I spun in place and quickly hobbled over. She was frantically patting at what looked to me like just another section of smooth wall.
“I don’t see anything.”
“I don’t know!” she yelled, frantic. “There’s some kind of texture here. See? Feel.”
She grabbed my palm and slapped it down next to hers, but the wall seemed just as smooth as all the others.
I shook my head in confusion. “Are you sure? I don’t—“
Mia abruptly jumped in front of my eyes, clutching a small pile of books. In her hurry, most of them slipped out of her arms and fell to the floor.
“Oh, for the… Argh!”
“Not now, Mia!” I hissed.
“Yes, now,” she snapped. Looking hard at me, she held up one of the books. “What is this?”
“Mia—”
“Answer me, Donum!” she yelled. “Please.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Thirty seconds. “Mia, we’re about to die, here.”
She gritted her teeth and took a long and agonizingly slow breath. “Master…”
A shiver seemed to roll down her spine as that word left her lips. Then faint sparks of light crawled up her horns from her scalp, almost like embers dancing and twirling their way to the sky. And in their wake, the horns grew, lengthening and branching into razor sharp yet still adolescent antlers. Then a faint echo of that sparkling light fluttered within her eyes.
“Answer. I beg you.”
I blinked uncertainly. Something… important had just happened. It was not just her looks. Even her voice had just changed. There was something more to it now. More primal. Untamed and erotic. But I did not have the time to worry about it.
“It’s… one of the Word-books,” I said, quite baffled. Then I glanced at the title. “Silver.”
Instantly, she tossed it aside. “And this?”
“Lift.”
Again, she tossed it away only to hold up yet another. “This?”
Still perplexed, but at least taking up the pattern, I replied, “Labia.”
She nodded. “That’ll work.”
“Labia?! Donum, what are you talking about?” Lynnria yelled, close to a panic now. “That thing is almost on us!”
I turned to look once more. The golem had taken its time to approach. For all that its expression was as unchanging as stone, it might as well have been gloating. Confident in its kill. There was nowhere for us to escape.
It paused then, once more assuming a T-pose to slowly spin up its whirling cyclone of death. Though, this time, it kept much closer to the ground. Even if she could have attempted her earlier maneuver with her injured leg, Lynnria would not catch it unaware again.
“Here!” Mia shouted, jiggling the book in my face. She had opened the pages and was pointing frantically at one specific symbol. However, she seemed to have a vacant look in her eyes—as though she was looking at something else. Blind to the world around her. “You need to find this one! Now, kiss the girl!”
“What?!”
“No time! Do it!”
I jerked at the command and hastily grabbed Lynnria by the shoulders. “Sorry!”
“Donum, what do you—!“
My lips silenced her. I had no idea why I was doing this, but Mia seemed to at least have something in mind. And if I was going to die anyway, this would at least be a good way to do it.
As Lynnria melted into me, ecstatically moaning in delight despite the immanent danger, so in turn did I melt into her. And through her.
Her mind opened to me once more. Like a sea, I floated atop it. Fear, confusion, and ecstasy warred within her in a simmering cauldron of forbidden debauchery, clouding all but the surface-most thoughts. But that was enough.
Through her, I could feel the textures on the wall. And I recognized them. They were much the same as the symbols Mia had just shown me. Lynnria’s hand was resting atop an engraving. A permanent magic worked into solid rock. She could sense them somehow through touch alone.
“Good.” Mia’s voice shot through my consciousness like a lance. “Now, you must find the symbol, and command it to… to… hnn… damn it all! T-to do like a labia does!”
Do like a labia does? That was open to some interpretation, but given the situation…
The whirling hum of the golem’s swinging fists began to stir the air, slowly picking up into a horrific wind that plastered our clothes against us and beat against our skin. And just as slowly, the automaton began to shuffle forward.
Not breaking the kiss, I moved my hand over Lynnria’s and began gently passing her fingers over the engraving. There were a series of different symbols, some large and seemingly important, others smaller. Punctuation, perhaps? Or—
Wait. I know this one.
I would know it anywhere. It had been etched into my mind by the searing light of that other place between the Dungeon and the outer world, forever a part of me just as much as a hand or even my own heart.
Conceal?
These were Words. Invisible to the naked eye, yet in written form, all the same.
But that would mean—
“Hurry, Master!” Mia shouted. “There’s no time!”
I quickly suppressed my innate tendency to overthink everything and instead focused only on the one symbol I had been looking for. I had no idea how Words were supposed to be organized within a magical construct like this, but it did not take me long to realize this one was arranged into a square just large enough to envelop a person’s hand. Almost like a palm print reader.
And right in the center of where the palm would rest was the symbol.
“Here!” I said urgently, breaking the kiss. “This one!”
“Hwah?” Lynnria looked up at me in a daze. She did not even look like she knew where she was.
But the pulsating wind inching closer to us snapped her back to reality in a hurry.
With a strangled scream, she yelled, “What do we do?!”
“Focus on this symbol!” I yelled back, struggling to be heard over the cacophonous chopping. “We have to use our Will! With me. Command it!”
She shot me an uncertain look. But then her expression firmed. And with barely a nod, she told me all she needed to.
She trusted me.
We would do this. Now and without failure. Or we would die.
As one, we faced the wall, hands outstretched. One over the other.
“Open!”
There was a pregnant pause of nothing save the ever encroaching thumps of wind beating against our backs.
With my heart in my throat, I added a strangled little, “Please?”
At that, there was a flash of light, and the wall in front of us simply vanished. In its place, there was some sort of dimly lit room with a scattering of basic furnishings and a doorway beyond, but I did not have the time to take in the details.
Seeing its quarry about to escape, the whirling dervish of fists surged forward. We did not waste even a second, and the two of us sprinted for the revealed door. However, about mid-way through the room, some sort of siren blared and the two of us were hit by a distortion wave rising from the ground.
It felt like my guts had turned themselves inside out, but before I could understand what had happened, my back crashed against the ceiling. There I remained as though glued.
A moment later, something slammed into place and silence descended.
The two of us blinked in confusion for some minutes, uncertain as to what had just happened. But we were not being chopped into so much hamburger. So that was a marked improvement.
Grunting with effort, I slowly turned my head to look over at Lynnria. She was cemented to the ceiling just as I was, about an arm’s length away.
But more importantly, there was no sign of the robot.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She replied with a pained wheeze.
“Yeah… you get used to that, too.”
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
I spun in place and quickly hobbled over. She was frantically patting at what looked to me like just another section of smooth wall.
“I don’t see anything.”
“I don’t know!” she yelled, frantic. “There’s some kind of texture here. See? Feel.”
She grabbed my palm and slapped it down next to hers, but the wall seemed just as smooth as all the others.
I shook my head in confusion. “Are you sure? I don’t—“
Mia abruptly jumped in front of my eyes, clutching a small pile of books. In her hurry, most of them slipped out of her arms and fell to the floor.
“Oh, for the… Argh!”
“Not now, Mia!” I hissed.
“Yes, now,” she snapped. Looking hard at me, she held up one of the books. “What is this?”
“Mia—”
“Answer me, Donum!” she yelled. “Please.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Thirty seconds. “Mia, we’re about to die, here.”
She gritted her teeth and took a long and agonizingly slow breath. “Master…”
A shiver seemed to roll down her spine as that word left her lips. Then faint sparks of light crawled up her horns from her scalp, almost like embers dancing and twirling their way to the sky. And in their wake, the horns grew, lengthening and branching into razor sharp yet still adolescent antlers. Then a faint echo of that sparkling light fluttered within her eyes.
“Answer. I beg you.”
I blinked uncertainly. Something… important had just happened. It was not just her looks. Even her voice had just changed. There was something more to it now. More primal. Untamed and erotic. But I did not have the time to worry about it.
“It’s… one of the Word-books,” I said, quite baffled. Then I glanced at the title. “Silver.”
Instantly, she tossed it aside. “And this?”
“Lift.”
Again, she tossed it away only to hold up yet another. “This?”
Still perplexed, but at least taking up the pattern, I replied, “Labia.”
She nodded. “That’ll work.”
“Labia?! Donum, what are you talking about?” Lynnria yelled, close to a panic now. “That thing is almost on us!”
I turned to look once more. The golem had taken its time to approach. For all that its expression was as unchanging as stone, it might as well have been gloating. Confident in its kill. There was nowhere for us to escape.
It paused then, once more assuming a T-pose to slowly spin up its whirling cyclone of death. Though, this time, it kept much closer to the ground. Even if she could have attempted her earlier maneuver with her injured leg, Lynnria would not catch it unaware again.
“Here!” Mia shouted, jiggling the book in my face. She had opened the pages and was pointing frantically at one specific symbol. However, she seemed to have a vacant look in her eyes—as though she was looking at something else. Blind to the world around her. “You need to find this one! Now, kiss the girl!”
“What?!”
“No time! Do it!”
I jerked at the command and hastily grabbed Lynnria by the shoulders. “Sorry!”
“Donum, what do you—!“
My lips silenced her. I had no idea why I was doing this, but Mia seemed to at least have something in mind. And if I was going to die anyway, this would at least be a good way to do it.
As Lynnria melted into me, ecstatically moaning in delight despite the immanent danger, so in turn did I melt into her. And through her.
Her mind opened to me once more. Like a sea, I floated atop it. Fear, confusion, and ecstasy warred within her in a simmering cauldron of forbidden debauchery, clouding all but the surface-most thoughts. But that was enough.
Through her, I could feel the textures on the wall. And I recognized them. They were much the same as the symbols Mia had just shown me. Lynnria’s hand was resting atop an engraving. A permanent magic worked into solid rock. She could sense them somehow through touch alone.
“Good.” Mia’s voice shot through my consciousness like a lance. “Now, you must find the symbol, and command it to… to… hnn… damn it all! T-to do like a labia does!”
Do like a labia does? That was open to some interpretation, but given the situation…
The whirling hum of the golem’s swinging fists began to stir the air, slowly picking up into a horrific wind that plastered our clothes against us and beat against our skin. And just as slowly, the automaton began to shuffle forward.
Not breaking the kiss, I moved my hand over Lynnria’s and began gently passing her fingers over the engraving. There were a series of different symbols, some large and seemingly important, others smaller. Punctuation, perhaps? Or—
Wait. I know this one.
I would know it anywhere. It had been etched into my mind by the searing light of that other place between the Dungeon and the outer world, forever a part of me just as much as a hand or even my own heart.
Conceal?
These were Words. Invisible to the naked eye, yet in written form, all the same.
But that would mean—
“Hurry, Master!” Mia shouted. “There’s no time!”
I quickly suppressed my innate tendency to overthink everything and instead focused only on the one symbol I had been looking for. I had no idea how Words were supposed to be organized within a magical construct like this, but it did not take me long to realize this one was arranged into a square just large enough to envelop a person’s hand. Almost like a palm print reader.
And right in the center of where the palm would rest was the symbol.
“Here!” I said urgently, breaking the kiss. “This one!”
“Hwah?” Lynnria looked up at me in a daze. She did not even look like she knew where she was.
But the pulsating wind inching closer to us snapped her back to reality in a hurry.
With a strangled scream, she yelled, “What do we do?!”
“Focus on this symbol!” I yelled back, struggling to be heard over the cacophonous chopping. “We have to use our Will! With me. Command it!”
She shot me an uncertain look. But then her expression firmed. And with barely a nod, she told me all she needed to.
She trusted me.
We would do this. Now and without failure. Or we would die.
As one, we faced the wall, hands outstretched. One over the other.
“Open!”
There was a pregnant pause of nothing save the ever encroaching thumps of wind beating against our backs.
With my heart in my throat, I added a strangled little, “Please?”
At that, there was a flash of light, and the wall in front of us simply vanished. In its place, there was some sort of dimly lit room with a scattering of basic furnishings and a doorway beyond, but I did not have the time to take in the details.
Seeing its quarry about to escape, the whirling dervish of fists surged forward. We did not waste even a second, and the two of us sprinted for the revealed door. However, about mid-way through the room, some sort of siren blared and the two of us were hit by a distortion wave rising from the ground.
It felt like my guts had turned themselves inside out, but before I could understand what had happened, my back crashed against the ceiling. There I remained as though glued.
A moment later, something slammed into place and silence descended.
The two of us blinked in confusion for some minutes, uncertain as to what had just happened. But we were not being chopped into so much hamburger. So that was a marked improvement.
Grunting with effort, I slowly turned my head to look over at Lynnria. She was cemented to the ceiling just as I was, about an arm’s length away.
But more importantly, there was no sign of the robot.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She replied with a pained wheeze.
“Yeah… you get used to that, too.”
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
