Kill the Witch (Patreon)

(Image - The amazing  Amarie Tinuviel)
 
We stormed the manor with our charms set and weapons bared, but instead of the cruel sorceress we expected to meet, we found ourselves in a twisting labyrinth. It was impossible to know what to expect in a witch’s dwelling, though, and many a dungeon involved a convoluted maze. We were prepared for anything, as we had to be, and for hours we moved forward, marking each corner, never losing faith that we were progressing towards the dark heart of her lair.
Elden moved ahead, scouting each intersection and passageway, bypassing the treacherous enchantments laid out before us. Miklos’s thunderblade tore through a hulking automaton that awaited us in another chamber, and a gout of flame from Daolin’s fingertips dispatched a band of winged feline beasts that swooped down on us in a hallway.
FInally we stood outside a grand door. I could sense the overwhelming evil lurking on the other side, so, with a few final preparations and the full confidence that we’d reached our goal, we kicked in the door and burst into the room with a chorus of fearsome shouts.
Shouts that faded quickly. The room was immense, walls and ceiling so distant in the dim light that they could barely be seen. There was no witch here. Instead, we stood, stunned to silence by the beautiful, colossal being before us.
He had to be twice the height of the tallest tower I’d ever seen, hundreds of feet at least and with a haunting, elfish grace to his perfect features. His dark, immense eyes watched from far above while his lips curled to a thin smirk.
“Certainly took your time, hmm?” Even while booming throughout the room, his voice was low and melodic. “For such deliberate adventurers, though, you certainly didn’t know what you were getting into, did you?”
Immaculate laced leather boots stretched to the tops of his thighs, the sound of their creaking filling our ears as he uncrossed his legs and slowly rose from his monumental throne. His dark, gold-trimmed coat hung loose around his shoulders, richly ringed with exotic fur and surrounding his long, slender body, clothed in an outfit of almost otherworldly elegance that somehow revealed more of his ashen skin than not.
I looked back and forth to my companions, gripping and regripping my mace while my fingers slid across the divine emblem emblazoned on my chestpiece while I whispered a prayer for strength. It wasn’t uncommon for witches to enter pacts with demons, but this was almost unimaginable. He was so immense, the most fearsome of dragons would be like a lapdog at his side.

Surely this was a fight we could not win, but if my brothers chose to fight, I would protect them with my life.
That wouldn’t be our decision to make. The demon moved with blinding speed, unimaginable for a being so massive, and snatched Daolin up in his fist. Miklos roared, rushing to his aid, but the gigantic demon only chuckled, pursed his lips and knocked the powerful warrior back with a burst of strangely sweet breath, leaving him stumbling while he slowly rose back to his full height, dragging our sorcerer up into the air and holding him before his gleaming eyes.
“How delightful that you would come all this way just for me.” His grin broadened, revealing rows of monstrous, pointed fangs. His black, curled horns shone in the flickering torchlight with the slight, swaying movements of his head while he mocked us. “Such bravery and dedication, to be hunted by a band of fearsome little ants.”
Daolin was our best chance, but with his arms pinned in the demon’s grasp, his arcane abilities were vastly limited. We needed a distraction, an escape, something to dazzle or blind the giant for just a moment so we could flee, but there would be no thunderbolts or fireballs without finding a way to get him free.
“You’re wrong.” Elden stepped forward, boldly shouting up at the demon. A sharp laugh left my ears ringing while I watched his long, scorpion-like tail curled up over his shoulder, the pointed and surely venomous tip teasing at Daolin’s chest, ready to rip through him with ease.
“You certainly look like ants from here, little boy.” Daolin flinched and shrieked, jerking back as a flick of the giant’s tail nearly tore his head from his body. He didn’t even bother looking down as he spoke, continuing to laugh and sigh at the struggling man in his fist.
“We’re not, but we’re also not here for you! We have no quarrel with you, fair demon. We only seek the Witch Queen, and I would humbly ask you allow us to pass.”
Now he had his attention. The gargantuan demon bent at the waist, leaning over us with a hand at his hip while his leathery black wings slightly unfurled, stirring a gust of air all around me. 
“You’d humbly ask? How humble are you, little thing? And why should I give you to my witch? We have an agreement, you know, and I can tell you’ve come here with blood on your mind.”
I stepped forward now. He was willing to talk, which meant we had a chance. My neck strained as I stared straight up in the shadow of the magnificent demon. “I know your bargains are binding and the Witch Queen fearsome, but consider the value of four instead of one. Surely a deal with those powerful enough to vanquish her would be of more use than the power of a single witch?”
He rose, his unnaturally brilliant, long fiery hair twisting through the air as a full-throated cackle shook me to my bones. He turned to Daolin and watched him continue to push and fight against his fingers while he spoke. “Your friend knows much of bartering with my kind. Much as I would enjoy feeling your body crumple against my skin, I think I might just make a deal.”
Miklos seethed as he stared at me, and Elden watched with wide eyes as well. I knew demons, though, and I knew we could reason our way through this. If we owed service to a demon prince, that was something we could deal with later. Entire villages that defied the witch queen’s will had vanished, and the countless lives we’d save by stopping her meant more than anything that would happen to us.
But we had to be alive to do that, and I would make sure we survived.
“Priest, your friend spoke of a humble request. I would see you humbled.” The demon’s majestic voice dripped with condescension as he smiled down at me.
“In the sight of your companions and your god, I will watch you kneel and crawl at my feet, begging for my mercy.”
I shuddered as his vicious words and wicked tone. I had to trust this. I had to save my friends.
“Crawl to me, little speck, and I will see you kiss my boot. Satisfy me with your supplication, and if your submission is genuine, I will step aside and allow you to see your witch.”
I tore my eyes away from his malicious, fanged grin and looked back to my friends, trying to reassure their concern with a slight nod. He would keep his word, and I would keep mine. Some sacrifices must be made for the greater good.
I sunk to my knees before him, letting my mace fall by my side as I placed my hands on the ground. One more glance upwards at the smirking mountainous fiend was all I dared before I lowered my gaze back to his feet and crawled forward, determined by my task.
My mail clanked and scraped with each movement as I dragged my knees forward behind me. His unbelievable size made the distance seem far less than it was, and I felt I was barely making progress.
“Scurry faster, little insect, before I change my mind and splatter you beneath my heel.”
His threat was very real. Our bargain was not complete, and until it was, I existed at the demon’s whim. I pushed myself, straining my limbs as I noisily scuttled forwards, eyes locked on that massive boot, drawing closer and closer until it filled my vision, until the vast expanse of black leather stretched out before me and I collapsed against the side of its pointed toe.
“Mercy,” I gasped, laying upon the demon’s boot, my flushed cheek flat against the unbelievably smooth, cool leather. Something so huge couldn’t have been crafted so perfectly. I embraced it, so relieved to have reached my goal intact. “Spare us, please, my beautiful demon lord.”
I felt the wind of his contemptuous snort on my back. “Pathetic,” he muttered, but I already knew that and still, he sounded pleased. My companions were surely disgusted with me, too, but we could talk about that tonight on the journey home, because I was going to save them.
I felt that smooth leather under my lips, and my first kiss was soft and slow. I would flatter him endlessly, appeal to his ego, let him find me amusing and once he was pleased, we would move on. “Please,” I continued, another kiss between every other word, “Please, master, have mercy on me.”
My face burned with shame but the echoing laughter from far above helped temper that with the satisfaction of success. “Very well, you silly little creature. I’ll give you your witch, and should you prove victorious, I look forward to negotiating our contract for the future.”
His foot slid away from me, and just that slight movement left the ground shuddering beneath my knees. I rose up and watched in awe as the walls of the tremendous chamber began to evaporate, as the entire labyrinth we’d pushed through gradually rose and vanished in a swirl of violet smoke.
The ground beneath our feet was the only solid surface to be seen. We stood, elevated in space, surrounded by a dull, distant warm light. Colors formed to shapes on the horizon as the smoke dissipated, shapes I slowly started to recognize. Shapes that left me reeling, dizzy and sick as my mind struggled to place them and understand.
The warm glow came from a chandelier far above, each light seeming as large as the sun. The angles in the distance and the curves and slopes of the alien landscape slowly resolved to an impossible object--a plush sofa stretching long past the edge of my vision on either side, and upon it a raven haired goddess that dwarfed the tallest mountain, swirling an ocean of dark wine in a goblet cradled in her grasp, 
I utterly collapsed forward on my hands and knees, tears of anguish freely flowing as yet another impossible reality overwhelmed me. She was just as described, the dark, elegant, magnificent witch queen, slowly stretching out her legs toward us. Our hours and hours of exploration, or battles and our struggles all took place on the table she was going to prop her feet on.
Just the casual act of setting her heel on the table created a concussive force that sent us bouncing in the air. Her silken black stockings shimmered in the light while the humid scents of leather and sweat washed over us.
The towering demon, the one that looked down on us like ants, turned towards her unfathomable sole, embracing it like a lover. His fingers slid along the curve of her heel while he buried his face in her stocking, lewdly moaning between countless eager kisses.
“Mistress,” he announced at last. “These brave adventurers are here to slay you.”
That massive, fearsome demon--he barely even reached the top of her heel.
The witch’s laughter destroyed us, leaving me clutching my bleeding ears. As she took a long sip of her wine, her words were just as destructive to my soul.
“Crush them, pet, and do it slowly for me. I don’t have any other entertainment tonight.”