Opening,

  still empty, browns faded, many stains.

  Nothing of mine to be placed.

  Closing, the scent of the old.

  Must. Mold.

  There is no latch, broken, maybe the day will come…

  No.

  I will never fit within.

  Browning of my heart, lot a rot, I wish it to be clean.

  Beautiful, and swirling. Knots of old, polished, stories to tell.

  Passed on to me this was.

  My secrets do not fit.

  My filth can not be stored.

  Does not belong.

  Never can I share what I have hidden.

  Lies could be woven… The truth obfuscated for their hearts.

  Pleasures of the poisons, unwanted as they were-

  truth of them shall not remain.

  Yet remain they do.

  The scar, greasy with filth.

  The secret, a truth, to the light I would have it go.

  Why, why are the souls of kindred so cruel?

  Why, oh why do they judge the horrors of pleasure so foul?

  Again, I open. On the shelves I wish to sleep.

  Lacking myself away, in the closet so deep.

  Yet not a closet, that would be simple. These shelves are for trinkets. Jewelry. Valuables.

  Something I am not. My secrets are fools and agates. Pearls to the swine.

  Each night, my soul, in vile agony, it shall dine.

  Must ever feed myself, the poison, that cup…

  Help me.

  Forgive me.

  Listen to my tale.

  I did not choose the perversion.

  The rape. The boldness of hell.

  The pleasures unbidden. The horrors now home.

  I once again close the door on these shelves, to remain empty,

  alone.

  Turning my back, I wish I could be. Safe and pretty.

  But filth of myself… is all they can see.

  ~The Broken Vanity

  ~Feldyn Goldchord, the Endless Bard

  * * *

  The visit from Iiyni’s sister changed a lot. Reality finally catching up with them, overrunning the new life they were subconsciously trying to build, trying to overwrite their traumas from a couple of months ago. The complete destruction of their once normal; everything and -almost- everyone they knew, dead and destroyed.

  Knowledge of Miss Terra alive and well brought no small measure of joy from the kids. Stryker had been so full of relief that he couldn't contain his tears. Some, however, were more skeptical. Iiyni doubted her sister would lie, but was willing to admit she couldn't be sure.

  Regardless, the visit had shaken things up.

  Reba had completely changed her focus, deciding to use knowledge gained while working on Stryker, to take up crafting weapons and armor, though was still focused on her 'secret' Stryker restoration.

  Mike was a huge help with the weapon crafting, as he had been with the Stryker project, having a greater knowledge of things like metallurgy. He had an eye for design as well.

  Stryker himself was still a glorified stump with a hermits beard. At least he was happy these days. His immobility gave rise to new passions: manga, anime, kpop, and (of all the things) j-idols. Girl focus only of course. Iiyni was the culprit for the J-idol obsession. He very much kept the details of his hobbies to himself, though had gotten into more than one “what the hell is wrong with you” conversations with Iiyni around the others, over media she had given him. Lord only knew what JU idol ages she tried to force on the man...

  Mike and Reba made him an amazing prosthetic left hand and partial for his right. They were sluggish, and had no feeling in them (of course), but worked good enough for trivial things like eating and wiping his ass. More dexterous tasks (video games) were out of the question. For now. Point was, Stryker, bed ridden and crippled, was getting better, and had decently positive days.

  Caleb got more and more moody. Feelings of helplessness knowing Bryan and Pazely were out there, experiencing God only knew what, were destroying him. He quit laughing. Quit smiling. Spending almost all of his time alone, or with Iiyni. Many rumors spun of what the two did together, and all of them were wrong. The did almost nothing but talk and watch movies. Iiyni occasionally wanting to show him some of her favorite dancers or models on social media, but she -usually- didn’t push anything lewd.

  Gigi, no longer seeming so emo compared to Caleb, was still pretty quiet. And different. For one thing, she was never naked anymore. She even wore underwear, and bathed alone! Lance was also no longer glued to her side, but whenever the two were in the same room anyone could see the concerned looks he directed her way. And unlike Caleb, she did still smile and laugh from time to time. Geeg and Iiyni were also always at each other throats or nothing, arguing like siblings, both seeming to enjoy it. Not that either would admit it.

  Feldyn, outside of training, spent hours upon hours with a guitar and violin he had gotten for Christmas. When not messing with them, he was writing in a thick, zippered, leather-bound journal he had also received for Christmas. The journal had been from Trixie. She thought it was important, being a bard and on another world, to have somewhere to write things down. The gift nearly brought him to tears.

  Writing was something that had been very important to him in life; helping gather his thoughts, clear his head, compose a drunken diddy, express irritation or confusion, jot down observations, pen a sad poem, or write lyrics. His bard's tome (stored in Lance's Glisserant Collar) was a mix of magic and science. The pages were endless, and it was immune to most mundane and magical destruction. Until recently Feldyn had not realized just how vital the tome was for him.

  Trixie, like Lance, seemed to drift from place to place; doing whatever, depending on the moment and mood. Both of them also partook in combat training, even if Lance couldn't train traditionally, and Trix was arguably the least skilled and weakest of the lot. Even still, Iiyni's talents as a combat mentor were not lost on the two. Trix was plenty skilled, just not compared to the others. And Iiyni even managed to help Lance improve his psionics. Greatly. Still, Trix and Lance often made a duo of convenience since neither fit in well at the moment.

  The two spent a lot of their spare time either watching videos with Stryker, listening to Feldyn play instruments and sing, or simply hanging out with Iiyni. Which was becoming a lot more common for her. Trix found that she liked the demon a lot.

  Maybe a little bit too much.

  She found the demon cute. Like, the way she would think boys were cute. A crush, really. Not that she would ever admit that to anyone. She liked boys, not girls! But Iiyni was very attractive, and girls in general were more fun to look at than boys, just not in the same way.

  All that led to wanting to dress more sexy, like Ally and kpop girls. Such style held a subtlety Trixie was not so skilled with. What made her feel scandalous, convinced the boys eyes were all over her- no one actually noticed, as it often came across as either awkward or bad fashion sense.

  Iiyni noticed, of course, since she was a flaming lolicon perv, though she told herself it was fine because of how vanilla her interests were. It was simply to her, cute loli were cute. ‘nuff said. All that hentai shit was nasty. Or so she told herself. Repeatedly. Denial was a strong drug.

  John had little to do outside of combat training, filling his time with playing video games and reading manga. John had always preferred western comics, but lately he had reluctantly gotten into shoujo manga. Which could be blamed completely on the friendship inadvertently developed with Ally.

  Not used to having such a large number of people in his life, John kept to his old habits, and spent a lot of time alone in the cafeteria, which also happened to be where Ally spent most of her time. The girl was stunningly beautiful, and much more mature than her years. She reminded him of Reba. So when Ally would interrupt his solo gaming -handheld- time, he found it difficult to ignore the girl. Over the years Reba had grown farther away from him. The attention was something he missed, rather painfully.

  Instead of leaving the man to game -and drink coffee- in peace, Ally always had to come talk to him. She had never had a grandfather, and John was -far as they knew- the oldest here. He was a grumpy turd, but also somehow really kind. And how often did old men psychic-ninja-priests play handheld jrpgs? That alone made him cool enough to talk to.

  Ally and John were both super lonely. Both wanting to be loved. One, wanting a parent, the other a daughter. Vulnerability opened them to each other.

  At first, as she came to serve him food he never asked for, conversations involved the game(s) he was playing. When she eventually pushed manga on him, he had been so obstinate about it Ally got even more stubborn, and found some good slice of life, romance, and tear-jerkers. As she had expected, John fell into them fully. The two grew close. So much so, John even quit bitching about her attire. Not because he didn't care, but because he grew not to notice it. Which was saying something, since Ally absolutely refused to where anything normal anymore. Nothing vile or cringe, just… well, things that would never fly outside of a West Coast competitive dance studio.

  The most noticeable change from the group came from Iiyni. Growing obviously distracted as time went on, the demon unconvincingly denied anything was wrong. To the others, it appeared that she was ill. Of course, any inquiry about her health (mental or physical) Iiyni shot down, demanding she was fine and simply had a lot on her mind. When alone with Caleb or Trixie, the imp was more like herself. But even those two couldn't deny how weird she was coming across in training.

  Weeks passed, and the group had simply hit a dead end; falling into a rut of repetition. No matter what they researched online, or how hard they looked in the field (Masque and Iiyni had traveled to both Canada and Mexico looking for leads), they couldn't find anything about portals. The group was -still- at a total loss on what to do next.

  Time continued on.

  * * *

  Iiyni announced their training was complete.

  She looked worn out, like someone who was no longer sleeping. It was obvious something was wrong with her. And something was wrong, though it wasn't -not completely- the reason she chose to end their training.

  The rate at which -most of- this group advanced in skill and ability should be physically possible. Iiyni had brought it up to Reba, who ran her usual nameless 'tests', finding everyone to be healthy and normal. Healthy, sure, but normal was a not even close. Whatever the reason for it, outside of real combat, there was nothing else she could teach them; training day after day would be pointless.

  After some arguing, the group agreed that additional training would be off the table, but should still have practice to not get rusty, and keep their skills keen.

  The very next day at their first practice, Iiyni didn't show. They might not need her there, however her absence was a kick to their already shaky moral. The others were content to let her rest.

  Feldyn was not.

  Heading to her room, he paused outside the door, second guessing himself- when he heard the imp shout. Many of the doors to these rooms were simple wood. Well fitting, but not sound proof. Listening, he heard the imp cursing at Cruiser for being an idiot. She sounds normal enough. Knocking, Iiyni shouted “WHAT?!” which the half elf took as an invitation to enter. The door was in fact unlocked, so he opened it and walked into the room without hesitation.

  Iiyni was naked, bent over a chair, with Cruiser mounting her.

  Feldyn attempted to retreat so fast he ran into the door, closing it; fumbling with the doorknob in a panic as Iiyni shrieked at him repeatedly to get out. Finally giving up, heading hanging, back to the imp, “I am sorry!” he apologized, defeated.

  “T-t-the fuck is wrong with you?! Just barging in?!” Cruiser walked over to Feldyn and tried to lick his hand- he recoiled violently. Feldyn attempted a reply, instead apologizing a few more times, as his mind tried to process what he had just seen.

  There was an awkward silence, and Iiyni sighed long and low. “Never mind,” she grumbled, “might as well tell me why you’re here...” Feldyn stood silently for a moment, before -slowly- turning around.

  “Ye didn't show up. For training,” he explained. Iiyni sat on the side of her bed, with a towel now wrapped around her. Feldyn wasn't sure if he should be averting his eyes or not. She might be in a towel, but a towel to many was akin to undergarments. The imp was not one to be prudish in her dress, though it was also obvious she was generally unaware of how much of her body she actually revealed. “Oh... sorry. I forgot. Cruiser was more friendly than usual, so I thought maybe this time...” Feldyn noticed the little demon was crying, and his awkward embarrassment vanished.

  “What is the matter?” he asked, voice concerned, moving to sit next to her on the bed. “You wouldn't understand!” she objected. “Perhaps not, but I can try.” Hearing the imp softly crying was breaking his heart. He had never seen this side of her. “Truly Iiyni, you have heard my story. I am not a very judgmental person. A rage filled psychopath, yes.” She laughed a little, and he smiled. “Promise you won't tell?” Iiyni asked, eyes on the floor. "It isn’t really a big deal... I guess. But… I’m just...” When she didn’t speak for a few seconds Feldyn guessed her last word, “Embarrassed?” She nodded. “Aye, I shall tell no one. Ye have my word,” he swore.

  Getting up and walking to a dresser across the room (to get some tissue), Iiyni let her towel fall away. “It’s okay,” the imp said after blowing her nose, and turning to see the bard looking away. “You’re a nudist or some shit, right? You shouldn't be effected easily. Still kinda embarrassing, but whatever.” Feldyn should really have explained his views on nudity a bit more clearly. It wasn't so much he was a nudist as much as he was very practiced in ignoring it. To each their own, type of thing.

  Having the presence of mind to turn his head before the imp turned hers, Feldyn felt a the flicker of unwanted wicked desire fade "Or not," Iiyni said, and he realized he was blushing. "M-my apologies!" he stammered like a teenage fool. Damn demonic temptation!

  "Well, enjoy the memory, cuz you ain't ever seeing my body again!" she sounded more amused than angry. Collecting a pair of panties and a shirt, she put them on, and walked back over, and sat next to him. “Do you know much about succubi?” Iiyni asked, and he shook his head no, convinced he looked mental. “Well, you know we are sex demons. An imp is just a succubus that quit aging before puberty. Looking younger and not being able lay eggs, are the only real difference.” The ‘lay eggs’ comment helped Feldyn to focus.

  “Until the whole Jesus thing, I never needed to eat. Food was totally pointless for us. We could eat, digest, and take a dump, like any other human or animal-” (and with those words, any artificial desire Feldyn had been feeling was quite dead) “-can. Eating was just cosmetic. We fed from sex. And we can go a really long time without needing to. I have never heard of one of us starving to death, like, ever; just getting so weak ya might as well be a human.”

  Cruiser sat by the door and started licking his balls noisily and obnoxious. Iiyni grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. “Bad dog! You don't lick me, you don't lick yourself!” Looking ashamed, Cruiser walked into the adjoining room. Feldyn chose not to speak, letting the terrifying demon continue.

  “I haven't fed at all since I was summoned! And now I'm stuck here. Which is good. I mean who the fuck wants to go back to Hell? I'm just... Ugh, things changed since my Salvation! I can taste now, feel things; emotionally and physically. Before, sex, y'know, meant nothing. Like shaking someones hand. Whatever. Now I can... probably feel... pleasure. Probably even orgasm.”

  “And this is bad?” Feldyn asked, recovered enough to tease. “Well, no,” Iiyni mumbled, getting the jest “but, also... yeah.

  "I need real food now. I feel terrible when I don't eat, and better when I do. So I thought that replaced my need to feed the other way. My strength is failing. Food isn't doing shit to replenish it. All I can think is that I need… y'know, to feed in the traditional sense.” She didn’t say anything for a moment so Feldyn asked a question, “And now that ye have emotions, sex is no longer a casual thing; let alone for what would essentially be the first time?” She nodded and shrugged “Yes, and more. See, when we have sex we secrete soul venom. Don't ask me the science, or magic, or whatever the fuck behind it, I got no clue how it works, I just know what it does. It addicts men to us and drives them mad. Like, full on batshit.” Feldyn was starting to understand.

  “And…” Iiyni said this in almost a whisper. He waiting many long seconds for her to speak again. “Not and… The… only, I guess, or…” She sounded absolutely miserable. Feldyn noticed she was shaking. “Why don’t any of you pray?” That felt so off topic to the half-elf, he opened his mouth to say nothing. “It’s bullshit,” she continued, “a whole group of Christian’s, and no praying. No one says grace. No one even reads the fu- freaking Bible. How am I supposed to know? How?!”

  A deep, consuming, heavy shame come over Feldyn in that moment, coupled with a realization of what the imp was going through. She kept talking.

  “It makes no sense! I know, know I was saved, so why-” her voice broke “am I… scared? I’m so scared Feldyn! I’ve tried to pray, but… why would he listen to me, y’know? Touching a Bible, my whole body shakes! What if it wasn’t real? I mean, why would Jesus have died for me? And now, I’m not just getting weaker, okay, I’m dying. And the only way to stay alive is sex! I fuck a human they’re dead, and yeah, bestiality, sin, all that, but isn’t it lesser?

  “Why would he do this to me if I’m saved? Why would I be so scared of Him still?! I meant it all Feldyn, I meant it when- you know. I still do. Repenting is hard. So what if I even die now, right? But… dying… seeing God…. Holy shit, that scares me more than Hell.” she laughed miserably. “How can I be a Christian and feel that way?” This time she sobbed.

  The feeling filling Feldyn as she spoke was powerful. He knew what to do; not what to say, ut what to do. So he did. “Heavenly Father, Lord God,” he began to pray, bowing his head. Iiyni did a sharp double take at him. “We pray to you now, in Jesus name…” After only a momentary panic, Iiyni closed her eyes, bowed her head, and clasped her hands, following and repeating the bards words in her thoughts. “forgive me, for I am not good at this. Though I should be. My friend and sister, Iiyni, has pointed out how much we have been failing, and this failing… we have caused her much grief and fear. And we have sinned against her, and you.

  “My God, please put your peace on her soul. I can’t imagine what she had gone through. Let her know that she is indeed loved by you. Let her know she does not need to fear approaching you, as none of us do in Christ, Jesus.

  “She is dying Lord, and she needs your help. Never would you require sin form your children, so, please, give her the answer. Please, my Lord, I beg you to help her. In you she now has eternal life, but please, do not end this first part of her life, here with us, in this manner.

  “And forgive me. Please, by the Spirit, put in my heart the hunger for your word, and flick me in the brain when I forget to seek you, for that is not my intent. Thank you. In Jesus name we pray, amen”

  Feldyn felt silly, yet relieved, the pressure to pray gone. But not his shame. Why did he never seek God? Why? How could he himself claim to be a following of Christ, and yet not even pray daily, let alone read his Word?!

  “Thank you,” Iiyni said softly, “That was kinda weird, but… Thank you.” Breaking out of his own inner turmoil, Feldyn smiled, and playfully bumped against her.

  Then asked: “How does the feeding aspect work? What is the source of the nourishment?” Iiyni blinked at him, apparently not understanding the question. “Is it from, when the male… ejaculates inside of you?” Feldyn asked, and Iiyni's whole body turned red. “We just prayed! And this isn't a fucking anime, retard! I don't feed on semen!” He almost laughed. “Yes, we did just pray. For forgiveness and knowledge. Your problem remains, and we did just ask God for help, did we not?”

  After a moment and frown, she nodded. Feldyn continued. “Okay, then where does the nourishment from feeding come from? Their essence? Do you feed off their soul?” Iiyni shook her head, Feldyn just kept giving her the same questioning look. "I... never really thought about how."

  Standing, Feldyn began pacing the room. This was a serious problem. Easy as it was to take this scene and laugh it off, the imps concerns were real. Just how weak would she get? Would she eventually parish like she feared, or was that simply drama? Masque had gone thousands of years without feeding; though for him, his body could regenerate, albeit slowly, through-

  "Masque!" Feldyn exclaimed, as an idea dawned on him. "He's probably immune to the venom," Iiyni consented, "but I ain't fucking him either way, that’s still sin dumbass, and weird." Feldyn waved a hand to say that wasn't his point, "Masque was cursed to not be able to feed. He went two thousand years just sleeping to regain strength. Do ye happen know how that works?"

  Now Iiyni was thinking harder, "Pretty sure a vampires body heals naturally; blood simply gives them a power boost, and speeds it up, like removing a barrier or something." Feldyn clapped his hands and grinned, "What if it is the same for you?" She tilted her head in puzzlement. "What if your body is just blocked from regaining its strength, or unable to apply nutrients from food unless you do something, like sleeping?"

  "Yeah... yeah, you might be right. Food and sleep keep me nourished, but something else is needed to let my strength recharge. Which, obviously, is sex. But why? What about sex could-"

  "Orgasms!"

  "Orgasms!"

  both said at the same time, eyes wide, holding a finger up like 'eureka!'

  “I am not sure, of course,” Feldyn consented with a smile and a shrug, feeling heat in his face. “It is worth a try, wouldn't you say? And something ye can try alone." She looked to him as blank as Reba. “Surely when out looting, a sex toy or two wouldn't be impossible to locate?” Iiyni frowned comically, and looked away, “but that's so boring…” she tried to deflect, though her blush was visible.

  “Would ye rather the dog?”

  “I dunno, he’s cute enough, isn't he?”

  “I suppose?” Feldyn couldn't contain a small chuckle. “But do ye really want your first time to be with a dog?” he continued the jest.

  “Well, who else should it be?” she asked defensively, then looked at him with a suspicious eye. “You?” He blushed fully, and murder crossed her features. “No, no, no!” Feldyn said quickly, holding up his hands “forgive me, but no!” Now she looked offended. Better than murderous...

  “No one wants your faggy elf dick in them anyway!” she snipped, whipping her head away. Sigh. “Iiyni, I am a man. Talk of sex with a beautiful girl tends to fluster, I meant no offense.” Her posture relaxed. The word beautiful probably helped. "I just do not feel it is in your best interest. Me, that is." The look she gave him now made it abundantly clear he had never been in the running, and he was a moron for taking a joking topic serious.

  “I am sure Ally would help you,” he suggested dryly. Iiyni looked horrified, “But that's a sin!” The bard face palmed. He had meant Ally could give her some pointers in self pleasure. “As is bestiality, and pre marital sex, as we have established. And I meant she could help you understand what to do? I’m sure she would be discrete.”

  “Oh.”

  Getting up and walking to the dresser, "Oh,” she said again, “I bet Reba could make one of those piston things things you see online that you hook a dild- a toy to, that pumps like crazy! I really hope we're right, if it's just orgasms..." Iiyni giggled, and opened a drawer. Feldyn really wanted to leave.

  "Glad I could be of service," he said, and moved towards the door. "Feldyn!" he turned to see the imp glaring. "This was easily one of the most fucked upped moments of my life. Tell anyone any of this, and..." She gave him a devilishly cute and threatening, smile. The killing intent was unmistakable.

  Bloody hell, she's adorable. "Your secret is safe with me. I shall tell the others you were... deep into research about what to do next.” Feldyn winced slightly when he said 'deep'. Iiyni didn't seem to notice.

  He opened the door, and stepped out, but then popped his head back in. “One more thing... do you think, maybe..." he looked her up and down, "you could take a few pictures for me?" He winked, and ducked back out, Iiyni almost taking his head off as violently slammed it shut. But not before he saw a smile.

  * * *

  Later the same day, Iiyni approached Ally about her problem. Ally teased her relentlessly and refused to take it seriously, being her usual slutty bitch self. Exactly what Iiyni loved about her. Only this time it frustrated (and embarrassed) her enough she had politely ("Fuck you, skank!") told Ally never mind. Next up: Reba!

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  No conversation Iiyni ever imagined was awkward as that conversation with Reba. The situation with Feldyn had been horrifyingly embarrassing, but it lead to a good talk and some epiphanies.

  Reba had refused to leave her work on Stryker, so Iiyni delicately ("I need you to make me some sex toys so I can orgasm") explained what she needed. The level of freak-out from the brunette had not been anticipated. She couldn't even get Reba to calm down enough to go talk privately. So Iiyni started explicitly explaining her problem in front of Stryker, trying to traumatize Reba into speaking to her in private. It worked, but not before Iiyni traumatized herself, and Stryker, a bit in the process.

  Finally getting Reba to go off into a closet to talk to her alone, she (re)explained the problem, trying to ignore all the emotions that crossed the brunette’s face. Luckily Iiyni had brought her tablet, so when Reba tried to express lack of confidence in making a sex machine, Iiyni quickly showed her some bookmarked videos. Failing to hide the mad inventor in her eyes, the alchemist promised to try, also demanding several vials of blood, hair, and flesh ("Ouch, fucking fuck, the hell, you just cut a chunk of my arm off!") from the demon to run tests. Always the tests with this one!

  That out of the way, Iiyni told the others she needed some time to herself to get her head clear, and headed out on her own for a... looting run. Even alone, browsing adult toy stores was awkward. Picking out a few items, she headed back to their underground base, and retired to her room. To epic disappointment. The toys didn't seem to do much of anything. If anything it made her problem worse.

  It was becoming more and more clear to her why Christ's sacrifice had been needed. Not sinning was fucking impossible! Soooo... why resist certain things. Little indiscretions were kosher, right? Caleb had guilted her into no more secret cameras, and avoiding loli content online. But fuck him, this was potentially life and death, so if it got her going, why the fuck not! And this was a victimless crime anyway. I mean, can't be a victim if you don't even know about it. And not like his ass had a reason to judge her, she never went anywhere other than social media, not exactly shady content! The girls around here wore less!

  Having disabled her cameras, she still had plenty of videos saved. Most were of Ally though, the few of Reba the camera hadn’t a good angle. That wasn’t who, or what, Iiyni was wanting to look at anyway. And she didn’t want something tame. She wanted pervy as possible, and knew just where to go.

  Opening a web-browser, Iiyni pulled up some very deepweb newsgroups she used back in the day, surprised they were still there. Looking around, she was hoping to run across the obvious fedpost. They always used top tier shit. Pretty fucked up, but hey, government; hypocrisy at it's finest.

  After browsing a few random posts, Iiyni understood why most of this shit triggered the FBI to go to the lengths they did. Also, at least the shit the government used was generally tasteful. Iiyni was actually thinking of trying to find who some of these fuckers were and pay them a visit herself. Maybe do to them what they liked seeing and doing to kids. Then murder them painful and slow.

  Feeling sick to her stomach ('how the fuck did this shit never bother me before?'), Iiyni had stopped scrolling. This was disgusting! All of it! She just wanted to see some cute naked lolis! What was wrong with that?! But this shit… this… this was… And, it was the kind of stuff she used to cause. She created these types of men, and spurred on others.

  Adding another morality crisis to her checklist of new things to go through, hating the fact Caleb was right -again-, she continued to scroll; not looking for anything, just a fidget as she thought of some of the actual evils she had committed.

  Iiyni abruptly quit scrolling. She stared at the screen, mind spinning, reading and re-reading the posted topic: 'Tickets two big game fresh Sample beer pot'. That seemingly spam was how used to pass secret messages with Jenta. Stand alone words, mixed into short posts within specific word and characters counts, and this exact topic fit, caps and all.

  Her hand was shaking as she opened it. There was one word in the post: 'Email.' Iiyni had a lot of email accounts, though going with the theme there were two that she tended to use when emailing her sister. One: a mainstream free email; the other: one of those foreign encrypted pro-privacy ones. Since the message was buried in the deep web, she went for the more secure email. Bingo.

  It wasn't from Jenta. Or if it was, Iiyni didn't recognize anything making her relate it to her sister. The body of the message only had a link to a file sharing site. The file was password protected, and uploaded from a premium account. Iiyni had plenty of logins to said file sharing site, and the first she tried was still good. The problem was the password. After locking out several accounts, and getting a few IP bans, she typed ironically 'fuckyourp@ssword!69' which, of course, worked. Iiyni wasn't sure if she should be proud at guessing it, or irritated whomever uploaded this knew she would eventually type that.

  The file was a single heavily encrypted archive, a few gigs in size. Its encryption top notch. Though the program used to encrypt it was fallible, and no longer used. Or at least not this version.

  Several fuck ups, and deep into the night later (eating -organic- peanut butter from the jar and washing it down with 2 percent milk, while watching some k-drama on another laptop), she looked to her computer and saw the 'unlocked' text. Fucking FINALLY! Opening it, there was another compressed file, also password protected. She was really wanting to murder someone.

  It at least didn't take long to figure out how the password shit worked on the software used to compress the inner file. Was coded super fucking shitty. Decompressing, she opened the single untitled folder, which contained two more folders and a text document titled -of course- 'read me'. For the first time in her life, she did just that.

  'Forgive the convoluted process of getting you this message. It was the only way I could find of reaching your group in the most secure manner possible.

  I know how to open a portal to Aethra. Or I should say, I know how to find the information. I am willing to help, if you will first help me. My life is in danger. I can think of none better than the likes of John, Reba, and the Tyrant of Lust, to keep me alive. It is also a wicked irony for two of the Russians to be part of your party.

  The content of this folder will greatly decease the odds of your companions agreeing to help me, so you must impress upon them how sorry that I am. I only send these as proof I am not lying. Though, Miss Iiyni'jeari'eea, know the content within is very sensitive, and likely a secret your two friends do not wish you, or anyone, to know. If they even remember it at all.

  Should you choose to believe me, come to Canada and I will find you.

  -The Appraiser'

  Okay, now Iiyni was super fucking curious. Aside from the text document were two sub-folders titled 'video' and 'images'. She opened the video folder first. There were dozens of video files, organized by date. The earliest was eight years ago, the newest was last summer. She picked a random video and opened it- and couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Holy fucking shit...” Checking other videos and some pictures, it was more of the same.

  Reclining as far as her chair would allow, she didn’t know what to do. The way this fucker set up her finding the file, proved he knew something. If he thought she was depraved enough to visit that board again, or would contact her family, it didn’t matter. Both showed he knew far too much. But why send it? That was the part Iiyni didn't get. How does it prove his words? All it does is stir up a shit storm, and land a target on his head. Was that the point? Taunt them into hunting him, to find out what he knew?

  Thinking it over, both girls had the molested as kids thing going on, even if Iiyni hadn't explicitly sensed anything of the sort from either of them. Didn't mean it hadn't happened, both of them had sins she couldn't quite place, though she hadn't cared nor tried to. And what if they didn't remember, like this Appraiser implied was a possibility? Just how the fuck was she supposed to broach this topic?

  Looking at the clock, it was time for Ally to be waking up to start the food prep for the day. Might as well get it over with.

  * * *

  “Pretty sure I would remember,” Caleb and Feldyn heard Ally say in an irritated voice, as they entered the cafeteria. She was busily trying to set things up, Iiyni standing next to her frowning. “Ally, let’s go talk in my room, okay? I’ll prove it.”

  Noticing the two guys, and the look Iiyni was giving them, “It’s fine, they can know. I mean, if what are you saying -by some disgusting cosmic weirdness- is true, they are going to know sooner or later.” Iiyni did not look convinced. “What’s going on?” Caleb asked, frowning. Iiyni ignored him. She was wearing pants and her hair was down. Whatever it was, it had to be serious. “I am telling you the truth. Will you please just come with me to my room?” she pleaded with the teenage blonde, who turned, hands on hips. Her eyes explored Iiyni's for a moment, before letting out a long dramatic sigh.

  “Iiyni says someone sent her an email linking her to a file of a bunch of porn videos of me with my dad.” The little demon looked away. “Oh, and apparently I even got my freak on with Gigi. Which of course, we magically have no memory of.”

  “And ye don’t believe her?” Feldyn asked, skeptically. That gave the girl pause. “Are you serious?” she asked him, with a puzzled expression. “I forgot an entire summer,” Caleb reminded. “Yeah, and you were possessed,” Ally pointed out. “Nameless says whatever caused my memory loss had nothing to do with the possession. And that it could have easily effected others too. And we already know it did. Pazely and Bryan forgot Feldyn, remember?” Ally still had an annoyed expression on her face, but her eyes were beginning to show doubt.

  “Cmon, really? Me and my dad? Not only is that gross, he hated me. He never even showed normal interest in me, let alone that kind. And even if, if, I somehow just forgot all of that, wouldn't I have told you guys if my dad raped me? And what about Gigi? I mean, no, that would never ever happen."

  “I don't know Ally, a lot of weird shit has happened. Unless you let Iiyni show you the videos, how can you be sure?" Caleb asked, trying to sound sympathetic. It was obvious Ally was starting to doubt.

  "Wasn't I a virgin?" she abruptly asked him, voice holding a -faint- trace of panic. “How would I know?” he answered moronically. Feldyn winced. “Look, bitch,” Iiyni finally spoke, though she was still facing away. “I’ve tried being nice and discreet, and you just sit here mocking me, calling me a liar. If you really think I would lie about this, then follow me to my room and call my fucking bluff!"

  The imp walked out of the cafeteria, obviously upset. At being called a liar or her own inability to keep the situation discreet, Caleb wasn't sure. Likely both and more. “Ally,” Feldyn said softly, "Iiyni has no reason to lie to you."

  "This is ridiculousness!" she snapped, tossing a towel on the counter, and storming out of the room after the imp.

  Caleb hurried to follow before Feldyn could stop him, so the half-elf followed as well. The trio didn't say a word, and when they got to Iiyni's room, she was standing outside the door waiting. "Lets get this over with!"Ally said, and followed the imp into her room. Caleb moved to enter the room, but this time Feldyn stopped him with a hand on the shoulder. "We'll wait outside," he told the pretty blonde, who had turned to wait for them just inside the door. "Whatever," she said dismissively, and closed it. Softly.

  The two had been waiting almost fifteen minutes when the door finally opened, Ally and Iiyni both walking out. Ally was looking at the floor, and she was visibly pale. "Can... you guys do breakfast yourselves?" she asked, not lifting her gaze. "Of course," Feldyn answered before Caleb could say something stupid. "I... need some time alone. I need to... go over these..." Ally was holding a small portable hard drive. At least Caleb knew to keep his mouth shut for a change.

  Iiyni started to walk away and Ally called for her to wait. "Actually... Iiyni, could you... could you maybe come to my room with me? I don't think I really want to watch these alone." Iiyni wasn't sure how to respond. She felt bad for the girl. Really bad. But... She had her own issues. Like the fact she found the videos kinda hot. Ally’s dad was attractive, and she hadn’t exactly been raped in the videos. How the fuck could she provide moral support?!

  "I don't know if-"

  "Please?" Ally looked at her, and Iiyni had never seen that expression on her face. "I'm not mad," she told the demon, "Actually, it makes this a little easier." Iiyni and the boys looked equally puzzled. "I know you, Iiyni," Ally said, with an “I'm traumatized not retarded” stress to her voice. Iiyni felt her face grown warm as it dawned on her Ally had rightly guessed the reason for her hesitation. "F-fine! But we need to tell everyone about this first."

  "I believe this is something that should be kept private!" Feldyn lectured without hesitation. "No fucking shit!" Iiyni snapped at him. "There was more than just the porn," the imp winced at her own wording, but kept going, "the sender did all this to prove to us he wasn't lying." Feldyn and Caleb stared at her. "The guy- I'm assuming, called himself The Appraiser, and said he knows how to open a portal, and we can find him in Canada." That shuffled their emotions.

  "We should still handle this delicately," Feldyn revised, a newfound vigor in his voice. "Don't worry about it," Ally smiled weekly. "No point hiding things from each other." She looked at Iiyni. "Go. Let everyone know, get things started. We finally have a lead, and it's going to take time to come up with a plan. Just... I'll be in my room when you're done."

  Ally walked off, the others watching her go in silence.

  * * *

  "Gigi was not sexually salted," the blonde child told the imp, voice overly exasperated. "Oh, you were salted and peppered," Iiyni clarified, John making a horrified face. "Why send the videos though?" Reba asked. "The way they set it up for you to find should have been good enough with just the text file."

  Everyone except Ally, Masque (who was out doing whatever Masque did), Stryker, and Trixie -whom had been with the group until Jeff made her leave, due to the topic- were in the fireplace room. Iiyni wanted to explain this quick so they could get the ball rolling, and hurry back to Ally. But of course, everyone had a million fucking questions.

  "Are you sure it wasn't your sister that sent it?" Mike asked. "No," she answered again, "it could all be one big trap, like I already said. And also, like I said, I still doubt Jenta would be so round a bout. Probably why the fucker included the kiddy porn: to prove he was someone else, with connections to this shit."

  "Couldn't she have just included the rape videos to make you think that?" Reba added.

  Iiyni was getting frustrated. How many different ways did she need to answer the same questions? The grilling over where she found the message and why had been bad enough, as she couldn’t just tell them the truth, but didn’t want to flat lie. Instead, there had been a lot of dodging retorts. The repeating questions about the same shit over and over was just annoying.

  "She could have, but wouldn't. If Jenta wanted me to meet her, all she would have to do is ask. An ambush doesn't make sense. My mom knows we are here, that means anyone who is anybody also does or can find out. And it wasn't rape."

  Reba gave her that blank look they had all gotten used to. “Wait, what? She was underage, how was it not rape?" Adam asked. "Was not rape as in it was consensual. Not, like, it didn't break the law," Iiyni clarified.

  "Enough!" John snapped, cutting the imp off as she was going into crude detail. “You actually watched the videos?!” Reba asked horrified, assuming the demon had immediately closed the files after checking a couple. “Hey, fuck you," Iiyni defended, pointing a finger at the judgey brunette, "I had to vet it a bit. Not like I studied the fucking things!”

  "You said..." John started, and sighed rubbing his face with his hands before continuing, "it was signed 'The Appraiser?'" Iiyni nodded, not caring John wasn't actually looking at her. "Do you think it is really him?" Jeff asked, and John continued gazing at the floor. "Nothing would surprise me at this point," he answered.

  "You know him?" Caleb asked. Jeff, John, Adam and Mike exchanged looks. Reba's suspicious scowl said she was not privy to whatever it was they knew.

  "He is one of the legendary fugitives of the Order," Adam explained, "Like you two." Jeff took a long hard drink of his coffee. It would seem he took offense at not being one of the legendary fugitives, faked death or not. "The Appraiser was part of the Cursed Air's unit, way back when, if that tells you anything," Adam added. The looks it told them nothing.

  "The Cursed Air," John began, "is probably the most dangerous and skilled operative the Order has ever trained. I have heard no mention of him in years."

  "He was killed recently," Mike said, and John was obviously shocked. "Yeah, the news was everywhere. Happened during the chaos in October. Not here, somewhere down south." he explained. "What happened?" John asked in disbelief. "Don't know the details. There was rumor he had gone rogue. Few weeks later, news came down he had been killed. It raised a lot of eyebrows, but we were all a bit busy dealing with other things." More than a few glanced at the imp. "I didn't kill no Cursed whatever-the-fuck," she said defensively, missing the point.

  Enough was enough, Iiyni was going to go be with Ally. She had nothing left to say, so no reason to stay! "Look, you guys can talk about whatever, I'm going. Later tonight we can go over what to do next, 'aight?" Looking around the room and getting no immediate complaints, she hurried out, making sure to dart behind Trixie (who had been listening outside the door) and spank her ass, before scurrying off. Trix stifled her scream like a pro, allowing her eavesdropping to continue.

  "What made this Appraiser so special?" Feldyn asked, trying to get back on topic. They needed to be preparing to leave, not speaking of lore. Plenty of time to do that on the road. "He was the Cursed Air's cleaner," John explained.

  "The Cursed Air, or Cursed Area, was a sort of free agent for the Order. Though getting him involved was said to be akin to moving mountains. He never bothered to come after Reba or I, probably not seeing us as threats. Which was both insulting as it was relieving. When he did choose to take on a job for the Order, he would only work with a specific few. Some were official Order, some were not," John continued. "The Appraiser, on top of his many other talents, was said to be a hypnotist of unbelievable talent."

  "How deeply could he hypnotize people?" Caleb asked, the others wondering the same. General hypnotism couldn't, say, make a little girl want to have sex with her dad. These days though, everything was up for question. "I am not sure, though rumor was his hypnotic abilities did not work on men nor strong willed adults. Which I find hard to believe, considering who he cleaned for."

  “If there is even a chance this is real, we have to risk it,” Caleb said, tired of talking about the main issue. "I agree," John replied, surprising the group. “We have been sitting here long enough. I believe it is time our... adventure continued.”

  “We cant go yet," Reba objected, "I’m still weeks, maybe months from having Stryker operational! And there will need to be rehabilitation and training after that!"

  “Can not Mike and Jeff handle the rest?” John asked her, and she stammered a bit before Jeff interrupted, “We could. Though progress would be faster if Reba were to stay." Mike was nodding in agreement. The beautiful alchemist looked completely aghast at the prospect of leaving Stryker, not to mention their confidence at finishing the project without her. Not saying anything else, she eventually leaned back on the couch, deep in thought. Looking a bit… pouty?

  “So, what, a bunch of us head blindly to Canada, the rest stay here?” Adam asked. “No,” John said soft yet authoritative. “I have been thinking on this for some time. We are facing multiple threats, and this group is not destined to stay together, with some to leave the planet entirely. It makes more sense for us to split up, tackling different problems we are most suited to, before regrouping.” John was surprised no one complained. He continued, “The Order is in crisis. There is a good chance that if the right... group, is helped to take power, the Order can became a force of good. Or at least a force of neutrality.

  “My idea is this: Reba and I head to Utah, to the Order house the succubus claimed to have visited. We will feel things out along the way, and divert if needed to a different outpost or base. That post has long been a bastion for the more conservative side of the Order. Reba and I are quite strong and capable as a duo, so I see little problem in this.

  “Another group will head to Canada. This group would best be comprised of Iiyni, Feldyn, Lance, Caleb, Ally, and Masque. The largest group, with our strongest members, since they would likely be facing the highest level of threat.

  "Adam and Mike would remain here, with the rest. Fully fortified and demon warded, this facility will keep those remaining the safest of all, though it would be unwise to not leave at least a couple experienced soldiers. Whom I believe are already indentured." John gave a side eye to the scientist that was obviously drinking his coffee to ignore him.

  “I know the situation is sudden, and my plan needs to be gone over by the group; in my opinion it is the best course of action.” There was more John wasn't saying, of course. Reasons why he wanted to leave, with Reba at his side. “It makes sense,” Mike said. Caleb agreed. Though anything was better than sitting here. “We need to talk it over with Iiyni and Stryker. And Masque, whenever he gets back,” Reba broke her silence. “Aye, and Ally,” Feldyn had to mention, as the girl was gifted at planning these sort of things. Not that he presumed she would care.

  After the truth the two girls had learned, he doubted either of them would ever be the same…

  * * *

  Ally was laughing so hard she fell over on the couch against Trixie, whom was struggling to breathe from her own laughter. Gigi had dropped a banana peel, seeing if it would work like in old cartoons, and Iiyni jumped right on top of it. Gigi’s actions always did seem to create a sort of blind zone for the imp, who flipped completely three hundred sixty degrees, landing in a clumsy yet graceful sitting pose. The banana peel being hooked by one of her toenails (claws), was tossed in the air, landing on Jeff’s head. Stryker was laughing to the point of tears. Even Iiyni couldn't contain herself, and just lay on on the ground, giggling like crazy.

  Once John had his own laughter under control, he stood holding his glass high in toast. “To new friends made, and the many miracles we've been blessed with! May we meet again soon!” Everyone held their drinks high, and then they drank (sans Masque, of course, who stood in a corner with his arms crossed and eyes closed).

  A day had passed since Iiyni read the email. The group had gone over John's plan together, and had unanimously agreed it was the best course of action to achieve their goals. Now they were standing in the kitchen-lab near the entrance, saying some possible goodbyes, for John and Reba were leaving that night.

  They duo was geared, and ready to go. John in his -new- brown robes, staff in hand. Reba was in her -also new- skin-tight, brown, memory leathers, a small bag tight on her back, and a belt with several pouches around her waist. Her long hair was harder to tame than before, but she still wore it in a long, multi bound, pony-tail. She would likely need to wrap it in a bun later on, but for now she wanted it this way, like she always had. Enough of her had changed, simply wearing the suit felt different, so as much that could remain the same she would keep. That was important if they got into combat.

  John and Reba were to head out first, under the cover of night. They were to go at a much slower pace than the main group, so needed a bit of a head-start. Tomorrow night, Iiyni, Mike, and Adam were to head out to finish gathering the last of what they needed, since those remaining would not be able to leave the underground facility for some time. The night after, the large group would leave for Canada.

  There were no tears, or long faces. Everyone here believed in each other, and knew they would soon be together again. There was no set time, nor plan to reconnect, just trusting they would find each other once things had played out. So after a few hugs, hand shakes, and pats on the back, Reba and John headed out of the underground base, and began at a jog away from the cabin.

  * * *

  The next morning Iiyni left her room, collected breakfast, and stormed back to her quarters, staying there until it was time to go gather with Mike and Adam. She met them outside the cabin, and marched right past, looking grumpy as hell, climbing in the bed of the truck. The two men knew better than to ask, so they simply loaded up and headed out.

  Iiyni was just frustrated. Before Reba had left, she delivered Iiyni her 'order': three sex machine prototypes. Warning her they had not been tested, and could potentially cause serious harm to a normal person if they malfunctioned. Iiyni was not a normal person, though they thought of these machines malfunctioning was... concerning, to say the least. Not that it had stopped her from trying them! Well, one of them.

  And lets just say a new problem rose, which mostly related to her being a spaz. Now the entire fucking day was gone, and it was time to go looting, and she hadn’t succeeded in testing out the theory even freaking once!

  Mike and Jeff drove all the way into the hills of the neighboring city Kelso. Not that it was needed for the loot so much as it was needed for the recon. Fuel was the main resources they had set out to gather, and there was still plenty to be found. The power grid for the county had finally failed, but it wasn't exactly difficult to get the pumps going at varying fueling stations. The traveling into the hills was to stretch the limits of their usual looting runs, and see if anything unusual popped up. Probably a job better suited for the imp / vampire duo, but the two mercs really wanted one last outing before being locked underground for God only knew how long.

  After the barrels were loaded with the fuel quota, they headed into the hills, thanking Christ Reba-tech could be applied to vehicles. No way a normal pickup could carry this much weight without the science defying mods they added.

  Adam was trying to fit a brand new looking generator into the bed when he saw a flash of light in the distance. Then another. He walked towards the flashes, trying to get free of trees for a better view in the clear night sky.

  “Adam?” he heard Mike call. “Coming!" he called back. "I saw a flash-” this time the flash -very far from them- was seen clearly. Horizontal blue lightning. “Oh shit...” Hurrying back, “we need to go!” Adam told Mike soon as he got to the truck. "Now," the usual cheerful man emphasized, checking his sidearm. "Manastorms. Far off, in the mountains. God willing, they stay out there.”

  It began to rain as they drove down the long winding private drive. “Oh fuck me,” Mike expressed his -properly worded- concern. His window had been rolled down, so the warm rain was quickly identified. Seals were being broken. Close to them.

  Mike let out a high pitched screame (and had a mini seizure) when Iiyni's head appeared -upside down- in his open window. Adam fell into uncontrollable laughter. “Dude, chill!” Iiyni scolded the black man that was scowling out the windshield, refusing to look at the upside child, nor the man in the passengers seat. He had at least kept the vehicle driving fast and smooth. “We got some serious problems,” she continued, not smiling, though her eyes said she wanted to.

  “How bad?” Adam asked, clearing his throat to compose himself. “Bad. Half a dozen seals have been broken.” A manastorm flash-banged somewhere nearby. “Fuck,” Iiyni cursed, and was gone from the window. Adam was expecting to be attacked at any moment as they sped downhill.

  They made it out unscathed, the trip continuing uneventful, crossing the Cowlitz River into and through Longview, nearing the roads on the opposite end of town that would lead back to Jeff's. Iiyni returned, now in the bed of the truck. No one screamed this time as she tapped on the sliding back window, which Adam opened. She looked pretty rough.

  “Yeah, big problems. It’s the Coven breaking seals, and they are using something to control the fuckers they are letting loose. Seems to work for the most part. Plenty of dead witches where it didn't. Saved me some time. I did take out a dozen of the cunts, and some of their new pets. Plenty more out there."

  “What type of monsters are sealed in this region?” Mike asked. He knew seals were fairly common, many in the middle of people going about their daily lives. Seals so rarely ever broke, it wasn't something they were told much about during their time with the Order. “mostly beasts. Lycanthropeire, over-sized creepy crawlies, that sorta shit,” Iiyni answered, then remembered something Xal had spoken of, “This area was also home to minotaur back in the day. Natives killed them off, but probably a few locked behind some seals. Uhhhh, and probably a big fucking bird.”

  “Big bird?” Adam asked her. “Yeah. Guessing, roc,” she told him, no longer looking in the window, so was a bit hard to hear. “A roc? Those birds that can carry an elephant?” Mike asked now, and Iiyni shrugged, “Looks big enough,” she confirmed, voice raised a little to be heard, and she stood up.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Adam realizing the imp was staring at something, and turned to look out the back window better. "My God..." he breathed. It was night, but the sky was clear, moon and stars bright, the gigantic bird silhouette easily visible. It was getting larger and larger. "It's coming right at us!"

  “Sort of," Iiyni corrected, and knelt back down to talk through the window. "It's following us, but holding back some. Probably cuz of the trees."

  "Do you think they intend to attack tonight?” Mike asked the imp. She shrugged, “Probably. Maybe. Hard to be sure, witches are chaotic as fuck. Good news, if this is all they have to throw at us: we win.” The merc didn't feel so confident.

  Rounding a corner, a large winged dragon-esc creature smashed into the road. Mike cursed, slamming on the breaks; the truck side pitching into a skid. Iiyni leaped out of the bed at the winged beast, and it smacked her with it’s tail, launching her into a field, before headbutting the truck.

  The pickup flipped, and rolled. The wyvern shook its head, dazed, apparently not realizing how heavy a truck was. The pickup miraculously landed upright, after rolling several times. “You good?” Adam asked, and Mike grunted, “So far!” Luckily the two understood the importance of seatbelts. The truck had died, and now it wouldn't turn over. “Ah, cmon!” Mike urged the vehicle.

  “Get it running!” Adam snapped, exit the still working door and shouldering an assault rifle (tac light on), and unloading it into the wyvern. The lizard was big; more or less looked like a mini dragon. Twice the length of their truck when you counted the tail. It had hind legs, tiny t-rex stubby arms, and distinctive spurs on it's wings and feet.

  The bullets were causing damage, but not enough to detour the beast once it got over the shock. Beating large wings, the wyvern reared back, and Adam dove to the side, away from the truck, expecting a fireball or something. Instead, the monster screeched at at him- which ended abruptly when the imp punched it in the side of its head.

  Her feet barely touched the ground before she sprang back up, catching the wyvern under the chin. Flapped wings violently, and thrashing its tail, the beast tried to avoid more hits from the imps who was bobbing and weaving around it.

  Adam found it odd the imp was being cautious. Why she didn't just rip the head off or something?

  Reloaded, he glanced at Mike -who had been under the hood of the truck, but now hurried back to the drivers seat- before returning his focus to the lizard, waiting till Iiyni had the beast facing directly at him. When it did, and reared back, he opened fire on the base of the left wing. Soon as the monster turned, he quit shooting, and Iiyni finish the job, ripping the wing clean off.

  The truck started. “Lets go!” Mike called, hopping out to close the hood. Adam jumped in the passenger side, and Iiyni -to both of their shock- didn’t finish off the creature, instead leaping from where she stood to the hood of the truck, then running over the cab to the bed. The wyvern had rolled off of the road, screeching in agony.

  As they truck sped away, Adam heard an awful sound behind them. The road turned left, giving a good view of the area where the wyvern had tumbled. Wondering what the noise was, assuming the field was too shadowed to see clearly, Adam grabbed the big handheld foglight, and handed it to Iiyni in the back, through the window. She knew what he wanted, and shown it onto the field. What the light illuminated Adam had though at first to be a hillside, his mind barely able to take in the reality.

  The roc had landed in treeless area to eat the wyvern. The wyvern's body almost fit entirely in its beak. The ginormous bid was pulverizing it to shred, not so unlike a chicken eating a salamander.

  “Yeah, okay, fuck,” Iiyni said, tone of voice echoing what Mike was feeling. “We are screwed in the peehole if we have to fight that thing.”

  “You okay?” Adam asked her, wondering what was up. “No. I’m not," she paused for a moment, "I've been having some problems.”

  “Anything we can do?” Mike asked, and Iiyni laughed despite herself. "Nah, I'm good." Then she decided to tell the truth. "Turns out I need orgasms like a vampire needs blood. Who knew, right? But if I fuck anyone, I might poison their soul, driving them mad. Not to mention this whole new sin landscape I’m learning to navigate. When we get back to base, need to get my solo freak on, so I don't die fighting an oversize bird or some shit. Girl parts also don't seem to self please as easily as your dude parts, until they do and it freaks me out, so might need longer than a thirty second spank and spurt." Iiyni cringed at the oversharing, and vulgarity of her own words.

  "Uh, wow. Okay. Sorry to pry," Mike answered. “Is what it is!” Iiyni informed with squeaky cheer, trying to sound casual. “Well, we’re almost back,” he reassured. "I also rescind my offer to help. Can't speak for Adam though, but don't think you're his type." Iiyni cackled, Adam faking a thoughtful face. "I don't know... I hear once you go imp, you'll never go limp."

  "Sounds like a personal problem there, bucko," Iiyni consoled, patting him on the shoulder through the window. "Yeah, that kinda backfired," Adam admitted, laughing along with the other two. "You tried though," Mike reassured in a fake serious voice. "Sounded good in my head!" the energetic man defended.

  Mike skid into Jeff's driveway, racing down it, and coming to a halt inches from hitting the cabin. An ear piecing screech erupted over them, and the light of the moon vanished. “GET INSIDE!” Iiyni shouted, rushing to open the door to the staircase. The humans dove headfirst down the stairs, Iiyni jumping in and slamming the trap door shut as the roc smashed into the cabin. Luckily it was too big to even get it’s damn beak in the stairwell. Didn't stop it from trying.

  “The bloody hell is that?!” Feldyn asked running to them, the sound of crashing and screeching echoing down the hall, until Mike and Adam got the manual blast doors shut. Caleb, Ally and Trixie came out from the kitchen-lab, looking towards the commotion; Lance appearing in a pop on Feldyn's shoulder.

  Iiyni marched past Feldyn, and pointed at Ally, "You, come with me. Everyone else, gear up; plans have changed- we leave tonight."