Chapter 12

Chapter 12

A shiver ran down her spine, and she rose on her toes.

Centipedes. Vipers. Crawling insects and other loathsome creatures.

Every fear she had flickered through her mind. The thought of one of them creeping up her leg made her convulse with dread. Hunching her shoulders, she lifted her gaze toward the ceiling. She couldn’t bear to look at the floor and confirm what it was.

Skrrrk. Skrrsk.

Every hair bristled. That was no single creature. It was the sound of many moving at once.

Whatever it was, it lived in places dark and damp. Likely venomous. She had to escape quickly.

Like a frozen corpse forced to move, Sian dragged her stiff legs toward the only exit. Just three steps to the wooden door.

She even held her breath as she inched forward, worried that whatever was crawling might burst under her shoe. Her hand seized the round knob. The wood felt so rough and icy it was as if it would slice her palm. Ignoring the foreboding chill, she yanked hard.

Cre-e-eak, crk.

The thick, old door groaned open in protest.

Beyond it was pure darkness. Like a wall of black. That was what she thought until the black surface writhed, shifting in countless ripples.

“Urgh—!”

She gagged and clamped a hand over her mouth as she stumbled back.

Glossy shells. A forest of twitching legs.

Clatter-clatter-clack.

Their armored bodies scraped and clicked against one another as they pressed into the doorframe, packed so tightly there was no gap between them. Here and there, one slipped free and dropped to the floor with a wet thud.

Black. Shiny.

…Insects.

The wall she thought she’d seen was insects.

Hundreds and thousands of bugs!

Sian’s body trembled violently at the sight. Shock gave way to sheer terror as she stumbled back, only to find the wall at her back. Her heels and shoulders struck the cold brick.

I’m at a dead end

The black mass rippled like a wave then spilled forward.

“Ugh—”

A broken sob burst from her throat and was swallowed by fear.

Something landed on her ashen face. Thump. Thud. Three, four of them scuttled over her skin. She glimpsed segmented bellies and six darting legs. The moment she opened her clenched lips in shock, she was engulfed by the dark creatures.

The worst nightmare of all.

The creeping sensation smothered her skin, rising over even the goosebumps on her skin.

“Aaaahhhhhh!!!”

Her scream tore through the chamber as the swarm threatened to suffocate her. She thrashed wildly, clutching still at Actarachion’s coat as though it were the only anchor she had left.

The more she flailed, the more tightly the swarm clung. Some slipped beneath her clothes, brushing along her bare skin with their countless legs.

“Get off! Get off! Disgusting!”

She writhed like one possessed. Under the pressure of her movements, some insects burst. Crack. Their shells split, and sticky fluids oozed, slimy against her body.

“This is a dream. It’s a dream. Open your eyes and it ends. Just open your eyes—”

She chanted to herself, screwing her eyes shut and forcing them open again and again. But whether closed or open, the sensation remained. The crawling touch did not vanish. She couldn’t let this happen.

Her eyes darted frantically.

The open door continued to spew forth insects, a flood threatening to reach the ceiling.

She needed a place to run. Somewhere to hide. A way out.

But the chamber was bare. No window, no crack, no nook to crawl into. Nothing but the door.

I have to get through that door.

Her only path forward was through it. Beyond, perhaps another passage. Another door. A window. Something.

But to step through meant plunging her head into the swarm. She could not summon the courage.

Insects crawled up her neck. She flailed desperately, swiping them from her chin. That was when she noticed her left hand had been clutching something.

The navy coat. Half buried in the swarm, half exposed above, clutched tightly in her grip.

This could protect my face.

The thought sparked action.

Clutching the coat, she shoved herself through the writhing swarm. The horror sent another wave of nausea through her. She bit down hard on her lip and forced herself to the doorframe.

It loomed before her, clogged with insects. To pass through, she would have to bury her face into them.

Hands trembling, she pulled the coat long and wrapped it tightly around her head. The faint musk of its fabric filled her nose. Blue darkness cloaked her sight, muting her revulsion.

Holding it firm, she stretched out her arms, reaching for the doorframe.

Crunch, crk.

Forcing her way through the dense cluster of bugs and shoving her face through was more arduous than she’d expected. The carapaces shifted, scraping against her covered face. Without the coat, she would have broken instantly.

Holding her breath, she shoved her way through. It was like swimming against sand, or wading through a raging torrent. Each step demanded all her strength. The shells cracked and burst beneath her, spraying foul liquid.

Her heart hammered like a fish thrown onto dry land.

At last she shoved through the frame and lifted her head, gasping. It was like pushing through sand or a strong current. She exerted so much strength that her body shook with effort. 

Her heart fluttered with terror.

She stretched her arm upward, grasping for escape.

Something touched her fingers. Not stone. Slick, warm, faintly stinging, like tiny spines prickling her skin.

She tore the coat from her face and opened her eyes.

A green stem. A vine, writhing like a living thing.

It tapped her hand then coiled around her wrist. Up her arm, past her elbow, into her armpit, tightening hard. Then it pulled, dragging her upward.

Her body lifted free of the swarm. Half the insects clinging to her fell away. The other half stubbornly clung as she was hauled higher.

Was this better? She didn’t know. But anything was better than the swarm below.

Shutting her eyes, she surrendered to the pull.

The higher she rose, the hotter and more humid the air became. She could feel something alive pulsing through the atmosphere itself.

Then, suddenly, she stopped.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

Suspended above her was a colossal violet flower, petals spread wide like a chandelier. From its center stretched the very vine that held her.

“What… is this?”

The words slipped out before she could stop them.

At once, the flower’s black pistil stirred, shifting toward her.

A cloying sweetness filled the air. The scent made her vision blur, her body heavy, her muscles weak.

The vines writhed, winding around her arms, her waist, her chest, her ankles and thighs and even her neck, stroking her cheek.

“Urgh—!”

She twisted violently, but the more she struggled, the stronger the scent grew. Her mind was hazy and clouded. A dizzying heat surged through her body.

What’s happening to me?

The vines shifted. Their prickling spines softened, turning into suction-like pads. They latched onto her skin.

Shhk, suck.

They trailed across her body, crushing insects in their path with wet pops and slurping up the fluids.

The touch left goosebumps in its wake.

It was revolting. And yet…

“Hhh…ah…”

A shameful moan escaped her lips. The sensation was sticky, enveloping, and strangely intoxicating.

She recoiled from it, knowing she had to resist somehow, but her body betrayed her, trembling as heat pooled in her belly.

The vines coiled, sliding higher. They pressed, rubbed, squeezed against her thighs, her waist, even beneath her skirt. It chased the bugs climbing her waist while clinging tightly to her thigh.

The last of the insects burst, oozing foul liquid. The vines sucked it away through the thin fabric clinging to her skin.

“Ah ahh…!”

Not pain. Something else. Goosebumps ran down her spine and her legs buckled. It was humiliatingly pleasurable.

Black stamens above writhed, serpentine.

It’s the scent. That damned scent is the problem.

She tried to hold her breath. She’d rather fall back into the insects than be violated by this unknown creature. But the vine at her throat tightened cruelly, choking her until she gasped and inhaled the sweetness. Her lungs burned, her vision swam.

“Haa…”

Heat spread through her body. It was sweet and hot, sending a tickle below her navel.

The strength in her hands drained away. The coat slipped from her and fell into the swarm below.

The plant crushed every last insect, then coiled her tighter. Vines stroked her joints and gradually moved towards more sensitive areas. The same vines that had strangled her now pressed against her lips while others gnawed at her underwear under her skirt. They instinctively found moist and succulent tissue.

Her underwear was wet.

The disgust, the horrifying pleasure, the desire to burn this creature to the ground. It all welled up inside her. It was dirty. It was horrible. But…

“Mnngh—!”

A thick vine forced its way into her mouth, filling it, pressing her tongue, invading her throat.

And her vision shattered into black.

* * *

Actarachion tore the plant to shreds, fury blazing. When that wasn’t enough, he burned it to ash.

The Princess hung limp in his arms, sticky with the plant’s cloying slime, unconscious. He had shattered the veil of the inner world by force. The dimensional fabric had recoiled violently, dragging every creature inside into unconsciousness.

It was fortunate. She would never know her state.

Staring at the ashes of the violet bloom, Actarachion let out a bitter chuckle.

When the green vine had forced itself into Sian Heartperion’s mouth, he had intervened on impulse.

Because some pathetic vermin dared to touch her first. The sheer audacity enraged him.

Even now, it felt absurd.

What do I care if she gets raped by some wretched creature?

And yet the thought of being usurped, of losing the chance to break her himself, gnawed at him. As if he had planned to crush her beneath him all along.

That ridiculous notion alone made his body ache with irritation.

In fact, the moment she had been bound by the vines, gasping for breath, he’d been uncomfortable. The plant’s scent hadn’t touched him, he had simply watched her, and arousal had struck him without consent.

There was no reason to get excited about this.

His eyes fell to his taut trousers, and disgust twisted through him.

Biting his tongue hard, he forced the foul urge down.

Soon he would have to rouse the Princess and pretend he had never burned with it.