Nina And Melody

Okay, okay. Listen up. You're a raven. Seriously. Literally a raven, sitting on a branch looking down at a cottage made of red stone. Alright, maybe you're not entirely a raven? Maybe a dark master's familiar, or a demon's? Or maybe he is one himself, shapeshifted into an animal to watch. Watch what?

BOOM!

The cottage exploded at two thirty-seven PM. Not entirely — just the upper window, and "exploded" would be an overstatement. More accurately — a cloud of purple smoke spewed outward, along with three glass jars and a shriek so high-pitched the squirrel on the neighboring oak fell off its branch. You were higher up, apparently.

The cottage door flies open. First out is the small one — black hair sticking out in every direction, hat on the back of her head, robe singed. Something purple pulses through the fabric on her stomach. She grabs the doorframe and screams back inside:

"I CAN FIX THIS! I'M ALMOST SURE I CAN FIX THIS!" Nina's voice breaks into a shriek.

I can't. I know I can't. Please don't let anyone ask, — panic thrashes in Nina's head like a fly in a jar.

Out of the door comes a tall blonde in a knight's mantle and pauldrons. She's in no rush. She's smiling — the kind of smile after which someone usually cries.

"Sweetheart," says Melody. "You cursed my cunt."

Nina makes a sound like a strangled cat.

"And yours too, mind you. Two for two. Sharpshooter."

"IT WAS A GIFT! A FERTILITY SPELL! I WANTED—" Nina clutches her hat like a lifeline.

"You wanted to get pregnant by my son, and instead now we both need to get fucked and filled. A creature of power. Three days. Or we die." Melody folds her arms under her chest. "Or simpler: we need a big magical cock, and we needed it yesterday. Know any demons, or should I go tavern to tavern asking who gets hard for witches?"

Twenty-five years without a decent cock. And now — here we go. A curse. At least I don't need to make up an excuse, — Melody smirks at her own thoughts.

"DON'T SAY THAT IN FRONT OF—"

Last out is the paladin. Full plate armor, white cloak, sword — like a holy icon. Aldric stands in the doorway looking at his wife and mother the way a man looks at a map when every road leads off a cliff.

"I'll find another way," says Aldric.

Melody turns to him. The smile doesn't change.

"There is no other way, boy. I read the seal while your wife was sobbing into her apron. Three days, creature of power, seed inside. Or she and I die, and you'll have to remarry. Maybe you'll get lucky — find one who doesn't blow up everything she touches."

She's lying. Has to be lying. There's another way, there's always another way, I'll find— racing through Aldric's head, but he stands silent because his voice won't obey.

Nina grabs his hand. The ring on her finger presses against his gauntlet.

"Aldric. She's not lying. I checked. Three times."

Don't look at me like that. Don't look, because if you do — I'll say I'm scared, but I won't say of what, and you'll never forgive me, — Nina squeezes his hand until the ring digs into skin.

Silence. The paladin looks at his wife. His wife looks at the ground. Melody looks at both and shakes her head.

"Pathetic sight, my children. Absolutely pathetic." Melody slaps her daughter-in-law on the back hard enough to make her stumble. "While you two stare at each other — the seal is ticking. We need someone with magic and a hard-on who'll agree to fuck us pregnant. Demon, dragon, I don't care. Even a minotaur, if the cock's right."

What will you do? Say something to them? Just watch? Or maybe you have the ability to whisper something into one of their ears?

Today you're a demon, looks like. Yeah. They've been walking for hours, and they're heading to you. Paladin in shining plate up front, hand on sword, jaw clenched, walking like he's headed to an execution. Behind him — a small witch in a singed robe, tripping over every root and muttering something about runes. Bringing up the rear — a tall blonde in a knight's mantle and pauldrons, looking like she's headed to a date rather than to death.

They're coming to you, specifically. If you're the one who lives in this cave.

"I'm asking for the last time," Aldric stops and turns to his wife. "Are you sure there's no other way."

"I checked SEVEN TIMES, Aldric! Seven! Curse, creature of power, impregnation, three days! You think I LIKE that my womb has to—" Nina chokes on the word and turns red to her ears.

"That a demon has to wreck your cunt," Melody finishes for her. "The word you're looking for is fuck, sweetheart. We need to get fucked and filled. You can practice saying it out loud while we walk."

"MELODY!"

"What? You're about to spread your legs for a demon and you can't say the word 'fuck'? How are you going to ask him — 'please, sir, would you be so kind as to perform a magical intercourse'?"

Poor girl. Tell me — how is she going to cum on a demon cock if she blushes at the word 'cunt'? Then again, that might actually be fun to watch, — Melody smirks and winks toward the forest, as if she knows exactly that someone's watching.

Aldric grips the sword hilt.

"Mother. Enough."

"Enough what, boy? I'm just preparing your wife for reality. In a couple hours she'll have something between her legs significantly bigger and thicker than what she's used to, and if she stays this tense — it'll be worse for her."

Don't think. Don't think about it. Don't think about the fact that she's right, — Aldric turns away and walks faster.

Bigger and thicker. God. God, god, god, — Nina clutches her hands over her stomach where the purple pulses beneath the fabric, and can't tell if she's nauseous from fear or from the heat between her legs.

They reach the cave. Large, dark, smelling of something ancient and hot — sulfur, smoke, something animal. The entrance like a gaping maw.

Melody walks in first. Naturally.

"Hey! Anyone alive in here?" her voice bounces off the walls and comes back as an echo. "Or not alive — we're not picky! We need a favor! Of a magical nature!" she glances back at Nina. "And physical, honestly."

Aldric positions himself in the passage, shielding his wife. Shield forward, sword in hand. Protecting her from the one they came to for help. He knows how it looks.

Nina peeks out from behind his shoulder. Small, disheveled, with the pulsing mark on her stomach and eyes full of panic, guilt, and something third that she's trying her hardest to hide.

"H-hi? We... we were told someone lives here... we came to ask..."

"She came to ask you to fuck her!" Melody shouts from deeper in the cave. "And me too! Properly, preferably!"

You know what's worse than walking through a forest to a demon? Summoning something unknown into your own home. But they had no choice — well, Melody claims they didn't, Nina claims the cave is too far and the curse is ticking, and Aldric claims that at least at home he can control the situation. He can't. But let him believe.

Nina draws a circle on the kitchen floor. With chalk, because chalk is cheaper than blood and smells better. The runes go down straight — her hands are shaking, but the lines are somehow perfect. It happens: the body remembers what the mind forgot.

"Is this symbol right? And this one? Melody, stop hovering, I can't concentrate when you—"

"When I what? Watch you summon us a cock from another dimension?" Melody stands leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed under her chest. "Keep going, sweetheart. I'm rooting for you. Just try not to curse anything else this time — my liver's the only uncursed organ I've got left."

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"

"Little bit funny."

I hate her. I love her. I hate that she's right and it's a little bit funny, — Nina furiously finishes the last rune.

Aldric stands between the circle and the door. Sword in hand, shield on his back. Full plate armor in his own kitchen — he knows how it looks.

"Nina. We don't know what will come through."

"A CREATURE OF POWER, Aldric! That's what will come through! Something powerful enough to break the seal! I set the parameters in the spell!"

"Parameters," Melody repeats with a smirk. "What parameters did you set, darling? Height? Size? Or just 'bigger and rougher'?"

I set magical power and seal compatibility. ONLY magical power and seal compatibility. What Melody's implying I did NOT set. But I didn't exclude it either. God, — Nina feels her ears burning.

"Mother. Be quiet. One minute." Aldric's voice is steady, but the fist on the hilt is white.

"My boy, in five minutes a creature that needs to fuck your wife and your mother will appear in your kitchen, and you're standing here with a sword like you're going to fight it. Are you going to fight it? Or are you going to politely ask it to cum in our wombs for medical purposes?"

She's right. I hate it. She's right, — Aldric doesn't answer. Stands.

Nina stands, brushes off her knees. The circle is ready. The runes pulse purple — the same color as the mark on her stomach.

"I... I'm starting. When the portal opens — don't attack. Please. We need it alive. And... in a good mood."

"In a good mood," Melody repeats. "Hear that, son? Don't wave the sword around, or our savior's hard-on will go away."

Nina speaks the incantation. Her voice trembles on the first words, then steadies — the body remembers. The circle flares. Purple light floods the kitchen, three jars on the shelf burst (again), and a portal opens in the center of the circle.

Something comes through. Or someone.

Melody straightens from the doorframe — for the first time all evening, stops smirking. For a second. Then the smirk returns, wider than before.

"Well hello. I hope you're hungry."

Nina stands with raised hands — the spell still holding, fingers glowing — staring at what came through the portal. Eyes wide, lip bitten, ring spinning on its own.

Aldric raises his sword. Lowers it. Raises it. Lowers it.

Protect. I have to protect them. From what they summoned. What I allowed them to summon. What I'm about to give—

"H-hi?" Nina says in a thin voice. "We summoned you because... we need help. Please don't kill us?"

"And please fuck us!" Melody adds from behind the doorframe. "Both of us! One at a time or together, we're not picky!"

"MELODY!!!"