The Slippery Key

The Slippery Key

A few more feet, and she'd be at the top. With the aid of a rope that Iolo had tied to a column, Tansfora pulled herself out of the dungeon crevice. She looked down at the man who had been following her up the rope.

"Dupre, I saw you looking up my gown."

"Did you?" He crawled up the last few feet of the crevice, armor clattering, and sat down on the dusty floor with his legs dangling over the edge. "And why, pray, should I have ignored the rare opportunity to see an Avatar's drawers?"

"Because the Avatar that you're referring to isn't wearing any," said Tansfora. "Now get your mind out of the brothel, and help me pull Shamino up."

"This reminds me of a story. A woman was in bed with her lover while her husband was away at his shop..."

"No, don't hide under there, that's where everyone looks." Shamino emerged from the crevice and sat down on the ledge. "Why don't you get some new jokes, Iolo? Some jokes from the current century, perhaps?"

"Maybe he'll get some jokes that aren't as naughty, slimy, and all out icky as that one," Tansfora said. She took a crochet duck out of her pack and threw it at Iolo.

---

They sat on the edge for a while, tired and panting from the exertion and talking. Tansfora looked over the area that they had climbed into. It had looked like a simple narrow ledge from the bottom of the crevice, but, instead of stopping at the wall, it led into a cave that was separated from the ledge by a crack the width of a human hand.

She stood up. "I don't remember this part of the sewer dungeon. Are you sure we're going the right way, Shamino?"

"This way doesn't seem to have any headless in it, unlike the other way we were going. However, I don't remember ever being here, either. Can you find it on your map?"

"No. I suggest we set up camp for a while, so that we can regroup, heal, and figure out where we are." She turned again to Shamino, who had been picking up the duck and putting it back into her pack. "Do you hear any monsters in that cave?"

"None that I can hear."

"If that's so, we should go inside and out of sight," said Dupre, who had been inspecting some wounds that the headless had inflicted on him a few hours earlier.

"I agree. I feel exposed on this ledge. We could be picked off by any passing archer," said Tansfora. "Let's go."

---

They drew their weapons and walked slowly into the cave entrance. After waiting to see if any creatures were going to jump out, they moved into the cave itself. Iolo raised his torch high to light the entire area.

It was a small cave, about the length and breadth of six large beds arranged in a grid. Light from the torch glittered off of crystal formations on the ceiling. The far side of the cave was obscured by a grey mist that drifted and fluttered as if it was being blown about by a wind. However, there was no wind in the cave.

"Oh, no, not another magical--"

Just then, the cave started to shake and rumble. Dust rose from the floor and fell from the ceiling. The entire party dropped to the floor and held their shields over their heads, to protect against falling rocks. After a while, the shaking stopped.

"Is everyone all right?" Tansfora rose from the floor and pushed her red hair out of her face.

Iolo had dropped his torch right after the quake had started, and it had gone out. The cave was in near darkness, broken only by the faint phosphorescent glow of Tansfora's magic shield.

"I'm all right."

"Me too."

"So am I."

"Good. Any..." Tansfora stopped.

She'd been close to the opening of the cave, near the ledge. There was no opening or ledge there any more, though. How, she thought, had she been moved over to one of the walls without noticing it? The quake hadn't been quite strong enough to bounce her that far. She took off her shield. Using it, dim as it was, as a light, she rummaged through her pack for a torch.

The cave lit up. Startled, she looked up and saw Shamino in the center of the cave, holding a torch. He was staring past her with a stunned expression on his face.

Turning back to the wall, she saw that it wasn't one of the walls that had existed before the quake, but a new wall that seamlessly sealed the cave opening. She looked for the crack that she'd noticed before, but it was gone, with only a line of disturbed dust to indicate that it had been there.

"We're entombed," Shamino said.

Iolo and Dupre, who had been shaking the dust and crystals off of their armor, examined the black passage.

Dupre kicked the wall. "Ouch!" He grimaced and grabbed the toe of his boot. "It must be at least five feet thick!"

"Looks like we won't be able to get out that way."

"Why don't we try the door?"

"The door?"

"Turn around and look, milady."

Tansfora turned around and faced the far side of the cave. The mist was gone, and the wall was now visible. In the center of the wall was a wooden door, painted blue. The door had an ornate silver mortice lock that gleamed in the torchlight. To the right of the door was a triangle-shaped sheet of clear crystal the size of a dinner plate, fastened to the wall by three strips of colored metal. Surrounding the door and crystal were hand-sized patches of black moss. Suspended behind the crystal, like an insect in petrified amber, was a key. Dupre reached out and tried the door handle. It was locked, and locked tight.

"Let me pry that crystal loose." Iolo pulled a thin strip of metal out of his pack and wedged it between the crystal and the wall. The metal was sucked out of his hand and into the center of the crystal, where it vanished. The crystal emitted a puff of smoke.

"Well, that didn't work." Shamino took a couple of spare throwing axes out of his pack. He threw one at the crystal. The axe hit and turned into smoke, which blew back into his face. Angrily, he threw the other axe at the door. The axe flew halfway to the door before turning into smoke.

"Let me try now." Turning his face away, Dupre rammed his body hard against the door. The door didn't budge.

"We may not need the key," said Tansfora. She retrieved a small wooden box out of her pocket, opened it, removed a tarnished brass stick with a key-shaped handle, and slipped it into the keyhole. It was yanked out of her hand and disappeared completely into the lock.

"That was our last lock pick." Turning around, Tansfora took a smooth black stone out of her pocket, measured out a one foot space in the middle of the room with her hands, and put it down on the ground. It vanished, and a red moongate rose in its place. "We'll tell our lord about this when we get to the castle." She walked into the moongate, followed by her companions.

Moments later, they reemerged. "Hail, Lord Br--" She stopped.

They were still in the cave.

Tansfora sank down onto a stump-sized rock that was near the door and sulked.

Iolo stepped close and put his hand on her shoulder. "What about the spell we used to get away from the gargoyles at the Shrine of Honor?"

"You mean Help?" She shuddered. "It hurts so much to cast it. However, it looks like there's no other choice. Join hands, everyone." She pulled a spellbook out of her pack and refreshed her memory of the ritual spell, before stowing the spellbook again.

The group formed a circle in the middle of the cave. Tansfora concentrated on the words of the spell she was about to cast. She felt Shamino's and Iolo's palms sweat as she held their hands. 'Death,' she thought, 'Even a quick painless death followed by a resurrection, was never easy to get used to.'

The mana rose in her, and she knew she was ready.

"Kal Lor!" Her senses went out, one by one, as her consciousness faded away. The last thing she perceived was a clear quiet whooshing coming from the direction of the door.

---

A while later, she returned to life. She was lying face up on the floor. "My lord, we--" She opened her eyes.

Castle British was always at least partially lit, yet they were in the dark. 'Had the gargoyles put the castle under siege?' Shaking off her resurrection fog, she lit a torch and looked around. She saw the same walls, dust and door that she had seen before she'd cast 'Help'. The group had come back to life, but they hadn't gone anywhere.

"That spell never fails."

"It didn't fail, Tansfora. Only part of it failed. Think of how tragic it would be for all of us if it had completely failed." Iolo stood slowly and stiffly a few feet to the right of her.

Her other two companions were still on the ground, unconscious. Remembering that fire required the same air that they breathed, which was in short supply, Tansfora took her reagent pouch, cast 'Light', and doused the torch. The ball of light hung in the cool air, casting shadows against the cave walls.

"No, if we'd been transported dead to the castle, Tiberius could have raised... Does that door look different to you?"

"Different?" Iolo turned to the door. It was now covered with glowing silver runes. They read:

1: I am a lock. Sometimes I only need one key to unlock me, sometimes I need two, and sometimes I need many. The bearer of the key and the bearer of the lock must work together to prepare me. What am I?

2: If you do not have a bearer of the lock, you have no chance of getting through this door.

3: Use three different keys on your lock, and you will get the key to this lock.

The door's lock gleamed for a moment as they read the last few words.

"It's obviously not referring to the kind of lock used to keep people out of houses and chests." Shamino, who had been lying face down on the floor, sat up. "But, what kind of lock needs to be readied before it's used? And, do we have one with us?" He glanced up at the patches of moss. "Wait a minute. I think we might have a clue here. That moss looks just like..." He stepped close and touched the patch nearest the lock. "It feels like it too. Don't you agree?"

Iolo took one finger and stroked another patch of the moss. He lifted an eyebrow. Taking Tansfora, who had been shaking Dupre awake, by the wrist, he le her to the door and pressed her hand against one of the patches of moss. It was wiry, bushy, and coarse; and it didn't feel like any moss she'd ever been around. It felt, in fact, more like the hair between her legs. 'Mine's softer than this,' she thought.

"Hah... So a woman only needs one man. But sometimes she needs many before she's satisfied. And if he goes in when she's dry, it hurts," said Tansfora. "It hurts a lot, in fact."

"Then we'll have to make sure our lock is well lubricated before we put our keys in," Shamino said. He touched her upper arm with his fingers.

"You mean... all three of you, and me, right here... right now?"

"It fits the riddle, Tans."

"Hogwash," said Dupre.

"You didn't believe Iolo about the talking horse, either. You also didn't believe me about...."

Iolo broke in. "If it works, it works. If it doesn't work, you will, at the least, have spent your last hour or so in the arms of a beautiful and voluptuous woman."

There was a long pause. Tansfora took a deep breath and let it out. "Oh, all right."

Iolo winked at Tansfora. "I knew that would work," he whispered. Addressing the rest of the group, he said, "Also, if this isn't the right answer to the riddle, it might give future adventurers a few moments of amusement to see our bones tangled up together."

"Iolo? I just thought of something."

"What is that, Tans?"

"What if Gwenno is one of those adventurers? Wouldn't it be painful for her to find her husband not only dead, but unfaithful as well?"

He turned to her. "I'm not about to let my friends die just so that I can stay true to my wedding vows."

"However," Dupre said, "There's one thing that none of us have considered. This could be a trap, designed to get us weaponless, armorless, and distracted."

"One of us could stand guard while the other two, er, work on Tans's lock. After one of the two are finished, the one on guard could join in, and one of the other two could take over. I volunteer to be the first guard," said Iolo.

"So, that's settled, then. One more thing we've overlooked, however," Shamino turned to Tansfora. "We haven't heard from the lock bearer yet. What does she think?"

Tansfora stepped back. She'd known her three companions since the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment. Sex with them had been a daydream, an occasional longing, but never a reality. It took a few seconds to decide. "Okay. Shamino, how much time do you think we have in here before the air runs out?"

"Allowing for heavy breathing? About an hour and a half."

Tansfora's heart began to pound even faster than it had pounded after Iolo had suggested casting 'Help'. It's amazing how quickly fear can turn into sexual desire, she thought as she felt the first warm trickle of lubrication between her legs. "Dupre, take the bedding out of the packs and throw it in the middle of the floor. If we're going to do this, we'll need to start now."

---

"Tans, could you help me with my armor?"

"Of course." As she undid the straps of Dupre's plate harness, he put one arm around her and whispered in her ear. "Sweet lady, my balls are full to bursting. If I don't have you first and soon, I may not be able to have you at all, if you know what I mean."

"What about all of those grateful damsels in distress that you told me about?" she whispered back.

"It's been a while. But don't tell any of the others."

Tansfora looked past him and saw Iolo carrying a large rock to a point directly opposite the door. He sat down on it and cocked his crossbow, pointing it at the door, patiently watching for intruders. She finished helping Dupre remove his armor, turned around, and started to strip off hers. After she had finished, she turned to face him again and started to undo the laces on her underbodice. Dupre was completely naked, and stroking his erection.

"It rises quite easily around you, milady. I often find it difficult to keep my hands off of you."

"And why, dear Dupre, have you been keeping your hands off of me?" she said, noticing, to her delight, that he was as handsome with his clothes off as he was with his clothes on.

He looked bewildered. "I don't know."

"It's a shame to let a beautiful woman go unlaid," said Shamino. He was standing near a shadow, unbuttoning his pants and watching Tansfora undress. His eyes were shining.

Finally, she was finished unlacing her underbodice. She pulled the bodice off her shoulders and down to her waist, exposing her breasts. She laid down on the softest part of the bedding, draped her red cape around the top of her shoulders to ward off the cold, and pulled her underskirt up to her waist, exposing her lower half.

"Dupre, I believe you wanted to see this." She opened her legs to him. "I'm ready."

"This soon?"

"If I don't have someone in me right now, I'm going to go insane."

Dupre knelt between her legs and put his hand on her mound. He stroked her with his thumb, "You're soaking wet."

Tansfora watched Dupre suck her lubrication off his thumb. Then he offered a pillow for underneath her hips. She held her underskirts at her waist and raised her hips. He slid the pillow underneath, while gazing lustfully between her legs. She settled herself on the pillow and he put one hand on her elevated hip. His other hand guided himself to penetrate her hot core.

After pausing for a second with his eyes closed, Dupre started thrusting, with a force that threatened to push Tansfora off of the pillow completely. Every thrust sent pleasurable shock waves through her insides. She felt someone stroking her hair back, and she looked up and saw Shamino kneeling next to her with his cock in his hand. He began to caress and fondle her nearest breast. Tansfora closed her eyes and felt the combination of Dupre's vigorousness and Shamino's gentleness bringing her closer to orgasm. She arched her neck and started to moan quietly.

Suddenly, Dupre leaned over to her and his hips began to quake. "Oh, no," he said.

Tansfora wrapped her feet around his rump and held him against her chest as his orgasm burst inside her. Then, he rolled off, sweaty and panting, and lay on his back next to her. Shamino reached his hand between her legs and ran his fingers up and down her wet slit.

Dupre rolled over on his hands and knees, and crawled between Tansfora's legs again. He removed Shamino's hand from her pussy and moved it up to her mouth. Then, he lowered his head between her legs. Tansfora licked Shamino's fingers and held Dupre's head between her legs, as if she was afraid that he might pull away. His expert licking soon brought her close to the brink. She sucked both of Shamino's fingers into her mouth as her orgasm washed over her. Her cries were muzzled by the hand that Shamino was still holding over her mouth.

"You didn't have to do that," Shamino said as Dupre rolled aside again. "I could have ridden her to release quite easily by myself."

"It's a point of Honor with me. I won't leave a woman in distress, any type of distress, especially if I've put her in distress myself."

All three shifted and laid together, with Tansfora stretched out between Dupre and Shamino. "I'm sorry, milady. That doesn't happen very often. Really."

"Don't worry about it." She brushed some dirt out of her hair with her hand. Dupre had, in his ardor, managed to push her partially off of the bedding and on to the dusty floor. She snuggled in closer to him.

Dupre wiped his moustache off with a corner of blanket, pulled a flask of something out of his pack, and took a swig of it. "That's one thing I enjoy the most - hearing a woman moan in pleasure. I just lost all control."

"Moaning like this? Ohh..."

"Stop that." He grinned.

"Or this? Uhh..."

Iolo shifted in his seat on the rock. "Didn't you once say that you thought that she'd be a screamer?" The crossbow that he'd been holding had been put aside and forgotten while he was watching the trio.

"I was just joking!"

They were interrupted by a loud snap coming from the direction of the door. One of the bands that was holding the triangle in place had broken in two.

"I was right," said Shamino.

Tansfora beamed at Shamino and Dupre. "Two more to go."

She had turned over on her stomach. Shamino ran his hands over her left shoulder, down her back, and over her rear end. "May I be next?"

Tansfora turned over to her side and smiled at him. She rolled onto her back and pulled Shamino on top of her. They started to kiss and fondle each other as he moved between her legs.

Dupre sat up and asked, "How much time do we have?"

Iolo answered, "More than an hour."

"Thank the stars." He wiped the sweat off of his body with his tunic.

A shadow passed over Tansfora's left arm. She looked up and saw Iolo standing just beyond the edge of the bedding. Dupre started to get up, but Iolo stopped him. "I don't think we need guarding any more. If anything was going to ambush us, they would have arrived before now." He removed his leather breastplate.

"They might be waiting for us to let our guard down." Tansfora pushed Shamino back and wriggled to sit up.

"I don't think it's that kind of trap." Iolo took off his swamp boots. "While you were busy playing, I checked all of the walls, the ground, and the door. Luckily, I had finished before things here got too interesting to ignore. There's no way that anyone could see in, even through the keyhole, except by using a white potion." He unbuckled his belt. "And I don't think that there's anything intelligent enough in this dungeon to use such a thing."

"Phoenix, maybe? No, wait." Tansfora thought for a second. "All of her traps were based on brute force and ignorance. This one isn't."

"Like I said, there's nothing very intelligent in this dungeon. Present company excepted, of course." Iolo stepped out of his pants and lay down next to Tansfora. He was a bit heavier underneath his clothing than she had figured, and somewhat heavier than he had been several decades ago, when she had first met him in Britain. She leaned in to meet his kiss.

Shamino interrupted them by pressing his half-hard cock against Tansfora's thigh. Turning her attentions back toward him, she pushed him onto his back. Her underskirt slipped down over her hips and entangled her legs in a mass of green linen. She pushed the underskirt over her hips and kicked it off before straddled Shamino's slender body. She caught his wrists and held them at his sides against the bedding.

Dupre had burned off the outer husk of her arousal, leaving an inner seed of passion that was starting to sprout. She let go of his wrists and planted her hands at his sides as she moved her hips forward. Shamino cupped her dangling breasts in his hands and started to lick and fondle her nipples. Tansfora rubbed her wet pussy on the length of his cock and felt it grow and harden against her belly between them. When he had become hard enough, she lifted her hips and reached down to position his cock. She nuzzled the hard tip into her entrance, ready to sheath him.

He locked eyes with her. "Please go in slowly. I like this part the best."

Obeying his instructions, she released her fingers and gradually lowered her hips. His hard cock slowly pushed into her wet pussy. He never broke eye contact with her the entire time. "Mmm," he said. It took several seconds before she was sitting on him and he was deep inside.

"Tight, isn't she?" said Dupre.

Shamino nodded, but kept staring into Tansfora's eyes. She felt as if he was watching, and enjoying, every visible sign of arousal that appeared on her face; that, in short, he was being a voyeur and a participant at the same time. This excited her. She began to ride him, rolling her hips slowly at first, and then speeding up as their passion began to increase in sync. With each full insertion, she pushed her clitoris against his pelvic bone. A minute later, he grunted with climax. Feeling his cock pulse inside her sent Tansfora over the edge, and her hips quivered with her own climax.

It wasn't until after they caught their breath that she realized that she had completely forgotten that they were stuck in a sealed cave beneath Britain, fucking for their lives. She had been imagining that she was floating around in space, near Trammel and Felucca.

---

The second band on the crystal snapped while Tansfora was still lying in Shamino's arms. She rolled off and fetched a waterskin out of her pack. After drinking some water, she offered it to Shamino.

He accepted the waterskin, "The air's starting to get stale. We might not have as much time as we thought."

"Then we had better get onto that third key, hadn't we, Tans?" Iolo was sitting cross legged a few feet away. He smiled and beckoned her over.

Tansfora shook her head. "Problem is, I don't think I'll be able to look Gwenno in the eye again after this."

"You couldn't look her in the eye in the first place. She's six inches shorter than you, remember."

She nodded, "Still, it feels a bit strange to be making love to the husband of my friend."

"Gwenno will understand, once we explain the circumstances to her. Just to make sure, I'll disarm her before we tell her about it." A mischievous look appeared on his face. "I could have her punish me. Better yet, I could have her punish me while you watch." He stood up. "We'll get your punishment over with in advance. Dupre, carry her over to that rock I was sitting on."

"What kind of... Oh." Dupre's eyes lit up. "May I punish her too?"

"No, I don't think we'll have the time."

Dupre looked disappointed.

Iolo took the pillow from the bedding, and put it on top of the rock before sitting on it.

Tansfora giggled as Dupre picked her up. "Should I pretend to be scared?" she said as he laid her, face down and naked, over Iolo's lap.

"Only if it pleases you, Tans." Iolo's voice deepened and took on a mock serious tone. "Avatar, you have been very unvirtuous lately." Lifting his hand high, he brought it down on her ass cheek with a loud slap.

Tansfora let out a small shriek.

"You have driven your three closest friends mad with lust." He brought his hand down again, slightly harder than he had the first time. Tansfora could feel his cock stiffening beneath her belly.

He raised his hand again. "And you have....um...." He thought for a second. "And one to grow on!" He spanked her a third time, hard enough to leave a red handprint. Then, he started to lightly stroke her reddened flesh with his fingers.

"No, no, let it burn, let it burn." After he stopped, Tansfora lay still and felt the burning sensation on her rear end move down between her legs. Her breath quickened, and she felt faint.

"I'm afraid I don't make a very good disciplinarian, milady." He guided her off his lap.

Tansfora stood in front of him. "Oh, I think you did quite well. At least, I enjoyed it as much as you did."

"And how do you know?" He was beaming.

"That." Tansfora nodded toward his cock.

He jerked in mock surprise and looked down comically at his lap. "Yes, that does tend to give the game away, doesn't it? I might have to find something I can do with this."

"You're on." She offered a hand and Iolo took it to stand up.

They moved back to the bedding and she gestured for Iolo to lay down. Tansfora knelt on the bedding at his side and wrapped her fingers around his erection. She held him steady and licked her lips before taking the tip into her mouth. Iolo grasped her head with one hand as her cheeks hollowed and her tongue moved around him in her mouth.

Iolo breathed heavily, "It may be quicker if we did this together in opposite fashion."

She lifted her mouth from him, but kept hold of his stiffness as she lay on her side with her hips at his head. Iolo moved down a little so they could both share the bedding. She lifted one leg over his head as she leaned in to take his cock into her mouth again. Tansfora felt his beard scratching her inner thighs and them his hot tongue pushed into her.

His moans were slightly muffled by her flesh and her moans were captured on his. She was soon rewarded with the feel of his cock stiffening in her mouth. Her orgasm came as a complete surprise. Iolo's tongue and lips had stimulated her to the point where she had felt her rising tension as one long peak.

After her hips stopped shaking, Iolo sat up. His beard glistened with Tansfora's wetness and a glob of Shamino's cum , "Time to put my key in your lock."

She thought about how strange it was that Gwenno so rarely lived with her husband. 'If I could get something like what he's just done whenever I wanted,' she thought, I would never let him leave the house.

Iolo rolled her onto her back, and moved between her legs. Leaning over her, and positioning himself to enter her, Iola kissed Tansfora passionately as she wrapped her arms and legs around him. She tasted herself on his tongue and took an opportunity to suck the strand of Shamino's cum from Iolo's beard. After having had both Dupre and Shamino in her, she was so sore that Iolo's cock felt like it was on fire. However, she was still so horny, and so intent on living past the next ten minutes, that she put up with the pain. Her lungs started to burn.

Shamino was kneeling next to her head and stroking his cock. He lurched to the side, "I feel lightheaded." He caught himself before he fell over. "Two or three more minutes of air left."

Dupre knelt on the other side. "I knew this wouldn't work. You two never listen to me."

"Quiet. Save the air for breathing."

They had failed. Soon, they would be dead. And, without them, the gargoyles would take over Britannia. Tansfora felt oddly calm as the still, cool, nearly airless air settled over her body. So, this is how it ends, she thought. Not in the stomach of a troll, or at the center of an evil mage's fireball, but speared on Iolo's cock.

Then, she was hit by a wave of sexual arousal that rolled through her body like billowing smoke. She looked at her companions and knew, somehow, that they felt it too. After a second of unbearable stillness, Iolo started thrusting again. He grabbed Tansfora's hips and pulled her hips to him as he penetrated her deeply. Dupre leaned over her face and pushed the head of his cock into her mouth. He pushed it in deep, as if he was trying to get to the same center of pleasure that Iolo was striving for. Tansfora accepted his cock and her throat opened up, and she took him all of the way until her lips and nose were pressed to his crotch.

Within seconds, Dupre grunted and his cock twitched as he deposited his cum into Tansfora's throat. As soon as Dupre leaned back, Shamino pushed him off Tansfora. Dupre's cock slid out of her mouth, leaving a strand of cum dribbling down her cheek. Shamino turned her head to face him and pushed his cock between her wet lips. She sucked, and swallowed him as if her was a source of the oxygen her body craved. Then Shamino's climax spewed more cum down her throat. Shamino pulled his cock from her mouth, smearing her other cheek with cum as he leaned back.

"Less than a minute left," he murmured as he rolled over onto the bedding.

Tansfora clutched Iolo's arms and looked down between her breasts to see his stiff cock appear and disappear as he thrust continuously into her. Seeing his cock, and then feeling it deep within triggered her climax, and she yelped as if she was being ripped apart by her orgasm. Iolo felt her inner muscles spasm and her hips bucked. Realizing that she was having an orgasm on his cock caused his climax to explode. His hips were still as his cock throbbed and spilled his cum deep inside her. He collapsed onto Tansfora and closed his eyes.

They lay there for a few tense seconds as Tansfora's perception swirled with darkness. Shamino held her hand.

Then a third snap was heard and the final band broke. The sheet of crystal fell onto the floor and shattered into pieces. Dupre saw the key bounce on the floor and he quickly plucked it out of the pile of crystal fragments. He rose to his feet and stumbled to the door to insert the key. With a turn and click, he unlocked the door, and pulled it open.

With a grin, Dupre turned around, wobbled back to the bedding, and collapsed.

---

It took a while for the fresh air to revive them. Tansfora lay in a daze, hoping that no hostile creatures were around to attack them while they were helpless. When she was able to sit up she leaned back on her elbows.

Shamino stirred and sat up. "Now I know what it's like to go into heat." He looked at Tansfora's tousled hair and the wetness on her cheeks and chin. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Other than feeling raw inside, I'm all right. And that will go away quickly." She swiped her fingers across her cheek and chin and then sucked the cream from her fingers, uncertain if it was from Dupre or Shamino. 

"I hope so. I don't think it'll be very long before you have an opportunity to use it again." He grinned.

Dupre moved and then sat up, "What... was... that?"

Iolo was picking up his pants. "You, of all people, should be used to waking up in strange places with a headache."

"Very funny. I meant, where did that... frenzy... at the end come from?"

Tansfora wiped her other cheek and cleaned her fingers. "I don't know," She pondered if it was fear turned into arousal, like it had right before they started? An adrenalin surge? Or, an act of mercy from whatever malevolent creature had created that trap in the first place? She found her green underskirt and used the hem to wipe the mess between her legs before she stood and started to gather up her armor and clothing. "What I'd really like to know is where that trap came from, how it works, and what it's for. Iolo, when you can, remove that lock from the door. We'll take it to the Council and see if they can figure it out."

"Good idea."

The party dressed and repacked the bedding. Iolo put the lock into his pack. Right before they were ready to move on, Dupre asked. "So, which of us did you enjoy the most?"

Tansfora smiled, "I don't know. Maybe, after we get back to the surface, I can try each of you again and see."

Iolo gave her a reproaching glance.

She frowned mockingly, "Well, two of you anyway."

The End

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