Story of Soul calibur II

Soul Calibur:
Part One: A Dusty Highway​

>:-D< ​

Sophitia swept a loose strand of her blond hair back from her face and sighed. A brisk breeze blew along the deserted road, a dusty remnant of the Romans who had once called all of the Old World theirs. Winter's grip on the world was just loosening and she was dressed lightly in her usual white tunic with a blue cloak thrown over it. She had been walking for most of the day, drawn by the vision shown to her by Hephaestus, drawn by the vision of the Soul Edge.

She shivered despite the warm Italian sun at the thought of the cursed blade. She had nearly died destroying one half of it, saved only by the timely intervention of the mysterious woman from the East. Now, once again, she was following the guidance of her god, hoping this time to end the menace of the cursed blade forever.

The young warrior priestess turned her head to look at the setting sun and sighed. Another night spent on the road with no village or shelter in sight. She shrugged and shifted her pack on her shoulders, kicking at a loose stone on the highway. As she watched the falling sun set, she wondered if Rothion was watching it as well.

"Look what we have here," a rough male voice said from behind her. Sophitia cursed herself for failing to keep a sharp lookout, bandits were common in this area of Italy and she had been warned about traveling alone at the last village. She surreptitiously loosened her gladius in its scabbard and turned to face the voice.

"Ooh, such a pretty lady shouldn't be walking around alone," the bandit said, his yellowed teeth bared in a grin, "you never now what might happen." His fellows, at least four of them, laughed at his jest.

"I suppose warning you is useless," Sophitia said quietly as she tossed her pack to the side of the road and let her cloak fall to the ground.

"Warning us?" the bandit said as he stepped forward, followed closely by his companions. "Strip now and we'll let you live," he snarled suddenly.

Sophitia sighed and stepped closer to the leading bandit. He reached out with filthy hands to tear her tunic from her body and grunted in surprise when she rushed towards him. The man let out a high wheeze as she grabbed his shoulders and rammed her knee into his crotch hard enough to lift him from the ground. With a final gasp he collapsed to the ground in a boneless heap.

"This is your last chance," she said evenly as she drew her sword and slid her shield from her back to her arm. The bandits began to spread out around her, drawing swords and a rusty flintlock pistol. Sophitia brought her shield up as the bandit shot at her, a cloud of greyish smoke exploding from the pistol's barrel. She lurched as she felt the pistol ball ricochet of her shield and smash into a second bandit's head.

The bandits paused for a moment as the one hit with the ball clutched at the ruins of his face and fell to the ground, his feet flopping for a moment and then going still. Sophitia used their hesitation to run another through, her sword emerging from the man's back as she turned and kicked the bandit approaching her from behind, knocking him to the road unconscious.

The last one, out of stupidity or desperation, tried to rush her. She waited until he closed with her and smashed her shield into the man's face, sending him reeling as she plunged her sword into his heart.

Sophitia cleaned her sword on a bandit's shirt and surveyed the two surviving and unconscious bandits. "I'm sorry," she whispered. But she knew she had to do it, these men would go on killing and raping until someone stopped them. She ignored the tear running down her face as she ruthlessly dispatched them, her sword piercing each of their hearts in turn. Shaking her head in sorrow, she cleaned her sword again and retrieved her pack and cloak.

"Oh, Rothion, you never intended your crafts to draw the blood of man," she sighed as she set out down the road again.


***


Sophitia stopped for the night in a small copse of trees nestled in a hollow a ways from the road. She could have a fire here and not worry about someone seeing it from the road. Eager at the thought of some hot food, she mixed some dried meat with some wild vegetables to form a basic but satisfying stew. As she leaned against a fallen tree trunk, contemplating the reflection of the fire on her sword and shield, she remembered the day Rothion had given them to her, the day she had left to find the Soul Edge.

It had been only a week before she and Rothion were to be wed when the vision came to her. She remembered waking from her sleep, drenched in a cold sweat, the vision of a column of light piercing the sky and scattering itself over the world filling her with dread.

She had known that the light was the evil seed of the Soul Edge which she had thought destroyed a year before, attempting to turn the world into a seething cauldron of violence and chaos.

Her gaze fell once more to the sword and shield that Rothion had crafted for her from the sacred iron of Hephaestus. He had wanted to journey with her, but they both knew that for this task she would have to travel alone. Sophitia shifted herself on the blanket she was sitting on, she could feel a warm lust growing inside her as she thought of her betrothed.

"I wish you were here to do this to me," she whispered as she tugged off her thigh-high boots and placed them to the side. She paused, listening for any sign of another traveler in the night, and tugged her underwear down her slender legs and set it on the blanket.

She began to lightly rub herself there as she thought of Rothion....


***


"I made you these," Rothion said as he handed Sophitia a large cloth wrapped bundle. They were both standing beside the crystal pool fed by a small waterfall. Bees greeting the arrival of Spring buzzed about the clearing accompanied by the sound of a bird singing in the distance.

She was silent as she opened the bundle and gasped as she saw the exquisite workmanship of the sword and shield within. "They're beautiful!" she said as she hefted them, testing their balance. "So these were what you were working on."

Rothion smiled and nodded. "All night and all day so you could have them in time," he said, stepping closer to her.

"I'm sorry that I have to go," she whispered as she set the sword and shield onto the wrapping. "But-"

"I know, dearest, I know," he said softly as he kissed her.

Sophitia murmured in pleasure as he ran his hands over her back, pulling up the skirt of her tunic. She hoped that no one else was around as his nimble hands tugged down her underwear. She laughed in delight as the smith picked her up and lowered her to the soft grass that grew by the waterfall. Her laughter changed to moans as he kissed down her neck to the soft slopes of her breasts.

"Oh, Rothion," she gasped as he undid the ties of her tunic and lifted it over her head. She stretched out in the grass and watched as he undressed, the muscles from years in the forge rippling as he set his clothes aside. She gasped again as he gently eased himself into her, his **** sending a rippling wave of heat through her.

The smith bent his head to suck at her breasts as he slowly thrust into her, his hands supporting him as Sophitia ran her hands over his back. He began to pump faster as he kissed his way back up her neck and sucked lightly on her throat. Sophitia moaned loudly and wrapped her legs around his waist, urging him deeper into her. "Harder," she whispered huskily into his ear.

He raised his head to look at her. "But I don't want to hurt-"

"Don't worry- Please, do it!" she gasped out. Rothion smiled and kissed her again then grunted and began to pump into her with enough force to move her across the grass. She began to cry out with each of his thrusts, her hands buried in his hair as she jerked her hips up to meet his thrusts. Rothion pumped faster, his hips a blur as he thrust between her thighs, losing control as Sophitia cried out beneath him.

She began to let out high pitched yells as she felt herself coming, her thighs tightening around his waist as she spasmed and jerked, her back arching and her breasts pressing against his chest as she tossed her head. Her eyes were clenched shut as she let out a final cry and came, her fingers digging into his back.

Rothion smiled as he gasped for breath, throwing his head back as he bucked furiously into her and felt a tightening in his balls and released his seed into her. They were both panting as he fell onto her and rolled off to the side, the sun beating down on their sweat slick bodies...


***


Sophitia ground her teeth together and let her head fall forward onto her chest as she came, her fingers thrusting madly into herself while her other hand rubbed her clit furiously. She rolled over onto her side and watched the fire as she basked in the warm afterglow. She could almost feel Rothion with her as she slowly fell asleep.


By the Shores of the Red Sea


"I hope you appreciate the effort that I put into finding you again," the demon said. The demon stood above the paralyzed form of Taki, it's body outlined against the full moon rising behind it.

Taki stared at it, every fragment of her will trying to break the spell it had cast on her. She could feel her fingers moving slightly, if she could only reach her weapon...

"I had to kill two of your fellow demon hunters before I found what I was looking for," the demon continued, "it was foolish of you to give her a document in English." The demon crouched by her, its clawed feet digging furrows in the grass of the oasis. "She was amusing, for a while anyway." He reached out and ran his clawed hand over her stomach, plucking at the fabric of her skintight bodysuit. "She might still be alive."

Taki watched with narrowed eyes as the demon stood and stretched, his great bat wings blocking out the moonlight momentarily. He had the face of a very handsome man with one exception, his eyes, like all demons, were different. The stranger the eyes, the more powerful the demon, at least that had been Taki's experience. His eyes were jet black with dancing pinpricks of blue light. "Enough talk," he said, shuddering in pleasure as a mass of tentacles burst from his back and raised themselves like striking cobras. "Now, down to pleasure."

Taki gritted her teeth as the demon knelt down beside her and tore her bodysuit in two, revealing her naked and lush body. "Where to start..." he mused as he ran his hands over her bare skin. He rolled her nipples between his fingers, watching idly as they hardened. "Not a very useful power, exciting women," he said as he began to knead her breasts. "I admit, I was jealous of the other demons. They could control animals or animate the dead. All I could do was drive human women into a frenzy of lust. Not very useful at all when you're trying to claw your way up the demon ranks. But it does have it's uses."

Taki felt her teeth grinding together as the demon's influence began to wash over her. She could feel her pussy moistening with each touch of the demon's hands. She gasped in pleasure as the demon ran a long, rough tongue over her stomach towards the triangle of dark hair below.

"I will kill you," she managed to gasp as his tongue began to play over her clit. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the demon's **** swelling to an even greater length.

"I'm sure you'll try. But you couldn't the first time, so why do think you'll be able to now?" the demon said, removing his tongue from her clit and replacing it with a small tentacle. "How does it feel, knowing that I could rape you in the most horrific ways yet you would enjoy it, would love it and would beg me for more?"

Taki was silent. Some demons enjoyed screams, others enjoyed tears. This one enjoyed helpless boasts and threats. She tried not to moan in pleasure as the demon ran his hands down to her waist and lifted her, her legs and arms falling limply to trail in the grass. "How would you like me to take you?" the demon asked cheerfully. "Any preferred position?" He thought for a minute, holding Taki like a doll above his lap and his enormous erection. "Mikiko said that you enjoyed being on top."

Taki couldn't help looking down as the demon lowered her carefully onto his ****, one hand holding her by the waist, the other spreading her thighs apart. She cried out as his **** began to press against her pussy and screamed in pleasure as it penetrated her. To her embarrassment, she was already close to coming from the demon's influence. He began to bounce her up and down his ****, using her to masturbate as he licked her neck.

Her breasts bounced as the demon leaned back against a tree and began to rapidly jerk her up and down his ****. Taki's head lolled limply from side to side as her entire body shuddered. Her hands clenched into fists as she felt herself coming, her pussy tightening around the demon's ****. The demon roared in pleasure and jerked her hard down onto his ****, eliciting a pleasured scream from her as he shot his seed into her.

"Now, why don't we take it slower this time?" he said into her ear as he breathed heavily. Taki whimpered as the demon lifted her off his **** and spun her around. Her head lolled back to rest on the demon's chest as he pulled her back onto his **** and let her rest there, impaled to the limit.

Taki could feel the muscles in the demon's chest rippling as he moved his right arm up her body to cup her breast. His other hand moved down to between her legs and began to rub her clit as he licked the pale and delicate skin of her throat. "Open wide," he whispered into her ear as a tentacle rose in front of her face.

The demon hunter tried to press her lips together but found them opening to let the tentacle slide in without resistance. Her face burned red with shame as the tentacle slid deep into her mouth and she began to suck on it wantonly. "That feels good," the demon said huskily as the Taki ran her tongue over the surface of the tentacle, her cheeks hollowing as she sucked hungrily at it. She made a muffled gasping sound as the tentacle began to slide back and forth within her mouth, each time going deeper until it hit the back of her throat. She closed her eyes as she swallowed the tentacle down her throat, her lips tight around it as it pumped itself back and forth.

The demon began to pump his **** into her in time with the tentacle in her mouth. With each thrust the tentacle seemed to be growing larger until it filled her mouth. She groaned in protest as it began to thrust rapidly into her throat, coming close to making her gag. The demon's breath was loud in her ears as she bounced up and down his ****.

Finally, with a loud roar, the demon came in her. The tentacle pulled back into her mouth and began to pump his seed into her, the hot liquid filling her mouth instantly and running out from the corners to splash onto her breasts. Taki found herself frantically swallowing his seed and desperately licking his come from the corners of her mouth and scooping up the stray seed with her fingers. With a free hand, she reached up and grabbed the tentacle hovering in front of her face, jerking her hand furiously up and down its length until a gout of demonseed spurted from its tip and splattered across her face.

The demon smiled in pleasure as Taki licked every last drop of his seed from her face and fingers. He lifted her off his **** and set her on the ground in front of him, watching as she bent to clean his **** with her mouth. He watched her head bobbing, her midnight black hair matted in places with his come. He came again, filling her mouth with his seed and sighed contentedly as he leaned against the tree trunk. So easy, he thought, I'll soon have the other girl traveling with this one as well. What was her name? Xianghua? Yes, Xianghua. So wrapped up in his dreams of conquest and lust, he didn't notice Taki's hand moving towards her knife...


Soul Calibur:
Beginnings


Isabella Valentine, also called Ivy, blinked and pushed back a strand of her long black hair. Around her lay numerous scattered books and alchemical equipment among the many worktables of her laboratory. She took a deep breath and, with a single straight swipe of her chalk, finished the pentagram on the floor before her.

She stood shakily and set the chalk on a nearby worktable. She watched as it rolled across the scarred and pitted wood to rest against a tome fully a foot in width and two in height. Ivy nervously smoothed the sleeves of her dress and stepped over to the tome.

"Ars Magica Daemonica," she whispered, reading the tome's title yet another time. Years of work, trying to find a way to destroy the blade that destroyed her family. So long, she thought, and now I've reached my destination. She turned to look at another worktable and studied what lay on it.

At first glance the sword seemed almost normal, heavily engraved with cabalistic symbol, it was of medium length and gleamed in the dim candlelight of the laboratory. But when the candlelight flickered seams could be seen in the blade. Ivy smiled tightly, the weapon was a work of art. She had forged it by herself, crafting every part of the sword from metals she had purified in her laboratory. Although it seemed like a normal sword, with a flick of her wrist it would separate and extend to become a deadly bladed whip. The hardest part had been learning how to wield such an unusual weapon, but with the help of a mysterious man from the east she had learned to use it. Whispering a silent prayer of thanks to God for sending the man to teach her, Ivy picked up the sword and placed it in the pentagram. She knelt by the pentagram, her mother's crucifix held tightly in her hands as she prayed for forgiveness.

"Oh holy father, please forgive this sinner for what she is about to do," she whispered. If only there were another way, she thought. But no, no other way. The Soul Edge had destroyed her family, had driven her father mad in his quest to find it. She had followed in his footsteps after he had died and her family had fallen to ruin. Now, she was so close to finding the cursed blade and destroying it once and for all. With the weapon before her she could track the Soul Edge to the ends of the Earth and see that it never harmed another. "God forgive me, there is no other way."

Standing, she turned back to the tome and opened it slowly to a page marked with a heavy red velvet bookmark. Trembling, Isabella raised the crucifix to her lips and kissed it before she began to chant the words of the spell.

Heavy, leaden words spilled from her lips, each syllable seeming to suck the light from the room. The candles flickered and died, leaving her in a darkness as black as pitch. Resolute, she continued the spell from memory and watched as the pentagram began to glow.

A thick red light filled the laboratory, growing stronger as she came closer to completing the spell. For a moment she faltered and almost stopped the spell, but in her mind she could see the Soul Edge, calling her, taunting her with its vile presence. Closing her eyes, she finished the spell.

She gasped as she felt a surge of force sweep through the room, knocking over the unlit candles and forcing her to her knees. The air above the pentagram twisted and warped, seeming to stretch and tear until...something appeared in the hole.

"Who summons me?" the thing said, its voice deep and ringing. Isabella gasped as she saw the demon. It's face was a scarlet caricature of a human's, it's eyes seeming to hold the entire night sky in their depths. Twin horns rose from the demon's forehead, each one lined with glowing red runes. The devil, she thought, I've summoned the devil himself.

"I do," she managed to say at last from her place on the floor before the pentagram.

"And who are you?" the demon said, seeming to smile.

"I am Isabella Valentine."

The demon sniffed the air and smiled. "Nobility, how charming. What can I do for you...Isabella?"

"I need power."

"Of course. Why else would you summon me?"

"The weapon-"

"Yes, the weapon. Very fine craftsmanship, Isabella, very fine indeed. What sort of power do you wish the weapon to have? I can make it so that it will never break, will never dull. I can make your blade mightier than Death's scythe, able to kill with a touch."

"I need the power to destroy."

"Very well, do you wish to call down the power of the heavens? Strike your foes down with lightning and burn their flesh with fire?"

Isabella paled at the demon's words. To kill another human, no, she couldn't do that. "I need the power to destroy the Soul Edge."

"The Soul Edge? That is beyond my power to grant, but there is another who could."

"Who is he?"

"His name I do not know. He is called Nightmare, for he truly is one. If you wish, I could summon him for you."

"Then do so, demon!"

The demon laughed, a rich laughter that sent a delicious shiver running down Isabella's spine. "First I must have my payment," he said with another charming smile.

"What do you want?"

"You, of course," the demon said.

Isabella gasped and pushed herself to her feet. "What do you mean?" she asked in a trembling voice.

"I can smell your innocence, Isabella. You have never known the touch of a man. Give yourself to me and you will have the power you seek, I guarantee it."

Isabella trembled as she reached up to hold the crucifix dangling around her neck. "I must have your decision now, Isabella," the demon said casually. "I certainly understand why you would not want your virginity taken by a demon. I suppose I shall go back to the underworld now-"

"No! Wait. I agree to your price," Isabella said, feeling her heart sinking.

"Good, good," the demon said amiably. "Now, just open the pentagram and allow me through."

Isabella followed his instructions after finishing the seals and wards that she had placed around the room. If this was some sort of demonic trick, at least the demon would be unable to escape from the laboratory. She stepped back as the demon emerged from the swirling light of the portal, shaking out its bat wings and stretching luxuriously. "Ah, Isabella, I am honored to be your first lover," he said as he slowly walked closer to her.

Isabella backed away, feeling her heart pounding as she wondered if she had made a horrible mistake. Distracted, she looked down at the demon's feet and saw that he had large feet similar to a man's but tipped with claws. Looking up his body, she saw that he was wearing a sort of armored kilt. She felt a blush rising in her face as she realized what the bulge under it was.

"I have a condition," she said in hesitant voice as she looked back up to the demon's face. The demon paused and ran a finger tipped with a small claw over the surface of a worktable.

"And what would that be my dear?" he said with a smile. "You do realize that I am under no compulsion to accept any conditions that you may propose once I have left the pentagram."

"I know," Isabella said quietly, feeling a trickle of sweat running down her spine. "I want," she hesitated, "I want you to be gentle."

The demon laughed. "Is that all? I may be able to accommodate you," he said as he looked around the room. "Where do you wish to couple?"

Isabella sighed in relief at the demon's reaction. Feeling much less afraid, she pointed to the small cot she had set up in the laboratory for her long running late night experiments. "There," she said.

"Very well," the demon said. "Hardly suitable for such a...momentous occasion." He waved his hand and the cot was suddenly replaced by a luxurious bed covered with rich silks and satin. "I can do much more for you than this, if you wish it."

Isabella stared at the bed, wondering what the demon could create. "I can give you wonders beyond belief," he said, as if he could hear her thoughts. "I can show you the world. I know you want to know why, why the sun shines, why the the Earth moves through the heavens. All for a small price."

Such knowledge, Isabella thought. What would he want in exchange? Could I bring back- No, she shook her head. "No, just give me the power to destroy the Soul Edge." The demon shrugged, its wings blowing warm air over Isabella's face. "Very well, my dear. Let us conclude our bargain then," he said, gesturing with his well muscled arm towards the bed.

Isabella took a shaking breath as she walked towards the bed, whispering a silent prayer as she removed her crucifix and placed it on a nearby worktable. She was trembling as she sat on the edge of the bed and watched the demon approach. She gasped as it reached out and, with a flick of its claw, sliced her dress from her shoulders. She reflexively reached up to cover herself and whimpered as the demon gently pushed her arms down and away from her breasts. She watched as the demon grinned and lightly ran his fingers over the silken skin of her breasts, a wavering sigh escaping from her mouth as he traced circles around her nipples.

The demon licked his lips, immensely pleased with the woman sitting before him. Her breasts were full and round, feeling delightfully soft as he cupped them and squeezed them softly. He pushed her back onto the bed, watching as she closed her eyes and let her arms fall to her sides. With a single motion he pulled the remnants of her dress from her along with her flimsy drawers. He growled deep in his throat, a sound of lust and hunger, as he removed his kilt. His **** jutted from his body, an engorged spear of flesh ready to drive into the woman lying before him.

He heard Isabella moan as he moved onto the bed, his hands spreading her legs while his fingers slid over the delicate skin of her inner thigh. The young woman turned her head to the side and clenched her jaw as he moved between her legs, his **** bumping against her thigh and leaving a sticky trail of liquid behind.

"Do not worry, my dear," he said softly as he leaned over and kissed the delicate pink skin of her throat. "I will be gentle, at least this time." He could smell her fear and a terrified lust as he licked at her breasts and coaxed her nipples to full hardness. With one hand he reached up and turned her face towards him, bending his face to her's kissing her deeply. Isabella whimpered as he kissed her, pressing her hands against his chest as his tongue slid into her mouth. The demon watched her face as she hesitantly opened her eyes as he stroked her breast. With a wide grin on his face, the demon pushed his **** into her.

He groaned in pleasure as her eyes widened and she gasped in shock. Her body twisted as she tried to escape him, writhing against his hands as he pressed her down onto the bed and pushed deeper into her.

Isabella cried out as she felt her maidenhead pierced by the demon. She closed her eyes and prayed that he was finished as she felt an unfamiliar warmth within her, crying out again as he thrust deeper into her. Panicked, she began to beat against his chest with her hands as he pushed further into her. Her hands curled tightly as a wave of pleasure swept over her as the demon bent his head to her breast. Her struggles weakened as she felt a heat building in her with each thrust of the demon's ****.

"Oh god, no, no," she moaned as pleasure rippled through her body. She began to moan continuously as the demon pistoned his **** into her, jerking her hips across the slick satin covers. Isabella tossed her black hair and looked down between their bodies. She gasped as she saw the demon's ****, almost fully within her, each thrust driving it deeper. With a loud cry she threw back her head and clutched at the demon's shoulders, unable to deny the pleasure she was receiving.

The demon grunted in pleasure with each thrust as he fell onto the woman and crushed her into the deep mattress beneath her. His hands to her hips and held her fast as he pumped into her, feeling his **** swelling within her. She was thrashing beneath him, crying out with each penetration. Near coming, the demon hunched his back and let a cluster of tentacles spring from him. They dove down between their bodies, kneading and stroking Isabella's heaving breasts in time to his thrusts.

The demon grinned again as he looked down at Isabella's face. Her mouth was wide as she let out cry after cry of pleasure, her eyes closed as she tossed her head from side to side. In a flash a tentacle darted into her mouth, muffling her cries instantly. The woman opened her eyes and stared in disbelief at the tentacle filling her mouth. Her eyes pleaded with him as the tentacle began to pump into her mouth as the demon resumed his thrusts.

Isabella's nostrils flared as she fought for breath, feeling the tentacle slide across her tongue in time to the demon's thrusts. She reached up to pull the tentacle free but felt her hands pinned above her head by another pair of tentacles. Moaning in pleasure with a particularly hard thrust, she closed her eyes and resigned herself to her fate. Suddenly, she arched her back, pressing her breasts against the demon's chest as she climaxed. Her body shook violently as she twisted back and forth, her screams of pleasure barely muffled by the tentacle filling her mouth.

Isabella's eyes flew open as the tentacle in her mouth began to spurt a stream of hot, thick liquid into her. The sweet liquid rapidly filled her mouth and began to trickle down her cheeks as she tried to decide whether to swallow it or not.

"Swallow my dear," the demon said huskily as he pounded into her and gave a roar as his seed shot into her. Isabella obeyed and began to swallow his seed, gulping it down until the tentacle pulled back and began to spray the demon's seed onto her face and neck. Something long hidden within her mind surged to the suface and seized control at the sudden heat of the seed splattering across her naked skin. Suddenly she saw a ship riding at anchor in a ruined port with the setting sun sinking into the sea behind it. A sudden flash of insight swept over her, the Soul Edge was there and it was calling to her. Isabella felt her hands freed and began to scoop the demon's seed into her mouth, feeling her tongue running wantonly over her lips.

The demon smiled as he watched the once innocent woman eagerly licking his seed from her delicate fingers. He leaned back and pulled out of her, turning to face the pentagram. With a wave of his hand the chalk flew from the worktable and sealed the pentagram. Another wave of his hand summoned Nightmare.

Isabella sat up and pressed her sweaty breasts against the demon's back as she watched him summon the demon who would give her power to destroy the Soul Edge. An armored form appeared in the swirling smoke of the portal, clad in armor a night blue color, the demonic knight stared at her. She stared back, both figures weighing each other, probing for any weakness as they locked eyes. She smiled at the knight, sure that he was doing to same.

A wordless conversation passed between the demon and the knight. Isabella watched as the knight bent to touch her weapon. With his touch, the weapon suddenly surged to life, crackling bolts of magic rushing across its surface. The knight disappeared as the weapon rose to spin vertically in the air, the sigils engraved on its surface glowing with an unearthly light.

"There, my dear," the demon said, "you have the power you wish. Is there-" He stopped as he turned to face Isabella and found himself looking at a different person. Isabella's hair had changed from a jet black to a shining platinum. Her skin, once a delicate pink in hue had changed to a pale white. And her eyes, no longer were they the timid and shy eyes of the girl who had summoned him. In their place were deep blue eyes that stared into his charred excuse for a soul. "What-" was all he managed to say before she reached out and the weapon shot into her hand. The demon began to back away from her as she snapped the sword forward.

With a gurgling gasp, the demon fell onto the floor, the tip of the sword buried in his chest. The woman on the bed smirked at him and stood over him before she drove the sword deeper into him. For a second the demon lay still, then, with a rush of chill air, his body crumbled into dust. As it did so, the sword crackled to life, wreathed in flame and energy. The last thing her heard was her mocking laugh as his soul was drawn into the sword, filling it with even more power.

Above the dissipating pile of dust, Ivy pulled back her hair and sliced through it, leaving her with a short shock of platinum hair. "Now," she said as she whipped the sword through the air, "the Soul Edge will be destroyed." She could feel power running through her veins as the sword twirled and extended into a segmented whip. Isabella Valentine was gone, in her place was Ivy.

She smiled triumphantly as she swept a light robe around her body and strode from the laboratory, her weapon spinning in arcs around her body. She would need suitable clothes and transportation. Ivy could feel the Soul Edge in her blood, calling to her from across the world. She would find it and the knight and they both would be destroyed.


Soul Calibur:
Nightmare


Billowing clouds of smoke reflected the flames of the burning town. The smoke spread hundreds of feet into the air before wind currents picked it up and smeared it over the steadily darkening evening sky.

The town had been small, a huddling of farming cottages gathered around a meandering stream. A scattering of corpses lay around the town square, the remains of those who had decided to flee from the advancing armies of Nightmare too late.

The demon steed that Nightmare rode pawed at the ground, digging great clumps of earth and grass with each pass of its razor sharp hooves. Nightmare ran a gauntleted hand over the beast's neck as they turned to ride back to the main camp of the Schwarzwind.

The smell blood could be easily smelled over the wind as Nightmare rode into the camp. The demons he led cut a swathe of destruction through the land they trod on, leaving a blasted wasteland where only the smallest and most hardy plants and animals could survive.

Firelight reflected off the azure metal of his armor as he passed a cooking pit where a group of demons were roasting the remains of a farmer's oxen. For a brief second Nightmare wondered whether the farmer had survived or whether he had joined his animals in death, or, perhaps on the spit. Just as quickly as it had come, the thought passed out of the darkness that was Nightmare's mind.

The knight reached his tent, something taken from the wreckage of a merchant's wagon. He did not need the shelter or privacy, but something deep within him desired it nonetheless. He reached out with his gauntleted hand and flicked back the tent flap, taking one last glance over his shoulder at the creatures spread around the camp.

Nightmare slumped down on a large wooden chair, also spoils from a merchant, jamming the Soul Edge point first into the dry earth. The blade was a grotesque perversion of a sword, seemingly crafted from flesh and metal fused together in an unholy amalgamation. The Soul Edge rolled its single eye, peering from at him from just above where the blade's hilt would be, watching as he leaned back in the chair and raised his deformed right hand in front of his face. The knight studied his hand through the narrow slits of his helmet, studying the massively oversized fingers and the two projecting horns that jutted backwards from his wrist. His hand looked more like a stylized gauntlet than his hand, but since he had found the Soul Edge armor and flesh had ceased to be separate. He had become one with his armor, it had become like a second skin to him. He couldn't remember the last time he had removed his helmet.

"My lord," a voice said from the entrance to the tent. Nightmare looked over to the gaunt figure standing there, his body outlined by the setting sun. The demon was his second in command and a good strategist. "The scouts have reported a carriage moving towards this area with a retinue of guards. Do you wish us to let it pass by or to destroy it?"

Nightmare thought for a second, the red lights of his eyes staring into the rolling depths of the Soul Edge's eye. "Bring...bring the occupants to me," he finally said. "Azdaem?" he said as the demon turned to leave.

"Yes, my lord?"

"A church...is there one?"

The demon hesitated before answering. He had been summoned by the power of the Soul Edge and served it. But he also knew that the Soul Edge was wielded by the knight. He glanced from the weapon to the knight and back again. "Yes, my lord, there is one just outside of town," he said, feeling a twinge of nervousness as the Soul Edge turned its eye to glare balefully at him.

"I will be there."

The church was a gutted ruin after the passage of the Schwarzwind. A few pews that had escaped being turned to firewood lay overturned on the stone floor. Some demon had toppled the altar and hidden the crucifix beneath a shroud of dirty cloth torn from the body of some villager.

Nightmare stepped over the shattered ruins of the church's doors and walked slowly towards the altar, his booted feet clanking loudly in the silence of the church. The Soul Edge hung in his right hand, its tip soundlessly cutting a gash in the stone floor as he walked. He stopped before the altar and looked down at it. It was a humble thing, made of wood polished lovingly over the years to a warm glow.

Feeling the Soul Edge becoming more alert, Nightmare bent and pulled the altar upright, swiping aside the blood and dirt spattered on its surface with his left hand. He let the Soul Edge fall to the floor in front of the altar as he walked around it to retrieve the crucifix. He stared at the cross with unchanging eyes, finally propping it up against the far wall behind the altar, brushing the dirt from it as best he could.

Turning, he slowly walked back in front of the altar and knelt. Beside him, the Soul Edge rolled its eye and glared at him, trying to bend him to its will. Nightmare fought with it and won a reprieve, long enough to raise his hands before him in prayer.

Closing his eyes, he remembered a church like this. He remembered kneeling in front of an altar, staying there through the night until his armor and sword was brought to him with dawn's light.

"Help...me," he managed to say, struggling mightily against the wild fire of the Soul Edge's madness.

"Siegfried," a soft voice, delicate and beautiful, said from behind him. Nightmare turned his head and saw a woman standing behind him, her arms stretched out to him while a brilliant white light shone from her. "There is still time, give up the Soul Edge."

Nightmare stood slowly, the Soul Edge in his hand. "Who...are...you?" he asked slowly. He turned his head slightly away from her as the light increased then disappeared, leaving behind a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in a loose white gown that fell to her ankles. Her blond hair was swept back from her face, trailing down to the small of her back. She smiled, her blue eyes warm and enticing, with her arms outstretched to him. Nightmare found himself unconsciously backing away as he saw the ivory feathered wings stretching from her back towards the ceiling.

"Siegfried, you can reject the Soul Edge. Give up your dark desire for revenge, such hate can only lead to damnation," the angel said as she slowly walked towards him.

"No...blood and fire are all that is left to me," he said, remembering the charred ruins of his families castle and the bodies of his servants and soldiers. The bodies of his family, slaughtered without mercy. All because of a single betrayal. "Until I find the one who betrayed me..."

"Why? Why do you do this Siegfried? So much death and pain." The angel was standing in front of him, her face close to his helmet and her hand reaching up to his cheekguard.

"My father...betrayed. I will avenge him," Nightmare managed to say as she reached up with both hands to hold his helmet. He could feel his anger melting away, allowing him to think rationally for the first time in so long...

"Would your father want this? He was a good man, would he want so many others to suffer so that he might be avenged?" Her hands were tightening around his helmet, tensing and ready to lift the heavy azure piece of metal from his head.

"No..." Nightmare said and then the Soul Edge lashed out, searing his soul with fire and fury. Any rationality he had blew away in shreds from the raw anger of the Soul Edge. It had him body and soul and would never let him go. His hand tightened around the Soul Edge as he jerked away from the angel.

She looked at him sorrowfully and tried to reach him again. Nightmare roared in fury and brought up the Soul Edge, its massive triangular blade slicing through the still air as a storm of energy crackled along its length. "Siegfried," the angel said softly.

"No! Not Siegfried," he felt the Soul Edge say through him as it raised itself and prepared to cut down the woman. It stopped as it drew back to strike her and lowered itself. Nightmare suddenly felt a surge of lust rise in him as he stared at the angel.

He could see the soft curves of her body through the light fabric of her gown as he stepped towards her, his eyes glowing with madness. She tried to back away but he was too fast, snatching at her arm and pulling her close. She gasped and tried to fly away as he pulled her towards him and flung her onto the altar.

The angel shook her head dazedly as Nightmare jammed the Soul Edge into the floor besides the altar, its eye staring gleefully at the angel as the knight pinned her shoulders to the altar with his fists. The angel struggled against his grasp, her wings flapping uselessly against the wood of the altar. She let out a loud cry as Nightmare tore her gown from her body, leaving her naked in front of him. She moaned in terror as she heard a wet sound coming from his crotch and saw a massive **** jutting from between his legs.

"Stop this! You can fight it!" she managed to gasp out as he roughly squeezed her breasts with his clawed right hand. Her flesh was a delicate shade of white beneath the vermilion skin of his hand.

The Soul Edge watched gleefully as Nightmare obeyed its commands and forced open the angel's thighs with his left hand. The angel twisted her body, trying to wriggle out from under his grip as he moved between her thighs, his **** rubbing against the silky skin of her inner thigh.

The angel began to groan softly as Nightmare rubbed his **** against her opening, taunting her by beginning to push into her and pulling back at the last moment. Tiring of her struggles, the Soul Edge floated into the air and positioned itself just beyond the angel's head. It floated there, looking at Nightmare and then to the limp angel before it.

Nightmare watched, a wild grin hidden beneath his helmet as a mass of tentacles burst from the Soul Edge. They seemed to be formed from some glowing and shimmering fire as they wrapped around the angel's wrists and pulled them taut over her head.

"Stop, please!" she begged as the her body was stretched between the Soul Edge and Nightmare. Nightmare hesitated, looking down at her slender body, unsullied and pure, unlike so many things in the world. But then he heard the voice of the Soul Edge.

Lust!, he heard, the voice of the Soul Edge vibrating through his mind like the roar of a swarm of locusts. Rational thought fled as Nightmare leaned closer to her face and laughed, reaching up with his clawed right hand to stroke her cheek in a vicious parody of her tender caress earlier. The angel screamed as Nightmare grabbed her hips and thrust into her, burying his entire length in her.

Nightmare rubbed his hands over the angel's breasts, watching as she twisted and turned, her head tossing from side to side as he pumped into her. Tears ran down her face as her wings flapped beneath her, small puffs of wind causing her hair to flutter. Her hands tightened into fists as Nightmare leaned over her and began to pound into her, each stroke jerking her across the surface of the altar.

His **** slammed into her repeatedly as he savored the sounds of her gasping moans and grunts, fondling the soft flesh of her breasts with his hands in time to his strokes. His hips began to thrust wildly as he felt himself close to coming. The angel arched her back, tugging furiously at the tentacles holding her arms taut, desperate to escape him. Her wail was answered by his roar of pleasure as he pushed himself into her one last time, his seed spurting into her.

She groaned as she was pulled off the altar and forced to her knees, Nightmare's **** sliding over her cheek towards her mouth, come still spurting from it and splattering over her delicate features. She managed to whimper once before he pushed it between her full lips and began grabbed her hair. The angel closed her eyes as Nightmare pushed deep into her throat, his seed shooting into her mouth. He gave one last shuddering thrust, pulling her hair painfully as his seed filled her mouth. The angel sobbed and swallowed it reluctantly as the knight let her drop to the ground.

Nightmare stood there, the Soul Edge suddenly in his hand and his breath coming in ragged gasps. Slowly, he sank to the ground. He closed his eyes and shuddered and when he opened them the angel was gone. No trace of her remained, not a feather, not a footprint in the dirt smeared over the church's floor. Nightmare turned wildly, searching for any sign of her. The knight moved over to the altar and ran his hand over its surface. The wood was cold with no trace of her tears or their mingled juices nor the warmth of her body. Nightmare's eyes blazed in fury, their red light casting dancing shadows over the church's walls.

"You..." he said as he held the Soul Edge up to his visor, "tricked me! I am not your puppet to be toyed with at your whim!"

You are mine to do with as I wish! I possess you body and soul, disobey me again and you shall watch as the innocent suffer by your commands! Obey me and you shall have your revenge, the Soul Edge said, it's voice hammering Nightmare to the ground with its power.

Nightmare staggered as the Soul Edge's power washed over him. He could feel the part of him that had surfaced within the hallowed walls of the church being forced deep under the water's of his consciousness. Soon any trace of Siegfried was gone and only Nightmare remained.

The knight stood and turned on his heel, contemptuously smashing the remains of the church's door under his boots as he left. His second in command was waiting for him with a small escort of varied low ranking demons. Nightmare seized a torch from one of them and hurled it into the church's interior. Soon the church was a lighting the night sky while it crumbled in the fire.

"My lord," Azdaem said. "We seized the carriage and its occupants. They await your pleasure at your tent."

"The guards?" Nightmare asked as they stalked across the dirt towards the camp.

"Scattered in the initial attack. I do not think we have anything to fear from them."

"There is a storm coming, Azdaem. Warriors are coming to challenge me, they seek the Soul Edge for themselves."

"My lord?"

"We move at first light."

"Yes, my lord."

The carriage was ornate and finely crafted, obviously the vehicle of nobility. A few demons lounged around it as a muffled conversation could be heard within. Nightmare stalked through the clearing at the center of the camp and stopped in front of the carriage door.

"Don't worry, Victoria, I'll protect you!" he heard. The voice was young, a boy or teenager at most.

"What can you do, Timothy?" another voice said, this one female and dripping with scorn. "These scum will pay for delaying me!" At this the door to the carriage burst open and a cloud of silks and petticoats flew out. Nightmare stood with his hands on the pommel of the Soul Edge as the young woman stalked over to him with a furious look on her face, apparently unaffected by his appearance or that of the demons gathering. "Are you the 'leader' of these bandits?" she asked.

Nightmare watched her curiously, waiting to see if she would suddenly take notice of her surroundings and act accordingly. She didn't and continued to berate him even as Azdaem walked to his side.

"What would you have us do with these nobles?" the demon asked. The woman, Victoria, shot him a scathing glance and looked back at Nightmare. She was quite fetching, with elaborately curled blond hair and large blue eyes that probably entrance the men she toyed with.

"Well? Take off your helmet when you're talking with your betters!" she said, stamping her foot in fury.

"Mind your tongue, wench!" Azdaem snapped, his relatively human looking body seeming to grow in stature as his voice echoed around the clearing. "Or your mouth will be put to a more suitable use!"

Nightmare grudgingly gave her credit for being incredibly fearless or incredibly stupid as she slapped Azdaem. "Do all your servants speak in such insolent tones?" she asked as the shocked Azdaem lurched upright, his shirt tightening across his back as he prepared to show his true form. Azdaem subsided as Nightmare held up a hand.

"Girl, you have no idea what trouble you are in," Nightmare said. "Do you think your blood will protect you in the slightest way?"

"My father will-" she began.

"Your father is not here. If you please me you may live as my slave. If you do not, you will live as my follower's slave, a most unpleasant prospect."

"I am no one's slave!"

"We shall see about that," Nightmare said as he motioned for a pair of demons to step up and hold her still while he reached out with his right claw. The woman screamed in fury as the demons held her fast as Nightmare stroked his claws along the heaving fabric of her bodice, their razor tips slicing the ties in two.

"How dare you touch me!" Victoria spat as she struggled in the demon's grip. "You will all pay for this!" Nightmare laughed, a booming sound that filled the night, and tugged her the tatters of her dress away from her bosom, revealing a pair of splendid white breasts.

"Any price we pay will be worth it, I think," he said.


Feast for the Blades
Part One


The rising sun woke Sophitia, casting a latticed shadow across the smoldering remains of her campfire. She stretched her arms and back as she lay on her bedroll, taking a moment to listen to the songs of the birds. Reluctantly, she crawled out of the bedroll and began to clean up her camp site, being careful to leave as little trace of herself as possible. With one last look back, she hoisted her sword and shield and set off towards the road.


***


The dock at Istanbul was crowded with people, each shouting at the top of their lungs as cargo was loaded and freight packed. Ivy strolled through the throng of people easily, smirking as they parted for her, partly from fear of the sword that hung at her back, partly from amazement that a woman would walk about dressed as she was.

In her previous life, she would have never worn the figure-hugging leathers that she was wearing much less be caught out in public in them. But now was different and Ivy reveled in the looks of amazement and naked lust she saw on the men even though she had cast a loose robe over herself to avoid any trouble with the authorities. One or two sailors propositioned her and ended up with broken arms and worse for their troubles. Ivy laughed as she strolled south through the town, looking for a place to buy a horse. The Soul Edge was to the west, how far she couldn't tell, but it was calling to her and she would come.


***


Taki idly ran through her weapon drills, watching the Mediterranean drift by. As she finished the drills she stifled a yawn. The late night with the demon had robbed her of any chance for rest although the demon would be sleeping a very different form of sleep than she wanted.

She turned and ran a hand through her black hair, shaking it out as she stepped back towards the aft of the ship. Maxi was at the helm, idly steering the newly acquired ship on its course towards one of the cities that dotted the Mediterranean. What was it called? Istanbul, she thought, rolling the unfamiliar sounds over her tongue.

Taki smiled as Xianghua giggled and swatted playfully at Kilik. The two of them seemed to have gotten closer as the journey had progressed. Kilik had loosened up a bit, now much less cold and distant than he had been when she had first met him. Something haunted him, although the presence of Xianghua and Maxi seemed to help him. Closing her eyes and leaning back on the railing, she sighed and enjoyed one of the last few quiet moments she was likely to have on this journey.


***


Mitsurugi knelt before the candle, concentrating on its steady flame. Above him the sounds of Kilik and Xianghua's words were distant and faded. Nothing else mattered but the flame. As he concentrated, he felt the extra debris of life fall away, leaving him in a pure and calm state of mind. In his mind he saw it, the Soul Edge, the blade that he had thought had killed him.

He remembered the fight with the foreigner who had wielded the Soul Edge and its twin. He replayed every second of the fight, analyzing and studying, probing each half-step and each twist of his katana. He saw the moment when he had lost the fight, watching that slight shift in the balance that signaled his inevitable defeat even though the fight continued on for minutes more.

For a moment another battle interposed itself and he saw the rifleman kneeling in the long grass in front of the castle. He saw the motion as the match moved towards the firing pan and the flash as the powder ignited, sending the ball hurtling towards him.

With a grunt he rose out of his meditation and stared at the candle flame. This time would be different, he would not fail and he would prove the sword the superior of the rifle. He would prove that discipline and honor were the betters of technology.


***


"You don't want to be going in there, miss," the farmer said as he passed Sophitia heading the opposite way on his wagon. "There's bandits and a monster in town!" he called out as he rode away. She watched him ride away and shifted her shield onto her arm and loosened her sword in its scabbard.

The sunbaked shapes of the town's buildings reflected the early morning light, already there were heat waves rising from the adobe walls. Sophitia took a long swig from her canteen, swishing the already warm water around her mouth before swallowing it. It looked like the day would be scorching, continuing the pattern of strange weather that had started a few months ago, the same time that she had received her vision from Hephaestus. Already fall, it still felt like the middle of summer and showed no sign of cooling.

She had to admit to herself that her mission was not merely one for Hephaestus. If the weather did not change and the rains did not fall, her village would suffer as their crops withered and died. Steeling herself for a possible conflict that waited for her, she continued down the road.


***


Mitsurugi leaned forward and snuffed the candleflame with his fingers. He watched the smoke coil around towards the ship's deck and stood slowly, his lean frame rising in one smooth motion.

He spun at the faint sound of a something shifting in the dark recesses of the hold, one hand going to the hilt of his sword. His eyes flicked over the shadows of the hold, searching for motion or any thing out of place. He slowly advanced towards the source of the sound, his keen eyes seeing nothing out of the ordinary. It could have been a rat, he thought but then he heard the sound of fabric rustling.

With one motion he drew his sword and thrust it through the crate stacked to his left and heard a high woman's scream. The katana sliced cleanly through the wood of the crate as he shifted it to the side, a spill of grain scattering over the floor.

Hiding behind the crate, the hem of her dress pinned to the bulkhead by his sword, was a young woman dressed in a short red dress slit up both sides for easy movement. She had quite lovely dark brown, almost black hair and was wearing a red patterned headband that kept it back from the sweet asian features of her face. To her right, just out of reach, was a long bladed polearm lacquered a bright red.

"Who are you?" Mitsurugi asked as he drew his sword from the bulkhead and kept it poised at her throat.

"Ea-, easy there," the girl said, reaching up to push away the sword. Mitsurugi jerked his sword threateningly and she jerked back with a gasp. "Umm, I'm not a threat to you, really."

"Who, are, you?" Mitsurugi said, punctuating his words with minute jerks of his sword.

"Seung. Seung Mina," the girl said, watching the blade hovering under her chin with nervous eyes.

"Hmmph," Mitsurugi grunted and motioned for her to stand. The girl was quite comely with the look of someone fit and healthy about her. She was dressed shamelessly, with most of her legs exposed by the slits of her dress and the tops of her breasts easily visible. Attractive, though. "Move," he ordered, walking behind her and picking up her weapon as he forced her toward the stairs leading up to the deck.

As she moved into the light he saw that she wore the padded gloves of someone who fought, although the dangling blue crystal earrings hanging from her ears made her look like someone who fought as a hobby. Probably the spoiled brat of a soldier who thought she could pretend to be a warrior, Mitsurugi thought.

"Hey, what are you going to do to me?" the girl said in her high pitched voice. "You're not going to-"

"Rape you? No," Mitsurugi laughed, "you're too skinny for my tastes." He laughed again at the girl's indignation as they emerged onto the deck. "Look what I found hiding in the hold," he yelled.

"Who is she?" Kilik asked, fingering the linked mirrors of the Dvapara-Yuga that he always wore.

"Some girl pretending to be a fighter," Mitsurugi answered, tossing the girl's polearm towards Kilik.

"Nice balance, a very well crafted weapon," he said after spinning it a few times and whipping it through a series of drills. "Do you know how to use this?" he asked the girl.

"Yes!" she said angrily with her arms folded beneath her breasts. "Better than you do, it seems."

"I like her," Maxi shouted from his place at the aft of the ship. "She's got spirit!"

"So what are we going to do with her?" Xianghua asked.

"Throw her overboard?" Mitsurugi suggested.

"Why waste such a sweet treasure?" Taki suddenly said as she walked over to the group. "She can serve other...functions quite well."

"You!" gasped Seung as she blushed furiously.

"You know her?" Kilik asked.

"Yes, we've met before," Taki said, walking around the girl and looking her up and down. "A few years back when I was hunting for the Soul Blade."

"You mean she's a searcher as well?"

"Yes, although not a very good one." Seung opened her mouth for an angry retort but stopped when she caught Mitsurugi's menacing look. "She lost very quickly. I made sure she remembered the defeat."

Seung gasped as Taki suddenly slid her hand up her dress and grabbed her crotch. "You were very sweet," Taki whispered into Seung Mina's ear. "I'm sure you can work off your passage with me."

Mitsurugi cursed and spat over the ship's rail. "She's your problem now, Taki. You keep her out of trouble and away from me," he said as he stalked to the bow of the ship.

"What's his problem?" Seung asked angrily as she took back her proffered weapon from Kilik.

"He's always like that," Maxi yelled. "I'm Maxi and this currently is my ship, welcome aboard. That quiet one is Xianghua, the serious one is Kilik, and I guess you already know Taki." Seung watched the man dressed in the fancy captain's jacket and pants lash the wheel and leap over the railing to land on the main deck. "We'll be arriving in Istanbul in a few days, until then why don't we get to know each other?" He laughed at her expression. "Not in that way, we're looking for-" he stopped as the one called Kilik shot him a meaningful glance, "-for something valuable. If you want you could come with us."

"I guess I don't have much of a choice right now, do I?" Seung said with a slight smile. "I'm looking for something too, maybe I'll find it with you guys."


***


Sophitia wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand as she walked into the town square. The mud brick walls of the houses shone a brilliant white and reflected most of the sunlight into the square, making it seem like an oven in the morning's heat.

It looked like there was a small marketplace set up in the square, although no merchants could be seen. Most likely driven into the cantina by the heat, she thought. They'd probably leave their stalls alone until the sun dipped below the houses and eased the heat enough to conduct business. The thought of a glass of uzo in her head, Sophitia glanced around for the cantina and stopped when she saw the man.

As she looked more closely at him, she saw that he was probably the monster that the farmer had been talking about. Totally hairless, he wore a harness, spiked shoulder pads, and loincloth of black leather faded by dirt and sun. He looked as if he'd stand at least six feet tall and had arms and thighs thicker around than her head. A massive pole-axe was propped up next to him as he intently studied something on a merchant's cart. Sophitia moved closer and around him, trying to see what he was so interested in.

"A mirror?" she whispered to herself, then gasped when he turned to face her. It looked as if his heart had been removed and sewn to the surface of his chest. She watched it and saw that it beat as a heart would. Her gaze moved upward and she was amazed to see that his eyes had no whites, he looked as if he was as blind as the old fisherman in her village. But he followed her with his gaze as she moved a little closer to him, his hand tightening around his axe's handle. "I mean you no harm," she said, raising her empty hands.

The giant stared at her and she saw that he had a solid metal mouthguard fixed tightly over his lower face and jaws. It was as black as the rest of his clothing and moved slightly as he said something. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you," Sophitia said as she moved a bit closer, still wary of coming within the man's reach.

"Sophitia?" he said, his voice harsh and grating, as if he hadn't used it in a long time.

"Yes, that's my name, how do you know me?" she asked, amazed. Except for her last journey through Europe to destroy the Soul Blade, she had never left the area around her village. She certainly would have remembered ever encountering a man like this one.

"Sophitia," he said again, almost moaning her name as he raised his left hand towards her.

"Who are you? Do I know you?" she asked. Before he could answer, they both heard the sounds of clumsy booted feet approaching the empty square from an alley opposite them. Sophitia watched as a large group of bandits, fifteen or so, walked casually into the square. They were filthy and already sweating profusely from the heat. They began to spread out and were taking whatever they fancied from the merchant's stalls when they noticed Sophitia and the giant.

"Hey, hey Vitorio," one said, nudging a slight smarter looking one in the ribs. "We've got an audience."

"What did I tell you stupid shit-eaters? No one disturbs us while we shop, now get out of here," the one called Vitorio yelled, brandishing his pistol at them. He paused and listened to one of the bandits. "Wood chopper, get out of here," he said, motioning for the giant to leave, "you," he said, pointing at Sophitia, "stick around. We've got plans for you."

Sophitia tensed and was ready to run for cover. With so many of the bandits, she'd have to try to separate them and pick them off one by one. If she tried to fight them here they'd surround her and could tackle her and disarm her. Then- well, she knew what would happen then and had no intention of letting it happen.

She was just about to sprint for the nearest alley when the giant stood and raised his axe. In his hands it seemed as light as a feather. Sophitia whispered for him to follow her as he moved his axe into a ready position.

"Come on," she hissed, "we can't fight them all at on-" She gaped in surprise as the giant lurched forward a step then broke into a run towards the densest group of bandits. Sophitia dropped her pack and yanked her sword from its scabbard as the bandits moved to surround the giant. He'd be killed by then if she didn't do something to help.

She had taken one step forward when the screaming began. She saw the giant's axe swing and gout of blood sprayed over the walls and street. Another bandit was impaled through the chest by the spike on the back of the axe on the giant's backswing. At the same time the giant backhanded another and crushed his skull like an egg.

Sophitia ran forward, her hair flashing in the sun, hoping to distract the bandits. Even with his prodigious strength, the giant couldn't survive being shot and stabbed by the ones who surrounded him. She grimaced, fearing she had delayed too long and caused the man's death, when a loud report echoed around the square and a cloud of greyish smoke rose from the leader's pistol. She saw the giant flinch and then his axe was in motion again, each swing turning a bandit into meat.

A few turned and charged her, their swords and hand axes swung clumsily as they ran. She ducked and blocked with her shield, stabbing quickly with her sword twice and sending as many bandits to the ground. She spun to face the remaining one and was amazed to see him running from her towards one of the alleys. She turned back and saw that the giant had killed over two-thirds of the bandits in the short time since the fight started. The rest were trying desperately to escape from him but they were too slow to outrun the long reach of his pole-axe. The last one didn't even have time to scream as the axe whistled by and sent his head flying.

Sophitia eyed the giant cautiously as he turned his head, looking for any remaining enemies. When he saw no more threats he set the head of his axe on the ground and looked at her.

"Who are you?" Sophitia asked again, she remembered another man who had been as good with the axe as this giant was, but he was long dead.

"Astaroth," the giant said, pointing towards his chest and its exposed heart.

"Astaroth?" Sohpitia repeated. No, she thought, it wasn't the man she had known although for a second she had wondered...She shook her head and bent to clean her sword before sliding it back into its sheath. "Astaroth, did you ever know a man named-" she looked up and stopped. He was gone, leaving only a few bloody footprints and the corpses of the bandits he had killed.


***


Seung Mina peered around the corner of the hallway towards the door to the ship's deck. She had been avoiding Taki for the last six hours while they sailed to Istanbul. Somehow, she had managed to keep from being alone with the demon hunter, but she had the distinct feeling that Taki was just playing with her.

She sighed and leaned against the wall with her eyes closed. Maybe she'd be able to slip away once the ship docked, she thought hopefully. Her eyes opened slowly when she heard something like the tapping of fingernails against the wooden bulkhead.

"Trying to avoid me?" Taki said with a tight grin. Her grin broadened slightly as Seung's eyes widened and she backed away. "Oh no you don't," Takis said as she snagged the girl's arm and dragged her close.

"What do you want?" Seung said, her voice high and shaky. "Hel-" she started, only to be cut off as Taki pulled her close and silenced her with a kiss. "As sweet as I remember," Takis murmured when their kiss finally ended.

"There, you've got your kiss, now just leave me alone," Seung said, trying to squirm free of Taki's grip and failing miserably.

"I want more than a kiss, girl," Taki said in a husky voice.

"Oh, please, can't you just leave me alone?"

"What? Didn't you enjoy what I did to you? You sounded like you did." Taki smirked and ran her hands down Seung Mina's back to her bottom and lifted her skirt. "Oh, yes, please, more!" she mimicked.

"I-I didn't sound like that," Seung said in a faltering voice. She moaned and her eyes fluttered as Taki's deft fingers slid between her legs and began to stroke her. She managed one feeble murmur of protest as Taki pulled her back to her cabin and shut the door.


***


Maxi frowned as he manned the ship's wheel. He could see Istanbul on the far horizon, with the winds they had it would be a couple of hours at least before they reached it. They should have been preparing for the search for the Soul Edge, but everyone except his crew and Mitsurugi had wandered off to have some fun together.

"Jealous?" he said to himself. He had to admit that the thought of Kilik and Xianghua together made the area between his shoulder blades itch. He loved Kilik like a brother and wouldn't want to wish any harm on him, but...He shook his head furiously. No time for those types of thoughts, he was out for justice. A harder frown crept over his face as he thought of the night half a year ago when his ship and men had been attacked by those monsters.

Led by a hulking giant of a man, the ugly lizard men had swarmed over his ship and slaughtered most of his crew as they ransacked the hold. He and Kilik had managed to hold off the assault long enough for the survivors to rally and push the monsters off the ship, but not before one of them had taken something. That something had been an old sword that had made its way into his hands through a trader from the Ottoman Empire. He had claimed it was the legendary sword of Alexander the Great. No matter what, the sword had been well crafted and was worth the price he had paid. Or at least it had been until it had gotten his men killed.

Maxi shook his head again and concentrated on keeping the ship on a steady course. There was more traffic now that they were approaching the city and he had to keep an eye out to make sure he didn't collide with one of the many fishing vessels plying their trade in the waters around the city.


***


They both gasped in time with her motions, neither one of them able to hold out for much longer. Xianghua clutched at the sheets and kissed Kilik hard, her teeth tugging at his lower lip as she looked him in the eye. This was too much for him and he came, his hands clutching convulsively at her body as his hips jerked up. She felt him come inside her and increased the motion of her hips, nearly bouncing up and down as she raised herself, her hands flat on his chest and bit her lip. She was almost there, her breath coming in gasps as he reached up to cup her small breasts and ran his thumbs over her nipples. She groaned loudly and tossed her head back as she came, her body stiffening and her back arching for one long moment until she collapsed across his chest.

"I love you," Kilik whispered into her ear, his hands roaming in slow circles over her sweaty back.

"I love you too," Xianghua said back, resting her head in the crook of his neck as she felt him soften inside of her. She reluctantly rolled over beside him, her head still resting on him and her legs intertwined with his. As their breathing calmed they became aware of the sounds coming from the cabin next to their's. It sounded like a sharp smacking noise followed by a muffled yelp.

"Taki is making that girl earn her passage," Kilik said sleepily, drowsy from his exertion and the warm Mediterranean sun on his head. Xianghua murmured an affirmative, too tired to think clearly.


***


The young noblewoman was struggling fiercely in Nightmare's grip. He watched her with detached amusement while his demonic followers showed their appreciation in a louder and more raucous way. From where he was standing, Azdaem could clearly see the delightful motion of her breasts as she struggled to free herself Nightmare's massive left claw.

"My lord," Azdaem said, "what are your plans for the girl?"

"She," Nightmare began and hesitated while he seemed to struggle with himself, "will be a reward for the men. Use her in whatever way you wish." With that, Nightmare shoved the girl to the mud in the middle of the camp. She stood quickly, a furious glare on her face which faltered when she saw the demons surrounding her.

"What about the boy, sire?" Azdaem asked, motioning to the younger boy held in the clutches of a lizard like demon.

"They can do what they want with h-" Nightmare was cut off by the sound of someone sceaming a battlecry in German. There was a loud report of a gun being fired and he was knocked to the ground, sparks flying from where the ball richocheted off his armor.

Azdaem spun to search for the attacker and saw a trio of armored figures charging into the camp on horses. The central figure dropped, his, no, Azdaem thought, her, musket into a holster and pulled two pistols from her belt.

Eva Schwartz stood in her stirrups, her horse's reins clenched in her teeth, and fired her pistols at the two demons holding Victoria. They fell to the ground with a shriek, their blood splashing over Victoria's bare body. Eva jammed her pistols back into their holsters and snatched Victoria up, draping her over the saddle as her horse crashed through the line of demons and leapt over the main fire pit. Across the clearing, she saw Johann stab the demon holding Timothy while Kelman jerked the boy up behind him.

In front of her, Eva saw Johann and Kelman clearing the way for her with their swords. Luckily, the demons were a disorganized lot and most of them were just trying to get out of the way of Johann's broadsword and Kelman's saber. By the time that their leader had gotten up and was roaring orders, the five riders were able to get beyond the circle of firelight and were riding hard through the open plains, risking a broken leg for their horses even with the full moon's light. But they kept riding, knowing that the alternative was falling into the hands of the demons.


***


Seung Mina sighed loudly as Taki slowly slid her finger into her quim. They were reclining on Taki's narrow bunk with Seung lying back against Taki's chest. Both their bodies gleamed with sweat in the afternoon sunlight from the porthole. Seung reached behind her to hold Taki's head as the ninja slid another finger into her and began to slowly pump them in and out while lightly brushing her other fingers over Seung's clit.

"This isn't so bad, is it?" Taki said softly.

Seung gasped in response and lifted her hips further towards Taki's fingers. Taki smiled and kissed the side of Seung's neck as she obligingly increased the pace of her fingers. "Are you still stinging?" she asked.

Seung shook her head and bit her lip as Taki began to rub her clit more forcefully. The ninja had given her a sound spanking as soon as they had entered the cabin and then forced Seung to pleasure her for until the ninja had been satisfied. Seung moved her hands away from Taki's head and down to Taki's thighs. She tightened her grip on them as she felt herself closer to coming.

"Do you want to come?" Taki asked, her fingers slowing and keeping Seung on the razor edge of release.

"Yes, please!" Seung managed to gasp out. Her knuckles whitened and she heard Taki grunt as her hands tightened on the ninja's thighs as she came. Taki moved one arm around Seung Mina's slender waist, holding her close while the younger woman shuddered through her orgasm. Taki continued to stroke Seung's body while whispering sweet words into the woman's ear until she had time to completely savor her orgasm.

"It won't be so bad traveling with us, will it?" Taki said as her hands lightly trailed over Seung's stomach.

"N-no," Seung managed to say. Her entire body was limp and all she wanted to do was sleep. She felt Taki kiss her neck again and turned her body to lie against the other woman's tautly muscled body, falling asleep in moments.t

 

Soul Calibur: Feast for the Blades
Pt. 2


The moon was shining brightly, illuminating the barren field that the riders were crossing. Eva hated pushing the horses so hard at night when a single misstep could break a leg, but the demons were too close to slow for even a second.

She spared a glance over her shoulder and saw their scouts flying over the countryside, from this distance they seemed to be tiny specks in the moonlight, up close they would be seven foot tall killers.

"Let me down!" Victoria screamed as she struggled in front of Eva. The young woman was draped over the saddle and was nearly falling off as she tried to get up.

"Shut up, you little cow!" Eva hissed, smacking the woman on the rump for emphasis. It had been bad enough putting up with the spoiled brat when they were just escorting her. Now she could get them all killed with her behavior.

"Where in the name of god are we going?" Kelmann yelled over his shoulder.

"South!" Eva yelled back. They needed to get to someone with an army that could defeat those demons. North into Germany was out of the question, that would lead them straight back into the clutches of that armored devil. No, south would have to do. Who would be able to help them? Eva thought furiously as she wracked her mind for a suitable candidate. Venice, she thought, the city of water.


***


Ivy sat in the back of the sweltering tavern and sipped the thick and sweet tea that the barkeep had served her. She smacked her lips and wished for something good and English as she paged through the book.

The book, she thought to herself. It had taken her months to finally track down the location of the book, a text written by an insane merchant named Vecci. She had hoped it would be the key that would allow her to find the Soul Edge. Instead it was a complete waste of time. She leaned back and stared moodily at the book, brushing back a stray lock of platinum hair as she sighed. It had been two months ago when she had just arrived in Istanbul...

The island of Corsica could be distantly seen on the eastern horizon. A brisk wind swept over Ivy's face as she stood in the bow of the schooner and scanned the horizon for her destination.

"There," she said and pointed towards a distant speck.

"Are you sure you want ta go there?" the captain of the battered ship asked her. "Tis a cursed place, it is."

Ivy silently held up a small bag filled with gold coins, part of the small inheritance her family had left her. She smirked, imagining the face of the old captain. His eyes would be filled with greed and lust for the gold and her. But there would also be fear there. His men had tried to rob her as soon as they had been out of the harbor, most likely intending to make her their toy for the remainder of the trip. She had deducted ten percent of her fee for the stains their blood had left on her boots.

"Another bag when we return to Istanbul," Ivy said as she climbed over the side into the small ship's boat. She knew the captain's greed would win out over his fear of her.

She had found the book easily enough. There had been traps, most of them reduced to impotence by the salt sea air and time. The ones that remained took only a few minutes work to disarm. She had found the book among of room full of shelves, each heavy with manuscripts.

They had interested her for a moment but then she had seen that they were nearly all old religious texts, nothing remotely scientific or magical. The book had been hidden among the other manuscripts, tucked away as if it were another unimportant translation of some old Roman philosopher's work. Then she had heard the sound.

It was a low sound. A quiet sound. She had turned, her hand on her sword and ready to fight. Even her hardened sensibilities had recoiled in horror from the thing that had entered the room.

It...he was tall and skinny, bordering on emaciated. He made no sound as he slid towards Ivy, his weapon bearing hands weaving in sinuous patterns by his side. Ivy slid the book into her satchel and drew her weapon, no sense in leaving herself open to attack.

"Who are you? If you are the master of this place I am willing to pay handsomely for this book. I would have come directly to you if I had known that this place was still occupied," she said, keeping her sword low. "Well, what do you say-"

The man charged her without a sound, hunching low and striking at her with incredible speed and grace. His technique was like nothing Ivy had ever seen before, random and vicious.

She whipped out with her snake sword, the segments separating into a long bladed whip, and watched as the man gracefully slid out of the way of each strike. "What are you?" she hissed as he bent back nearly double to avoid another strike.

Their fight raged on for the next ten minutes, Ivy striking out with every technique while the man simply dodged, spun, or slid out of the way of her blade. Too late she realized that he had been leading her back into the trap filled hallway, each of his steps instinctively avoiding the traps' triggers. "Damn you!" she yelled as he suddenly leapt at her, his feet dancing over the stone floor as he struck and slashed at her with his tri-bladed daggers.

Ivy smiled in grim triumph when she whipped her snake sword around the guards of his daggers, pinning his wrists together while she tightened her grip and prepared to slice his hands from his body. As she began to tighten the whip the man leaned forward farther than anyone should be capable of and slammed his head into her face. She stumbled backward and felt her foot catch on a trip wire. In seconds nooses had sprung from the walls and wrapped themselves around her ankles and wrists, leaving her hanging spread eagled horizontally above the floor.

Ivy struggled against ropes, feeling the tough hemp rubbing against her gloves with no effect. She pulled with all her strength and felt the ropes stretch ever so slightly. But her sword lay tantalizingly close, lying just below her on the floor. If only she could get to the dagger hidden in her left gauntlet...

Her attention snapped back to the man when she heard the clank of metal on stone. Was he going to kill her now? she thought as she bent her head down and looked back under her body to see the man approaching.

"What are you doing?" she asked when she saw one of his daggers lying on the floor. There was another clank as he dropped his other weapon and stepped closer to her.

"You have done well," Voldo heard Vecci whisper in his ear. "You may take you reward from this woman."

Ivy heard the man sigh behind his leather gag and watched as he reached out and ran his cold hands up the backs of her thighs. She struggled against the ropes furiously as he squeezed her buttocks firmly and moved his hands to the ties of her leathers.

"You're going to pay for this," she hissed as he undid the ties and pulled the back of her outfit open. She jerked in the ropes, her body twisting and writhing helplessly, as he slid his hands up and underneath her to cup her firm breasts. Ivy shook her head, her short platinum hair shining in the dim light of the tunnel, as he kneaded her breasts and sighed in unmistakable pleasure.

She ground her teeth together as the man finished his eager groping of her breasts and ran his hands back down to her buttocks. He jerked her outfit down and pulled it to the side, revealing her quim to the chill and damp air. Ivy gasped involuntarily when the man clutched at her quim and moaned in pleasure. His cold fingers rubbed her there and slipped into her here, sliding in and out of her until she felt her body reacting to his touch against her will. She heard him moan again when he drew his wet and shining fingers from her quim and sniffed them.

Ivy tensed in anticipation when the man stepped closer, his outer thighs touching her inner thighs, cold leather chill on her flesh. She growled deep in her throat at the feel of his swollen **** pressing against her quim and his hands groping her ass and thighs. With a low moan the man forced his **** deep into her tight quim, eliciting a low grunt from her as he began to slowly pump in and out of her.

Ivy winced at the first few rough thrusts, her quim unused to taking anything. She shook her head in denial as she felt her quim moistening with each rough thrust, her body reacting despite her disgust. Her body began to slowly jerk back and forth as she hung suspended from the ropes, each thrust of the man's **** bouncing her forward until his hands jerked her back onto his ****. His thrusts became more rapid as he bounced her onto his ****, his moaning growing louder as his **** swelled within her.

Ivy twitched and turned as best she could, trying to somehow force the man from her to no avail. With each motion of his **** she could feel her body betraying her and the voice of Isabella crying in disgust inside her head. She groaned when she felt more of her juices wetting her quim and letting the man pump his **** into her with no resistance. The motion of his **** increased even more, his shaft slipping in and out of her quim as he slammed his hips against her. She hissed when she felt his fingers digging deep into her hips and his **** slammed one last time into her, spewing his seed deep within her.

She felt a last jet of his seed splattering onto her ass as the man withdrew from her. As he did, the motion of Ivy's body worked the dagger hidden inside her gauntlet free. She flexed her arm and managed to bounce the slim dagger off her inner elbow towards head. Ivy twisted her neck and caught the dagger's handle in her teeth. With a toss of her head she sent the dagger through the rope binding her right wrist. In a split second she had reached down and caught up her snake sword.

A blurred arc sent the segmented blade slashing through the ropes binding her and the man's throat. Ivy rolled and hopped to her feet, her eyes blazing, and turned to face the man. Even as his lifeblood poured from his throat, he remained silent. Ivy's eyes widened when she saw the man reaching for his weapons even as his blood stained the stone floor. She watched as he gave one final gasp and collapsed forward with a dull splash, his fingers just wrapping around the hilts of his daggers.

"Filthy beast," she spat as she used a fragment of a tapestry to clean the man's seed from her body. With a last withering glance she turned and walked from the chill tomb, leaving the man behind in a pool of his own blood.

"Voldo," Vecci whispered. "Voldo, now is not the time to sleep. Rise and pursue that woman. She has the scent of the Soul Edge on her. She will lead you to the Soul Edge! She will lead you to what I seek!" In the still damp air of the tomb, Voldo raised his head and pushed himself to his feet. Blood caked the leather straps of his clothing and a angry red scar crossed his throat as he turned and began to slowly follow the woman...

All that for a book, Ivy thought to herself as she finished her tea and set the cup on the table. Nothing in the book would help her find the Soul Edge but there were some alchemical formulae which might help her destroy it. She tossed a few coins onto the table as she stood and wrapped her cloak around her, leaving the tavern for the warm nighttime streets of Istanbul.


***


Taki turned her face towards Seung Mina when she felt the girl's fingers tighten on her arm. "What's wrong?" she asked as she snaked one hand towards Mekki-Maru.

"I, I think I know that woman," Seung said slowly. She raised her hand and pointed at the silver haired woman leaving a tavern up the street.

"How?" Taki asked, her hand easing away from her weapon.

"I met her a few months back, when we were all looking for the Soul Blade," Seung said as she blushed prettily. "It was in this same city, I was on my way home after you-" she looked down and Taki smiled. "I ran into her and she defeated me," Seung finished, her words trailing off into embarrassed silence.

"Let me guess, she did the same things to you that I did," Taki said as they continued walking down the street. Both of them were dressed in long robes in deference to local custom.

"Y-yes," Seung said with another blush rising in her cheeks like a sunrise over Kyoto.

"Mmm," Taki said as she watched the girl blush. She loved how innocent Seung seemed to be, although she should be as hardened as any streetwalker after what had been done to her by the women who seemed to defeat her so easily. "Let's go back to the inn," Taki whispered into Seung's ear. "I'm going to do those things to you again."

Seung gasped and looked over at Taki's wicked smile. But she followed the ninja back to the inn all too willingly.


***


"Hey! You guys!" Maxi called out when Seung and Taki entered the inn they were staying at. It was small and a bit dusty, but the prices were reasonable and the food was excellent. "I've got to talk to you," he said as he swung his boots off the table, making the lamp's flame flicker.

"What is it?" Taki asked. "I've got plans for the evening." Seung looked down at the floor when Taki very obviously reached around her and pulled her close, the ninja's hand sliding up Seung's body and cupping her breast through the robe.

Maxi smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "Hey, you want some company?" he said with a flashing grin.

"I think she'll be busy enough with me," Taki said as she rubbed her cheek against Seung's. "But I'll call you when I get tired." Seung gasped in horror but Maxi just laughed at Taki's joke.

"You do that," he said with another laugh. "But get some sleep tonight, Kilik says he can sense the sword to the northwest. We're leaving in the morning. I bought a wagon and horses along with supplies."

Taki nodded. Though she had told no one, she could feel the Soul Edge calling her through Mekki-Maru, the blade forged from a shard of the broken Soul Blade. "Xianghua also says she can sense something too," Maxi continued.

"They can feel the Soul Edge?" Seung said wonderingly.

"Yeah, don't ask me how they do it. Something to do with their weapons, I guess," Maxi said. "I'm just along for the ride." And for a chance to get that giant, he thought to himself. The giant had tried to take the Dvapara-Yuga, Kilik's sacred linked mirrors. Maybe the giant would be after the Soul Edge as well. "You two have fun," he said with a wink as he walked back to his table and called over a pretty barmaid.

Maxi's eyes were drawn to the doorway when a strange woman walked in, her heavy cloak blowing back to reveal a voluptuous body clad in dark purple leather. Her platinum hair shone in the dim lamplight as she walked to the bar and spoke with the innkeeper in a whisper. Maxi watched the curve of her body through her cloak as she leaned over and pressed a handful of coins into the innkeeper's hands before climbing the stairs to the second floor.

"Who's she?" he asked the barmaid as she brought his drink.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her around," the barmaid said. She had a pleasant voice and a very pleasing figure. Soon Maxi had forgotten the strange woman, his attention turned back to the barmaid's round bottom and full breasts.

 

Soul Calibur: Feast for the Blades
Pt. 2a


Xianghua and Kilik sat in the front of the wagon by Maxi while Taki and Seung Mina sat in the back of it with the supplies. Mitsurugi had brought his own horse along with him and was riding about a hundred feet ahead of the wagon. They had left Istanbul a few days ago and were riding northwest through Greece until they could reach a place where they could board a ferry to Italy.

Maxi sighed and looked over towards the two women sitting in the bed of the wagon with him. Seung was facing away from Taki, a deep blush on her face, while the ninja was idly massaging the younger woman's shoulders. As he watched, Taki leaned forward and whispered something in Seung's ear, making the woman's blush even deeper.

Maxi shifted slightly and wished he could join in the fun with Taki, he had asked several more times since they had left Istanbul, and was rebuffed each time. When they camped for the night everyone could hear the sound of flesh slapping against flesh and the moans and cries as Seung and Taki pleasured each other. Even Kilik and Xianghua, usually quite modest, had taken to retiring to their tent early in the night.

It must be this weather, Maxi thought to himself as he looked up into the clear blue sky. Even though it was well into autumn, the days were easily as warm as a spring day.

"There's the port," Mitsurugi called back as they crested a hill. Maxi looked over and saw the small town on the edge of a small inlet. He could make out the shapes of several small cargo ships which looked promising. "Hey, when we get to Venice remember to let me do all the talking," Maxi said as the wagon started down the hill. "I've dealt with these guys before, I've got an understanding with them."


***


Sophitia couldn't help looking up in awe at the buildings that seemed to float by on either side of the gondola. She grinned in delight at the wonder of it, aware that she was acting like a child and not caring at all.

"This is your first time in Venice?" the gondolier said as he began to pole the gondola underneath a low pedestrian bridge.

"Yes, it is," Sophitia said with a smile, too happy to care that the gondolier was ogling her bare legs and cleavage. She was about to say something more when someone dropped out of the sky and landed in the gondola. "-said you had dealt with them before!" she heard one of the men who had dropped into the boat say.

"I did!" the other man, a handsome looking asian man dressed in a rather gaudy assortment of naval uniforms.

"So why were they chasing us?" a strangely familiar looking woman said as she hopped into the gondola.

"What did you say?" a pretty young woman asked as she fell into the boat next to Sophitia and rubbed her bottom. "Ow."

"Get this- boat moving," yet another man said as he jumped into the gondola and held a long curved sword to the gondoliers throat. After a moment's hesitation the gondolier leapt backwards and dove into the canal.

"That worked wonderfully," the familiar looking woman said. "Get rid of the gaijin and let's get out of here-" The woman stopped and stared at Sophitia. "Sophitia?"

"T-taki?" Sophitia said in wonder.


***


"What did you say to that merchant?" Kilik asked later when they had retreated to the safety and comfort of a nice inn by the Giudecca canal. "I thought I just asked about the health of his family," Maxi said as he finished picking out bits of rotten tomato from his hair.

"Whatever it was you said, it sure got them angry," Seung said from one of the room's beds. She rolled over onto her stomach and idly lifted her feet. "Good thing we lost that mob."

Across the room, Sophitia said, "Taki, what are you doing back here? I thought you were going back east for good."

Taki shrugged and continued looking out the window at the canal below.

"We've all been summoned, I suppose," she said with a sideways glance at Sophitia. "You must have felt it too."

Sophitia sighed and nodded. "A great evil," she said.

"From the north?" Kilik asked. "We've been following it for weeks and it seems to be close to here." Sophitia nodded again. "What lies over those mountains to the north?"

"Germany, France, and Britain further," Sophitia said. "Do you all travel to defeat the evil?"

"More or less," Maxi said.

"Will you travel with us?" Taki asked Sophitia. "We all know that we'll need as many blades as possible. I don't think that this will be a fight with one demon, however powerful."

"In my dreams, I see an army of demons led by a monster dressed in azure armor," Sophitia said with a small shudder. "They're to the north, I'm not ashamed to say that I'm afraid. I've been hearing rumors as I got closer to Venice, rumors about an army that cannot be stopped." Sophitia shook her head, her golden hair tumbling across her shoulders. "They say that the leader wields a mighty blade of horrific power."

"The Soul Edge," Taki said in a grim voice, one hand tightening on her ninja toh.


***


"This is intolerable!" Victoria screamed in a shrill voice as Eva offered her a hunk of coarse bread and cheese. "I cannot eat this!"

"Then starve," Eva said flatly as she took the bread and bit a chunk out of it. Across the fire, Victoria's brother was wolfing down his food next to Johann and Kelman. Eva sat down by the fire and took a sip from her canteen as Victoria fumed. One, two, three- Eva counted and smirked as Victoria stomped over and snatched the bread and cheese from her.

"My parents will hear of this treatment," Victoria said in a haughty voice as she sat back down and began to nibble at her food. Eva ignored her and continued to stare into the fire. They had just to descend from the mountains and they'd be able to reach Venice in less than a week. Hopefully the merchant lords there would be able to mount an effective enough resistance to the demonic army to the north. At the very least they'd be able to leave the brat and her brother with the relatives they had been on their way to visit.


***


Sophitia blinked and looked up at the dimly lit ceiling of the room she was sharing with Taki and the girl named Seung Mina. Something had awakened her, but what? Her hand was creeping down to where her sword leaned against the bed when she heard the other bed creak loudly. Sophitia rolled over on her side and barely stifled a gasp at what she saw.

Taki, who had been sleeping on the floor in a bedroll earlier, was lying on top of Seung, each of their mouths pressed to the other woman's most private place. As Sophitia watched, Taki began to pump her fingers into Seung's quim, eliciting a muffled cry from the girl.

Sophitia rolled over and tried to block out Seung's muted gasps and moans to no avail. Feeling herself blush, she ran her fingers down her stomach to between her thighs. Biting her lower lip, she reached down to tug up the hem of her chemise before spreading her thighs and sliding her fingers into her already wet quim. Thoughts of her encounters with Taki after the ninja had rescued her floated through her mind. If she didn't love Rothion she would have been in bed with the two other women.

"I'm sorry, Rothion," Sophitia murmured as she began to lightly stroke her breasts with her free hand while continuing to plunge her fingers into herself. She turned her head to the side and watched as Taki slipped one hand underneath Seung's body. The younger woman's hands tightened on the ninja's bottom as she let out a loud shriek of pleasure. Where was Taki putting her finger? Sophitia wondered to herself as she let her wet fingers explore down.

She gasped when she realized that Taki was pumping her fingers in and out of Seung's quim and ass. Sophitia turned her head into the pillow to muffle her cry as she pushed a slick finger into her ass. The sensation washed over her, causing her to arch her back in pleasure while she pushed the fingers of her other hand deep into her quim. Sophitia groaned loudly, heedless of whether the two other women heard her or not, and began to buck her hips onto her thrusting fingers. She couldn't hold back her long high-pitched cry as she came, her hips jerking furiously before she collapsed back onto the bed, her chemise stuck to her body with sweat.

"Nice show," Taki said in a relaxed voice from the other bed. Sophitia blushed and tugged down her chemise into a semblance of modesty. The ninja had slid around to lie by Seung and was gently stroking the girl's breasts from behind while watching Sophitia. "Do you want to join us or are you tired already?"

"I-I'd like to go to sleep," Sophitia said, feeling her face flush even more.

"If you ever want to join us," Taki said, "don't hesitate to ask." Sophitia nodded and rolled over to face away from the ninja, her heart still pounding in her chest. With a sigh she closed her eyes and thought of Rothion.


***


"'I cannot eat this!'" Kelman mimicked in a nasal voice. Eva laughed loudly while Johann barely suppressed a smile.

"So what do we do once we tell the lords of Venice?" Eva said with a glance over her shoulder at the campfire and the two figures sleeping by it. The three mercenaries had walked out a few yards into the forest to discuss their plans for the future.

"I say we take a vacation with the money we earn from this job," Johann said. "Let the soldiers deal with the demons. We're not that type of warriors."

"I was in the army once, terrible food," Kelman said, his narrowed eyes still on Victoria. "I say we take some extra payment out of the girl before we hand her over to her relatives."

"As much as I'd like to," Eva said, "we'd never get another job escorting a noble's daughter again." Kelman snorted and shrugged. "I agree with Johann, we let everything settle down a bit before we take another job. This one nearly got us killed."

"Nearly?" Kelman said. "I think I'm dead, my body just hasn't found out yet."

"That arrow didn't even come close to you," Johann said.

"That's what you say! One inch to the right and my head is one big meatball for the demon's to play with."

Eva sighed and leaned back against a tree trunk to stare at the sky.

She watched the stars for a moment through the latticework of leaves and branches before she felt her heart leap into her throat at the sight of a large winged creature flying above.

"We've got to move," Eva said. "They're still after us."


***


Ivy collapsed the spyglass and set it back in its leather case before smiling broadly at the scene she had just witnessed across the canal. Seung Mina had apparently become another woman's pet, although what relationship the blonde woman had with her was a mystery.

"M'lady?" the barmaid, Ivy laughed at the thought, the woman was a prostitute, plain and simple, between her legs asked.

"No one told you to stop," Ivy said as she continued to watch the women across the canal. She slouched down a bit more in her chair and spread her thighs further as the barmaid continued to lap at her quim. Ivy looked down and stroked the woman's curly black hair, letting a few strands fall through her fingers before she seized a handful and forced the woman's face down. The barmaid let out a very muffled yelp of surprise as Ivy began to thrust her hips at the woman.

Ivy leaned back and closed her eyes, remembering the look of terror on Seung Mina's face when she had first been taken. The platinum haired woman smirked at the memory of how Seung had quickly become an active participant in her "rape", even begging for more pleasure at Ivy's hands. Ivy let out a low growl as she felt herself come and buried her hands deep in the barmaid's hair, giving it a last painful tug before letting the girl fall backwards to the floor.

"I'll just be going then," the barmaid said, one hand wiping at the shining liquid covering her mouth and cheeks. "It'll be-"

"We're not done yet," Ivy said as she stood and stretched, her purple leathers gleaming in the moonlight from the window. She idly ran one finger down her front and rubbed it in her quim. Ivy leered at the woman kneeling in front of her before pressing her finger to the woman's lips. "Suck."

The barmaid looked up at Ivy hesitantly and swallowed nervously at the look in the woman's eyes. With her eyes still on Ivy, she leaned forward and took the finger into her mouth, her tongue sliding across and around it before she began to suck on it with her full, crimson painted lips.

"Good girl," Ivy said, with a smile as she reached down and began to squeeze the barmaid's breasts through her blouse. "Now bend over the bed and pull up your dress."

"What? M'lady-" she began to stammer before Ivy lifted her up and forced her onto the bed. The barmaid looked over her shoulder, her eyes wide, and watched as Ivy peeled herself out of her leathers and reached down to pick up the scabbard of her weapon. "Please, don't hurt me," the barmaid said in a terrified whisper as Ivy slowly pulled the weapon free.

"Don't worry, every woman I do this do loves it," Ivy purred as she lifted the barmaid's dress and tore her underwear off. Her eyes locked with the barmaid's, Ivy placed the hilt of her sword at the entrance to the barmaid's quim. The woman let out a relieved breath and then gasped sharply as Ivy pushed the hilt into her.

The barmaid clutched at the blankets as Ivy pushed the hilt deeper into the woman and then pulled it nearly all the way out. The barmaid grunted as Ivy began to thrust the hilt into her quim with strokes that became faster and faster until the barmaid collapsed onto her bed, her body shaking with each thrust.

"That's good," Ivy said into the woman's ear and then licked the woman's neck. "Do you like this?" The barmaid's only response was a whimper of pleasure. Ivy smiled and began to pump the hilt of her sword into the barmaid's quim while she stroked the woman's clit with her free hand. The barmaid gave a strangled yell of pleasure as her head shot up, her eyes shut tight with pleasure. "Very nice," Ivy said as she rolled the barmaid over and idly fondled the woman's breasts. "Very nice, indeed," she said as she licked the liquid from her sword's hilt.

 

"Right, so we're going to see the local ruler," Maxi said to the others as they finished a light breakfast. "They're maniacs here, so they'll expect you to carry your weapons in the open."

"Are you sure about this?" Xianghua said as she sipped at her cup of tea. She made a face at the taste of too much sugar in the tea and set it to the side as she rested her chin on one hand. "It just doesn't seem right to go around carrying weapons in a city."

"It's not like Peking," Maxi said as he leaned back in his chair. "Everyone carries weapons here. You saw how many people carried daggers on their belts."

"But-" Xianghua started to say.

"Hey, it's better if you carry your sword in the open. They only let nobles carry swords here so they'll think you're a noble."

"Wait, what if they think we're just trying to look like nobles?" Kilik said as he poked at his bowl of porridge. "Won't they be upset?"

"Nah," Maxi said. "We're foreigners. I bet they won't even know that you're carrying a weapon," he said, nodding at Kilik's staff. "If it doesn't have a sharp edge or spike they don't think it's a weapon." He leaned forward on the table and smiled. "Trust me, we're foreigners, what's the worst that they'll do to us?"


***


Ivy crouched behind the moaning barmaid, her fingers thrusting furiously into the young woman's quim. The woman had her face buried in a pillow, her black hair spread out over the sheets as she whimpered in pleasure and thrust her hips back towards Ivy. The platinum haired woman fingered herself with her free hand, the crotch of her leathers pushed to the side to expose her quim. As she moaned softly in pleasure herself, she leaned forward and ran her tongue lightly along the edge of the barmaid's quim, eliciting a sharp cry and sob of pleasure.

"Please, oh, please," the woman moaned between her sobbing gasps. Ivy had been teasing her for more than an hour without letting her climax. "Please let me come."

"Are you a slut?" Ivy purred as she continued to tease the woman's quim with her fingers. She barely brushed the barmaid's clit with her pinky and smiled as the dark haired woman jerked and thrashed. "Are you?"

"Yes! Yes!" the woman shouted. "Just please-" her words were cut off by a long scream of pleasure. Feathers floated through the air as her hands tore the pillow open. Her legs thrashed as she fell onto her stomach, her hips jerking back onto

Ivy's furiously working tongue and fingers. She arched her back, her breasts lifting off the bed as clenched the sheets with her white-knuckled hands, and opened her mouth in a silent cry of ecstasy.

As the morning sun's rays shone through the window, Ivy lowered the woman down to the bed and ran her tongue up from her bottom to the base of her neck. The platinum haired woman smiled to herself as she turned the panting woman's head and kissed the barmaid before sucking on her neck hard enough to leave a bruise.

Ivy smiled and sucked her fingers clean before kissing her way back down the woman's back and licking the barmaid's juices from her inner thigh. The woman moaned again as Ivy gently rolled her onto her back and leaned down to kiss the woman softly, their breasts rubbing together.

"A very enjoyable night," Ivy whispered. "How much do you wish me to pay you?"

The woman moaned something incomprehensible. Ivy laughed and slid off the bed before adjusting her purple leathers and draping a enveloping cloak over her shoulders. She fastened her sword belt around her waist before reaching into a belt pouch and pulling out a handful of the local currency. "Fifteen ducats satisfactory?" Ivy said, knowing that the gold coins she was placing on the bed were easily a month's wages for the barmaid. The barmaid moaned again and Ivy laughed before leaning over and kissing the woman again. She turned slowly at the sound of the door being pushed open.

"Now give me all your money, *****," an overweight man carrying a dirty cleaver said from the doorway. He glanced at her sword and said, "And don't try anything with that sword or I'll carve you up good."

Ivy said nothing in response as she drew her weapon in one fluid movement. A few seconds later she stepped over the corpse of the man and out into the hallway, ignoring the gibbering screams of the woman behind her.


***


"So we're all agreed that we never listen to Maxi again?" Taki said as she kicked the last member of the mob off the gondola and into the canal.

"Agreed," the others chorused as Maxi continued to pole the gondola down the canal and away from the screaming mob gathered around the banks behind them.

"It wasn't my fault we ran into a mob of lunatics," he whined as they drew up next to a street across the canal and hopped out. "I just said 'hello' to that woman."

"No you didn't," Sophitia said as they began to walk down the narrow streets towards the Doge's Palace. "You said, 'How much for a night?'"

"I did not!" Maxi said.

"Where did you learn your Italian?" Taki asked.

"From some sailors in Cairo," Maxi said. Beside him, Kilik sighed and looked up at the sky through the narrow opening formed by the buildings to either side of the street.

"Did it ever occur to you that they might not have told you the right things to say?" Mitsurugi said. They had had to restrain him to keep him from slicing several of the mob in two with his katana. His temper hadn't improved since then.

"Well, I, uh-" Maxi said and stopped. "That's a possibility." There were loud groans from the others and Xianghua slapped him on the back of the head, beating Taki by a few seconds.

"This 'Doge' is probably going to turn out to be the chief streetsweeper," Taki grumbled. "Although," she said as she avoided a pile of horse dung, "it doesn't seem like they have one of those either."

"What is it with these cities?" Seung Mina said. "They all stink and the men won't stop staring at me."

"They stare at you back home too, little one," Taki said in a husky voice as she slid her hand up Mina's bare thigh. They all laughed when Mina jumped in the air and blushed.

"The Doge is the ruler of the city," Sophitia said. "He'd be the one who would know of any rumors of the Soul Edge."

"I hope he's willing to talk," Kilik said.

"We'll know soon," Sophitia said and pointed as they emerged into a large plaza containing an immense cathedral to the north and a long, sprawling palace to the south. "That's his palace."


***


Ivy tapped her gloved finger against her cheek as she watched the other searchers enter the Doge's Plaza. It seemed that they were all working together, at least for now. Some of them she knew from their previous journeys to the west.

Seung Mina, for example, she thought with a fond smile. She also recognized the asian warrior woman and the blonde Greek. But the others were a mystery. If they had journeyed to the west, she hadn't met them before the destruction of the Soul Blade. It seemed that they had some idea of where to find the Soul Edge, more than she did, at least.

Ivy was about to follow the others when she noticed a crowd gathering alongside the waterfront by the plaza. They seemed to be pointing towards a ship on the horizon.

"Just some merchant," Ivy said dismissively as she turned away.


***


"Sir, perhaps you would care to send your women away?" the councillor said to the Doge of Venice.

"Shut up," the Doge said, his eyes never leaving the two women before him. Eva watched in disgust as he licked his dry lips and rubbed his hands together. She saved just as much disgust for the two women lying on a pile of cushions and pillows on the floor in front of the Doge.

"Sir," she began, "I do think you should know of the army to the north."

"Eh?" the Doge said. "Do you want to join them? You're a pretty wench."

"Who, sir?" Eva said before she realized he meant the women on the floor. She was going to respond to him but stopped when she saw his attention was still on the women.

The two women were courtesans, some of the many that worked in the city. Eva looked up at the ceiling as one of the moved from lying beside the other to straddling her face. The woman's long blonde hair shook as she ground herself against the dark haired woman lying beneath her. The blonde moaned loudly as she slipped one hand down to her quim and slid it in beside the other woman's tongue. A moment later she brought her dripping fingers up to her mouth and sucked them clean as she fondled her own breasts.

"Sir, I really must speak with you about the army to the north," Eva said, trying to ignore the soft cries of pleasure coming from the women in front of her.

"You must?" the Doge said. "I am the ruler of the Republic of Venice, master of the Mediterranean and keeper of wealth your feeble mind could not conceive of. And you tell me I must?"

"Good one, Eva," Kelman whispered to her. "Maybe we'll get to be tortured a bit before we're burned at the stake."

"I didn't mean that, sir," Eva said. "But you're the only one who could possibly help-"

"-can't go in there!" a guard yelled from outside the chamber's doors. Eva turned just in time to see the guard shoved through the doors and stepped over by a group of foreigners.

"This is going to turn out well," Taki said as Maxi strode into the room.

"Will you calm down?" Kilik said as he grabbed Maxi's shoulder and tried to pull him back out of the chamber. "You're going to get us killed!"

"We can take all of them!" Maxi yelled. "Did you hear what he called us?" The guard on the floor whimpered as Maxi kicked him in the stomach. "And what those others tried to pull with the women? What kind of place is this?" He looked up at the

Doge and jabbed his finger towards the man. "You! Are you the ruler of this hellhole?"

"What is the meaning of this? You dare enter my chambers, you filthy-" his sentence was cut off by the crunch of metal against stone and the booming of cannon outside. "You dare to attack Venice?" the Doge said as whistling heralded the arrival of more cannon balls. The entire room shook, plaster falling from the walls and ceiling, when more cannon fire impacted on the outside of the palace.

"This isn't our fault, is it?" Seung Mina said as screams and shouting from outside the palace began to filter in.


***


Ivy stared at the ships sailing towards the Doge's palace through the Grand Canal. Most of them were ill-kept merchant vessels outfitted with some crude cannon. They'd hardly rank as pirate vessels except for their crew.

"Men shaped like lizards," Ivy said as she tapped her fingers against her cheek. She sat and dangled her legs over the side of the roof she was on. From her vantage point she could see most of the Doge's Plaza. Soldiers were rushing to their station and she could see large cannon being rolled out to return fire. Somewhere beyond her line of sight a cannon thundered, sending a cannon ball hurtling into the first ship. Wood shattered and sliced through the bodies of the lizard men crew standing on the deck. But even as more Venetian cannon began to fire, the first ship crunched against the plaza and its crew began to pour out.

Ivy stood and watched as Venetian war galleys began to stroke their way into the Grand Canal, sharpshooters with muskets already firing from the rigging at the lizard men manning the other ships. But even rowing at top speed they would arrive too late to keep the lizard men from slamming into the side of the plaza.

Ivy reached into her bag and pulled out her spyglass as one lizard man, larger and more brightly colored than the rest, leapt from his ship and roared out orders in some hissing tongue. Where the other lizard men were armed with an assortment of weapons, from halberds to crossbows, he carried a short sword and small shield, both of extremely fine quality. As she watched he strode forward and grabbed a screaming noblewoman by her blonde hair. Her guard tried to stab him and received the shield in the face, sending him to the ground.

The lizard man studied the woman's face and then threw her to the side as he moved further towards the palace. Ivy looked around the plaza and saw that the other lizard men were singling out any blonde or light haired women from the fleeing crowd, even to the point of ignoring armed soldiers. Ivy crouched back down on the roof and sat watching, wondering what the lizard men were searching for.


***


"Sophitia!" Kilik yelled out as they ran through the crowded halls of the palace. "Do you know whose ships those are?" Kilik pointed out the wide, arched windows at the ships slamming into the side of the plaza and disgorging hundreds of lizard men.

"No, they look like stolen merchant ships," Sophitia yelled back as she shouldered her way through the crowd trying to get deeper into the palace. She dove to the floor as a wild volley of arquebus shots chipped bits of stone from the wall. Soldiers were gathering along the edges of the plaza and trying to contain the invading lizard men, but there were too few to make any effective resistance.

"I've seen the monsters before," Maxi growled as the group crawled along beneath the windows. "They boarded my ship with that giant."

Kilik glanced over the top of the window and ducked back down. He nodded and looked back down the hall towards where Taki, Seung Mina, and Xianghua were covering their rear. "I don't think we need to worry about the guards, it looks like they're all busy with the lizard men."

"The lizards are trying to get into the palace," Mitsurugi said as he ran towards them from up ahead. "It looks like they're heading towards the ruler's chambers."

"Best we should leave, then," Kilik said as he looked down from the window. "It's a short drop, we can jump down to the plaza."

"And then what?" Taki said as she crept up. "It's filled with lizards and soldiers. I say we get to the roof of the temple next door. We can get to the roofs of the houses from there and out of the city."

Kilik glanced over the edge of the window towards the church. "I think we can make it to the church without any problem. It looks like they've bolted the doors though," he said.

"I doubt that will stop us," Sophitia said as she looked towards the church as well. "I've seen Mitsurugi cut through a wooden door with his sword."

"Then let's move," Taki said as she vaulted over the window sill. A crossbow bolt shattered near her as she fell and rolled to the side. The lizard man wielding the crossbow reversed his grip and tried to smash her with the butt as she flipped to her feet. Taki dodged to the side and whipped Mekki-Maru around in an arc that nearly severed the lizard's head. It stumbled backwards and collapsed to the stone of the plaza with a gurgle as the others dropped down besides her. Kilik dropped down beside her and reached up to catch Xianghua. The young girl wrapped her arms around Kilik's neck and whispered something in his ear that made him grin like an idiot. "Let's go, lover boy," Taki sighed.


***


Ivy rested her elbows on the edge of the roof and looked down into the plaza below. A group of lightly armored soldiers were fighting to keep the lizard's from breaking out of the plaza and into the city. As she watched, the lizard men received reinforcements and swarmed over the soldiers before darting into the narrow streets of Venice.

From her vantage point it seemed that the plaza was almost completely in the control of the lizard men. Their leader was still inspecting the blonde women being brought to him by the others. None of them seemed to be what he was looking for and were tossed to the side, some to flee, other, less fortunate, ones to attract the attention of the lizard men.

Ivy looked down at the sound of a woman screaming and watched idly as a lizard man pinned a blonde woman, rather on the voluptuous side with large breasts and a shapely figure, against the wall of the house and began to tear her clothes off. Just as the lizard man was forcing the screaming woman's thighs apart, Ivy yawned and stabbed down with her weapon. The sword stretched downward before stabbing through the lizard's back and wrapping around its body. Ivy stood and braced her foot on the edge of the building as she hauled the lizard man up and over the edge.

She leaned forward and pulled her weapon free, the lizard's blood being absorbed by the blade. With clinical detachment she studied the lizard's head and mouth before slicing into its body and examining its organs.

"Almost human," she said as she finished with her examination and stood back up, wiping her bloody gloves on the lizard's skin. "Fascinating." Her attention was drawn to the cathedral across the square by a sudden surge of the lizard men towards it. As she watched with her spyglass, the blonde woman, Sophitia, ducked through the main doorway before it was blocked by the lizard men. Even as she tried to shut the door behind her, the lizard men were pouring into the cathedral while others attacked the remaining searchers still outside. By sheer numbers, the lizard men managed to force the searchers away from the cathedral's main entrance and back around the side. The last thing she saw of them was a furious melee as they forced open a side door and managed to get in and shut it before the lizard men could follow them through.


***


Sophitia grunted, her hand flailing for her sword as she was bent over the altar and her short white skirt pushed up. The blonde woman looked over her shoulder at the lizard man holding her down and tried to kick back at him. Her kicks were futile, only bouncing off the his scaly hide, as he knocked her legs apart with his feet and moved in between them, his **** jutting visibly from the front of his loin cloth.

Sophitia screamed as the lizard man reached between her legs and tore her underwear off her body, letting the scraps of cloth flutter to the floor as he rubbed his clawed fingers over her quim. She tried to push herself up and back but was held down by another one of the lizard men. She grimaced in disgust as he pulled aside his loin cloth and pushed his **** towards her face.

The blonde warrior twisted her head from side to side until the lizard man grabbed her long blonde hair with one hand and held her head still. Sophitia grunted through clenched teeth as his dripping **** poked at her cheeks and rubbed against her lips. She glared up at the lizard man and watched as he hissed in frustration. She allowed herself a smile of victory that turned into a scream of pain as the lizard man behind her pushed himself into her quim.

The one in front of her took the opportunity to push himself into her mouth. She immediately bit down only find that the skin covering his **** was too tough for her to do any damage. Sophitia screamed around his **** as she was thrust into from both ends, neither lizard man pausing to savor the pleasure she was giving them as they pushed themselves into her as deep as they could.

Sophitia grunted as she felt a **** pushed into her throat. Tears leaked from behind her shut eyelids as the lizard's **** slid deep into her throat and paused before he started to rapidly pump his **** in and out of her mouth. His hands buried themselves in her hair, tugging on her golden locks with each thrust.

Sophitia pushed against his hips with her hands, trying to slow him or push him away. Her muscles, firm and toned by years of sword practice, managed to slow his thrusts. The lizard man hissed and tugged hard on her hair, trying to get her to cease her struggles. But she held firm and kept most of his **** out of her mouth.

Behind her, Sophitia could still feel the other lizard man pumping into her quim with thrusts that made her gasp for air through her flared nostrils. His crotch made obscene slapping noises against her round bottom as he pumped into her, each thrust lifting her booted feet from the floor. She could feel his claws digging into her waist as he held her firmly against the altar and sped the motions of his **** even more. Sophitia grunted with each thrust, her eyes squeezed shut as she waited for him to finish. Her fingers tightened on the lizard man's hips as the one behind her roared and gave a last painful thrust into her quim, the force of it pushing her thighs painfully into the altar. She sobbed and felt more tears sliding down her face as she felt his hot seed filling her and dripping out down the insides of her thighs.

But finally, after what seemed like an eternity of his **** slowly thrusting in her, his seed stopped spurting and he pulled himself out of her. Sophitia turned her attention to the lizard man in front of her, his **** moving back and forth in the tiny motions that he could make. She was about to try to lever herself away from him with her now free legs when she heard the clicking sound of another lizard man stepping up behind her.

Sophitia's mind raced as she suddenly started flailing in her attempt to get away from the lizard man holding her hair. Most of the lizard men had gone deeper into the cathedral, chasing the people who had sought refuge there, the more that returned to the main hall, the slimmer her chances of escape.

I have to get out of here, she thought desperately, I have to- Her thoughts were cut off as scaly hands grabbed her wrists and tugged them backwards, freeing the lizard man in front of her to resume his abuse of her mouth. Sophitia gagged as his **** was pushed back down her throat and tried to pull free of the hands holding her arms up behind her body. She shook her head in mute protest as her legs were kicked apart again and another lizard **** was thrust into her.

Her scream was muffled by the **** filling her mouth but still managed to ring from the ceiling of the cathedral. Sophitia grunted and moaned as she was taken from both ends, the lizard men almost bouncing her body between them on the altar.

The one in front of her pulled one hand out of her silky hair and reached under her jerking body, his scaly hand sliding into her tunic, to fondle her full breasts. He squeezed in time with his increasingly fast thrusts until his grip never loosened.

Sophitia felt her pained grunts torn from her as the lizard man in front of her sped his thrusts, his **** forcing its way down her throat before sliding almost out from between her lips, giving her a brief moment of hope before pushing its way back into her mouth again. Sophitia felt it pull back again and then hold, the **** twitching as she tried to pull away and found her head forced onto the lizard's ****.

In a burst she felt his seed gushing into her mouth. She turned her head and managed to pull away enough to get her mouth away from the **** as seed spilled down her chin. More of the lizard's seed splashed on her cheek and neck as she tried to pull away. The lizard turned her face back towards his **** and gave another shot that splattered across her nose and lips before letting go of her hair.

Sophitia let her head fall forward to hang off the altar as she panted for breath, barely aware of the hot seed dripping off her face. Her breath came in pants as the lizard man behind her continued to take her quim without mercy. With a groan, Sophitia raised her head and looked over her shoulder at the lizard man. Her tear-filled eyes managed to focus on him as he pinned her wrists to the altar and leaned over to hump into her quim with more force.

But then Sophitia's breath caught in her throat as she saw the lizard men that seemed to fill the rest of the cathedral, each of them waiting for their turn with her...

Seung Mina yelled as she dropped from a second floor balcony onto the backs of two lizard men, sending them to the floor with meaty thumps.

"Get away from her!" she shouted as she charged through the throng of lizards towards the altar. She had heard Sophitia's screams from the upstairs hallways of the cathedral, she only hoped that the others were on their way too.

Sophitia looked up blearily as she felt the lizardmen pull away from her, leaving her slumped over the altar, her clothes in tatters. She coughed and felt the lizard's seed dripping down her chin and face to splatter on the altar's surface.

"Seung," she whispered as she pushed herself up and watched as the girl dispatched her attackers with a dancer's grace. Seung's weapon flew in a long arc and sent lizardmen crashing to the floor.

"Sophitia, come on, we've gotta get out of here!" Seung yelled as she slammed the butt of her weapon into the last lizardman's gut and kicked him in the head. Sophitia nodded and staggered to her feet, trying to cover her stained body with the shreds of her clothes as she knelt and picked up her sword.

"Eek!" Seung screamed as Sophitia spun and threw the sword towards her, barely missing her head. "Why'd you do-" she started to yell before she heard a thump from behind her and saw a lizardman collapsed on the floor, Sophitia's sword buried in his skull.

"Sorry," Sophitia said as she walked towards Seung and jerked her sword free. "Let's go, are the others already in the tower?"

"I don't know," Seung said. "I lost track of them."


***


Maxi grunted as more lizardmen crashed into the door his back was pressed against.

"Finding an exit would be nice," he grunted the door shook in its frame.

"I think we're trapped," Kilik said. The room they were trapped in was a small bedroom of some sort. They had most of the furniture piled up against the door along with Maxi. "We were lucky we got in here, there are too many of them to fight off in the open."

"So we get to kill all of them one by one?" Maxi said darkly.

"Yes," Mitsurugi said as he took his place in front of the door. "We can fight in pairs. Does anyone have any water? This will be thirsty work."

"I don't think we'll have to do that," Taki said as she inspected the small fireplace at the other end of the cell. "I can climb up this."

"I suppose," said Kilik as he looked at the fireplace. He'd be surprised if a child could fit through the narrow chimney, much less Taki. "But what about the rest of us?"

"What about you?" Taki said. A second later she smiled. "That was joke. I'll distract them and you can get out of here," she said as she knelt by the fireplace and slid herself into it before pulling herself up into the chimney. They could see her body wriggling as she slid up the chimney before finally her legs disappeared in a cloud of dislodged soot.


***


"Where are they?" Seung said as she and Sophitia finished climbing the long curving stairs to the tower. From here they could see all of Venice around them and the chaos of battle in the streets and canals. The pungent smell of black powder was strong even this high above the city, managing to block out the ever present miasma of sewage from the canals.

"Are they on the roof?" Sophitia said as she leaned over the railing along the edge of the tower and looked down at the cathedral's roof. She didn't see any sign of her companions on the roof or any of the adjoining ones.

"I hope they're alright," Seung said as she leaned against the railing.

"I'm sure they are," Sophitia said. "It looks as if the Venetians are pushing the monsters back. Not without damage though," she said as she pointed to several small fires rapidly growing among the city.

"Maybe we should go look for-" Seung started to say before she fell forward onto the floor of the tower, a scaled hand around her ankle. She looked back as a lizardman rushed up from the stairs and kicked her weapon away from her before turning to face Sophitia. More of the lizards rushed up the stairs as she scrambled for her weapon and leapt on her back, pinning her ankles and wrists to the floor. As she watched, the saw the lizardmen rushing Sophitia and bearing her to the floor as well, but not before she had killed several of their number and sent another flying over the rail with a well timed bash from her shield.

Seung whimpered and closed her eyes as she waited for the killing blow that was sure to come. She opened her eyes with a gasp when she felt a lizard's hands on her back, running down her scarlet dress to clutch at her bottom. Her breath caught in her throat when she felt the lizard's strong hands kneading her flesh.

"Let go of me!" she screamed, struggling within the grasp of the lizards. She writhed as the lizard astride her back pulled up her dress over her waist and reached down to yank away her underwear, exposing the pale flesh of her bottom. "No, stop it!" she yelled as she looked over her shoulder at the lizard man. He was oblivious to her protests as he ran a long tongue over his teeth and then across the curve of Seung's bottom.

The girl shuddered in revulsion as the tongue continued to lick her, no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't free her arms of the lizard men's iron grasp. Her eyes widened as she felt the tongue slid down between the cheeks of her bottom, lightly brushing over the outside of her quim. Seung's entire body arched up from the floor as she felt the tongue slide into her, a disgusting invasion that made her shudder. But as the tongue continued to slide over and in her quim, Seung realized that her body was reacting to its touch. "No," she whimpered as her quim began to moisten as the lizard man lapped at it.

Across the narrow tower, Sophitia kicked and bit as the lizard men forced her to bend over the railing of the tower. Her hands grabbed at the railing to keep her balance as what little remained of her clothing was torn from her body and sent fluttering away. Cool air brushed against her skin, chilling her sweaty flesh. Scaly hands grabbed her waist while others stroked and caressed her legs. Far below she could see the roof of the cathedral and the corpse of the lizard man she had pushed over.

Her stomach churned as she felt a sudden hardness pressed against her bottom. Clawed fingers were digging into her flesh with almost enough force to break the skin as they fondled every inch of her body. Sophitia gasped as the hardness moved down between her bottom and her legs were roughly spread.

The blonde woman screamed, her blue eyes wide and her entire body taut, as a **** was pushed into her. She gritted her teeth and grunted as the lizard man pushed himself into her, not having much trouble doing so either thanks to her earlier encounter with his kind. His hands tightened on her waist as he leaned over to lick the back of her neck with his long, slimy tongue, his snout rubbing in her silken hair. Sophitia grunted again as he pulled out of her and slammed himself back, nearly tipping her over the railing. To keep herself from falling, Sophitia found she was forced to push back with each thrust, her bottom smacking loudly against the lizard's crotch.

"No," she whimpered through her teeth as he continued to **** her from behind. His thrusts sped and soon Sophitia had to hang on for dear life as she tried to keep from falling. Pushing backwards against the lizard only made him increase his thrusts until he gave one last thrust, almost pushing Sophitia over, her feet kicking helplessly off the floor, and shot his seed deep within her. Sophitia's face twisted in a grimace of disgust as she felt him pull out, more of his seed splattering across her bottom.

Sophitia panted for breath as she was allowed to slump back, her breasts pressed against the railing and only her head hanging over. She gasped as she was pulled back from the railing and another lizard man entered her from behind, making her press against the railing with her hands to keep from being pushed back into that precarious position hanging over it. As the new lizard man continued to take her from behind, his **** sliding in and out of her at a pace that made her head spin in revulsion, Sophitia could hear the sound of Seung screaming shrilly.

Seung's eyes went wide and she froze in horror when she felt the heated and dry skin of the lizard man pressing against the backs of her thighs and her bottom. Something hard and thick was rubbing over her inner thigh, leaving a disgusting sticky liquid behind.

"No, get off meeeee!" Seung screamed, her words changing into a pained cry as the lizard man forced himself into her quim. Her entire body thrashed, her braided black hair whipping around her head as she struggled. "No, no, no! Don't put that in me!" Seung yelled as she lizard man lay down on her back, his hands on her hips as he pushed himself deeper into her. Her cries changed to a gasping scream with each inch of his **** that was forced deeper into her. Seung sobbed, tears forming in her eyes as the lizard man gave a tremendous thrust forward and buried most of his **** in her. "It's too much," she sobbed, her brown eyes filled with tears.

For a moment he was still and Seung gasped for breath. But then he began to pull his **** out, almost all the way, before slamming it back into her and wrenching another shrill scream from her. His body pinning her's to the cool stone floor, Seung could do nothing as his **** thrust into her over and over and his hands forced themselves under her body to grope at her small and shapely breasts.

Seung's cheek lay against the floor and through tear blurred eyes she could see the Sophitia being taken from behind. There was almost no sound except for the wind, the grunts of the lizardmen pleasuring themselves with the unwilling bodies of the two women, and the cries of the two women themselves. Seung moaned as her body was jerked across the stone floor by the lizardman's increasingly rapid thrusts. She bit her lower lip and whimpered as he raised himself off her with his hands, putting his entire weight into each thrust, and hissed loudly as he came within her. Seung groaned in disgust and shuddered, her mouth and eyes wide as he gave one last furious thrust into her and collapsed on her.

Seung's body was limp with exhaustion from her struggles as the lizardman pulled out of her , a bit of his seed staining the red silk of her dress as he climbed off her. She could barely resist, only managing a few feeble kicks and punches, as the lizardmen raised her bottom in her air and spread her thighs apart, exposing her to all of their hungry gazes. Her attention was momentarily distracted by the sound of Sophitia screaming as she was pulled to the floor. But the blonde woman was quickly silenced as a lizardman forced himself between her lips and another took her from behind.

Seung's attention was roughly diverted from Sophitia as another lizardman took his place behind her and thrust himself into her. Her quim was already lubricated with the other lizard's seed and the new **** had no trouble sliding into her. As the lizardman began a steady thrusting rhythm, Seung rested her forehead on the stone and sobbed.