Hannah stood defiantly before the insect man who dropped the act and as two additional arms folded out from his sides. He hunched as if preparing to attack but held his ground as Hannah waited for him to reply.

“Do I know you?” he asked as Hannah smiled.

“Don't you remember me?” Hannah asked, feigning being hurt. “We met in a graveyard to the south where I was young chosen, playing with my boyfriend, Frank.”

“Oh, right,” Thexis said with a nod. “The necromancer who always wore yellow.”

“Thanks to you and Moon, I was, but I gave that up,” Hannah replied. “People kept coming to kill me for the bounty. I play a succubus class now.”

“It suits you,” Thexis replied. “It’s been a long time. How are you doing?”

“I am doing great,” Hannah replied. “Still working for Moon?”

“She was short-sighted,” the insect man replied. “We parted ways after the village battle.”

“What a shame,” Hannah said as she stalked down the stairs. “You two were so alike. I still remember you chasing me down to drag me back to her prison. Thankfully, Leet wasn't part of your little group.”

“I had almost forgotten about that witless demon hero. How is Leet?” Thexis asked.

“He's fine,” Hannah replied. “Last I saw him, he was working for a caravan in the desert. But I am more interested in talking about you and your friends.”

“Sorry, I would love to stay and talk, but I have somewhere to be,” he replied.

“Oh, I am sure you do,” Hannah said. “But, uh, I need to know what you did with my harem sisters first.” She saw the man flinch at her bold statement as he looked slightly to the left.

“Looking for an escape route?” Hannah asked.

“Heather, we don’t need to do this,” he said.

“Oh, didn't you hear?” Hannah asked. “My name is Hannah now, Princess Hannah of Ellowshire. Frank is my husband and a master of the Jade Harem.”

“Congratulations,” he replied as two hands drifted closer to the weapon handles hidden behind his back.

“Thank you,” Hannah said as she arrived in the street with her tail swaying. “So, back to the missing girls. Why did you kill them?”

“What makes you think I killed them?” he asked.

“Oh, silly boy,” Hannah laughed. “I already investigated, and I know the girls left this tavern with you and then died. So let's not play games.”

“Sorry, Heather,” the insect man replied. “But I have to go.” There was a puff of black smoke, and he was gone. Heather saw him appear on a nearby rooftop before he started running.

“A teleporter,” Hannah said as a green eye opened on her forehead. She vanished in a flash of green, appearing on the rooftop a dozen steps before him.

“What?” Thexis choked as Hannah stood defiant before him.

“Going somewhere?” Hannah asked as a rooftop breeze blew her silken slip.

“Umm,” Thexis replied as his head dipped, indicating he was looking below her waist.

“Hey, eyes up here!” Hannah yelled as she yanked the cloth back in place.

“Are you a slave girl?” Thexis asked with an odd clicking laugh.

“I am, so what?” Hannah replied.

“And here I thought you were going to be dangerous,” he said and reached behind his back to draw two short swords. “I suppose I have time to spank you properly.”

“Oh, I do love it when boys play rough,” Hannah laughed and threw out a hand as a long black rope appeared and burst into flames.

“How did you do that?” Thexis asked as Hannah snapped her whip.

“What? This little thing?” Hannah asked as she smiled. “This is the least of my powers.”

“Then die,” Thexis said and vanished. He appeared behind Hannah, lashing out to stab her back. Hannah was gone in a green burst, appearing in the sky above him as she slashed her whip. He blinked to the side and swung his arms, producing a cloud of red daggers streaking her way.

Hannah beat her wings to soar above them, raising a hand to hurl a gout of fire at the bug man. He vanished as she set half the roof on fire, appearing on a building across the alley as he threw his arms wide. He twisted and sent four spinning blades her way, but Hannah vanished in a green flash, arriving right on top of him as she wrapped her legs around him and grabbed his face.

“What are you doing?” he snarled.

“Oh, don't tell me you didn't want us to get this close?” Hannah laughed as she bared her fangs. She went to bite him, but he vanished, arriving twenty feet back, crouched and ready to spring.

“You have changed,” Thexis said. “What happened to that innocent girl who only wore full dresses?”

“She stopped running and accepted her new life,” Hannah replied with a wicked smile as she stood defiant against him. “Disappointed?”

“Not really,” he said as they squared off. “But I'm not your type.”

“I make love to a ghoul, a dragon, and a dog man,” Hannah laughed. “I don't see why insect man should be any cause for alarm.”

“Is that what we are doing? Flirting?” he asked.

“I told you, I love it when you boys play rough,” Hannah laughed and leaped into the air, her wings spread wide. She lashed with her whip, sending a wave of flaming barbs his way, and he responded with more red darts. They both blinked out of the path, arriving beside one another as Hannah tried to grab him again. He vanished and appeared a dozen steps away to take a combat stance with his swords presented.

“If you really want this fight, I won’t hesitate to kill you,” he threatened.

“Oh, that’s right,” Hannah replied with a nod. “You were always so deadly because you had four arms.”

“And you have a whip,” he laughed. “You can make one attack to my four.”

“Oh, I have swords,” Hannah said as she lifted her hands, and fire spread upward to create hellish blades. “You would be surprised how tanky the Lilim class is.”

“You are still no match for me,” he insisted while going into a fancy dance with his four arms. “You can’t block all four of my attacks.”

“The four-armed thing again,” Hannah said with a shake of her head. “You know, Devils are surprisingly adaptive.” With that, she lifted her arms as two more unfurled at her sides. She smiled as two more swords appeared in her hands, matching his four blades. “Lilims have a combat form,” Hannah explained.

“My mistake,” he admitted and vanished. He appeared right before her mid-swing with all four weapons bearing down. Hannah reacted with devilish speed, slicing and parrying as the two collided. There were bursts of fire and flashes of electricity as magical weapons hit magical weapons. Thexis leaped about, using his speed to his advantage, but Hannah had seductive grace, dancing lightly on her feet almost as if to entertain. They fought for almost a minute before Thexis disengaged to regard her with a tilt of his head.

“You are very skilled,” he complimented.

“Thank you,” Hannah replied with a slight bow. “I get a lot of practice in the harem. Mostly with girls.”

“That isn’t what I was talking about,” he stated with a new pose to indicate he was about to attack.

“Combat, sex, it’s all the same to a Lilim,” Hannah shrugged.

“Well, at least I have one advantage,” Thexis clicked. “I am wearing armor.” He went to rush in but teleported instead, this time arriving at Hannah's side; he slashed out with two swords, striking the bare skin above her hip and drawing two faint red lines.

“Ow,” Hannah cried as she spun around to face him. “That almost hurt.”

“What? I hardly scratched you!” he growled.

“Oh, that's naked defense,” Hannah admitted. “The less clothing I wear, the higher my armor goes. Dressed in this skimpy thing, I am more heavily armored than most people in metal plates.”

“The other girls didn't seem too difficult to hurt,” he replied.

“So you did have something to do with their deaths,” Hannah growled as her tail lashed. “I am sorry, Thexis, but I don't think we can be friends anymore.”

He vanished in a flash, but so did Hannah, the two neatly trading places. They rushed at one another, locking in their terrible dance of slashing and stabbing blades. Hannah let her class do the talking, using abilities and focusing on defense. He was already badly beaten up, and she surmised, low on stamina. All she needed to do was wear him down, and he would become easier prey. Then, she could ask questions about what he did with the harem girls and where his friends were.

They clashed and fought across the rooftop until he spun about and clipped her top. With a flutter, her silk came away, causing him to jump back in admiration.

“Those are nice,” he laughed. “I bet your harem gets a lot of use out of that.”

“It so happens that they do,” Hannah countered as she stood defiantly before him with her chest exposed. “You could too if we were friends.”

“You can’t bait with that,” he said with a flurry of blades. “But I will enjoy seeing them bounce as we fight.”

Hannah struggled not to get angry as Thexis did his best to rile her. She focused on the battle and ignored her lack of clothing, assuming it boosted her armor. She waited for him to rush in, locking their eight blades in battle. She had an ace up her sleeve; all she needed was for the bug man to become overconfident.

He joked as they danced, forcing her to spin around to meet his charges just to make them sway. She waited, biting her tongue until he finally closed and crossed his swords against hers.

“You don’t happen to be for sale?” he asked with a clicking laugh.

“No, not until next month,” Hannah teased with a broad smile.

“What are you smiling about?” he asked as they pushed at one another in a test of strength.

“I was just thinking, too bad you don't have a tail,” Hannah replied as her tail wrapped around one of his legs. Before he could react, she jerked him off his feet and used her tail to slam him into the roof. She was always surprised by how strong her tail was and how she could be carried by it. It was strong enough to lift a girl in the harem, and now it was a lash to slam her foe into the rooftop. She managed to swing him twice, shattering stone and tiles before he blinked away.

“What's the matter?” Hannah called across the alleyway to where he arrived. “Nothing clever to say?” She could see him limp, holding one side as her attack had aggravated his wounds. He was in no shape to continue this fight, so he blinked away, heading for the next rooftop.

“Oh, no, you don't,” Hannah said and blinked after him, chasing him from roof to roof. She could see the splatter of blood drops he was leaving and knew his health had to be low. He spun around at one point, filling the air with red daggers that magically streaked to her. Hannah folded her wings about her, using them as a shield as she kept running to keep up with the fleeing man.

“You may as well give up,” Hannah called. “You can't outrun me, and I can blink anywhere you can go.”

He arrived at a four-story building, looking over the flat ledge of the roof. The pause made Hannah realize his weakness; his blink had a more limited range than hers. She could blink to anywhere she could see clearly, but his was never more than forty feet. He was trying to gauge if the distance to the street was close enough to continue his escape.

“Nowhere to run,” Hannah said as she sauntered closer, swaying her hips as she drew nearer.

“Then I suppose I die here,” Thexis said as he turned around.

“Oh, no, that won't do. Then I won't get to ask you questions,” Hannah said, hitting him with a seductive smile. Her smile faded when he took a full combat stance, as if unmoved by her efforts. “

Hmm, that's a first.”

“If you just tried to seduce me, it won’t work,” Thexis said. “I am actively resisting it. It won’t work unless I decide to give in.”

“Well, that's disappointing,” Hannah grumbled. “Jaina makes that look so easy. I don't think anybody ever resisted her.”

“Maybe you should go naked,” Thexis teased. “I might respond better.”

“Oh, Haha,” Hannah said as she considered the slip of cloth at her groin. “You saw that already, and it didn't help.”

“Show me again,” he pressed.

“Hmm,” Hannah began as she gauged the distance to her enemy. She didn't mind his teasing if it meant he was distracted. What she needed was a way to make him surrender and allow the seduction so she could keep him on a leash. She decided that she needed a way to prevent him from teleporting, which was easily solved.

With a snap, the air filled with golden pollen, creating a fog that obscured his surroundings. Hannah's flower singer could easily see through it, but without a line of sight, Thexis couldn't blink. She rushed at him as he swung wildly, ducking under his blows and wrapping her arms around him. With a flash of green she took him straight up, going as high as she could then spreading her wings.

“What are you doing?” he growled as she wrapped all four arms around him in a bear hug.

“Keeping you from going,” Hannah said. She saw him look around, searching for a place to blink but cringed when he realized how high up she was. From here, the buildings looked small, and any effort to escape would almost certainly end in a lethal fall.

“I could stab you,” he snarled.

“Go ahead,” Hannah laughed. “I will let you go, and you can fall to your death while I use my wings to get down.”

“I can teleport,” he argued.

“So can I,” Hannah retorted. “And I know you can't blink that far. If you try to blink in your fall, you stand a very good chance of missing the mark and killing yourself.”

“What do you want?” he snapped.

“Stop resisting,” Hannah demanded. “Stop and let me seduce you so I can get honest answers.”

“I would rather you let me fall,” he laughed.

“Fine, then I will let our priestess of death use her speak with the dead ability to get the answers instead,” Hannah threatened and loosened her grip.

“Wait!” he cried as he began to slip. “Look, it wasn’t my idea.”

“What idea wasn’t yours?” Hannah pressed.

“I was hired by a pyromancer to act as muscle for her little crusade,” he said.

“Hmm, I want to trust you, but our history says that would be a mistake,” Hannah countered. “I am sorry, but you let me seduce you or it's speak with the dead. Your choice.”

“Fine!” he snapped and looked into her eyes. “Do what you want.”

Hannah smiled and hit him with her seductions. It was difficult to tell if he was enamored until two of his hands cupped at her butt.

“I suppose that means it’s working,” Hannah grumbled and floated down, setting him on a rooftop and quickly stepping back.

“Now, tell me, why are you here?” Hannah demanded.

“I was hired to gather samples,” he replied in a strange soft voice.

“Samples of what?” Hannah asked as she swayed her hips to keep him enthralled.

“Mana, blood, and spirit runes,” he replied.

“What?” Hannah balked, not at all understanding what any of that meant. She used more of her powers to coax him to her arms and stroked his head, promising him a wonderful night if he was open about it. He told her he had been hired by a group to the north to collect magical samples from harem girls. He had no idea what they were for, only that they were paying well and wanted them specifically from this city. On the way here, he met a woman pyromancer and discovered she had a chip on her shoulder for slave girls. He let her hire him as muscle to help her and used her crusade as a way to collect samples.

Hannah was shocked by the revelations and asked how he managed to lure the girls away. He explained that he hired a local warrior who was a bit of a ladies' man. He needed somebody to do the talking so he could keep his insect form a secret. They discovered harem girls were doing research in the library and, after a little flirting, that they were focused on maps, history, and magical studies. So they delivered a note to the library and had it taken to the girls. It claimed to be from a powerful wizard who had maps from before the sundering and was willing to sell them. However, he was being hunted, and the girls needed to meet his two guardians at the tavern.

Now Hannah saw how it all fit together. They had posed as the guardians and taken them to see their master, only to lure them someplace where they could be quietly killed. She asked about the pyromancer and where she was, then heard a shocking story. Thexis believed she was dead after they got into a battle with a gnoll and his harem in the graveyard tunnels.

“Roric,” Hannah gasped. “Did you kill them?”

“Just the dragon and healer,” Thexis admitted as he reached for her breasts. Hannah swatted his hands away and walked to the side, wondering what to do next. She asked where his third companion was only to discover he was dead. When the man realized they were going to kill harem girls, he opposed them, so Thexis killed him and left him in the tunnels. They then turned the girls loose to run and hunted them down one by one.

“You're a monster,” Hannah said to herself as she closed her eyes. “You, Moon, and everybody else who will hurt people for a profit.”

“Can we make love now?” Thexis asked.

“Not yet,” Hannah said as bile filled her mouth. “I need to know who hired you. Who sent you to collect the samples?”

“Her name was…” Thexis began, but a black talisman around his neck suddenly glowed with a blue light. He let out a shrill cry as the talisman exploded, leaving him headless and Hannah with no answers. She was horrified by what she had just seen, as black blood spattered across her body. Was he wearing some kind of device that killed him before he could reveal his employer? Did it really destroy his head so they couldn't use speak with the dead? Could this partner have been listening through the talisman, and if so, was she aware that Hannah knew about her?

The implications were dire, but Hannah had learned enough. The girls were dead, Roric had killed the pyromancer, and an unknown woman had a vested interest in the girls of the jade harem. She felt it best to run back to report her findings before anything else happened and hoped this wasn’t about to escalate.