Scotland is an old country, one of the eldest nations in the west but our order is older than even the kingdom. By the time the Romans pushed into the southern reaches of the land we had been long established and we remained when they fled. The English fought for many centuries to subdue the country and at last it seemed that they had but even now, 300 years after unification the identify of Scotland burns strong in the hearts of its people and we remain. The modern world thinks itself enlightened and is secure in the belief of the things it has convinced itself do not exist. After millennia of secrecy and careful hiding this has been an ironic and welcome boon. Five hundred years ago a man claiming to be a sorcerer would have been lynched, today he would be ridiculed. The peasants of the time may have been ill-educated but they were not ignorant. That is why Scotland has been our home for so long, the magic is strongest here.
Before the advent of enlightened modern thinking we took concealment extremely seriously, this led to hidden vaults being created across the land and especially in the mountains. Rugged and inhospitable terrain is the perfect place to hide things from those whose lack of magical aptitude means they can't traverse it. The secrecy inevitably had unintended and unfortunate consequences, over the centuries many of these strongholds were forgotten or lost, the magic used to protect them doing its job in such a way as to frustrate the brethren that it was supposed to protect. Locating and exploring such places had become a fascination for me, often the old ones would contain valuable and interesting artifacts - magical artifacts have a habit of growing stronger with age.
I located one such vault in an especially inclement rockface. Magic is an unfathomable phenomenon but there are certain rules to it, for one thing the use of magic leaves a trace. Usually in this land where the natural magic is vibrant you do not notice any such thing but purely by accident I was aware of a strong and old enchantment. The closer I got to it, carefully levitating up the vertical face and projecting a low cloud cover to conceal myself, the more I realised it was one of the more powerful magics I had come across. There are a number of famous sorcerers who legend says hid fabulous reliquaries in the mountains and I was naturally inclined to investigate.
I attempted to dispel the shielding enchantment but it was impervious, all that happened was the illusion covering the entrance disappeared and the shield itself became visible. It was a solid black shade, hiding any sign of what it protected. I was further impressed at the skill that had gone into this magic. With increasing curiosity I began to lightly probe the shield for weak spots. I was unsurprised to find none, a completely smooth projection of power shielded my goal but noting the perfect spherical form of the spell I deduced the central point. Extending one hand I muttered the incantations feverishly and released a thin lance of raw power to the centre of the shield. There was no bang or flash of light , magic is not like that. Instead I felt the shield rupture and the spell's power began to seep out. Once again I was impressed at the craft that had created this shield, even when pierced it did not fail outright but slowly began to recede as the magic it contained diminished.
A pentagonal tunnel, perfectly proportioned, cut clean into the mountainside was revealed as the shield crept inwards. Grateful for the respite from levitation, it is a particularly tiring art, I stepped into the tunnel and followed the shrinking shield. I passed through a doorway, a mere rectangle in the rock but with such perfect angles and smooth surfaces that it had an unlikely elegance, and entered a large circular chamber. The shield was creeping inwards towards the centre of the room and beginning to turn transparent, circling around it a stone table obscured from the doorway by the shield caught my eye. I walked closer to examine it and saw a plain metallic ring - no more than a simple band - and a curious knife with a black blade. Looking up from the table I took in the rest of the area the shield had uncovered, it was moving even more slowly now but turning completely transparent, revealing a raised stone platform.
My blood ran cold as I saw her. Supine on the dais, slender and toned. Waves of black hair caressing the stone below her head and down onto her ivory shoulders. A flawless face, eyes closed and lips slightly curved into a salacious smirk even in sleep. A graceful neck, creamy skin flowing to the generous swell of her breasts. Slender arms and legs, nails a lustrous black. Smooth stomach with no navel. Flaring hips, hairless mons. Leathery wings spread beneath her and a thin tail running between her legs past her feet.
Immediately I understood why this place had been so well protected. Heart pounding in my ears I attempted to repair the fissure I had lanced into the shield but the pressure of the magic escaping the hole made it impossible. Even as I gave up I noticed the tail flick along the edge of the stone. Panicking I hurled a paralysis curse towards her, she raised a hand to block it and opened her vivid blue eyes. Lithely she swung her legs off the platform, towards me, stretching as she got to her feet and inspected the retreating dome of the shield. Focusing my mind I began to channel a banishment, instantly she froze and started ever so slowly to fade out of view but then her hands flew up in front of her and made a complicated twirling motion and she was suddenly quite solid again. Worse still, the attempt had shattered what was left of the shield.
"Must we fight?" she said, strolling towards me with a rhythmic, effortless gait. I immediately focused as much power as I could and tried to smash her into the wall but with effortless grace she blocked and reflected the magic, hurling me backwards into the table. I landed face down and groggily lifted my head to see the ring in front of me and beyond it her as she continued her slow walk towards me.
"Wear me," said a cold metallic voice. I looked at the ring in surprise.
"Quickly, fool. Wear me," it said. Having run out of ideas of my own I obliged. I though it had done nothing, I noticed no added magic from wearing it and was preparing to launch another barrage at her when she took another slow, leisurely step toward me and recoiled. This seemed to surprise her and her eyes quickly scanned the room, she let out an audible hiss and dived for the knife that had been sent a few feet away when I crashed into the table. I lashed out with another blasting spell and this time it caught her, she was sent sprawling backwards into the far wall and I quickly gathered up the knife.
"Leave," said the ring. Thoroughly rattled I was keen to do exactly that and sprinted along the tunnel back into the open air, blasting the roof of the tunnel as I went to seal it behind me and fled into the mountains.
I had never felt such panic. Three decades of life dedicated to arcane study and concealment had sent me into all manner of dangerous situations but never had I been so sure that I was in the presence of something that could better my magic. I had read of her long ago in an ancient tome secreted in another vault and had not believed the tale. Respect and reputation are everything in our order and it is common for us to exaggerate, embellish and invent our accomplishments. This particular sorcerer by the name of Argus had devoted himself to studying demons, he claimed to have discovered that one of the demon lords had created a new breed of succubi in an effort to enslave the male population. He went on to say that this didn't go to plan and the chief of this new breed immediately turned on him and seized his domain before turning her attention to our realm. She was powerful but naive and was not prepared for the assault Argus unleashed on her when she entered this plane, despite this her power was too great for him to vanquish and the best he could do was seal her away in a chamber with his strongest magic. I knew that she would be able to escape easily but could not decide whether she would be more likely to hunt me down or pursue an agenda of conquest. Either way I needed more knowledge and the only place I was likely to find it would be in another vault of the ancient sorcerer.
I began a long search that took me all around the country but did not yield any helpful finds. I had kept a lookout for others in the order but strangely had not encountered any, this troubled me a great deal because we have perfected the art of eluding any who wish to find us in this land, albeit we have our own ways of locating each other. If she had, as I feared, began to track us down and eliminate us then it was another worrying indication of how great her power was. It also led me to thinking that the ring was the only thing shielding me and not any skills or cunning I had employed. More disturbing news greeted me when I visited a local village to check the news. Cautious to the last, I crept in at night under heavy magical disguise and took all the newspapers I could find in bins. The news I found was strange, very strange in fact. It seemed that in the three weeks since I had encountered her a number of startling world events had taken place. The governments of all the declared nuclear states had announced a joint programme to eradicate their nuclear arsenals and claimed to have already shut down the infrastructure required to use them. The newspapers hailed it as a victory for the enlightenment of man and the triumph of reason over machismo. I took it to be a first strike in the conquest of Earth. My suspicions were further alerted when I read a number of museums had been robbed of aged artifacts - the newspapers suspected a booming black market was being fuelled by rich criminal collectors, I suspected valuable magical relics were being hoarded. The financial sections were awash with news of a flurry of mergers and takeovers in the telecommunications and media sectors. Analysts were at a loss to explain this activity but it sounded to me like an ideal way of hampering the coordination of potential resistance. The strangest of the news was also the least reported, in fact the media did not appear to draw the connection at all. A series of missing person reports in different papers caught my eye, they all disappeared without a trace and they all had satanic or cult leanings.
I had another problem too. The ring was starting to pain me. It began very slowly, a mere tingle on the finger and slowly grew in intensity and extent until now my whole hand throbbed almost constantly. After a few days I decided I would have to take it off, though my fear that she would find me ensured I took plenty of precautions. Sure enough I had barely slipped the ring off my aching finger when she appeared. Fortunately I had prepared both a means of escape and a series of enchantments to impede her and slipping the ring back on I was able to elude her again. Later that evening when I was sure I had covered enough ground to ensure my safety I considered the situation, I had at least learned from the failed experiment what the purpose of the ring was. This indicated that the builder of the vault had anticipated someone would need it one day and led me to wonder if the knife had been left for its own purpose. If the old demonologist had found a way to craft a ring that stopped her finding me, had he found a way to craft a knife that could kill her?
As I sat pondering the implications I drifted off to sleep. I was floating, seemingly disembodied, across an open field in the dead of night. I did not recognise the location but the ground ran away to the horizon with no undulations in all directions. Directly below me a circle was marked out, glowing brightly against the moonless sky. Around the circumference, a number of relics were scattered. In the centre of the circle a naked man lay on his back, arms and legs spread wide and secured to the turf with a shiny black vine-like substance that appeared to seamlessly slot into the grass. She stood between his outstretched legs, beautiful and mysterious in the flickering magical light. She looked up, those piercing eyes seemed to look straight into my soul. She gazed at me for several long seconds, saying nothing but I got the impression she wanted me to know she was aware of my presence.
She turned her attention to her captive, straining hopelessly against his bonds.
"Do you give yourself to me willingly?" she asked. The man said nothing but glared in impotent fury and redoubled his futile efforts to escape. She merely laughed at this.
"You will, soon," she said.
Stretching her arms lazily above her head she began to perform a complex spell that I did not recognise. I could feel the power of it crackling around the field and a fell wind began to swirl around the circle. The artifacts around the circle flared as their power was drained for the spell. Her spellcraft complete she wasted no time in mounting him, he howled primally and flailed more frantically. Once more she raised her arms and began to cast a spell I could not identify. Its purpose was soon evident however, inside the circle the silhouettes of six demonic figures appeared. Even from my elevation I could see the immediate fear struck in the captive below me. She too noticed it, looking around idly as she slowly, tantalisingly rode him.
"I have linked your arousal to the magic summoning them, if you do not orgasm soon they will materialise fully," she said "Their kind has not had a chance to play with a mortal for millennia, your torment will last centuries."
The silhouettes were becoming more solid looking. Each figure was different but all were ferocious, bestial, a nightmare of claws and teeth and spines. They were stalking round him in a snarling frenzy, swarming over and through him.
"You know what you must do to stop them," she said and accelerated the motion of her hips.
His body tensed as if in orgasm but I could tell she was holding him on the edge deliberately. Then one of the demons gave a curdling shriek and started snapping at his chest.
"Take me! Take me!" he screamed.
Whether it had gained enough substance to cause actual harm or his nerve simply broke I do not know but she did not disappoint his frantic request. He gave a loud, relieved moan as his body shook and she, astride him, began more magic. The blazing circle grew brighter and brighter as his body stilled, finally flashing a dazzling white that blinded me.
When my vision returned she stood before a shimmering portal, no trace of her victim remained. Heart sinking I saw the first of them emerge, an endless legion of demons. Some were succubi, some were the horrible mongrel fiends she had tormented her sacrifice with, there were more humanoid-shaped varieties, winged monstrosities, tiny swarming terrors and giant marauding beasts. As I gazed in terror at the assembling army I was aware of her gaze on me again.
"I wanted you to witness this," she said "and now I make you an offer, make no attempt to come near me and I will leave you alone. Fail to do so and this whole host will be set against you."
I awoke feeling better than I had for weeks. I had no doubt the events of my dream had been real but although she had intended to intimidate me, the effect had been the opposite - I was sure she was worried by me. Given that I had been unable to repel her with my own magic I was sure it must be the knife that was her concern. The difficulty would be in getting close enough to stab her without giving myself away. This however was a task I felt I would be up to, our order has been perfecting such magic for years uncounted.
I spent several weeks casting the strongest enchantments of concealment on myself that I could. I was confident that I had produced some of my finest spellwork but as time wore on the blasted ring caused me greater and greater pain. By the time I was satisfied with my preparations and scouted another village for news it had begun. She had declared herself openly soon after opening the portal, the leaders of the world had universally submitted to her rule - no doubt coerced in some manner. She had chosen the site of ancient Babylon for her capital and erected a tower there to rule from. Some assaults had been made against it but they were catastrophic failures. As I had anticipated, her monopoly of global communications had made it easy for her to prevent the few military forces that had the inclination to assail her from co-coordinating their strength. To prove her authority she had ordered the conscription of men from around the world to form the mortal corps of her army, those that refused the summons were brutally executed. I decided to use this movement of manpower to her base to my advantage.
Travelling to one of the staging centres in England I took the place of one of the conscripts, stealing his clothes and teleporting him to the far east where he wouldn't be found and give me away. I was surprised when we were taken to her base by aircraft rather than any magical transportation, this suggested her power was not as great as I had feared. Throughout the trip I saw a number of people in red robes that appeared to be an upper class of servant and typically commanded an installation or operation, these I think were the cultists she had recruited. The tower itself was vast and imposing, a seat of power that was clearly intended to be feared. Certainly it worked on the men I travelled with, urged onwards by our demonic minders and the red-robed commander.
Once inside the tower I slipped away from the group, rejoicing when I found my presence went unnoticed as long as I stayed a moderate distance away from the roaming sentinels. I knew where I would find her, demons are very predictable on some counts. At the very top of the tower she would have chambers, demonstrating her power by being literally above everyone else. At one point I could not slip past a guarding demon while being confident of remaining hidden. I crept as close as I felt comfortable to and then unleashed as powerful a banishment as I could. The hideous creature turned transparent and vanished silently. Inwardly I cheered as the power flowed through me, at last things were going my way. I continued to ascend the tower, proceeding as quickly as I dared. At last I reached the pinnacle and paused to check if she was inside. I reached out mentally but found nothing and entered a wide room with a throne against the wall opposite the door. I took up position inside the doorway, drawing the knife and preparing to strike when she entered. It took several hours for her to appear but my training has left me a disciplined mind and I maintained my concentration. As she walked into the room she headed straight for the throne, noiselessly turning to face her back I dug every sliver of power I had into an immobilisation spell. She froze in mid-step and having secured the split second I needed, I strode forward and rammed the knife toward her heart, slicing through a wing on its way.
Searing pain shot up my arm and I staggered backwards clutching at my fingers with my other hand, she crumpled to the floor in front of me and was still. Turning away I finally wrenched the wretched ring off and hurled it away. I collapsed onto my back, closing my eyes, breathing heavily and surging with adrenaline and relief. As the tension drained from my body I felt a drowsiness fall over me, the lack of desperate focus allowing the stress of the last few weeks to take its toll. It was then that that my brain caught up with my ears - I hadn't heard the ring hit the wall or floor. I sat up to look for it and terror gripped my soul, she stood idly caressing the ring as it lay in the palm of one hand as she sealed the doors of the room with the other, merging them seamlessly into the walls. I scrambled to my feet and tried to quickly assess the situation, I was now stuck in a circular room with no exit and a completely healed succubus. Instinct took over and I moved to a defensive poise and I felt another wave of tiredness roll over me. She began to strafe around me in circles, keeping her eyes towards me. I began to feel dizzy and weak as I turned to follow her movements. Seeing this she smiled.
"Are you tired?" she said "Surely you did not enter the domain of a foe without checking the magic it contained? Come mage, strike me with your best magics."
I didn't need her encouragement, I had been gathering all the power I could since she started to speak and now I released it violently toward her. She didn't even bother to block it, merely stood and let it hit her. My heart sank as the magic dissipated harmlessly and she ran her agile tongue over her lips as if savouring the experience. Another swoon nearly overcame me and I staggered, recovering my balance just in time to see her flick a hand leisurely and felt a tiny wave of power lash into me and knock me over. By the time I managed to scramble upright again she was advancing on me, amused look on her beautiful, cruel face, I threw up a shield spell but knew even as I did it was far too weak to hold her at bay and the effort of it nearly exhausted me. Instantly aware of this she cooed mockingly and just kept walking into it, it impeded her only as much as to make it seem that she was walking through treacle. I backed away as she got inexorably closer, still trying to keep the shield up and failing to notice her tail scythe out behind me and trip me up.
My shield died as I hit the floor and as I sat up to aim another spell she pounced, landing with one foot on my chest and slammed me into the floor. I looked up breathlessly as she stood over me, one foot still pinning my chest to the floor, wings extended across the room, leaning forward so she looked straight down at me with triumph in her eyes.
"You would have done well to heed the warnings of your forebears," she said "Though I am glad you have not, we are going to have such a good time, you and I."
As she spoke I felt her tail slip over my neck and under the collar of the shirt I wore and jerk swiftly downwards, neatly bisecting the garment. I tried to sit up but she was too strong, or I was too weakened, for me to be able to shift her. Meanwhile that muscular tail had sliced through the cuffs of the shirt and tossed it aside and as I struggled to raise my arms to aim another spell at her she had removed the rest of my clothes.
"Isn't that better?" she said.
I responded by trying to conjure a small stone and accelerate it through her eye but to my horror realised I couldn't muster enough energy. She laughed and lowered herself to kneel, one leg either side of my chest, staring down at me as I tried fruitlessly to produce some magic to repel her. I could feel the heat of her core against my stomach, a delicious contrast to the cool marble floor beneath me. Her left hand traced slow runic designs on my chest as her right hand stroked ever so lightly up my neck, around my face. Wherever she touched me I felt a tantalising tingle, I tried to focus by working out what runes she was inscribing on me were but these thoughts were driven clean out of my head when her tail wrapped around my cock. I shuddered and groaned as it held my cock perfectly upright and coiled around it from root to tip.
"You shouldn't feel bad, mage," she said, squeezing her tail and making me shiver. It was a strange sensation, the loops of her tail ribbed against my cock and pulsing slightly against it.
"No mortal has ever evaded me as long as you have," she said, beginning to wind and unwind the tail. I gasped at the feel of the smooth tail sliding over and around my member. She did this faster and faster, uncoiling completely and then completely surrounding me again. I was shivering constantly now, blood drained from my head and my feeble efforts at spellcasting forgotten.
"I'll tell you something you might find interesting", she said, rising into a crouching position and I whimpered in a mixture of lust, terror and exhaustion.
"The knife that you've been carrying all this time," she said, rubbing my cock along her slit with her tail. I jerked underneath her at the heat of the contact but she skilfully moved her hips to keep the contact of our bodies minimal.
"Would have banished me if you had used it on yourself, " she said holding my cock perfectly still on the very brink of entering her and looked into my eyes. She lowered herself a fraction of an inch and I felt her lips flutter across the head of my cock. The tickling sensation, coupled with the heat of her made me tremble and then she lowered herself fully onto me. As soon as I entered her I nearly passed out from the thrill that shot through me, she was tight, rippling around me like a glove and the wet heat of her pussy would have killed any mortal woman. She gave me a few seconds to adjust, smirking triumphantly at my heavy breathing and groans of pleasure. Then I felt her clench around me, impossibly strong and tactile muscles massaged my cock and I came in ecstasy. She purred in delight and her walls spasmed around my member, drawing my seed into her.
"Better than hiding in caves, isn't it?" she said. Doing my best to ignore the heavenly feeling of her tight sheath around my cock I stretched out a hand and tried to summon the knife to me, seeing this she laughed and a vibration ran through her whole body and teased my penis even more. Summoning the knife herself she ran a finger along the black blade.
"You see, by breaking the enchantments sealing me out of this world you became my portal to it. This blade is horribly cursed, its purpose is to annihilate the soul. I was afraid you would sacrifice yourself to oust me. Even if you had died of old age I would have been compelled to follow your soul out of this world. Fortunately you responded exactly how I knew you would to your dream," she said, piercing blue eyes filled with the sparkle of victory. She muttered a few words and the knife vaporised.
"You wouldn't want to accidentally stab yourself and end this, would you? I've got something better for your hands to play with," she said and grabbing my wrists she pulled my hands onto those luscious breasts. Smoother than polished marble but with the softness of the peak of femininity and firm as could be, despite myself I couldn't help but indulge in kneading those perfect mounds. Flashing me a devilish smile she began to slide up and down my straining cock. The muscles of her cunt squeezed and pulled as she oscillated, the exquisite sensations driving me still further into delirium and I came again. She moaned and writhed atop me and I felt a definite rippling suction around my cock as she absorbed my seed. This orgasm lasted longer and I could feel myself weakening as she fed on me.
She on the other hand looked even more gorgeous, her breasts slick with sweat under my eager fingers and her face visibly excited as she coaxed the last few spurts out of me. She leant over me, her silken hair tickling my shoulders and framing her face in shadow but her sapphire eyes shone brightly. She arched her back and placed her mouth to my ear.
"Not long now, you're doing well," she whispered, her hot breath on my skin making me jump. Her tongue slid out and sensuously traced along my jaw to my lips, pushing forcefully inside for a deep kiss. She sat back up and started to gyrate, I reached for her breasts again and found I couldn't raise my arms, panicking I began to try to thrash ineffectually to get out from under her. She just smiled down at me and increased her movements. I was sweating heavily, heart pounding thunderously and breathing in ragged gasps through my mouth. Reaching behind her she began fondling my testicles. I felt sure I was about to climax again but nothing happened, I was just kept on the brink of orgasm, shuddering violently as she continued to rock above me. Then I felt a peculiar sensation as if thousands of minuscule hairs were extending from the walls of her pussy and stroking my member. They were fine, silky and moved in different directions. The effect on my already stimulated cock was heart-stopping. I tried to cry out for her to let me come but I could only manage a dry rasp.
"This is it, mage. Once I have your soul I will have no bonds to prevent me staying in this realm," she said, exultant satisfaction on her face. Abruptly she stopped moving her hips, our pelvis's together with my cock firmly lodged inside her and then I felt the strands all latch on to it.
"I hope you'll enjoy this as much as I will," she said with a wink. My cock was punctured on all sides by the strands and I exploded into her, feeling my seed drawn out through each strand. The sense of suction increased in great throbbing pulses. The pleasure was so great I bucked off the ground to try lodging deeper into her and I kept on shooting. I could see her getting more and more excited as I felt weaker and then I felt strangely focused and time seemed to dilate as she threw back her beautiful head in orgasm and her muscles squeezed ever tighter and then blackness.