Swords, Sorcery, and Sex in the World of Greyhawk - Chapter 1 - Part 2

Chapter 1: Arrival - Part 2

"I-" Erica stopped, not wanting to admit that she had no idea.

"So this is a game. What kind of game?" Mickey asked.

"One of those live action RPGs." Ashley replied.

"Live action what?" Maria asked.

"Like a computer game?" Peter interjected.

"Yeah, kind of like that. Like we're characters in a computer game."

"And that guy in there is the bad guy boss?" Peter said, catching on.

"This is stupid! I'm not some computer character." Maria yelled. Ashley sighed loudly.

"I didn't say you were. I said we should play along like we are."

"Oh, screw you. All of you." She said, head down. With a snort of disgust Ashley sat down in the far corner. Erica thought furiously, trying to come up with something to distract the two from their fight and work together.

"Is there any way to open that door? Erica asked Steve, who shook his head no. "Alright, let's-"

"What's up with that woman?" Steve asked, thinking about her enormous tits.

"Did you see her teeth? She had fangs, like a vampire. I swear!" Maria said as if sure the others would doubt her.

"Or a succubus." Peter added.

"A what?" Steve asked.

"A temptress demon." Peter replied firmly. "Who entraps men with sex and sucks out their souls." The others looked at him, taken aback.

"She was hot, though. You have to admit that." Steve insisted.

"Oh, shut up." Ashley replied. What a pervert - probably spends all day thinking about cow tits, she thought, feeding the simmering resentment she felt about men and her own A-cup breasts.

The others sank into their own thoughts, until Ashley suddenly looked up, curious.

"Hey, anybody wonder what that guy - the first one - what he was carrying? And what happened to it?"

"Who cares? It's gone now." Maria asked with a shrug.

"Maybe that's what brought us here. Maybe we just need that and we can go home." Ashley persisted, curious about the object. The others perked up at this, looking at her hopefully. The attention made Erica uncomfortable. Ashley didn't have the personality to keep them together - they should be looking at her. She wished she'd thought of the device first.

"It looked like a...a sextant, I think. Not exactly, but..." Steve said slowly, as if he wasn't sure he should say anything.

"A sex-what?" Maria asked.

"A sextant." Steve repeated. You know, for navigating a boat."

"A boat? How do you know that? And what the hell does that have to do with getting us here?" Erica asked angrily, more annoyed as the conversation went on.

"How the hell should I know?" Steve retorted. "She asked the question - what are you yelling at me for?"

Erica turned away mutely and found a piece of wall to claim as her own, and the six fell into an awkward silence. The quiet lasted for, well, no one knew, and the soft walls absorbed sound, leaving them wondering what might be happening outside.

When they finally heard the scrape of talons on the metal lock every eye turned to the door.

Steve scrambled away, and when the door opened, the birdman officer was there, a javelin in its claws. It lunged at them, hooked beak snapping, and they shrunk back in fear.

While they cowered against the far wall, two more appeared in the doorway, dragging a naked human form. With a sharp cry, the first birdman stepped aside to let the other two toss their burden into the cell, where it flopped limply onto the floor. With a last shake of his javelin, the birdman followed the other two out and closed the door.

"Oh my god..." Mickey whimpered as the six captives realized the ghastly mess was their missing cellmate Robert. His body wore a bloody skull with no nose, and gory pits instead of eyes. Long strips of skin hung limply from his body where he'd been flayed, and all of his fingers were gone. His crotch looked like it had been gnawed by a wild animal; only his cock was untouched, standing perfectly erect. When they looked closer they saw a wire tied around the base, tight enough to cut skin and trap the blood inside.

A gurgle broke their stunned silence, and a fleshy lump flew out his throat with a spurt of blood. The six saw his amputated pinkie finger laying in a brick-red puddle on the white floor as he inhaled a rattling breath.

"He's alive!" Erica said, crouching alongside.

"We-" Robert tried to speak. Erica and Ashley bent over his mouth to listen to his whispered voice, but a spasm shook his body before he could finish a whole sentence. The six watched his limps flop uselessly against the floor, then they stopped, and his head fell limply on its side.

"Is he-?" Peter couldn't finish the question.

"I think so." Erica replied, one finger finding an un-bloodied spot on Robert's throat. The others held their breath as Erica felt for a pulse, but she shook her head. Robert was gone.

"No, no, that's can't be right. He can't be dead." Maria insisted. "He was just here with us. He - he needs to be alive so he can pick up his award."

"Maria-" Mickey began.

"Who's going to pick up his award?" Maria shouted at her, tears running down her face, before collapsing to her knees sobbing.

"Get a grip, you idiot. Who gives a damn about his award?" Ashley said with a scowl, arms holding her knees tightly across her chest. Mickey glared at Ashley, putting one arm around Maria, murmuring to her in a low voice.

"That doesn't look like a game, man." Peter ventured.

Erica found it difficult to breathe, like a weight was pressing down on her chest. She needed to say something, that's what a leader should do, she thought, but nothing came out. Her chest heaved, trying to breath deeply, but the air wouldn't come. Maria's sobs filled the room as the others battled their own fears.

"Hey." Steve whispered. "The door's open."

"You serious?" Peter asked, suddenly interested.

"Yeah, looks like Robert's...skin...got caught in the latch." He said, pointing to a reddish smear on the doorframe. Now the others could see that the door was slightly ajar. Erica struggled to speak, but Ashley found her voice first.

"We have to get out of here."

"Hold on. We don't know what's out there. What if the guards are waiting for an excuse to spear us? What if they did it on purpose?" Steve said.

"You want to end up like that?" Erica conquered her paralysis, pointing at Robert's mangled corpse. "Huh?!"

"But- but you don't know he plans to kill us too. Maybe- maybe Robert just said the wrong thing." Steve knew he was reaching for straws, but the thought of wandering lost in a hostile castle scared him more than he wanted to admit.

"Yeah, right." Ashley sneered.

"Let's go." Erica said, standing. This was her moment to take charge.

"I- I just want to go home." Maria mumbled, her fist in her hand, staring at Robert's corpse.

"That's why we need to leave." Erica told her.

"N-no. I can't. I..." She couldn't finish.

"Hey Mickey, think you can get blubber-mouth here off her ass?" Ashley asked.

"Fuck off, bitch." Maria found her anger as she glared at the black-haired woman.

"That's the spirit. Now make it productive and get your fat ass moving." Ashley turned to leave.

"Tell them, Mickey. Tell them what a stupid idea this is." Maria demanded.

"I don't know. I mean- maybe. But..." Mickey's shoulders slumped. "They all want to go..."

By this time Steve had edged the door open and peered through. It opened onto a featureless corridor that ran in both directions. No birdmen were in sight.

"Looks clear." He said. The door didn't make a sound as he opened it further and slipped out. Erica and Ashley moved for the door at the same time; Erica held her position until Ashley gave way. Maria followed Mickey, still cursing at Ashley, and Peter brought up the rear.

"Which way?"

"That way." Erica said, pointing in the direction they had come from.

"You sure?" Steve said.

"I-" Erica felt a need to justify herself but didn't know what to say. From behind her Ashley chimed in.

"We know that way isn't a dead end, right?"

"Alright, your call." Steve said, off. The other five followed him single file. They passed two doors like the one that had held them in.

"Should we-?" Ashley whispered, nodding at the doors, but Erica glared at her and moved on.

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At the first t-shaped intersection Steve turned around, eyebrows raised. Erica had no idea which way to go, but she didn't want Ashley to take charge, so she quickly pointed left. Steve shrugged and headed down that passage, another long white tunnel with several doors. At the next intersection they heard voices, the wordless calls of birdmen. They froze, realizing the voices were coming closer.

"Quick, in one of those doors." Steve said, and they broke into a run back the way they had come. Arriving first Peter tried to turn it the way the birdman officer had when he locked them up, but his pudgy fingers wouldn't fit. Ashley shoved him aside and opened it with her slim digits. They rushed in, and she closed the door behind them.

"Oh my god..." whispered Mickey. The room turned out to be a cell identical to the one they'd been in, except for the corpse, a naked old man with wrinkled skin and few teeth. His flesh was bloated from putrefaction, and his stink filled the room. The bones of his legs were exposed, with tatters of decaying flesh hanging on in places. Maria took one look, then turned and vomited, adding to the stench.

"Quiet!" Steve said in a harsh whisper.

Mickey covered her mouth tightly to keep from crying out as the birdmen voices passed their hiding place. Steve tried to guess how many there were, but it was too hard to judge their foreign calls. When the volume started to recede, he moved to the door, which they'd left ajar. Once the voices disappeared, he peered out. Peter was the only one still looking at the body, and so the others missed a pair of rats that emerged from behind the body. Before he could say anything, though, streamers of mist curled around the rats and they disappeared. He shook his head, wondering if he'd imagined them.

"They're gone. Let's go." Steve said.

"They're heading towards our cell." Ashley whispered, afraid of what that might mean.

"Oh, shit." Even Peter saw the danger.

"Come on!" Erica took the lead this time, boobs bouncing as she jogged down the passage from whence the birdmen had come.

Another intersection, another left turn. Two more tunnels and they were hopelessly lost.

"We need a plan." Steve said, calling for a halt.

"No, we'll find something eventually." Erica said, keeping up the pace.

Down the next corridor they heard a cawing, and a deep gong that reverberated through the walls.

"Oh, shit." Peter repeated himself.

Running now the six kept moving through the maze of featureless tunnels until they came to a set of double doors.

"Wait a sec. Anyone seen anything like this?" Erica asked, pulling up.

Steve and Ashley were right behind her, but Peter and the other two girls came puffing up while the leaders were examining the door. Erica reached to open it, but Steve interrupted.

"Woah! What if it's a barracks, or that maniac's room. You have no idea what's in there." He held one door closed with his hand. Erica opened her mouth to respond, but before she could they heard birdmen calling from down the tunnel they'd come from.

Continued in Chapter 1: Arrival - Part 3

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