Thorns of Agony

When we returned to the scene of battle, Ash was watching over Loli-Peter and Maddie. Both girls were safely extracted from the plant, but looking worse for wear. They were covered in pinpoint puncture wounds, all over their body, but the damage was shallow and they weren't losing much blood, thankfully.

Peter was curled up in the fetal position, staring into the distance, silently holding her horrifically bulging stomach. She looked pregnant, very pregnant, like a woman with twins or triplets. There was a dullness to her eyes, as if her mind wasn't quite there anymore.

Maddie was doing a bit better. She was clearly in pain, but coherent at least. She looked a little pregnant too, though her bulging belly wasn't quite as distended as Peter's. It seemed the monster hadn't had time to fully fill her up with… whatever horrible thing it did to Peter.

As we approached them, I watched Maddie reach inside her pussy with a pair of fingers, and grab hold of something.

"Aaaargh! Shitfuck!" She growled in agony.

With a firm grip, she yanked hard, and pulled out a ball of plant material, covered with viciously sharp thorns, a bit like an extra-cruel chestnut. The thorn tips were red with blood.

Oh fuck… those must have hurt just as much going in.

"Okay, I won't complain about the wolf anymore…" was all I managed to say.

"I can help get them out," Lysander offered, holding up a hand.

"No!" Maddie panicked and flailed at Lysander, "Don't you fucking dare! Stay back! Just… let me do this myself. Nice and gentle."

"Healing might do more harm than good if those aren't removed first. Do you have anything for pain?" I asked Chloe.

Chloe shook her head sorrowfully, "Sorry Miss Tyler, I leveled but [Life Magic] is still rank 1, I don't have any new spells, just the general healing one I started with."

I racked my brain for how I could help. Fire… wouldn't be helpful, to say the least. What else? Purify? Would that work? Actually, it might.

"Can I try something?" I asked.

Maddie grimaced in pain and gave me the dirtiest look.

"I won't hurt… probably," I said. "It's a spell that purifies things. It might clean away those spiky nuts too if think of them as a type of impurity."

"Where do they go?" Maddie asked skeptically. "I don't want them all shooting out of me at once…"

"No idea, they might just vanish, or evaporate, who knows… never cast it before."

Maddie glared at me, and then gave a thoughtful glance to Peter.

"Are you really going to suggest testing it on Peter first?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "That's kind of a dick move…"

"No. Well… she's kind of all… dissociated and mind fucked anyway…" she mumbled guiltily. "At this point, you can hardly traumatize her more…"

"Try it on Peter," Lysander suggested. "She's the most injured. If you only have enough mana to cure one, then Peter should be the priority. Maddie looks like she can survive waiting, or even pull hers out by herself if she prefers."

"Hey… wait…" Maddie mumbled. "Maybe you can do me first after all…"

I ignored her whining and went to Peter. After reaching third level after the last fight, I was all full up on mana again. I gently touched her swollen belly, and wove the spell shape for Purify in my mind. What are seeds? Plant trash, garbage, litter. They certainly don't belong inside a person's vagina and/or anus. It required all my concentration, and I spent an extra minute just to get the image absolutely clear in my mind before I began.

I released the spell and fed it mana. Wisps of beautiful white-gold light enveloped Peter.

Just like Chloe's healing spell, this one was channeled. I continued to hold the spell. It didn't cost much to maintain, but it was very slow to take effect. The first signs were outside the body, dried blood and dirt turned into a cloud of dark vapor and evaporated away, dissipating into nothingness. I continued to hold the spell, casting occasional glances at Peter's distended belly.

Eventually, minutes later, I saw a change. The belly started to shrink. It was working. I continued to hold the spell. It took another fifteen minutes until Peter's belly flattened back to something approaching normal. I kept holding it for a few minutes longer, until I was almost out of mana, just to be sure the spiny seeds were totally gone from inside her.

"That should do it," I sighed, and moved away.

"Chloe?"

Peter was still in rough shape, covered in freshly bleeding puncture wounds, opened by my cleaning magic that apparently decided scabs were dirty too. The dangerous stuff would be on the inside though. Pregnant women didn't balloon up overnight, things probably got torn up inside there pretty bad from all the stretching. Chloe took my place, and after a couple false starts, she managed to channel her viridian healing magic. It worked much faster than my Purify, and Peter's wounds vanished after only a minute or two.

Peter whimpered like a puppy, no longer in pain, but clearly still in desperate need of a hug. Ash picked her up, and cradled her in his lap, for once, not sexually harassing the rescued damsel. Peter snuggled up against him happily, her face resting in the crook of his neck.

"That's… kinda cute actually…" I said.

"Less talking more purifying," Maddie groaned in pain.

"Sorry, out of mana."

"You…" Maddie trembled, looking like she was holding back a long string of curses. "Fucking salad tossing, booby wizard!"

"I think my mana should recharge in an hour or so," I said.

"Oh… only an hour?" Maddie whined.

She grabbed one of the spiky balls she birthed earlier, and flung it at me.

"Ow!" The damn thing hit me right in the nipple.

Maddie whimpered, and flopped down onto her back. "Just tell me when you're ready. I'll be lying over here, gravid with torture balls."

"Yeah, this world is pretty fucked up…" I sighed.

Chloe went over to Ash and started healing his big bruise.

I gripped the spiny ball in my hand, and tried to imagine what it would feel like, having it forced inside me against my will. It was firm and unyielding, viciously shoved inside by mindless and merciless monster. There would be no begging it for mercy. I would be trapped inside a cocoon of thorns forever, stuffed full to the breaking point with these things. It would be so horrible. I'd be so pathetic and helpless.

I snapped out of my daze and realized I was starting to get a little warm between the legs. I nervously placed the spiky ball back on the ground and did my best to keep a poker face.

Was… was the idea of being torture-raped by a bramble bush really turning me on? What. The. Absolute. Fuck.

Well… in my dream, the imaginary girl I turned into liked pain… So, being in that body now, what did that mean for me? I'd spent my entire life enjoying the dominant side of my kinks. Now, would I suddenly be some sort of super-masochist like that girl in my dream? Just because of the way this body was wired? Was I still the same person I was before? I shuddered with existential dread.

We rested for a while, Loli-Peter cuddling in Ash's lap, Chloe, Lysander and I sitting in a circle practicing our magic forming, and Maddie quietly writhing on the ground nearby. To my great surprise, nothing tried to rape us. We weren't sure if that was just good luck, or if the monsters were scared to come into the former lair of the plant monster.

"Tyler," Lysander broke the silence. "You should consider getting [Meditation]."

I still had a free Skill point. I opened the menu, and scrolled to find [Meditation]. I focused on the name for a few seconds without selecting it. To my surprise, a helpful tooltip popped up with a description.

Meditation: Skill (Tier 1)

Enter a state of mental serenity. While meditating, health, stamina and mana regeneration rate increases by 100% (+10% per Skill rank).

"Looks like it'll double my mana regen while resting?" I said. "That's okay I guess."

"It unlocks other skills," Lysander added. "I now have [Sense Mana] and [Advanced Mana Manipulation] as options for next level purchase."

"I can guess what [Sense Mana] does… what does [Advanced Mana Manipulation] do?"

"It appears to improve mana control greatly, allowing better mana efficiency per spell cast."

"Oh, now that's useful," I agreed.

"Indeed."

Maddie groaned, "Get [Meditation] you twat waffle, fill up your mana faster, I'm in pain here!"

I wanted to roll my eyes at her complaining, but Maddie really was in pain. Getting [Meditation] seemed like a no brainer.

You have unlocked the skill: [Meditation].