Chapter 82: 82. Collapsing
The woman didn't make a sound. She just collapsed, every muscle in her body going limp. Her wrist ripped out of Usiku's grip. The enemy lay in a stunned heap on the ground, her arms limp. I sucked in deep breaths.
A shout roared from the right. The rogue stumbled at us, thrusting his weapon wildly before him. Usiku side-stepped his blow and smacked her hand into his face. He staggered back, blood streaming from his nose.
"Shall I dispatch him, Lord Leo?" asked Usiku.
"No!" I roared. "We need to get them out of here. Alive."
"Let me do that, big bro," Garnet said. She skipped over to the rogue like we were on the playground. The cleric groaned and stumbled after her, still working at his cock beneath his robe, staring at her with lust in his eyes. "Just a little bit of this..."
She threw her fingers forward and splashed shadows across the rogue's face. Then she giggled. A girlish, seductive sound. The rogue whirled his head around, staring in her general direction. He groaned.
"Yes, yes, you know you want me, big boy," she cooed. "Mmm, you want to touch my nubile body. My sexy tits. My cute rump."
"Yes," groaned the cleric.
"Harlot," moaned the rogue. "Your voice... That siren voice... No... No... I can't..."
"Mmm, you want me. You want me so much. Just drop that dagger and follow my voice. I'll give you such a treat."
The rogue did that. He dropped his weapon, under the control of my little sister's succubus charm. Both of the men were. She led them across the room, giggling and chortling. They passed through the open door.
"Lord Leo?" asked Usiku. She came up behind me and pressed her hand into the wound. "This is bad."
"And I can't heal until they're out of the dungeon and..." I stared down at the stunned woman. "Great. I can't do anything with her in here. This won't work at all."
"Won't work?" asked Usiku as she pressed harder on my wound.
I groaned against the pain.
"She's a foreign soul. I can't change the dungeon when it's under attack." Right, Souleen? I sent.
Yes, you can't affect it when there's a conscious soul in your dungeon, she said.
So no way to take prisoners, huh? Then I frowned. You said conscious soul. You mentioned that last time, didn't you?
Yes, their conscious awareness locks reality, she said. The only other way to change things if they're not bound to the soul is if you have them imprisoned. But you need to be able to affect things to make a cell.
Unless they're unconscious, I said staring down at the warrior. She can't resist reality changes because her will is suppressed.
That's true, Souleen said. I thought that was implied when I said conscious soul during my explanation.
Went right over my head. I glanced at Lana's body. Is Lana's soul in there with you?
She's sleeping and dreaming of you, Souleen answered, her words gentle and motherly. She is in no pain. Do not worry.
I sighed. It was only myself I had to really worry about.
I glanced at the map, the pain growing inside of me. The knife wound was deep. It bled out my life. Usiku kept her hand pressed on it while I leaned on her. Garnet led the two enemies out of the dungeon. It took forever.
"Vault," I muttered to Usiku. "They're almost out. Need to get there... Before..."
"I have you, Lord Leo," she said. "If we just killed them..."
"More would come," I said, clutching to her and stumbling. My feet felt so cold. My fingers numb. If I hadn't strengthened my body, I probably would have collapsed. The pain twisted through me.
"Eventually, we'll lose. It's... just the odds... Better to keep from being invaded. Best way to protect... you... The others..."
"Don't be concerned about us," Usiku said. "You're the one who really matters. We all die with you."
"Unless another dungeon builder kills me." I glanced at her. "You loved Mthunzi. Now you love me."
"You're my owner," she said. "Of course, I love you."
"Garnet will love the builder who kills me," I whispered.