We were dead. There was no way out. The damn boggles had us surrounded, and even if we cut through the eight that ringed us in, there were the other ten waiting to sweep down on us. I don't think if everyone were here, we would have been able to take so many. But this was an RPG, you just didn't give up. Also, the archives had led me to believe that even if we did surrender, the boggles might kill us anyway.

I drew my best throwing knife. "It was nice knowing you," I said to Ellie, which was a true sentiment but seemed entirely inadequate after what we'd recently been through.

Ellie turned to me with deep guilt in her eyes and said, "Sorry, Aaron." I had no idea what she was apologizing for, but then the air was suddenly full of sparkles. 

It must be one of her strange spells, but I couldn't guess what it would do. I expected some sort of pain or mental confusion when the sparkles engulfed me. But I felt good. Really good. Then, the air cleared, and I saw her. Ellie. She stood tall and straight, utterly magnificent. My heart swelled, and I knew in that moment I'd do any thing she asked.

She was so beautiful, I was salivating at the sight of her. I felt the heat and moisture in my groin build to an unbelievable need.

Eventually my eyes focused beyond her, and I saw our foes. The ones close to us had let their weapons go slack in their hands. There was a mixture of male and female boggles in the bunch, and from their dull fur bright patches of pink showed with erect cocks and hard nipples. They looked up at Ellie with the admiration she deserved.

Ellie pointed to the boggles blocking the door, and yelled, "Attack!"

We all turned as one and rushed them.

"No, Arron," She screamed. "Come with me."

Yes, my queen. Yes!

She dragged me through the door we'd been heading for before the boggles showed up. The clang and din of battle continued behind us. This door wasn't locked, and we threw ourselves in, slamming it behind us. Once inside, we dragged a heavy table in front of the door to block it and leaned against it panting. 

I could feel her warmth arching across the air to caress my skin, and I couldn't help myself. I grabbed her and put all my passion into a kiss. 

From behind us, a voice said, "Aw, how sweet."

Then, Mack said, "And here I thought, that if I vomited it would be because of that rotting troll. Knock it off you too, and get us the fuck out of here."

I kept kissing, my hands pulling her ribbons lose.

"Eeep!" she said. "Stop it now, Aaron. Stop it."

Hurt, I did as she commanded. Ellie readjusted her close and got the key. While she was on her way to unlock the door, something withdrew from me. It was a strange feeling, like a snake that had been warn and snug in my brain slithered out leaving a cold, empty hole. I dropped to my knees. 

The others came out and Ellie ran over to me.

She said, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. I guess." I looked into her eyes. I still wanted her, but it was in a more abstract way. What I wanted was to get off. The way she seemed to glow with power and strength was gone. It was just Ellie.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I couldn't think of anything else I could do, but I couldn't control who it was going to affect."

"It's okay," I said, not entirely sure I meant it. It was dawning on me I'd been under a spell. There was something violating about that. My mind hadn't been my own. It terrified me. Made me feel dirty.

Ellie whispered in my ear, "First chance we get, you can sit on my face."

Maybe I was still under the spell a bit, but that was apology enough for me. I got up and dusted myself off. I took a healing potion to restore most of the points I'd lost in my earlier single combat with the boggle. If we were going back out there, there was no point in taxing the healers.

"Damn it! I can't believe you two were screwing while we were rotting in there," Mack said.

Ellie said, "We weren't screwing around."

"Well, what's all that on your face, sweetheart?"

Ellie turned red and went off it a corner and whipped the dried juices from her face.

To change the subject, I explained about the boggles and how many there were outside the door. This got everyone nervous and anxious. The only way out was through there, but no one was too anxious for a pitched battle with a small army. But eventually, we dragged the table aside and got into what was becoming our standard formation, with Jonathan in front, Mack backing her up, and the rest of behind. It wasn't going to be easy for a lot of them. Beyond this point the ceiling height would mean anyone taller than the gnome would have to duck, if not actually crouch down.

We charged into the torture room, but found most of the boggles dead. Ellie's ordered must have led them to slaughter one another. Only two wounded ones were left. They immediately attacked but were quickly cut down.

"My God," Rick said, looking over the mound of corpses. "What the hell happened?"

Tanner said, "What is this place?"

Mack answered, "I think it's Aaron and Ellie's sex dungeon. Which one of you is the sub? It's Aaron isn't it?"

I said, "Can we quite goofing around. This means the way should be pretty clear. Lets get out of here."

There was a general rumble of agreement, but all of us were long time players and knew that now wasn't just the time to escape, but also the time to search for treasure. 

We rifled the bodies but didn't come across much. None had so much as a coin on them. A captain had a bunch of good gear, but it was too heavy for me and Ellie, and too small for everyone else. Still, we stored it to sell down the road. Although, we'd have to start chucking some of the tier 2 stuff we'd been collecting if we didn't find a store soon. Our inventories were getting overwhelmed with it.

But from the loot pile, I was able to get a dagger that was slightly better than my old one. And we came across two magic items that only fit us wee folk: the Bracelet of the Bitch with a +2 to both Vigor and Presence. And a Collar of Mysticism +15. They had great bonuses, but Ellie and I were both reluctant to take them.

"You can have them both," I said to Ellie.

"No, you should have them after what I did to you."

"There's no time for this arguing," Mack said. "Ellie should take the collar because she can use the extra magic. And Aaron should take the bracelet because they're a little-bitch."

"Fuck you, Mack!" She just smiled at me. It was one of her annoying knowing smiles, which made her being right even harder to swallow.

To be clear, I'm not saying she'd been right about me being a little-bitch, but that dividing it up between us that way made the most sense. 

We found the key to the locked door, and I soon wish we hadn't. The room contained a vat filled with lye that the boggles must use to dispose of their dead prisoners. The faint outline of a recent skeleton (human it would seem, except the skull had been crushed and elongated) could be seen under the fine power. Damn! Those boggles looked cute, being all small and dog-like, but they were some sick fucks.

Leaving, we entered the jail area. I'd forgotten we'd left a prisoner there. She pressed her face to the barred window and said, "Please let me out. Don't let them kill me."

Not everyone was on board with it, but when we realized it was a player, no one wanted to be responsible for her death.

When she exited her cell, she was grateful but a bit wary of us. She was human and slightly taller than Mack. There was a plain look to her, a bland face with dull flaxen hair. Her body had a woman's curves but stayed far from model territory. The only clothes she wore was a gray sack much like what Katie had given us when she was learning how to control Feronia. She saw us looking at her and said, "They took all my equipment. I'm Sulin, by the way."

She looked like a gawky woman of Anglo-Saxon heritage, but her mannerisms and accent (not to mention her name) suggested that IRL she was Asian. I wondered if this character that Katie had given her was similar to the one she'd chosen for herself, or if like most of us, she was dealing with the strange arbitrariness of her new appearance.

Mack said, "Don't take this the wrong way, Sulin, but we're not friends here. We let you out, but stay out of our way."

I stepped in front of her and said, "Easy." Then to Sulin, "What my friend is trying to say is our party is all ready quite large, and we're not looking to add to it."

"Oh," she said. "The boggles got the group I was with. We'd been doing so well until things crashed. Still, we thought it would be okay. There'd been ten of us, and strength in numbers and all that. We'd thought this cave would be a good dungeon to level up, but the little basters overwhelmed us. They don't look like much, but they were too high in level for us. They killed most of us, and captured me, Philip, and Lilian. They've been taking us from the cells to torture us one by one. My friends never came back. I was to be next."

I remembered the skeleton we saw and felt a little sick.

Rick put his hand on her shoulder, "I'm so sorry. I wish we could do more."

"That's okay. Freeing me is enough. Thank you. Can I ask one favor though." She said this looking at Rick (whose head was bent at an angle and shoulders were pressed against the ceiling) and very much not looking at Mack. "Can I tag along until we get out of here. I promise I won't be in the way, and once we're out, you won't ever have to see me again."

"Sure, thing. We can do that."

Mack seemed about to object, but I asked, "What's your class, Sulin?"

"I'm an archer."

We all looked at each other. We'd been suffering with having only me on ranged attack. My knives did decent damage, but I was always depleting them too quickly, and their range was nothing compared it a bow. I had a strong feeling we might be asking her to stick around even after we got out of here. 

Her gear was locked in a chest in the room along with that of her companions. It was all fairly worthless starter stuff. She had a chain-mail skirt with a leather jerkin and leather boots. As well as a long bow and quiver. We could have outfit her with some great plate-mail from our stash, but her class dictated she stay flexible.

The eight of us then made a tour of the level. It seems that the alarm had drawn everyone together into the prison, and the rest was deserted. We backtracked to the kitchen and the workshop. Then, the dining room we arrived in and the other room, which turned out to be a sleeping quarters for the workers with a line of bunks. If the boggles kept any treasure it wasn't down here. They must have had all their gear with them and there wasn't a coin to be found. The only thing of value we collected was a bizarre object from the workshop that the system listed a value for. But none of us could figure out its purpose.

Down the hallway we hadn't been was a barracks with a small collection of rooms where the boggle guards must stay. And beyond it were stairs leading up.

I could see how these low tunnels were affecting the others. Rick and Josh sat down every chance they got and stretched out their backs. Mack kept acting tough, but she was bent over like a crone, and had taken to pressing a hand to the small of her back. They were anxious to get this over with, whatever that might mean. But I was more reluctant. 

Not because my size was better suited for the environment, but because if the sub-level had held eighteen of them, how many more would there be on the next level. We might be facing multiple swarms. Although I guess packs is the more apt word. I tried telling them about how cautious we needed to be, but there was too much impatience in the group for my warnings to sink in.

But even with all my talk of being careful, I was surprised as any when we triggered the first trap.