Margret’s slow, careful steps to keep me in her palm made her the last one to the wagon, but she knew they could not leave without her. Llelwyl gave her the stink eye but kept her mouth shut while Margret held her hand level with the wagon’s frame, giving me time to step off.  It took a moment to reacclimate to standing on firm wood again, but at least I was no longer at risk of falling hundreds of feet just because someone stumbled.

Unfortunately, Margret had chosen to disembark me in the most dangerous spot.  I was right in front of Llelwyl, staring up the supple leather tower of her boot and close enough I could touch the hard sole.  She glared down at me and began tapping her toes, making the wooden frame shake with each thud, and Bushwack joined her glare.  When I looked into her eyes, I knew we shared the same thought: just a little bit forward, and she could say it was an accident. The only difference was only I knew it would be non-fatal.

The ground shook when Margret set her boot atop the frame, then it tilted under the force of her weight.  It leveled out when the aftershock hit, and the sudden, sharp movement pitched me forward.  I landed on the rounded toe of Llelwyl’s boot, my limbs splayed as though I were giving it a big hug.  My body had been launched high enough that most of it rested atop the toe, so I did not have to suffer the indignity of sliding off.

Llelwyl kept her expression impassive while she leaned forward and reached an arm toward me. She cocked her middle finger behind her thumb and rested it on the side of her boot, then released the tension.  Her fingertip struck me in the side, smashing several ribs and bruising the rest when it flicked me away.  I landed hard on the bare wood frame and skipped off, slamming into the side of Margret’s boot.  The hard leather stopped me, and I fell back onto the wagon’s frame.

While I laid there Margret lifted her heel, and the grinding of her sole against bare lumber grated at my ears.  Her heel hung in the air over me, wobbling while settled into the driver’s position.  Panic incited me to action and I threw myself forward, enduring the jabbing pain in my ribs as I rolled over them.  She set her heel back down with a loud crack that shook me so hard I worried I would liquefy.  By just a hair I had made it past her heel and scrunched myself into the tiny gap between it and her sole, narrowly avoiding the smashing blow.

Margret moved her boot from atop me, and with light pouring in I saw how close I had come to being flattened again.  The open space was no wider than a finger; by all rights, even I should not have fit in there.  I realized I was breathing in short, rapid gasps, and made myself slow down to keep from hyperventilating.  Vibrations shook me while Margret got comfortable, and her boots pounded against the wood as she got ready to drive.  She had no idea how close she had come to crushing me.

“Where we heading, Lell?” Margret asked.

“Just follow the road and I’ll tell you when to turn and stop,” Llelwyl answered tersely.

“Sure, the usual drill,” Margret began, “but where are we going?  What’s the plan when we get there?”

“I guess we can get that settled now,” Llelwyl said with a loud sigh.  “The camp’s chest contained extensive correspondence between their leader and a self-identified witch named Circe, including a map to her cabin not too far from here.   She was very insistent on having it delivered by yesterday so she could properly cleanse it in preparation for her ‘master.’  Based on the dates the hand-off is supposed to happen later today, so we need to move fast.  No time for any fancy plan: we’re going to breach the door, subdue the witch, and grab the orb.”

“That doesn’t sound a little suspicious to you?” Sondra cut in.

Llelwyl turned to her and asked, “What do you mean?”

“You don’t think it’s convenient you found this a day before it was too late?” Sondra elaborated.  “Or that the whole transaction plan is laid out in there?  Or even that there’s a map included?  This smells heavily of a trap.”

“I know it does,” Llelwyl admitted.  “It’s risky, but we can’t let her give the Orb of Power to whatever she’s contracted to, nor can we give her time to use it herself.  If we can stop whatever she has planned, it’ll be worth it.  Besides, if we all work together no trap can stop us, no matter how well it’s laid.”  It was surprising to hear Llelwyl encourage the rest of her team for once instead of using her pulpit to rail against me.  If they could keep up this cohesion, they should be able to pull it off.

Kirinhalut appeared behind the elf, her green dress forming an excellent backdrop.  “Sorry to intrude,” she began, “but if I heard right, you’re going off to fight a wizard?”

Llelwyl turned and answered, “A witch, but yes.”

“Would you mind if I held onto the shrunken human, then?  It’d be too dangerous for you to take him along, and it doesn’t feel right for him to be left all alone.”

“Please, take him now.”  Llelwyl reached down and grabbed me with a quick swipe, making my broken ribs scream from the pressure.  “That way I don’t have to worry about accidentally smashing him.”  Centrifugal force pressed me hard against her palm as she continued moving me, and the only thing that kept me from screaming was her fingertip conveniently placed over my mouth.  Clearly, her new-found leadership abilities did not extend to people she did not consider part of the team.

Llelwyl loosened her fingers and I slid down the long, flesh-lined tunnel that formed.  I landed in Kirinhalut’s palm and yelped in pain from the sudden jolt to my ribs. The elf moved her hand away and turned to sit while the succubus cupped her hand around me like I was at the base of a crater.  “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him.”  She did get so much as a nod in acknowledgment from Llelwyl, who began selecting arrows to put into her quiver.

Kirinhalut clutched me to her chest and walked back to her seat, making sure to press hard enough to irritate my ribs.  Her body shaking with her steps agitated them even more, keeping them from healing.  My whimpers of pain were muffled by her breast, though I knew she could feel my constant agony.  A slight twist of her hand exacerbated it, and I knew she was feeding off it.

Her hand suddenly dropped, and after sticking to her chest for a moment I fell into her waiting palm.  Kirinhalut lifted me to her chin so she could gaze down at me, smiling smugly while I gawked at her face looming over me.  She was silent, apparently content to simply inspire fear while reveling in the power she felt over me.

Want to know a secret? she forced into my mind.

“You’re going to tell –“  Kirinhalut folded her middle finger inward so it slapped me, causing me to stop mid-sentence.

I told you, bugs don’t talk!  This is your last warning before I start acting like a curious child and pull your limbs off.  That got through to me.  With a constant supply of regenerating limbs, she could yank off my arms for all eternity.  But now I’m going to make you wait to learn this secret.  Kirinhalut turned her hand sideways, dumping me out of it.  I landed on the wooden floor between her feet, and I cried out when the ribs that had merely been bruised broke, too.  When I looked to the side, however, her enormous shoes were not there.  She had completely disappeared.

For several minutes I laid on the floor, abandoned.  Until my ribs healed I would not be able to call for help, and crawling even an inch would take minutes and result in amazing levels of torment.  The only thing I could do was roll onto my back to stop the constant, throbbing pain, which made it surge until I managed to push myself over and it finally abated.  Every bump the wagon hit brought the pain back, but without them being moved too much they should start healing soon.

As suddenly has she had disappeared, Kirinhalut rematerialized back in her seat.  She had carefully chosen her location so one ivory-colored high heel was beside me as a reminder of how puny I was while the other was suspended above, slowly swinging with her leg’s slight movements.  Her black eyes, just visible past her knees, peered down at me, completely devoid of emotion.

If I tell you my secret, you can’t tell anyone.  My mind was too scattered to think back at her, and I did not want the immense pain of having my arms ripped off along with my broken ribs.  Of course, if you tried I’d stop you, and you’d pay for it later.  Ready?  I was still incapable of responding to her in a way she would approve, and she knew that.

I’m the witch’s master.  Kirinhalut waited a moment for it to sink in before adding, Bet you didn’t see that coming, did you?  I just told her she has some do-gooders coming her way, so she’ll be ready for them.  Thanks to me, they are walking into a trap!  And as a recipient of one of my mortal pacts, she will feed my power by using my methods.  In a matter of hours your friends will be no bigger than you are, and I’ll be the most powerful succubus in the multiverse!  I’ll have entire cities in my thrall, no bigger than a coin, and I have you and a group of over-eager adventurers to thank for it.

I could not let this happen, but there was nothing I could do to stop it, either.  Kirinhalut had complete control over me thanks to her demonic bond, and her sheer physical size kept me from getting too far.  Their plan was to simply walk in and start blasting, thinking they had the element of surprise, and without this information that would not change.  It would take a miracle to stop the succubus’s plan.

The journey was long enough for my ribs to start healing, and my chest filled with a familiar tingling sensation.  If they fully stitched themselves together before we arrived I might be able to warn them, though it would cost me dearly.  Kirinhalut knew my thoughts, and to deter me she uncrossed her legs and slammed her floating heel down beside me, making my whole body tremble while she crossed her other leg over.  A gigantic shoe was now between me and the party, so no matter how fast I ran I would not be able to get past it before getting squished.

The wagon rolled to a stop, and I slid into Kirinhalut’s shoe.  With a quick flick of her toe she shoved me away, then moved it so it was right next to me again.  Heavy boots thudded against wood while the rest of the party filed out, and when they hopped off the wagon any chance of stopping them was gone.

Ten more hours for the cleansing, then I can claim the orb without being banished.  Even telepathically she was smug.  I’ll also get to claim one of the mortals as tribute.  The blond would be a good choice, since I could make one of you watch while I tortured the other, but I think the elf would be more than willing to torture you for me if I let her.  Sometimes I just feel spoiled for choice. 

No matter how hard I tried to push them out her musings polluted my brain and trying to force them out made it worse. The only thoughts I could have on my own were dominated by concern for Sondra and Margret, and Kirinhalut played on those fears.  There was nothing I could do to stop her cruel imagination, honed by millennia of torturing mortals, from running wild in my brain while my only remaining friends marched to their peril.