The roars of the demon reverberated through the corridor. Millie the witch cackled as the malicious red light lit up her pointed face and great beak of a nose, enhancing her resemblance to a great green bird of prey.

"Millie, please don't do this. Don't set the demon on my wife and best friend," said Jemmy, his throat dry and his palms sweating.

Millie glowered at him and her brown eyes had that hard look again. "It's the only way. They're strange, controlling women coming to take you away from me."

It was very strange and hypocritical for Millie to say that about Tira and Larissa. Millie was very strange indeed, and she had abducted Jemmy, and raped him too! But now was not the time to remind her. He had to make her show mercy.

"L-let me try and persuade you," he said.

She snapped her fingers and the invisible bonds of her magic released him. "Alright. Change my mind."

Screwing up his courage for this desperate gambit, he cupped her clammy green face in his hands and gently kissed her nose. Her eyes opened wide and he decided to go all or nothing and began to suck her nose, then kissed her cheek and tilted his head and latched his lips on hers. She allowed him to put his tongue in her mouth too and then gripped his head and leaned forward, pushing her cold tongue down his throat. Her heart was beating faster.

They broke apart and her eyes were gleaming. "Alright. I like your style of persuasion. We'll try it your way for now."

She turned to the demon. "Fetch the witch and the lady warrior and bring them to me alive and unspoiled. Treat them gently, or you will suffer the sting of my wrath yourself!"

Jemmy averted his eyes from the cavern down the corridor, but he could see a red, scaly demon out of the corner of his eye, with eyes like searing yellow saucers.

The demon roared and there came the sound of the beating of great wings. It was rising into the air. That cavern had no roof then. The demon was going to capture Larissa and Tira then. But Tira had dealt with worse before.

"I can always reach out and tell my Del-Del to use lethal force instead."

"Your Del-Del?"

"The demon of course. His name is Dellmag, but we've established a rapport, and now he's my little Del-Del. Now … What Del-Del is going to do is bring the weird women here unharmed. For them to stay unharmed, you have to keep me happy. Do you follow?"

She gripped his shoulders and leaned close so that her cold breath blasted his face. "Do you follow, Jemmy?"

"I – I follow," he said. "I want to please you. Just give me the chance."

She gazed back at him, her brown eyes beginning to tear up. "That's so sweet. I have to get comfortable first, then we can get busy."

00O00

Millie insisted on dinner first. "Get our energy up. I want to savour this as long as possible," she said.

"Mm. Right," said Jemmy. They ate fruit, fish and more of that snake meat.

Then Millie arose. "Really sorry, but I'm going to restrain you until I'm ready."

"Like I'd go anywhere!" said Jemmy.

He wouldn't renege if that meant putting Tira and Larissa at risk.

"Mm. I hope not, sweet-face," said Millie.

She bound him with her invisible strings again, and after about twenty minutes, he found himself forced to his feet by her puppeteering magic and propelled forwards down the network of tunnels until he came to a black oak door which swung open. He staggered inside and then felt the strings release him.

Millie had a bed chamber deep in the mountain tunnels, with a bed carved into the living rock. The sheets and mattresses were black and velvety and the room was lit by black candles that had ghostly blue flames that cast flickering shadows on the walls. There were weird symbols etched onto the walls. Millie had shelves of books with more esoteric symbols, and another shelf with a fanged skull of some unknown humanoid. Her broomstick was hung on the opposite wall.

Jemmy glanced quickly around. There were two little cribs made of black wood beside the bed.

Millie reclined on the mattress in all her naked, green glory. Her dirty-blond hair hung loose. Her breasts rose and fell as she breathed hard, her nostrils dilating and she licked her plump, black lips with a greyish tongue.

"Um… what are the cribs for, Millie?" said Jemmy, feeling his stomach flutter with his nervousness. She had raped him earlier today and he couldn't forget it, however much he wished to.

She raised a thin eyebrow. "For baby Leo of course, when I bring him here. And for our kid, too when he comes along. What did you think they were for? Honestly." She shook her head, the strands of her hair jiggling. She held up a small crystal bottle with a black stopper. "Take off your clothes."

He nervously stripped down.

"Very good. Now show me your arse."

Blushing, Jemmy turned around.

"Very nice," said Millie smirking. "Now come!" she snapped her fingers.

Jemmy sat himself beside her on the black mattress. The sweet, musty odour of the witch's body filled his nostrils. Since she had raped him, he had had the unnerving sense that the odour was clinging to him, too.

Millie pulled the stopper out of the bottle. A peppery smell filled the air. "Take this. To give you stamina." She smirked again so that her eyes were reduced to slits.

Jemmy swallowed the potion. It was spicy and burned his throat. He coughed. He felt warmth course through him.

Millie was gazing at him. "Do you feel it working?" She touched his manhood which hardened in response. "This life giving organ should work overtime." She tapped her nose. "This beak won't give me your baby."

Jemmy groaned. She was still fuming about his blurting out an insult regarding the size of her nose. He shouldn't be the one apologising, since she was the one who raped him, but he didn't have any other cards to play. He had to placate her. For Tira and Larissa, the women he loved.

"Nothing wrong with your nose, Millie. Um… There are many types of beauty. Larissa has a bald pate… um…"

"I know," said Millie, clutching his hand in both of hers. "Tell me… is it sensual, touching her bare scalp? Tell me!"

She added the last words insistently and glared at him, so Jemmy hastened to answer. "Yes. Caressing her scalp, rubbing lotions into our scalp and kissing her scalp are all highly erotic."

"Highly erotic!" she mimicked his Coltbridge accent. "Got to love the way people from Coltbridge talk."

She looked down at his manhood which was beginning to engorge as her potion took effect. "OK, good, it's working," she said. She reached over and picked up a red vial from the bedside table and uncorked it, swallowing the contents. "Mm. It's more likely we'll have a boy as long as this potion works." She looked up and stared into his eyes. "I think you are really a kind and open minded guy. But I want you to insult me again."

She was gazing at him, her brown eyes unblinking.

"Um…!"

"Do it!" she hissed.

"OK, big nose," he said hastily.

"Pathetic." She said, her lip curling.

"I – I mean… how nice it must be for you to be able to smell the coffee beans in Coltbridge all those miles away," said Jemmy, wondering why on Granat she wanted him to insult her.

"Ohhh…" Millie took a sharp intake of breath and her mouth formed a perfect 'O' as her eyes widened. "You're gonna get it now, kid!"

She pounced on him, wrestling him to the bed and straddling on top of him. She slapped his face. "You're my pathetic man-whore! Say it!"

"I-I'm your pathetic man-whore," gasped Jemmy.

"Don't you know it?" she said cackling, then she impaled himself on his manhood and there followed a long – it seemed to Jemmy really long – bout of intercourse, with sensations screaming through him, his seed erupting into the witch over and over. The potion seemed to reduce his refractory period so that he recovered almost immediately. It was like a weird, fever dream, with Millie cackling wildly, screaming like a banshee and slapping him around.

After they had done it six times, Jemmy was sore, but not tired exactly. Must be whatever magic was in the witch's potion.

Millie sat up, still straddling him. She was gasping, her breasts heaving. Her green face gleamed in the candlelight with a sheen of sweat. "Oh Shekka." She looked down and grinned, then squeezed Jemmy's cheeks so that his tongue stuck out. "My pretty, painted, puppet boy, to think you were fighting it earlier. Now come, put that tongue to work."

She demanded that he put his tongue to work around her taint and then into her womanly parts, which had the mingled tastes of a witch's juices and his own seed. He had to go through with this for the ones he loved. It was his duty. He licked at her clitoris, making her kick and scream and sweat. If it made her happy, it would stop her using lethal force against Tira and Larissa.

Afterwards, Millie took him in her strong arms and put his head in her lap, gazing down at him with surprising tenderness. "You're so sweet."

This witch was certainly moody!

The candlelight shone off Millie's green cheeks and the tip of her long nose. "I just want to be able to take you into my womb, give birth to you and be your mummy. But it's better to wait 'til I have your baby."

Millie clearly had all kinds of issues.

"Now suck my teat like a good baby."

The things Jemmy had to do to make her show mercy… He sucked on her cold nipple, while she cooed at him. "Can't you just be my baby forever?"

Jemmy felt sorry for Millie's future kids. And what if one of them was his as well! He had to worry about that.

"W-Will Tira and Larissa be alright?" Jemmy asked.

"Of course," said Millie. "But we can check on 'em if you like with my magic. Lie down. We have to be touching, then we can go on a spirit flight. It's quite safe."

Jemmy lay down and Millie clambered on top of him, covering him with her sweaty, clammy green body. Did she want even more sex? Jemmy didn't, but his manhood was becoming erect and hard with her on top of him.

"I'm the one who'll be doing the work, so I decide on what type of contact. Brace yourself!"

They went at it again, and the sensations were explosive. Millie screamed weird sounding words and they were soaring high into the ether, leaving their entangled bodies behind.

00O00

"See, I was right," said Gloom when Vixen the assassin departed. "Trips to the fair do take weird turns. Granat is a magical world after all."

"I truly hope Vixen as a trick up her sleeve," said Larissa. "She is so secretive. It's often hard to tell."

They made their way through the fair and passed a group of men and women in colourful clothes dancing to the cheers of the onlookers. Larissa had to admire the expertise of the dancers. They moved with a flowing grace in pairs and in threes, alternating between partners.

Tira looked at the dancers and her eyes widened at the sight of one of them – a handsome, muscular young man with brown hair dressed in a blue tunic.

"This dance had the charming nickname, the Dance of Life," said Larissa.

"Stupid nickname," grumbled Gloom. "Why are you gawping at that young man, Mistress?"

"He's so, um, beautiful and graceful, that's all," said Tira, twirling a strand of her golden hair between her green fingers.

"What's the point of them capering about like that?" said Gloom, as though determined to be irritable.

"They dance to get money from the onlookers of course," said Larissa. "If they don't dance well enough, they probably don't eat."

"Then I wanna help them," said Tira.

She took out a pair of pipes from her pocket and began to blow into them, her green cheeks puffing out, making her look adorably funny in Larissa's opinion.

Gloom leapt off her shoulder. "Is this really a worthwhile use of a spell?" he demanded.

Tira played an eerie, haunting melody. There was magic resonating in its notes. The tempo of the dance increased, as they caught the witch's mesmerising tune and appeared to be swept up in it. Tira's green forehead began to gleam with sweat. Any significant use of magic cost her energy. The speed of the dancers increased and the crowd went wild, cheering and stamping their feet. Larissa clapped too.

Only Gloom was unaffected. "Humans are so weird," he muttered.

Some of the dancers began to pull in members of the crowd. The handsome young man Tira had been eyeing suddenly danced over to them and taking Tira's hand, he pulled her into the dance as well. The witch gave a little squeak and hastily put her pipe into her pocket before the dancer twirled her around and caught her in his arms. The two of them began to dance at a frenzied speed that was difficult for Larissa to keep pace of. Some members of the crowd started chucking coins at them in a hail of metal discs and squares.

Eventually the dance was over, and Tira and the dancer came over to them. Tira was grinning from ear to ear. She was perspiring freely, and her blond hair was dishevelled. She gave off a powerful, musty odour. Larissa would never ever mention it, but the sweet girl had a greater than average problem with body odour.

"Wonderful dancing," said the dancer. "You dance like a pro."

"Thank you, cool cat," said Tira, giggling.

"It was from her magic, obviously," said Gloom.

"Yes, I could tell there was magic involved," said the dancer. "I'm Jehu, by the way."

"I'm Tira. A witch." Tira was gazing at Jehu's face, her eyes shining.

Jehu was good looking, Larissa could see that. His features were strong and chiselled, his jaw had just a hint of stubble, and his complexion, tanned though it was, still showed fairness, with a sprinkling of tiny freckles over his nose and cheeks.

"I'm Gloom. An imp in case you didn't notice," said Gloom from the ground. "I mean, it's sort of difficult to spot that she's a witch without her pointing it out, isn't it?"

"I'm Larissa, Warrior of Coltbridge," said Larissa.

"W- We're all together," said Tira.

"And how has the city been treating you?" said Jehu.

"I-We… We're just passing through," said Tira. "We have to get through the North gate." Her bottom lip quivered. "A – A dear friend is missing and in trouble…" her voice trembled like she was going to cry.

"You'd think she was the one who's his wife," said Gloom tersely, pointing a little clawed finger at Tira.

Jehu put an arm around her shoulder and she leaned against him, sniffing. He stroked his stubbly chin. "Well, Tira, you helped us get enough coins to pay for our supper and board tonight," said Jehu. "Perhaps I could be of assistance? Come and join us in the Blue Lobster tavern at the docks tonight. You're all welcome. Even the imp."

"Even me?" said Gloom, puffing himself up indignantly.

"We'll be there," said Tira, clasping his hands and gazing into his eyes.

The dancers left and the trio made their way to the other end of the fair to re-join the streets. "You do realise you've booked us two dinner dates?" said Gloom. "We're supposed to meet that creepy assassin in the other tavern."

"We can make both," said Larissa.

As they left the fair, the shadows lengthened. Different people and creatures went about their business or huddled around doorways in the narrow cobbled streets.

"Something's wrong," said Gloom suddenly. "Something's coming."

They heard the beating of great wings and looked up to see a red light high in the sky that came closer and closer.

"What is that?" said Larissa frowning.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Gloom.

"Oh no!" said Tira.

The glaring light hurtled towards them and grew more distinct. Now they saw a red, scaly monstrosity, with searing yellow eyes…