Chapter 7

Sampson, the young druid, was back at the cave he found his sister at, within the far regions of the large and completely uncharted forest. There was no sign of the perpetrator though. He aimed his bow at the ground, pulled back the string and fired a glowing yellow arrow. The arrow didn't leave any damage or marks. Rather it created a sort of pulse which travelled quite far then disappeared.

~You can run, but you will be found.~ This time, Sampson stepped back outside, aimed his bow at the sky then fired an arrow which dispersed into several other arrows once it got high enough. Those arrows themselves dispersed over an even wider area and as they hit the ground, they too created pulses that travelled quite far then disappeared. He tried this tactic again a few times, aiming his bow a bit more diagonally and in different directions. Each search bore disappointing results though.

"Alright." He pulled an arrow from his small, hip-mounted quiver, placed it between his palms and crushed it. Out of his palms flew a cicada. He made three more cicadas then sent them on their search; one north, one west, one east, one south. He then took out a fifth arrow and stuck it into the ground. ~This ought to be fun.~

--

Ezarin hadn't stopped scurrying since she fled her cave. Being very paranoid, and in spite of having chosen a very remote location to situate herself in, she had made modifications to her body to enable her to move as quickly as a centipoid or a drider, whilst still maintaining her original millipoid form.

She never thought she'd ever be found. To her, the cave was one of the best hiding spots in the country, but on that off chance that someone did stumble into her path that wasn't harmless and didn't have her best interests at heart, escape was paramount. Living out her revenge fantasies didn't really seem possible if dead or incarcerated. She intended on visiting a "friend" she'd made prior to capturing Iva. This "friend" happened to be the reason she is currently able to perform sorcery.

Tree after tree zipped by into the distance as the mutant traversed the vast forest plane. She eventually reached the wall which separated the Noverian kingdom from the rest of the world. She scurried about the rural perimeter for a while until she found the tunnel reserved just for vermin like her.

Underground, beneath the monumental acropolis, lay a whole other city, filled mostly with what most of the world referred to as 'undesirables'. Everything from the homeless, to the junkies, to the handicapped, to the fellow mutants, to sub-humans, to somewhat feral non-humans all thrived here together in a variant of harmony. Crime here was as common as blinking and law enforcement was but an urban legend; the kind of place Ezarin called 'home'.

Ezarin quickly scurried her way through the subterranean necropolis to the one place she new she could be protected from her new pursuer, Queen Noveria Aljilani's castle. The device she used to perform chronokinesis was barely functional after that last 4-week jump, but she still managed to squeeze out a few more miniscule forward chronological jumps until she reached the second tunnel.

This tunnel was different. She and the queen herself, plus some Royal Guards, were the only living creatures aware of its existence and they were the only two who could access and use it. It was hidden behind another tunnel, which led back outside the walls and could only be accessed using the same device Ezarin used to time jump. She was extremely lucky that the remaining amount of functionality the device had was enough. Up the tunnel she went.

The tunnel led straight to the castle's conference room and in it were two Royal Guards.

"Ezarin. State your business."

"I seek aid from the queen. It is urgent." The two guards glanced at each other, then stepped aside.

The millipoid quickly scurried up the stairs, exhaustion having been nothing more than an afterthought ever since being mutated. Two more Royal Guards stood outside the queen's bedroom. Having received the message from the two downstairs however, they simply opened the door and let her in, closing the door behind her and leaving.

"Your highness!" Queen Aljilani, who was wearing nothing but underwear and a bra, slowly placed a bookmark in her novel and turned her head. Instead of responding, she turned her head back to her novel, reopened it and carried on reading. "Noveria!"

The queen snapped her book shut, turned to face the millipoid and struck her with several volts of electricity, making her screech in great pain.

"I... I'm sorry."

"How many times do you need to be taught how to address me?"

"I'm... sorry... your highness."

"Indeed. You are. What in Marquis' name do you want from me this time?"

"Queen Iva escaped from me!"

"Didn't you say you had plans for her? Why is she still alive?"

"I intended on making her suffer indefinitely, but my plans were cut short by some druid that managed to find my whereabouts somehow."

"You were careless when using celestial sorcery and now her brother knows what you've been up to and is trying to kill you."

"..."

"You are an absolute idiot. You're incompetence is utterly astonishing."

"I... know."

"Say it."

"E-excuse me?" Aljilani looked at her with a belittling glare. "I... am an... absolute idiot..."

"Louder!"

"I am an absolute idiot!"

"And?!"

"My... incompetence is... utterly astonishing!"

"It really is, isn't it? Now, that device I gave you which enables you to perform minor space-time manipulation. How is it?"

Ezarin brought it out and presented it to her. Aljilani looked at the device then back up at Ezarin, who averted her gaze out of shame.

"Incompetent fool."

"Yes, your highness."

"This device was supposed to last for a full year. How in Marquis' name did you manage to break it in half that time?"

"I was... careless."

"Evidently." The woman stood up, walked over to her desk, pulled out another analog watch and threw it as hard as she possibly could straight at Ezarin's eye. The millipoid recoiled in pain, sniffling a few times.

"If you break that one, you will be punished dearly! Now..." Aljilani spawned a cloud of disinfection, which washed over Ezarin, then hopped back onto her bed, face down resting her head on her arms. "...repay me."

Ezarin had a very good mind to sink one of her spiky legs straight through the back of the queen's neck, but managed to restrain herself by weighing her desire for revenge against the benefits of having this "friend". If she continued to take the abuse and do what she was asked, which she enjoyed thoroughly, she got protection (somewhat) and sorceric upgrades. It was a trade worth suffering for in her eyes.

The millipoid obliged, crawling onto the bed atop the queen, gently pulled down her underwear and undid her bra then got to work. Once again, her spiky millipoid legs began transitioning into arms with very small hands, which each bore six, tiny, clawed fingers.

Ezarin stretched and ran her many clawed hands over the queen's back, making her shiver, giggle and twitch profusely. ~Yes, enjoy yourself now, Noveria. The second this precious kingdom of yours falls, you're mine. To think, another one of you 'rich kids' is that which rules the nation. Sickening. You're lucky I don't sink a claw through your throat.~

"I was actually given the throne when I turned 21."

Ezarin frozen. "Though, I suppose you could still class 21 as childhood, in a way." Ezarin began trembling. "What's wrong, slave? Didn't know I could read your mind?" Aljilani turned onto her back and looked Ezarin in the eyes. "Didn't know I've been reading your mind ever since meeting you? Didn't know I'm fully aware of your creepy and downright insane revenge fantasies?"

Ezarin's eyes widened as she trembled, completely at a loss of words, thoughts and ideas of what to do next. She couldn't even formulate an apology, she couldn't even stutter. Aljilani just stared back at her, smiling as Ezarin's heart continued to fall further and further. She didn't dare formulate another thought and just remained there, frozen. Aljilani placed her soft hand on the creature's deformed face.

"Don't worry about it. I have no intention of killing you or punishing you or ending our little coalition." She tenderly squeezed her cheeks. "A little hatred never hurt anyone, right? So long as you continue to do what I tell you to without question, you'll be alright. Now, carry on."

Still stunned, Ezarin looked down, gazing at her breasts and clit, then looked back up at her. "What are you waiting for?" Ezarin gradually continued fulfilling her side of the bargain and soon the room became filled with Aljilani's uncontrollable giggling again.

"Wait, wait! Sto-ho-ho-p!" Ezarin promptly stopped. Aljilani snapped her fingers and became instantly restrained by her own spell; both arms and legs completely immobile and spread wide. "Alright, carry on." As the millipoid scurried her countless claws all over the front side of the queen's nude body, the room once again became filled with her laughter.