Fantasy The Emperor of Destruction

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The Pit of Love​

Cunha had become Emperor. He had taken control of the Emperor's forces, secured the loyalty of the Lords, and taken the reigns of the Realm's new religion. But he was still far from secure. There were still forces in Aridor not under his control. Forces he needed to control, if he was to bring the Compassionate One into the Realm.

Sanjay, Cunha, Selvanna, and Zaragoth were in the Pit of Love.

It was not remembered among many that Rockrod hadn't been built simply at random. There was a reason it had been constructed where it was, on top of a tall hill. For underneath it there had been enormous deposits of Black Gold, the element rich in the Powers that sprang forth from the Roots of the Earth.

An enormous mine, nearly a vertical shaft, had been constructed at the base of the castle. Tons of Black Gold were drawn out and used for many purposes, to enhance the powers of the McMasters Impressionators. Memory of the mine faded as the Castle was built over it, and the mine itself was tapped out, but the hole was still there, in a basement under the Castle itself, a giant black hole in the middle of a chamber perhaps 500 feet long and thirty feet high, with pillars supporting the ceiling. There was no natural illumination, but hundreds of torches were on sconces on the walls and the pillars.

And yet, even without any natural light, something grew there, right next to the Pit of Love. A black, wizened tree. A tree that bore fruit. Midnight plums. They called it the Tree of Love.

Selvanna caressed the rough bark of the Tree of Love. She could almost feel the waves of Power emanating from it. Her hands moved upwards and gently caressed one of the plums. It felt a little like the wrinkled plums hanging from a man's candelabra. "It grows," she whispered, squeezing one softly.

Sanjay nodded, study the Tree of Life with keen eyes. "But it is not strong enough. It must be made to produce the Seed of Life if we are to bring the Compassionate One into the World. The tree must be fertilized."

"I will fertilize it," said Cunha, moving his right hand towards his pants.

Sanjay caught his hand, and stared into the Emperor's eyes. "No. Your candelabra will be required, but not for the first step. This requires a different kind of fertilization." He paused, looking around. "The McMasters are strong in the Power. But they are not the only ones with the power. Men with the Power attend something called the School of Magic," said Sanjay. "Women with the Power, on the other hand, are trained by the druid... Deidraphon. Both groups must be brought under our control. Both must be made to Make the Change. Only then can we begin to bring the Compassionate One into our world, and bring about the much greater, larger Inversion."

"The Inversion," Cunha mumbled reverently, bowing his head. Behind him, Selvanna and Zaragoth did the same.

They began with the druids.

Since the School of Magic refused to train women who had the Power, the Druidess Deidraphon took up the slack, taking any girl who showed potential under her wing. She lived in the center of the small Harbind Forest near the East Coast of the Unending Sea.

General Cloaka sent in ten of his best men. He knew what they were facing. Druids. Young girls.

"Maybe I can get one of them to sing for us," Urko, his lieutenant, chuckled as he was given the assignment.

"She'll sing all right. Right as she's riding up and down on my candelabra," said Caltus, one of his men.

But Urko, nor Caltus, nor any of the men that Cloaka sent returned.

"How could they have killed them? They're girls!" said General Cloaka.

"They have the Power," said Cunha, balancing a ball of light in the palm of his hand. "It is not quite like the Power we have, which taps directly from the Roots of the Earth, but it is the Power, nonetheless."

"Perhaps this requires a more... womanly touch," said Zaragoth, grabbing Cunha's arm possessively. "You should send Selvanna."

"That's an idea," said Cunha, giving Selvanna a small smile that made her uncomfortable.

Selvanna didn't know which bothered her more, the idea of fighting a Grand Druid, or that Cunha would think so little of her safety as to send her on such a dangerous mission.

"Dog can do it," Selvanna snapped.

Dog's eyebrows shot up.

"Send Dog," said Selvanna. "He's never failed me."

Cunha paused. He looked at Zebrah, whose face was as impassive as a block of stone. "A good idea. Dog, you can accompany Zebrah. Zebrah, take ten more men, and bring back the Druidess and her followers. Do you think you can do it?"

Zebrah drew her vorpal blade, and Dog shivered. "Does the Druidess bleed when cut?" Zebrah asked, by way of answer.

Selvanna pushed down on the wrist that held the sword. "We need the Druidess alive, if possible."

"If possible." For the first time, a hint of a smile appeared on Zebrah's face.

That blade.

From the first time he saw that silvery vorpal blade, Dog Man felt uneasy about it. There were swords and there were swords. But something about Zebrah's sword made Dog Man's heart beat quicker. He started having dreams about it; nightmares, actually, of that sharp, silver blade cutting into him. He dreamed the same nightmares, over and over, with only small variations; of Zebrah stabbing him in the chest, or cutting of an arm, or a tail, or his head.

Why would he have such dreams? Zebrah was certainly not his friend; the sullen stone cold Alkemi, by definition, had no friends. But neither had Zebrah gone out of her way to antagonize him. But somehow, by the way she looked at him, Dog Man knew. Someday they would come to blows. It was inevitable; he served Selvanna, and Zebrah obeyed Cunha.

Thrasher. That was what Zebrah called it. Well, Dog's great axe had a name of its own, Barkwood. The time would come when Thrasher would meet Barkwood.

They walked side by side. Dog Man often found himself talking to Zebrah, which was odd, given his belief that Zebrah would try to mur*er him some day. And Zebrah was incredibly taciturn and moody. Getting her to say anything at all was a victory.

And yet... they were more alike than they were different. A man with a dog's head, and a woman (a White woman!) with four Wisdoms, standing over six feet tall, wearing shiny silver armor over each one of her Wise Ones, with an expression as grim as death on her face, didn't seem to have much in common with each other.

But they did. What they had in common was that they were so different from everyone else.

The others didn't attempt to hide their contempt for him. They pantomimed him fetching a stick, or baying at the moons, or sucking his own candelabra, or eating his own Forbidden Chocolate. Despite his formidable fighting skills, Dog was the subject of mockery among the other men.

Zebrah wasn't treated much better. They called her White Trash, or Quad. They invited her to suck on their Candelabras, or take off her armor and show them how her Wisdoms bounced around when she swung a sword.

The difference between them is that Zebrah didn't accept their mockery nearly as well as Dog did. When Krasno asked Zebrah to suck on his Candelabra for the tenth time, she said, "Present it."

"What?" said Krasno.

"You want me to suck on your candelabra? Present it."

Krasno turned to the other men and grinned. They all chuckled as Krasno lowered his pantaloons and held up his candelabra. In a move that was like a blur, Zebrah drew Thrasher and cut Krasno's candelabra in two... and the hand holding it as well. The scariest part of it though, was Zebrah's face; completely emotionless, as if she had done no more than slice a carrot.

After that, people stopped asking Zebrah to suck on their candelabras. They might not like her, but they feared her, which was good enough for her.

"Do you think this is a suicide mission, Quad?" Dog asked as they walked in double file, with him and Zebrah in the lead, and Cloaka's men behind them.

Zebrah hated being called Quad. She had threatened to kill any man who called her that. When Dog continued to call her that, she gave him a steely glare. "Did you hear what I just said?"

"I did," said Dog Man. "You said you would kill any man who called you a Quad. Well, I am no man."

And then Zebrah had given him a look, a real look, and had it been Dog's imagination, or did the corners of Zebrah's mouth turn upwards ever so slightly?

Zebrah didn't answer Dog's question. Dog continued his attempt to begin a conversation. "It just occurs to me that as we enter this charming forest, the last ten men who went in before us never returned."

"I am not those men," said Zebrah in a hard, casual tone.

"I hadn't noticed," said Dog, openly leering at her Wisdoms. Zebrah was a very wise woman; her Wisdoms were large and juicy. In theory, she was the wisest woman in all of Aridor. While the bottom parts of her Wise Ones were armored, the top parts were exposed. "The cleavage of death" it was called; but Zebrah's were unmarked, other than a scar on her upper right Wisdom.

"Do you think we can rely on the men?" Dog asked, casting a glance at the sullen, unshaven bunch walking behind them with pole axes. He was convinced that Cloaka had sent his most hardened killers with them, perhaps with secret orders to make sure that neither he nor Zebrah returned.

Zebrah continued walking in her bright silver tall boots as she considered. "Can we rely on them to fight with us? Perhaps."

"Can we rely on them not to put a sword in our backs?"

Zebrah turned and gave him a slightly amused look. "Perhaps. But I do not think they will attempt treachery."

"Why not?" Dog asked.

"Because they know that would make me very, very unhappy," said Zebrah, and she turned and gave Gormtesh, the leader of the squad, such a look that he actually stumbled.

Dog found that he liked Zebrah, despite his belief that someday she could be the death of him. But who knew if dreams could come true? It wasn't like they were a prophecy.

Trouble began when they had to plow through a thicket of bushes. The bushes suddenly came alive and started attacking them. Men screamed and drew their weapons. There was a flash of light and Thrasher was out, hacking and slicing. A few moments later, there was a very rough stack of twigs and wood, and ten bleeding men waving their weapons almost in exhaustion.

"The Druid made the bushes come alive," said Gormtesh, in a surprised tone.

"Maybe that's why she's called a druid, and not a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker," said Zebrah. Her voice was cold with contempt.

They resumed walking. Dog said, "Do you really believe all this stuff about the Compassionate One?"

Zebrah gave him a contemptuous look. "Don't you?"

"Me?" Dog Man said.

"Your master is Selvanna, Dog."

"And yours is the Emperor. He's every bit as much a believer in the Compassionate One as Selvanna."

Zebrah kept walking. "I do not serve Cunha because he follows the Compassionate One."

"Then why do you serve him?"

Zebrah did not answer, suddenly raising her hand in a fist as a gesture for everyone to stop.

"What is it?" said Dog.

"I do not like the looks of those trees," said Zebrah, pointing to a pair of tall, thick spruces blocking their path. The trees had giant branches that curved out in every direction.

"What, are we afraid of trees, now?" said Gormtesh, conveniently forgetting that they had just fought bushes less than an hour ago. Gormtesh and his men were not picked for their common sense, or even fighting skills; they served Sauda Hommed because they were loyal, they were obedient, and they were cruel.

"Quiet," said Zebrah sternly.

Then they heard a thump. Then another thump.

"Look," said Dog.

The trees were moving.

Slowly at first, but then faster and faster, the giant trees charged them. Their branches came alive, swatting and grabbing and choking and hitting, and suddenly all twelve of them were fighting for their lives. The swords of Gormtesh and his men clanged off the bark of the tree and the larger branches. But Barkwood was made for chopping wood, and the trees howled as Dog's great axe came alive. The trees tried to crush them, grabbing them in their giant branches and squeezing. Zebrah gasped as a branch grabbed and hugged her tightly, lifting her into the air, and she nearly let go of Thrasher; but she tightened her grip and sliced through the branch holding her, and landed neatly on the heels of her tall silver boots. She looked up and saw all the men being lifted into the air, grabbed by branches like so many tentacles. Zebrah struck out with Thrasher and thrusted directly into the bark of one of the trees. It screamed, shuddered, and collapsed.

A moment later, the other tree was in the same condition.

Two of the men, Jerblax and Rento, had been killed. The rest were suffering from a serious morale shortage.

"There's no way I'm going any farther," said Gormtesh. The others nodded in agreement.

"Then go back," said Zebrah simply, as she jumped on the body of a fallen tree. "Go back, and tell the Emperor that you ran away."

"Or we will," said Dog, licking his lips.

The men muttered among themselves and gave Zebrah and Dog nasty glares. Finally, they resolved to continue.

As soon as they were mobile again, Dog struck up another conversation with Zebrah. "That was amazing the way your sword plowed through the body of that tree like it was butter. I don't know any sword that could do that. What is your sword made of?" Dog asked, thinking once again of his nightmares.

"Something sharp," Zebrah explained, continuing to walk.

A few minutes later they came to a well worn path, and a few minutes beyond that they arrived at a cabin, in the woods. Zebrah halted the men and stared at the cabin for several long moments.

Dog raised his snout and sniffed the air. Then he sniffed again. He leaned towards Zebrah and whispered something in her ear. She nodded, and turned to the men. "You men wait here. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Yes!" said Gormtesh. "Fine by us!"

Zebrah nodded and walked to the cabin slowly, gingerly, as if the ground were covered in hidden pits. As she walked, she saw Dog slinking away around the corner of her eye.

She raised her hand to knock on the door just as it slowly opened... on its own.

"Come in, dearry," said an ancient voice.

Zebrah, looking left, right, up, and down, slowly entered the cabin. She found an elderly woman fumbling over a pot. "Would you like some tea, dear? I've just brewed some up."

"No thank you," said Zebrah. "I presume you are Deidraphon the Druid?"

"Deidraphon the Druid?" The old woman looked puzzled. "No, that doesn't ring a bell. Are you sure you're pronouncing that right?"

"I believe I am. Dei-dra-phon," said Zebrah.

"Are you sure you won't have some tea?" said the old woman. "It's nice and hot!"

"No thank you. I think I would prefer instead to bring you back to Rockrod, where my master and mistress will undoubtedly do unpleasant things to you until you Make the Change."

The old woman chuckled. "Make the Change? I'm afraid you're fifty or sixty harvests too late for that, dearrie, I Made the Change a long, long time ago!"

"Well, I think now you're about to make another." Zebrah grabbed her wrist.

"I don't think so, dearry. I think you are," said the old woman. And suddenly she changed, and morphed, and lost about thirty harvests worth of age, and she was now a tall, shapely brunette, and then her body changed yet again, and it was all stone. An arm made of rock swatted at Zebrah.

Zebrah rolled under the arm and avoided the blow. The old woman swung her other arm, and Zebrah was pushed back as she caught the edge of it. Her eyes narrowed.

"Come here dearrie, and we can have some tea," said the stone woman.

Zebrah gave a yell, and launched herself into the air, landing behind the stone woman. She brought up her vorpal blade, and held it to the woman's throat. "Change back!"

"You can't harm me! I'm made of stone!"

"Change back!" Zebrah said, pressing the edge of her blade tighter.

The woman screamed, and transformed back into her original self, and there was a trickle of blood coming down her throat.

"You figured it out," said Deidraphon.

Zebrah nodded.

"Well, at least you didn't get the others. I made sure they got away," said Deidraphon.

At that moment Dog came through the front door, dragging a young frightened woman.

"Gabriella!" said Deidraphon

"Mother!" Gabriella cried.

"I told you to go!" Deidraphon said.

Mother, and daughter. Compassion had been their undoing.

After Deidraphon had made mince meat out of the first squad that General Cloaka had sent, Deidraphon knew that the Emperor would return in greater force. So she arranged to send all her initiates away.

But her daughter Gabriella didn't want to go.

"You have to go, Gabriella! I want you to be safe!" said Deidraphon.

"Why don't you come with us, Mother?" she asked.

"This is my forest. I have made it into what it is over the past twenty years, as have my predecessors before me," said Deidraphon. "I know what they will do if I leave. They will kill all the trees. They will foul all the streams and the lakes. It will turn into a place of evil, one which will breed the scourge of Sauda Hommed. I will not permit that to happen, not without a fight. But you must go."

But Gabriella didn't. She stayed behind, watching from behind the cabin, where Dog picked up her scent and caught her.

"This is Deidraphon," said Zebrah, unceremoniously dumping the Druid at Selvanna's feet.

"Welcome," said Selvanna, with a small smile.

"Where are the other druids?" Zaragoth asked.

"We didn't get them. But we did get her daughter," said Dog, dragging Gabriella forward. Gabriella had learned, the hard way, that Dog meant it when he said that he bites.

"Daughter?" Selvanna's eyes lit up. "Now that has the sound of possibilities." Her smile chilled Deidraphon to the bone.

The decision was made to break Gabriella first. She was chained to a wall in the Pit of Love. She was completely nude. Cold, foul air wafting out of the pit made her shiver all over. But that wasn't the only thing making her tremble.

There were creatures, three of them. One was attached to Gabriella's left Wisdom. The other was attached to her right. But the one that was giving her the most attention was the one attached to her Phong.

They were small, and round, and furry. They pulsated.

Selvanna smiled as she watched Gabriella moan as the creatures, called samizdat, pumped Gabriella full of ahmen. Gabriella felt ahmen radiating all over her body, generated by the creatures sucking on her Wisdoms, and pulsating right over her Sacred Gorge.

Urethera was handling the interrogation.

"I feel so badly for you," she said, smiling as she watched the samizdat pulsate over Gabriella's Phongfruit Forest. Gabriella's Phong was a bright brown color, like the color of the Earth.

"Please... please... I need a Phongasm... I need to Phongasm now," Gabriella moaned. She had been at the edge of ecstasy for hours, but the creatures made sure not to let her go over the edge.

"You mean, like this?" Urethera asked, and she let a hand play over Gabriella's belly, wandering close to her Phong.

In her hyperaroused state, every caress of Urethera's fingers drove Gabriella mad. "Yes, yes, touch me down there! Please, I beg you!"

Urethera pulled her hand away. "And I will. As much as you like. All you need to do is Make the Change. Give yourself to the Compassionate One."

"No... no.... I can't! I won't!" The sweaty, naked girl was nearly delirious.

Selvanna felt a presence behind her. She shivered and turned to see Sanjay. "Great One," she said, bowing her head.

Sanjay nodded slightly. "What is the situation?"

"We are making progress," said Selvanna, with tight lips.

"I don't think so." Selvanna felt a hand on her shoulder. She stiffened. She felt hot breath on her ear. "It has been two days. Neither of them as broken."

"The key to breaking the Druid is to take her daughter first."

"Or....." said Sanjay suggestively.

Deidraphon was bound, completely nude, to a tall marble pillar that rose forty feet into the air in the Pit of Love. She watched as Gabriella was tortured. Selvanna sauntered over to her. There was something... something about the way she walked. With an air of supreme confidence. Of anticipation. Her walk filled Deidraphon with incredible fear.

"How are you doing?" Selvanna asked. "Would you like some tea?"

Deidraphon turned her head.

"Don't turn your head. You're missing some of Gabriella's finest moments."

"Torturing her will not get me to comply," said Deidraphon, through gritted teeth.

"We just came to that conclusion, Sanjay and I. Did you see us talking together? He's one of the Organizers, you know."

"For the evil one, Sauda Hommed."

"The Compassionate One," said Selvanna, grabbing Deidraphon's Wise Ones and squeezing them for a moment. Then she looked down. "You are not nearly as wise as I would have expected from a Grand Druidess." She smiled. "No matter. It has been decided that Gabriella, pretty, sweet, young Gabriella, will be tossed into the Pit to be consumed by the Compassionate One."

"No!" said Deidraphon, struggling against her bond. "You cannot do that!"

"I wish we had an alternative," said Selvanna, gently caressing Deidraphon's womanly thighs. When a woman grew a meat pie inside of her, her body grew in different ways, as Selvanna knew. The body could grow in beautiful or excessive ways. Deidraphon's, Selvanna reflected, grew in a way which had made her more beautiful.

"What... what is it you want?" Deidraphon sighed.

"What would you do to protect your child?" Selvanna asked. "I have two children myself. I would do anything to protect them and their futures. But what of you, dearrie?" Her hand played over Deidraphon's naked shoulder. "Would you burn down that little forest of yours to protect your daughter?"

Deidraphon paused, then nodded tearfully.

"Would you turn over all your little secrets and powers, for the greater glory of the Compassionate One, to protect little Gabriella?"

Deidraphon slowly nodded again.

"And... would you help us capture all your little druids, the ones who fled, capture them and take them and help them Make the Change, so they can all serve us, all to protect your daughter?"

Deidraphon's eyes grew wide.

Selvanna grabbed her tightly by the head. "I would mur*er every person in this Castle to protect my children. Would you?" She looked into Deidraphon's eyes and smiled as she liked what she saw. "I think we can do business together."

Selvanna brandished a black rod. It shone unnaturally in the dim torch light in the Pit.

"What is that?" Deidraphon asked fearfully.

"Can you sense it? It's Power? It's made from Black Gold. The Roots of the Earth," said Selvanna. "It's a manatas."

"No... no," Deidraphon said.

Selvanna slowly walked over to Deidraphon, wiggling her hips erotically. She put the manatas up to Deidraphon's lips. "Open," she commanded.

Selvanna smiled as Deidraphon obeyed. She slowly started to slide the black rod in and out of Deidraphon's mouth. It buzzed; it tingled.

"You see, while I accept your solemn promise to help us, Sanjay isn't totally convinced. He thinks that once we let you go that you might betray us. I put my hands on my hips and said, 'No, Sanjay, Deidraphon is a woman of her word. We can trust her.' But Sanjay insisted on guarantees."

Deidraphon gasped as Selvanna removed the rod from her mouth. Selvanna smiled. "Good, you've lubricated it." Her hand started to move downwards.

"What... what are you going to do with that?" Deidraphon asked fearfully.

"Guess," Selvanna grinned.

Deidraphon started to feel a pressure at the entrance to her Sacred Gorge. She felt herself being spelunked just as Selvanna pressed her lips against her own, grinding, taking, enjoying the moment in every way.

"You're back!" The girls hugged Deidraphon. Truthfully, none of them were girls, strictly speaking; the youngest, Naomi, had started to grow out her Phong more than six harvests ago. But they were all her girls to her, she had raised them, she had trained them....

Deidraphon winced in pain and suddenly felt the need to sit down.

"What's wrong?" Samantha cried.

"Nothing," said Deidraphon. "I'm just... tired." She winced again. Every time she fought it, it only got stronger.

"Tell us, how did you escape? How did you get free? We watched as they took you to Rockrod. They say that those go to Rockrod never come back, at least, not in the same way."

It was true. Deidraphon felt the manatas, deep inside of her, controlling her, forcing her to do its bidding. It made her do things, say things.

"Later, child," said Deidraphon. "Tell me... is everyone here?"

"Everyone... except Labian," said Marion.

Only one had failed to return? Deidraphon winced in shame. Selvanna would get nearly all her pupils. She wished more had not shown up.

"What's wrong, Mother?" Samantha cried, taking her hands. "I'll make some tea for you-"

The door to the cabin burst open. Selvanna was standing there, looking very pleased. Behind her was Sanjay, and a host of men. Deidraphon looked up at her with defeat in her eyes.

"We will all have tea," Selvanna decided, taking a step forward.

One by one, the druidesses Made the Change.

It wasn't very difficult. None of them had the determination of Deidraphon or even Gabriella. They were Powerful in their own right, but young, inexperienced, and highly impressionable. They were stripped nude and chained to the wall. Selvanna walked by them several times, staring at them intently, sensing who was stronger in the power. Finally she selected four: Naomi, Hannah, Samantha, and Marion.

"What are you going to do with us?" Marion cried.

"You are going to Make the Change," said Selvanna.

"No!" Marion cried.

Selvanna reached out and gently caressed one of Marion's Wisdoms. "Be at peace, child, you are the lucky ones." She cast a glance at the other druidesses still chained to the wall. They were too weak to be truly useful. She would have them turned into minor Sussexes, enslaved to her own Power.

They each made the change quickly, despite their protestations; Naomi, within an hour; Hannah and Samantha, within hours; and Marion, who had the largest Wisdoms, after a better part of a day.

"No... no... I can't take any more of this," Marion cried, as samizdat filled her with incredible need.

"There is a way out, child," said Selvanna, caressing her sweat soaked hair. "All you need do is take it."

And after another hour, Marion did. She Made the Change.

And now they were all something different. Naomi, Hannah, Samantha, and Marion stood before her in sheer spidersilk unitards, which showed off every curve. Their skin was shiny. So was their hair. They spoke in low, musical tones. There was a light in their eyes. They gave subtle, mocking smiles. These girls had been Deidraphon's; but now they were all hers.

"Are you all ready to serve the Compassionate One?" Selvanna asked, as they stood at attention.

"Yes, Mistress," they all said. Eagerly.

All that remained was the disposition of Deidraphon.

"Aahhh... ahhh....."

"Just a little more," said Selvanna, who was bending down, and pulling with her hand. "Spread your legs a bit wider please."

Deidraphon complied. "Aaaaah!" she cried out.

Selvanna smiled and stood up, holding the shiny black rod in her hand. "Release her."

Deidraphon rubbed her sore wrists as she was untied from the pillar. Her arms were aching. Selvanna walked away, totally unconcerned, as Dog led her forward.

She was led to a statue, made apparently of white marble, a man with the glaring face of the Compassionate One. The statue was lying on the ground, on its back. The tallest part of the statue was just below its dillweed, where its candelabra stood tall and proud.

Selvanna went to a countertop and lifted a necklace. On the necklace hung a small figurine, of a nude woman with enormous Wisdoms. She reached over and put the necklace on Deidraphon. The figurine hung down between Deidraphon's own Wise Ones.

"What is this?" Deidraphon asked.

"Another manatas," said Selvanna. "I know how much you enjoyed the one I put inside you."

"What will it do?"

"It will drain you," said Selvanna.

"Drain me?"

"All your Power. All your life energy."

"It will kill me?"

Selvanna smiled, and nodded. "But it will make the manatas truly powerful. It will make me truly powerful. Now, get on," she said, indicating the statue's phallus.

"You expect me to cooperate in killing myself?" Deidraphon said.

"Yes," said Selvanna, giving a broad smile. "It's either that, or Gabriella takes your place." Her voice grew harsh. "NOW!"​