For what Pierre Dupont lacked in experience, he made up for in raw talent. He graduated top of his class at Grande Majesté École de Sorcier at the ripe old age of twenty, several years earlier than the previous record holder for youngest graduate. Normally someone of his talents would be a court wizard of some rich duke out in the countryside, but Pierre’s prickly personality got him into trouble on more than one occasion. 

He had to settle for the life of monster hunting. The coin was good, and Pierre enjoyed the cheap thrills, but eventually he would need to manage a working relationship with a stuffy noble. Pierre landed a gig that was his ticket out of a life on the road. “Go to an abandoned castle, clear out the succubus, get paid.” It was as simple as it gets. 

Apparently he was their third choice. That’s alright, he thought, they were my fourth choice. They never heard back from the first two hunters that were sent to the castle. They probably got lost… the path traveled in a straight line up a lonely hill to a lonely castle that stood ominously atop the cliffside. The full moon illuminated the haunting visage with startling efficiency. It was the only structure for miles with only one trail that connected it to the king’s road. 

“Alright Nima, high alert from this point onward.” his horse neighed in response as it continued down the path. “Not you.”  Pierre said back as he pulled back his cloak to reveal a wooden staff with a dragon’s head carved into the top. He gripped right below to the head, where the neck would be, to regard the intricate design. It was missing a tooth on the bottom jaw but had yet to let him down once in the heat of the moment. His steed grunted again in protest. “Calm down…. You” He leaned down the talk directly into the horse's ear. “What’s your name again? I forgot.” 

This was close enough for the horse. Pierre didn’t like the idea of walking all the way back to the king’s road. He found a tree and loosely hooked the reins up a stray branch. “Stay.” He tapped the horse on its nose, unsure how to properly convey his command, and continued up the pathway. 

A harsh feeling of foreboding crept up his spine as he approached the large wooden doorway. There was no reason to knock. He was there to exterminate the occupants. Pierre tapped the door with his staff. “Anyone home?”  There was a loud crash as the doors blew open. Pierre returned the staff to his side satisfied with its handy work. 

The noise seemed to echo through the entire castle. There was an eerie quiet as the last of the sound reverberated back to the foyer. The walls were decorated in a litany of paintings covering the stone walls, a large decorative red rug covered the floor. Pierre had his staff at the ready with a small ball of fire hovering directly inside the dragon's maw as he slowly crept through the threshold. “My name is Pierre Dupont and was sent here to-” 

The doors slammed shut behind him. He jumped at the sound and immediately reached back for the handle. 

“Oh my. They sent another hunter. When will they learn?” 

Pierre pointed his staff in the direction of the voice and, without waiting to see its source, he launched a fireball. 

The succubus lazily slapped the projectile out of the air causing it to careen into the wall. Several of the paintings were immediately turned to cinder and several more crashed to the floor from the shock wave. “Oh? And this ones a mage? This should be good.” 

As the smoke cleared, Pierre was finally able to get a good view of the succubus. Her skin was gray and ashen. Fitting for a spawn of hell, he thought dryly. She wore a revealing black lingerie that left very little to the imagination. Her raven hair was framed by two horns that rose high above her head. He took a deep breath and began again, “My name is Pierre Dupont, and I was sent here to kill you.”

The gray woman licked her lips. “Hello Pierre Dupont, who was sent here to kill me. I’m Silvia Le Succube and this is my castle.” She raised her hands to space around her. “You’re not going to leave this place alive.”

Pierre saw a faint glow of magic start to emanate from her left hand. This creature is able to cast without an incantation or a staff. He would need to be careful. Immediately, he gathered together some of the moisture from the air and a large icicle materialized in front of him. At the same time he started to generate a ward. Whatever offensive spell she was planning, he needed to be ready. Nima, his staff, was more than capable of casting multiple spells at once. 

Without a word, he threw the icy spear towards the succubus. She reached out her right hand and easily caught the incoming projectile. “That’s it?” She asked in a disappointed tone. 

Pierre tried not to let the horrified shock show on his face as he readied another attack. He hardened his ward when he saw the succubus appear to throw something with her left hand. She didn’t even try to curve it around the ward. He watched a small red orb approach. As soon as it bounced away, Pierre was ready with a flurry of simple projectiles, hoping that she wouldn’t be able to catch all of them. 

In a flash the small red orb passed through his ward and collided with his chest. He felt his ribs compress as the world seemed to expand around him. He fell to the ground as the succubus started to approach his diminished form. “What did you do to me?!?” He screamed. 

She stopped for a moment, “You’re still conscious? That was supposed to knock you out as well.” 

“Stay back!” He got back to his feet and grabbed his staff. Thankfully it, and his robes, shrunk with him. Pierre readied another spell but fear gripped him. It took all his will power, not to turn and run. 

“I’m surprised they sent a mage. Normally when they send a knight to my castle, it’s because they committed some grave crime or they’re no longer useful. It’s rare that a mage is deemed so useless that to be sent on a suicide mission.” As she spoke she closed the distance between her and Pierre. 

His bolts were ready to go but he held them back. “What are you talking about? I was sent to kill you.” 

She sat down in front of Pierre and stretched her legs out to either side, trapping him against the closed door of the castle entrance. “Yes, yes.” She waved her hand to the side. “Someone got annoyed with you and wanted you to disappear… quietly. I am always happy to oblige.” 

Pierre’s hands began to shake, “you’re happy to oblige? What do you get out of doing noble’s dirty work?” 

Silvia chuckled slightly as she bit onto one of her knuckles. “Me? Oh I get free food.” 

“Enough!” Pierre shot a flurry of magical projectiles aimed at the giant woman’s face and neck. They all harmlessly bounced off her skin. 

“That was cute. Now come here” she reached out her hand towards Pierre. 

In the last second before he was picked up, he casted an orb spell. It was not as durable as the ward but it would block physical objects from passage as well as magical. A Golden sphere appeared around Pierre. Silvia’s hand made contact with the magical barrier but her hand was unable to pass through it. 

“That’s not going to work, little mage.” She pressed down harder and the orb started to shrink around Pierre. When it was only about an arms length apart, she was easily able to pick up the entire thing. Pierre felt his world once again shift around and he was brought to a dizzying height. As soon as Silvia was standing, she squeezed the orb with both hands. 

Pierre used his staff to try and keep the scheme from shrinking any more. He propped the staff so both ends were holding back the encroachment walls of the sphere. It was already smaller than a melon. He would be in real danger if it shrunk below the size of an apple. 

There was a loud crack as the staff snapped in two. The tail end fell below his feet. He was compressed into a small ball. The magic of the orb held firm but his protection turned into a prison no bigger than a small plum. 

“There we go…” Silvia cooed. “Now you’re manageable.” 

Pierre couldn’t speak in his compressed state. He could only watch as the succubus opened her mouth to accept him. Thick strands of saliva rolled off the orb as he was deposited in her mouth. She closed her lips, sealing him in was nothing but the faint glow of magic to illuminate his surroundings. 

Silvia swallowed hard. Her throat bulged as she struggled to breath with her airways blocked. It took several more swallows before she finally felt the lump pass below her collarbone. 

Pierre made sure that the orb held firm during the entire descent. He was unable to do much else other than watch to fleshy walls slowly slid him down. There was a loud splash as he dropped into her stomach. As soon as the pressure relented, Pierre expanded the diameter of the orb to keep the digestive fluids away from his person. 

“That barrier will break eventually. You realize that, right?” The succubus taunted her meal from the outside. 

“”I’ll rip you open if I have to!” His response was laced with fierce venom as he pushed with all his might. The glow of the magic increased exponentially as the entire stomach was stretched to the extreme to accommodate the  growing occupancy. I need to break free! Pierre screamed internally. As Silvia's stomach continued to expand, her abdomen started to grow as well, revealing the efforts of the mage trapped within. “LET ME OUT!” 

“Wow, you’re really trying…” she looked down at her growing midsection. “Ok that’s enough of that.” Silvia tightened her core, and her stomach immediately became flat. 

Pierre saw the effects instantly. The glow of his magic started to flicker and cracks began to form on the sides of the protective orb. There was a loud sound of shattering glass as the magic disappeared and the stomach walls rushed in to greet him. He tried his best to shield himself but the acids started to burn his skin as soon as it made contact. 

There was no other option. He needed to get out of this stomach or he wouldn’t last more than a minute. He put all his energy into a teleportation spell. 

Silvia watched her stomach with renewed interest as there was another flash of light that emanated from her core. Her belly groaned with disdain at the loss of their meal. She looked around to figure out where the little mage could have gone. 

Pierre looked down at the succubus from a high shelf. He wasn’t able to get far with the limited amount of time he had to prepare the spell but at least he was out of danger. Well not entirely, he mused. He was still small and his left arm was badly burned. Healing spells take time to work even on a good day. With his staff snapped in half, and his energy drained, he was better off just dealing with the pain until he could get away from his pursuer. 

She made a noise that sounded like metal clinking on metal. There was a small shockwave that emanated around her and quickly expanded through the entire room and likely the whole castle. Pierre knew the spell. It was to help locate him. Her eyes immediately found him. 

“I thought you would have managed to get farther away. That’s a shame.” She walked right up to the shelf where Pierre was standing but didn’t reach for him. He watched her as she approached, trying desperately to plan out his next move. His breath was haggard, the teleportation spell took almost all of his energy to cast. “I’m going to take the staff away from you so that next time you won’t escape.” 

Pierre gulped hard. “Not if I can help it!” On some level he was actually grateful that she told him exactly what she intended to do. It took a lot of the stress out of deliberating his next move. He moved his staff into his injured arm and pressed the head on the dragon into his right hand. 

Silvia was clearly amused at the development. “Interesting.” She cooed with a smile. 

There was a small cracking noise as the head of Nima crunched into splinters. The small fragments of the former staff swirled around his right arm for a moment before impaling into his skin. He winced at the sensation. 

Her smile broadened further. “Very interesting….” She tapped her chin. “You fused your staff with your arm so I couldn’t take it away from you. I’m impressed, it looks very painful.” 

“I’m getting out of here.” Pierre said as he slumped to his knees. His left arm was badly burned and now his right was dripping with blood. 

“Tell you what. If you can make it to the eastern balcony by sunrise I’ll let you live. I want to see how far you can actually get in your state.” 

Pierre scoffed without raising his head to meet her gaze. “An obvious trap.” 

She shrugged. “You’re not exactly unreachable right now. You know that, right? And I know there’s going to come a point where you can no longer cast your teleportation spells. How many times do you think you can be swallowed before you’re stuck?” She traced her fingers around her stomach in small circles. “I want to say three is the magic number, but I know better. You’re out of juice, little mage.”

Pierre punched the air and a strong gust of wind passed over Silvia’s face. She closed her eyes reflexively and her hair danced in the breeze. “I’ve got plenty of fight left in me.” 

Silvia was taken aback at the sudden taunt. She pointed over her shoulder at a staircase. “Up the stairs, take a right, pass the library. You can find your way from there.” 

Pierre was still slumped down on his knees, the “fight” he boasted about a moment earlier was fleeting almost to the point of nonexistence. It was unclear if Silvia was aware of that and just playing along, or if he was actually convincing. It was about to be a moot point if he couldn’t get his legs to move. Sunrise was only a few hours away and he had no idea how far away the eastern balcony was nor how he intended to get there at his reduced size. He raised his head to look at the succubus. She wasn’t doing anything other than watching him. An amused smile seemed to be permanently glued to her face. “Well leave me to it. I have no need for an audience or guide.” 

“You think I’m just going to let you meander your way through my castle unimpeded?” She crooked her head to the side. 

“What are you talking about? Do you want me to play your stupid game or not?” 

She shook her head. “There’s no challenge if you just get there on your own. No, I'm going to chase you the whole way. Hopefully you have a few more teleportation spells left in you because every time I catch you, well I’m sure you can guess.” She made an exaggerated gulping noise. “I was going to wait for you to start moving but I’m getting impatient, so….” 

As she trailed off, Pierre watched her hand slowly start to reach out to him. He knew internally that he barely had the strength to stand up. There was no way that he would be able to manage another teleportation spell. “Wait! Give me a little-”

“Time’s up, little mage.” She cut off his plea. 

There was no time to think, Pierre needed to act. He punched at the air again but instead of trying to push the incoming hand, he used the force to send his own body careening backward. Her fist closed around the space where he was. If he had waited another second, she would have had him. The hard stone wall greeted the back of Pierre’s head with a cold smack. He blinked the stars out of his vision and cast a tether spell towards the stairs. A string of light appeared in his hand and started to pull him into the air. 

Silvia watched as the mage flew over her head and crashed into the wall above the stairway. “Well, you got halfway there.” 

Pierre wasn’t sure what she meant until he realized that his aim was off. Directly below him was the midpoint of the stairway. He started to try and swing for the highest step. It was still going to be a long drop but it wouldn’t kill him if he could manage a well timed spell. With the staff fused to his arm he couldn’t cast spells simultaneously. 

As he started to swing, a bolt of lightning appeared in the corner of his vision. It caught the tether, severing it in two. Pierre didn’t react in time to completely cushion his fall. He landed hard on one of the steps, the wind thoroughly knocked from his lungs. 

He could almost feel himself about to slip unconscious. Pierre rolled onto his side as he watched Silvia start to slowly climb the stairs. She would be on him in moments. 

“Get up.” It was Pierre’s voice but he didn’t register saying the words. “Get up!” He ordered his noncompliant body once more. 

Silvia was moving slowly. Talking each step with deliberate leisure so she could enjoy the futile attempts of tonight entertainment. 

Pierre grit his teeth as he rolled onto his stomach. He attempted to plant his feet firmly on the ground but he was still terribly shaky when he stood upright. The pain in his chest could either be a broken rib or his rapid heart beat. He couldn’t tell and he didn’t have time to worry about it. 

The only way to go was up. At his size the stairs were roughly twice his height and he had more than a few to climb to get to the second floor of this wretched castle. He took a running start and that was, luckily, enough to reach the lip of the next stair. He slammed into the stone hard as the pain in his chest became too intense to ignore. Pierre screamed as he pulled himself over the lip and rolled onto the next stair. 

“Only eight more to go, little mage.” Silvia said with an amused look on her face. She was only five steps away. 

Pierre immediately crawled backward, unable to look away from the looming threat. “Get away from me!” He yelled as he tried to summon the strength for a bolt of lightning but only managed a bit of loose static between his fingers. “Shit.”

He made the quick decision to conserve his energy for escape attempts rather than offensive spells. His right hand started to glow with a dim light as he readied another tether. He rolled over and shot it at the wall right where it met the stairs. As soon as it connected he was pulled off the ground and catapulted over the next stair. 

As much as he tried to cushion his fall, he still landed hard on his side. Pierre immediately readied another one to try and repeat the same process. The pain in his body was making his vision start to blur. His aim was off on the next tether. Before he had time to even register the mistake his whole body was yanked upward. His feet caught the lip of the next stair causing him to tumble into the air and land hard on his head. 

Pierre was blinking away stars for several seconds. He tried to focus on his arms. The skin on his left arm was starting to crack from all the activity and his right was dripping blood from the several protruding splinters. “Gods dammit!” 

“The gods can’t help you now. Your life was forfeit the moment you stepped foot in my castle.” Her voice seemed almost disembodied from this position. It was like she was whispering the words directly into his ear. For a moment he thought he could feel her warm breath on his neck. “Let me know if you want to give up.” 

His head shot upright just in time to see her foot coming down right where he was sitting. He rolled away at the last possible moment. Silvia twisted her foot, grinding it into the stone. 

“Well that was fun.” Her head twisted to the side as she made eye contact with the shrunken mage. “Oh? Look at that. You made it. It would have been a real shame if our fun ended so soon.” 

Pierre couldn’t tell if she was joking but didn’t want to wait to find out. Even though he managed to dodge her foot at the last possible moment, he knew there was not a single iota of hesitation from Silvia. If he did not roll out of the way, almost out of instinct, he hurled a quick volley of ice spikes at her ankle only to watch them harmlessly bounce away. There had to be a quicker way up the stairs. 

He darted towards the giant foot and clambered up Silvia's toes. This was probably the worst idea he had ever conceived but something told him he was running out of “second chances.” It certainly took Silvia off guard. For a moment, she didn’t even react. This allowed Pierre to see over the stone lip to the next three stairs. There wasn’t time to aim, he merely shot a tether and hoped for the best. 

Once he felt the tension start to pull he jumped off Silvia’s foot and ran towards the next stair. Using the tether, he was able to quickly climb up the stone surface. Once he reached the top, he kicked off the wall and signaled the tether to contract. The two combined motions acted as a slingshot that caused Pierre to soar over the next three stairs with ease. 

For a moment, he thought he was going to clear all of the stairs but his optimism was quickly dashed as he slammed into the last step with a hearty thud. He quickly tried to get his feet under him so he could climb the last stair before his body started to register the pain. His legs made the leap but his hands betrayed him. His fingers slipped off the last stair and he tumbled back to the second to last step. Pierre tried again while his body was in full protest. Everything hurt and he was sure he had at least a few broken bones at this point. 

After two more unsuccessful attempts to climb the final step, he slumped down with his back against the wall. At first he was unwilling to lift his head to see how close Silvia had gotten. A part of him almost wanted it to be quick. If he didn’t see it coming then he wouldn’t have time to be afraid or panic. 

He soon realized she hadn’t moved from the stair where she had almost crushed him. It was like she knew that he was trying to remain calm and she was doing everything in her power to put him on edge. Her expression remained the same, amused and predatory, unchanged by any effort that Pierre put forward to escape. 

Anger stirred is his gut. It was short lived. As soon as he came to the realization she restarted her slow ascent as if to disallow him from experiencing only one emotion at a time. “Fuck-“ he began as he swung his arm wildly in her direction. A ball of fire arced out and landed harmlessly in front of Silvia before fizzling out. The fireball looked more like the tip of a matchstick than anything remotely threatening. “-you,” his voice sounding more and more hoarse with each exertion.

Silvia watched the display, her face barely twitched as she saw the weak spell leave behind a small black dot on her staircase. “That will take ages to clean.” She said before taking another step and allowing her food to cover up the small charred spot left behind. “Are you going to apologize?” 

Pierre was too exhausted to even lift himself to his feet. He craned his neck upward to see his goal one more time. It was right there maybe another six feet or so and then he could actually put some distance between him and his pursuer. 

“Hello? Are you still with me?” Pierre’s silence did not go unnoticed. “Well if you’ve given up….” She lowered herself to all fours and started to crawl up the final few stairs that lay between her and Pierre.

At once, Pierre put both arms out in front. There was not a hint of magic on his fingertips. He was completely spent and there was nothing more for him to do. Nothing except… “please!” He shouted. “Just let me catch my breath!” His eyes were wide with fear as he watched her place her chin on the same stair he was on. 

She allowed her body to relax as her body draped over the staircase. Her arms rested uncomfortably close to Pierre. As if she were sending a message that at any moment she could simply pluck him up with ease. “Pierre, was it? Why should I give you any time to rest?” 

He considered the question, “because….” His left was starting to shake from the burns. He slowly reached into his tattered robe and pulled out a small knife. In no way was the little thing designed for combat. It was barely useful for carving wood and looked almost comical as his arm was trembling to keep it pointed towards Silvia. “Because, I’m-“

“Drop it.” She ordered. Before Pierre even had time to register her voice, his wrist had already betrayed him. He watched the knife clammer to the floor as Silvia quickly brushed it away with her pinky. If it made a sound as it fell down the stairs, Pierre couldn’t hear it. His heartbeat had taken over his auditory senses. “Well at least we know you can follow instructions… but you still didn’t answer my question.”

Truth be told, Pierre had already forgotten her question. His mind was in a paradoxical state of racing to find the smallest glimmer of salvation while at the same time being utterly frozen in fear, unable to comprehend the magnitude of how utterly fucked he truly was. “Please….”

“Please what? Please make it painless? Please make it quick? Come on little mage, use your words…. You were so talkative a moment ago.” 

Despite the danger, Pierre closed his eyes to focus his mind so he could speak. “I need to get to the eastern balcony before sunrise.” He started. “I will play your stupid game. I will make it in time. I will leave this castle and when I do, I will find the noble that sent me here and burn them to a crisp.” He kept his eyes closed a moment longer, almost expecting Silvia to interrupt him at some point with some taunt or jab, or just simply shove him in her mouth and be done with the whole endeavor. But none of that happened. 

After a long, silent pause, he opened his eyes. She had one eyebrow slightly raised but otherwise had no outward reaction. “Wow… that was a mouthful.” 

Pierre grunted as he tried to summon some offensive spell in his hand. He was unsure if he could even conjure a missile at this point. Even if he could, everything he threw at her was completely ineffective, but something about just giving up made him feel sick. 

For just a second his hand started to glow as the energy started to accumulate in his palm but Silvia was faster by a wide margin. She simply pinched his wrist between her finger and thumb and lifted him up. “You’ve tried that already. Several times in fact…. If I were you, I’d be careful not to make this stupid game of mine too boring.” Silvia moved him over the last stair. For a moment, Pierre thought he was in the clear but the pressure on his wrist remained firm. She lowered him to the ground and pressed his arm to the floor. He tried in vain to pry his arm free. “I did tell you what would happen if I caught you again, didn’t I?” 

Pierre watched in horror as she brought her face closer to his prone body. As soon as he saw her start to lick her lips he lost it. “NO WAIT! STO-“ He immediately wanted more than anything to recall his sudden outburst, even going so far as to cover his mouth with his unrestrained hand. 

“Oh?” Silvia cooed. She froze for a moment to regard the young mage.

The damage was already done, he thought hopelessly. Even though the pressure remained on his arm, he stopped struggling. 

“You’re not able to cast the teleport spell again, are you?” Pierre didn’t meet her gaze. “You’re struggling to do simple offensives. Maybe you could pull that off again if you had a proper rest but definitely not before morning…. Go on, tell me I’m wrong.” 

Pierre turned his head to the side as far as it could go. When he didn’t respond or even look at her she brought her face close to him once again so that he could feel her warm breath. He clamped his eyes shut and willed himself not to scream. 

“If you don’t tell me, I could always just find out for myself. It’d be real-“ 

Pierre cut her off. “No.” He took several slow even breaths. It didn’t help him to relax but the effort would at least keep him from spiraling into madness as he looked at his tormentor. “I doubt if I could manage that spell for another week at this rate.” Pierre swallowed his pride. “Please let me continue the game a little longer.” 

“Are you referring to the stupid game you mentioned earlier?” Silvia was clearly enjoying herself. Small though it may seem she viewed this as the first of many victories, and she planned to make the most of it.

Swallow your pride! Pierre bit the inside of his cheek before he said something that would further hinder his cause. “You’re playing a game with my life. I’m not going to pretend to have fun.” His words were cold and bitter, every bit accentuated but an unflinching gaze. 

“You may do as you like… and I’ll do the same.” She shot him a quick smile as if her words didn’t already send a shiver down his spine. 

He felt the pressure on his wrist change before he could register what was happening. Silvia crawled up the remaining stairs before flipping onto her back. Whether Pierre liked it or not he was coming along for the ride. It made him feel like a loose standard from one of the old regiments, limply flapping in the wind as he was tossed around. 

Silvia let out a huff as she settled on her back with Pierre hanging directly above her. “You know… I didn’t get a good taste of you last time because of that protection spell….” 

Pierre's eyes went wide, he was already trying to pull open the giant’s fingers holding his wrist. “Wait, stop!” He knew exactly what was coming. Silvia started to lower him down. The first thing felt was his feet pressing into her tongue. Try as he might, he couldn't stop his descent even when he tried to move his body out of the side of her mouth. She wasn’t allowing Pierre to get a foothold on her tongue. Every time he tried to throw himself out of the side, she would flick him back into the center of her mouth. 

Her lips clamped down hard on his midsection, halting any progress he might have made. He felt a sharp pain on his side. One of his earlier injuries clearly must have resulted in a broken rib. Pierre let out a yelp that quickly turned into a full bellied scream. 

Silvia must have been perturbed from the noise. As soon as the little mage started to lose his mind, she merely moved her tongue along his back and curled it around his head. In one fluid motion, all the racket he was making was cut off. Replaced with muffled cries and even a few sparse whimpers. She swirled him around in her mouth, making sure to get a good taste of every inch of his tiny body. The only part of Pierre that remained outside of her mouth was his hand that she gripped as tight as possible to prevent him from sliding all the way in. 

His burns seemed to react with her saliva causing incredible pain. He tried in vain to pull himself up but the suction was too great to make any headway. His eardrums popped as he was pulled up and out of his prison. Pierre’s salvation was short lived as he felt himself being tossed through the air. With a flick of her wrist, Silvia had discarded him like a used rag. 

The motion was too quick, Pierre had no time to react as he hit the ground hard. He tumbled across the floor for several yards before coming to a rest. A part of him didn’t even want to try and get up but he knew that monster would find a way to make his death even more humiliating if he just gave up. 

Pierre rolled over onto his hands and knees and started to crawl away. A quick glance back at Silvia revealed that she was still laying on her back, licking her fingers in a disturbing attempt to enjoy the remaining vestiges of lingering flavor. His flavor, he thought grimly. 

Pierre tried to get up to his feet. It hurt to put any weight on his left leg and at some point he lost his right shoe. He managed something between a light jog and a hobbled limp. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He repeated softly to himself with every other step as the pain shot through his leg. 

“You know…” Silvia‘s voice seemed to carry all the way into his ear as if she was whispering right into his neck again. “It took a lot of self control to let you go when I did. A second longer and I would have just swallowed you.” 

Pierre increased his pace but spared another glance back. She hadn’t moved at all. She didn’t even look at him when she spoke, choosing simply to just throw her words directly at the ceiling. 

He managed to get to a large open doorway. A quick glance inside revealed a large table with several chairs surrounding it. He couldn’t see what was on the table from this angle but could just barely make out a hanging chandelier and a fireplace on the far side of the room. 

“That’s the dining room.” Silvia called. Pierre turned to her. She was not even looking in his direction. “You can’t get to the balcony from there, you have to go through the library which is one door over.” For a moment, Pierre wanted to just dart into the dining room instead of playing her game. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. “You are more than welcome to look around if you like, but it’ll be the last thing you see. That room is for me and my food.” She craned her neck back to see Pierre’s reaction. “Would you like to surrender?” 

Pierre gulped but his throat felt like sandpaper. He spared another glance at the dining room before breaking into a full run down the hall to the next open doorway. The game was still on and not playing wasn’t an option. Maybe if he were lucky he could find a place to hide and perform some quick healing spells. Restoration magic was never his strong suit but something would be better than nothing. 

He rounded a corner and saw that Silvia was still laying down, humming to herself as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “Whatever.” He muttered to himself. There was a concise RA letter distance between them now. It would be easy enough to find a shadowy corner to lick his wounds and plan out his next actions. 

Pierre settled for the first bookshelf he saw. There was a book on the end of the row that leaned against the side of the shelf allowing enough space for him to crawl his way through. He thanked the gods that there was enough of a gap at the back side of the shelf as well. “Better make this quick.” Silvia would come looking for him and would probably check the lower levels first. His only hope was that she would skip over the most obvious spots first. Pierre was in no position to look for an ideal place to hide… he needed healing. 

Once he was huddled in the back corner, he got to work trying to heal his body. “Please work, just once.” Even though he was considered a prodigy by most people at the Majesté, his skills in restoration always left something to be desired. Since he excelled at so many other disciplines, he never saw the need to go back and train in an area he saw as boring. 

His hand started to glow with a dull green light and placed it on his burned arm. A sharp pain shot through his whole body as the magic got to work. “Dammit.” He grit his teeth as he tried to remain calm. This spell was supposed to numb the pain while it repaired the seared flesh. “Dammit.” He grunted again to take a short break. His arm looked moderately better but it was going to take awhile. 

“While that’s working…” His remaining shoe was already starting to feel tighter. Pierre struggled to get the damned thing off to inspect the damage. “Figures…” His foot was swollen and bruised. He mentally prepared himself while he readied another dose of magic. 

As soon as he touched his hand to his ankle, his vision went white as his whole body seemed to crumple under the pain. Pierre screamed. Any chance he might have had to stay hidden went away in an instant. He couldn’t help it. It felt like the bones were being forcibly snapped back together. 

Once the worst was over, his screams died down into a soft whimper and labored breathing. Beads of sweat sprinkled his forehead and started to drip down his face. The simple act of using his arm to wipe his face caused an intense feeling of vertigo as the world seemed to rock back and forth. 

Last one. He thought to himself before unbuttoning his robes to reveal his bruised chest. There was a small amount of blood that clung to the fabric. It was hard for him to fully survey the damage with his hindered vision. Every time he tried to focus, the image would just get more blurry. He tried to feel around with his fingers instead. The smooth skin was replaced with a gnarled mess of wounded flesh. Well that’s not good. For a moment, Pierre thought about the possibility that he could succumb to his injuries before the succubus even got to him. With a macabre smile he readied his final healing spell. He let this one charge up a lot more than the other two and looked for something that he could bite on to but didn’t find anything suitable. 

Pierre took several long breaths to mentally prepare himself. As soon as his hand touched his ribs, he felt like his whole body caught fire. He opened his mouth to scream but all he heard was a sharp ringing that blocked out all other sounds. It didn’t take long for Pierre to slip unconscious. 

—-

Pierre awoke with a start in what felt like a pool of his own sweat. He wiped away what was on his face but not before some dripped into his open mouth. The taste of salt and charcoal covered his mouth. The charcoal taste left him a little dazed but he swore it was familiar somehow. Looking down he could see a dry sticky substance covering his body. 

It's spit. Pierre groaned at the realization. He wasn’t sure how long he was unconscious but he needed to move. Placing his feet under him, he tested his weight. There was a dull pain still in his leg. It would probably persist for a few weeks but for now it was manageable. His lift arm still looked like a red mess but the pain was gone. The wound to his chest had closed and he was no longer in any real threat of dying from it but there wasn’t much more good news. Every breath he took felt like he was breathing in water. A few wet coughs seemed to help him breathe a little easier but after he escaped, he would be wise to visit a proper healer. 

If he escapes, that is….

Pierre looked at the remaining shoe. The other one was probably long gone by now. He perished the thought of what might have become of it and crawled out of the shelf to fully survey the library, not bothering to put on his one remaining shoe. Silvia said the balcony was through the library but time would tell if she was a liar as well as a monster. 

The library itself was impressive to say the least. Every wall was covered in shelves and every shelf was filled with books of all sizes so no empty spots remained. Pierre tried to make out the far side of the room but his view was blocked by two more large ornate bookshelves that stood in the center of the room. He could just barely make out a window on the back wall, showing the dark night sky. 

“I can do this.” There was still time and he could literally see the finish line. All he had to do was make it to the other side of this one room before the sun came up. He tapped the wood floors with his bare feet a few times, sending out a small oculus ping. “No runes, no traps, no falling spikes….” He glanced up at the ceiling. “Well…” His ping might not even reach that far, it actually traveled better over solid surfaces and wasn’t designed to work though empty air. Pierre let out a huff. Any traps that she would set to fall through the air would probably be more dangerous to her at his current size, besides, she would probably be looking for him across the floor anyway.

One thing that the oculus ping did not look for was illusory magic. While the oculus ping revealed traps, the obscurus ping revealed anything that was otherwise hidden. He looked down at his right arm, still covered in thick jagged splinters. Some of his strength had returned but he still worried about his ability to cast a ping specifically for illusory magic in his current state. 

“You didn’t get far, did you?” 

That voice was going to live in his mind, rent free, for months after he was rid of this castle. He turned to see she was leaning against the doorway. “Just taking in the sights…” Pierre was already moving to one of the center rows of bookshelves. His plan was simple, put as much space between him and the succubus as possible then hope for the best. 

Silvia didn’t approach him but lazily lifted an open palm in his direction. “I wanted to show you something.” A dim purple light started to dance in her hand. “Most of the chaff that come through here are little more than pawns that masquerade as knights and warriors. I can’t remember the last time I was visited by a proper mage.” A ring of black shards appeared floating above her hand, each one appearing no larger than a toothpick. 

Pierre increases his pace. “Are those void spears?” 

“Got it in one!” She beamed. “I didn’t think the Majesté acknowledged their existence.” 

“They don’t.” Pierre muttered under his breath before he turned and ran. The Majesté quit teaching that spell several decades ago because of the risk associated with teaching such a dangerous spell to unrefined students. Pierre only heard rumors of such a spell, “an ebony spear, several meters tall, that could not be stopped by ward or steal. Some mages were skilled enough to throw them clear through castle walls to hit a mug out of someone’s hand without breaking the skin.” 

A mages’ proficiency with void spears was displayed in the size of the spear itself and the precision of the cast. Pierre looked back at the succubus still twirling her floating batch of the deadly spears. They were smaller than he was, a pale comparison to their fabled infamy, but for her to be able to conjure so many at once… 

Silvia's smile turned almost giddy. “I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see someone fully appreciate the time and mastery it takes just to make this little handful.” She tapped her chin a few times. “But… do you think it’s wise to look away from me?” Her hand twitched slightly as three of the black spears flew towards Pierre. 

He barely had time to turn around before the first three struck the ground dangerously close to his foot. The second hit just above his shoulder but only tore through his clothing. Pierre jumped to the left just as the last one caught his robe right under his armpit pinning him to the ground. 

Pierre grunted as he tried to free himself. His first reaction was to pull the spear out of the ground but as soon as his hand made contact, a searing pain shot through his body. 

“Do you really think you have time to lie down?” Silvia joked as another volley sprung from her hand. 

Pierre couldn’t raise his arm to cast a ward, but he doubted it would have been effective anyway. He quickly drew a rune on the ground, before the stone seemed to come alive. A pillar rose from the ground right in time to deflect the oncoming barrage. Several bounced off to the side and one caught the top of the pillar before hitting the ground inches above Pierre’s head. 

He wasn’t going to wait for a third volley. Pierre put all his weight on his upper back and lifted both legs into the air. He quickly swung them both around the protruding spear and grunted as he straightened his back once again. In one quick motion the spear snapped free. 

Pierre made the same rune again but didn’t wait to see if it was effective. He bolted for the bookshelf. His outer robe was in tatters and his pants were disintegrating from the knee down where the lingering void magic was taking its course. He reached for the clasp around his neck not a moment too soon as four more spears crashed into the back of his robe pushing him to his knees. How none of them hit his person was a miracle, or maybe he was just still being played with… 

He tugged at the clasp before it finally broke free. He spared one more glance back to see many more spears impale the empty clothing. “Did I miss?” Silvia’s voice was sickly sweet and completely orthogonal to her cruel intentions.

Pierre spun around and started writing a slightly longer rune on the floor. A long rectangle of stone started to rise from the floor. “If you wanted to kill me then-“ he was cut off as a black spear pierced through the stone wall, stopping inches from the bridge of his nose. He stumbled back falling down as he tried to back away. 

Several more spears passed through the wall he created. Slamming into the ground around him and making short work of his meager defense.

“What about killing you?” Silvia asked as she walked the few steps necessary to be standing directly over Pierre. “Has anyone ever told you how unbearably arrogant you are? Go back to begging for your life.” 

Pierre did his best to crawl backward while refusing to take his eyes off of Silvia. She shifted her weight just slightly so she could lift one leg. Time seemed to slow down as he watched one of her pale feet come close to him. He screamed internally to get a fire spell ready to hurl at the incoming toes but something stopped him. A deep and primal fear reminded him of his predicament, that any offensive magic he threw at her in the past bounced off as if they were nothing.  There had to be another way. . . .

“Start begging.” In some cruel twist of irony, her voice broke through his frozen synapsis and actually granted him a moment of clarity to come up with his next move. He watched intently as she brought her toe up to his head. In a single quick motion she lightly tapped him directly in the head as if she was trying to “flick” him. She positioned her foot directly over him so that only his head was visible. As soon as his arm was covered from view, Pierre started charging several tether spells. He figured he’d need at least three but he would continue to make more if allowed. “How much weight do you think you could handle before you just … ‘pop?’“ 

Pierre knew he had to play for time, “Please just…” 

“Just what?” She finished as he trailed off, “don’t crush you? Your life was forfeit the moment you entered my castle. I assumed a quick death would be preferable, unless…” Silvia tapped her lips a few times, enjoying the slight chill that ran up her spine. 

“I’d prefer to get out of here alive, and that’s exactly what I plan to do.” Her foot descended slowly, pinning him to the floor. Only three tethers would have to do. The last one was just about ready and he was out of time. “Wait!” He screamed in terror. Admittedly, he intended to sound as scared as possible but he hadn’t anticipated it would be this easy to be convincing. 

Her foot lifted off of him slightly. “Oh? Do you have any final words?” 

“Yes….” Pierre said as his heart beat drummed in his ears. 

There was a moment of silence before Silvia spoke up. “Cat got your tongue?” 

“Just thinking of the … right way…” 

“Your spells are getting harder to charge, aren’t they? I’ll have to remember that for later.” 

Pierre stretched his arm up and loosed the first tether. “There’s not going to be a later!” He yelled as he pulled out from under her foot across the floor towards the side of a central bookshelf. Moments before he slammed directly into the wood, he shot another tether straight up. At his speed, it arced towards the wall, a little under halfway from the top. Even with holding on with both hands, he knew this was still going to hurt. The line went taut and he was forcefully yanked off the ground, he soared above the giantess in no time at all. Pierre fought to keep his eyes open through the immense force of the wide, but he needed to time his third shot perfectly. 

The tether snapped as he was traveling straight towards the ceiling. Silvia made a half hearted effort to slap Pierre out of the air but was inevitably overruled by her curiosity. She watched the tiny mage fly towards the top of the bookshelf. It was clear that he believed his chances were better if he was off the floor and out of her reach. For now she was ok with him believing that. 

The third tether hits its mark just shy of the ridge of the massive bookshelf. Pierre whipped around the top before slamming into the unforgiving wood. 

“Does the little mage think he’s safe up there?” Silvia called out to Pierre in a singsong voice. 

“Don’t mock-“ he tried to say but was cut off with a fit of coughs. His hand came up to his face to cover his mouth as he felt warm liquid pepper his hand. Pierre inspected his palm to see it covered in a thin red film. “Fuck,” he practically croaked. 

“You’re getting weaker and weaker.” When she spoke, her voice sounded like it was circling around him. “Are you going to be able to struggle later?” The world around Pierre started to warp and contort. His vision started going black. “It’s more fun for both of us when you struggle” 

He grit his teeth as the taste of blood permeated his mouth. The far off walls morphed into wrinkled flesh that Pierre recognized all too quickly. “Get out of my head!” He yelled as squeezed eyelids shut and started to crawl in the direction he hoped was towards the balcony. Illusion magic, he sneered internally. It was a field of study that always had limited utility. With even a basic grasp of the discipline, one could create a cacophony of different imagery and experience. However it was a delicate incantation and easily shattered with a simple dispel. Those who were able to make use of it outside the theater learned to master the art of subtlety and discretion. A single hidden doorway could be easily hidden but several missing hallways would not go unnoticed.

Pierre looked at his splintered arm, normally it would be easily shattered. He was pushing his luck as was, attempting to dispel the illusion might be to his detriment. “Maybe you just like the view, hmmm?” A ghostly visage of Silvia’s appeared next to Pierre. She appeared approximately the same size as his own head. He swatted her away and continued to crawl forward on his knees and elbows trying to ignore the fleshly walls that were still slowly encroaching him. “Maybe you’ve just given up?” Another visage appeared close enough to feel her lips brush against his ear. A chill ran down Pierre’s spine. “I won’t tell anyone, I’ll tell everyone you fought…” he cringed as he felt her tongue slide across the back of his neck, “all the way down.” 

Pierre flailed his arm so hard that he lost his balance and flipped onto his back. In an instant his world changed again. The far off walls closed in around him and he was laying a shallow pool of acrid liquid. The air was dense and sweltering. Beads of sweat immediately appeared on his forehead. “You’re not fooling anyone, this is nothing more than a cheap trick.” 

Silvia appeared through a haze standing over him. “Be careful, it might surprise you.” Her ominous warning was accentuated with her foot coming over Pierre’s head. Before he had time to react his face was pressed down beneath the liquid as he started to flail his arms. 

In vain, he attempted to pry her foot off of his face but every time he reached for where her leg should be, his hands passed straight through with little to no resistance. Panicking, he tried to push against the bookcase but the wooden surface was replaced with a stretchy, viscous membrane. It’s not an illusion, his mind screamed in disbelief. It has to be! She didn’t have the opportunity to swallow him without… “NO!” he screamed as he forced his body to flip over. 

Even though he felt like he was still under the surface of her stomach acid he mimicked the motion of crawling forward. He could feel and taste the acrid substance in his nose and mouth but he pressed on. It’s not real, he told himself. 

For a moment it actually seemed like he was making headway. What little relief that brought was short lived as his illusory prison shrunk around him. He could feel the stomach walls press around him from all sides, stretching and morphing to fill every nook and cranny of his body. He quickly lost the ability to crawl as he was now forced to feebally inch his way forward just by shifting his shoulders back and forth. 

“Perhaps after I swallow you, I’ll grow you back just a little to … prolong your stay” Pierre tried to throw a curse back at her but was too busy holding his breath. “Careful now you wouldn’t want to fall… who knows where you might land….” 

Pierre didn’t bother acknowledging her warning, he had lost all faith in anything she said and just continued to wiggle in what he hoped was the right way. Contrary to his better judgment he opened his eyes, but rather than see the stomach walls, he saw Silvia’s face staring up at him with her mouth open wide. Without realizing it, Pierre was half way over the edge of the bookshelf. 

His reaction was instantaneous as he tried to pull himself back to safety but he had already lost that battle. Time seemed to slow down as he started to tumble toward the awaiting maw of the succubus. He knew the risks of trying another teleportation spell in his condition but with the balcony so close, he had to take that risk. 

He readied a teleportation spell and a tether at the same time. The tether was ready almost instantly and Pierre threw it towards Silvia’s shoulder attempting to land anywhere other than her mouth. 

Pierre heard her teeth snap shut inches away from his legs as he slammed into the side of her chin and he rolled down her back. Silvia reacted just as quickly. As if she had dropped a valuable item, she extended her hips back to try and slow the tiny humans’ descent. 

He rolled down her back in a daze while catching small glimpses of an incoming hand. The teleportation spell was as ready as it could be. Pierre released it, but it was a moment too late. 

Silvia smiled as she heard the crisp sound of a slap on her asscheek. “Gotcha.” She hummed as she inspected her bottom over her shoulder, rubbing the supple flesh a few times for good measure. “If you wanted to feel my ass, all you had to do was ask. I would have more than hap-,” she stopped as she slowly moved her hand away from her skin, only to notice that her prize was gone. “Where’d you run off to now?” Before she even had a moment to look for Pierre, the sound of someone dry heaving pulled her attention towards the balcony. 

Pierre couldn’t stop himself. He needed to stay quiet but was barely able to hold himself upright. Pain and nausea permeated his entire mind. No only was he unable to avoid getting smacked but a giant hand, but he had cast the teleportation spell prematurely. He didn’t bother counting all the possible broken bones. It seemed quicker just to say that his right leg was responding to his commands, and leave it at that. Even if recovery would take months, he would recover. To the one leg that was still listening, he commanded that it push him through the threshold of the balcony. 

Silvia was close behind, “That little trick of yours did more harm than good, you know that?” 

Pierre met her gaze while still using his leg to propel his way backward. He must have looked so stupid, kicking himself across the floor on his back like a limp noodle. It didn’t matter, he could see the sky. Only the smallest hints of blue accented the dark and starry night. He coughed and gagged again with another kick. 

“I know you can’t see yourself right now but you’re bleeding from your…” she motioned to her face, “well everywhere….” She didn’t bother trying to elaborate. 

“I… won.” Pierre gasped at the words. “Let me… go.” 

“Hmmm,” she tapped her chin a few times before kneeling down to where her knees were directly to either side of Pierre. “Remind me again why I should let you go.” 

Pierre stopped crawling backward. As much as he hoped this wouldn’t happen, he couldn’t say he was surprised. “Our wager… I made it before sunrise… you gave me your word…” It hurt to speak. 

“Hmmm” she cooed again, “that’s right. I did say that. I guess we have a winner then…” Pierre allowed himself the smallest bit of hope.

“Let… me… g-“ he was cut off as she pressed her index finger into the arm he had fused with his staff. 

“Such a curious mage you are. Clearly talented enough to power through a dense illusion but opting against a simple dispel?” She wagged her other finger in front of his face while the other continued to press into his arm. “No Pierre DuPont, the mage who was sent here to kill me… I don’t buy that, not for an instant…” 

Pierre’s blood ran cold, “Please,” was all he managed to croak out. 

“Not a chance.” She replied without hesitation. “Now let’s see what you’ve been hiding…” Silvia pressed a little harder into his arm and he thought it was about to break. “Dispel.” 

The splinters in his arm disappeared and his damaged staff reappeared in his hand. “Stop… don’t…” 

With almost painful slowness she released arm and delicately pulled the staff out of his balled fist. Even at full strength he couldn’t stop her but now he couldn’t even muster a puff of smoke in defiance. Silvia brought the staff up to her face to inspect before casually flicking it away. Pierre followed its arch through the air as it clattered to the ground and passed under the ornate railing of the balcony. “There it goes.” Silvia cooed as the staff fell off the edge, disappearing from view. 

“I have one question for you before we do anything else…. And I want you to think really hard before you say anything. It’s important that you think carefully about your answer.” There was a brief pause. “Nod that you understand.” Pierre did so, unsure what to expect. Silvia watched him with a predatory grin. “Good boy. Let’s say I won this little game of ours… would you have accepted your defeat with honor and dignity?…” she took a moment to circle her finger around his body, feeling the contours and groves. “Remember, I want you to think hard about this.” 

Pierre knew that his life hung in the balance and this was a test. He stifled the urge to immediately curse her and to stay that he would never stop fighting for survival. She would most likely go back on her word if she knew he never planned to honor his. It was equally hard to lie and say he would willingly accept his fate. That could just as easily be a death sentence. He grit his teeth and spat one more time to clear his mouth and looked directly at Silvia. “There is no dignity in your game…” 

They both let the words hang in the air. Silvia’s eyes seemed to glow with delight as she bit her lip. “Oh wow… that was…” her entire body shuddered, “I couldn’t have said it better myself.” 

Pierre’s heart dropped. She was enjoying this entirely too much. 

She looked up to the sky and noticed the same faint blue glow that signaled the morning sun was just ready to crest the horizon. “It’s such a shame. I really do like watching the sunrise… Dispel.” The early morning darkness seemed to melt away, revealing a vast blue sky with the sun bearing down on them from high above. “Apologies, I was going to tell you sooner, but I didn't want to disturb that little nap you took in my bookcase.” 

“I… didn’t make it….” Pierre wasn’t sure if he was asking a question or making a statement. All the mortal terror that he experienced up to this point seemed to fade away into a cold and disconnected numb. “You…” 

“Shhhh” Silvia lightly brushed the blood and sweat off of Pierre’s face with her fingers. She was extra careful to avoid causing even the slightest discomfort. “Come here.” It wasn’t really a suggestion as Silvia grabbed Pierre’s good and slowly lifted him up to her face. Pierre hung limp as he watched the approaching face with almost callous disinterest. He tried to focus his remaining energy into his hand. It started to have a faint glow before Silvia pinched it with her free hand as if she was putting out the flame of a candle. “That’s enough. We both know that you’re pushing yourself just to stay conscious at this point, and I really want you awake for this next part…” 

Silvia stood up to her full height as Pierre tried to push away the sudden dizziness. “Come along little mage, I want to give you the grand tour of the dinning hall… among other things….” wasting no time, she promptly turned and walked back into the library, making sure to close and lock the door as went back inside, sealing Pierre inside the castle.