desired, *needed* this until now. But she forced herself to comply, tearing her gaze away from the wonderful transformation of her soon-to-be companion to summon her magic servants. Quickly, she ordered the gaggle of small air elementals to gather everything important, from her personal belongings and spell components to the fallen adventurers’ discarded gear; and stash it all in her bags of containment. As she ordered them around, she saw Master drag the shriveled corpse of the last of the deceased adventurers through the mirror portal. Nothing as base as simple feeding like a mortal, though. He was beyond mere eating. But he could at least recover knowledge and memories from these fools’ remains, even if the wretches had been unworthy of his glorious gift. Waste not, want not… “I’m cold…” she suddenly heard a tiny, confused voice answering an unheard question. Looking down, she saw the young half-elf at her feet had stopped shaking and was blinking. She’d survived! Yes! She’d done it! She’d accepted the gift! Snapping her fingers, she mentally ordered one of her servants to bring her one of her heavy coats. Again, it was a spectacular effort of will to only wrap the other woman in it and do nothing else; the sight of her flexible, athletic body shivering in complete vulnerable abandonment making the heat boiling between her legs almost unbearable. ‘There will be time for that soon, Natali.’ Her master purred with deep satisfaction in his thought-voice, evidently quite happy at having successfully converted another mortal as well. ‘I am certainly not averse to the two of you enjoying each other’s presence, but more of these meddlers are on their way and you cannot deal with them right now. You must move quickly.’ “Yes, Master.” She answered immediately, even if she found concentrating on the task at hand almost impossible. Her body was clenching with a need she hadn’t felt in years; that she’d thought obliterated by Master’s touch. But right now she wanted nothing more than spread-eagle the young beauty and explore her lithe, agile body. Kiss, lick and nibble everywhere for a few hours, drive her completely crazy with the need for release and make her beg helplessly before giving her all she needed and more; finally share the passion burning inside her loins until they both collapsed from exhaustion… ‘Soon, Natali…’ Master purred in her mind. ‘Soon. She’s just as needy of your touch as you are eager to give it. But get the both of you to safety first.’

“Yes, Master.” She whispered as she picked up the rogue up in a bridal carry. So light... So sweet… The other half-elf was still looking around in dreamy confusion, and Natali realized Master was still busy imparting knowledge of what she’d become, just like he’d done to her years ago. “Shht.” She hushed her, holding her close as her teleportation magic whiskered everything away to safety. “Welcome home, little sister.” She whispered, the only words that could matter along with what Master was implanting straight into her mind. “Welcome home!”