Chapter 8

The Hanged Man

His chest was on fire and he couldn’t move. His limbs were super heavy and he couldn’t feel his legs anymore.

Am I dying?

Loud thuds like distant thunder beat in his chest and he thought he heard someone saying his name. His head cleared, and it occurred to him that he had looked onto the shores of the afterlife and they had looked nothing like this. A loud scraping sound filled his senses and he was suddenly blinded by a bright light and someone called his name.

Oh shit. He really had died. This was the tunnel of light and somebody had come to collect him.

“Mike!” Warm hands grabbed him by his chest and pulled. His eyes adjusted to the light and he realized that he was looking at Zel from the confines of a large snow drift. She pulled him free of the snow and he fell forward, spilling crimson blood on the bright white canvas they were mired in...

“Here, hold on.” She ripped off part of her skirt and tied it around his upper arm. He looked down at his torso, expecting to see a giant hole. While there was a large hole in his shirt, the snakeskin beneath was still intact. However, the inside of his arm was bleeding pretty bad.

“How?” He was feeling light headed and couldn’t properly formulate his words. He leaned forward and fell, Zel grabbing him around the waist.

“The icicle slid off the naga hide but nicked your artery. We need to find my bag, it got lost in the snow.”

“Snow?” He looked at the ground, his eyes surveying the bountiful white clouds beneath his feet.

“Do you still have the sun stone? Your arms are freezing.”

“Um ... nope.” He felt his pockets and looked up the hill. He wondered if he had lost it up there. There was a deep furrow of snow toward the top of the hill that turned into a wide groove that terminated roughly above the giant drift she had pulled him out of.

Tink was going to be pissed when she found out he had lost a Vault treasure.

“Mike.” Zel gave him a shake. “You’re bleeding too much and I can’t carry you. If you lose consciousness, you will die.”

“Oh.” He pushed her away with his good arm. He couldn’t lift the other one at all, so he fumbled with the pouch on his belt. Once Zel spotted what he was doing, her eyes went wide and she pushed his fingers out of the way, unsnapping the pouch and pulling out the red vial.

“You need to drink this and we need to get out of here right away.” She unstoppered the vial and held it to his lips. Heat flooded his mouth and throat and his eyes watered at the taste. She pulled the vial away and poured some of it on the gash in his arm. Steam rose from the wound and he nearly threw up from the pain.

“What happened?” All he could picture was an angry eye rimmed with fire.

“The Snow Queen found you.” Her face was grim. “If she catches up to us, she’ll kill you.”

Another loud boom up the hill ricocheted off the nearby hills, causing more of the snow to break free and slide. A ball of fire climbed into the sky, only to be consumed by a large flurry of ice and snow.

“Snow Queen? Is she part of the Society?”

“Not the Society. C’mon.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the trees. “We need to get back to the house and lock the wardrobe. She can’t follow you if it’s locked.”

“Okay.” The light headedness was starting to pass, his numb feet crunching through the snow beneath them. She took him into the trees, ducking her head to go beneath the branches. They had traveled a hundred feet when he caught a glimpse of something bright following them. He stopped for a moment and it vanished. It was likely an artifact of the bright sun above bouncing off the snow.

“Mike, c’mon!” Zel tugged at his hand.

“Wait.” He looked up the hill. “Where is Ratu?”

“She’s buying us some time. If we can circle up the hill, we can get back.”

“But what about her?”

“Honestly?” Zel’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know.”

“Oh.” He leaned on a tree for support, his body suddenly heavy. He couldn’t think straight, it felt like he was drunk off his ass. “Did that potion have my spunk in it?”

“Of course it did.”

“Okay.” He lifted his arm, inspecting the raw flesh. “This hurts still.”

“You’re experiencing the healing process in fast forward. You’re going to feel hungover in a couple of hours if you don’t get any water in you.” She grabbed his hand and pulled. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“Nope. Not without Ratu.” Another loud boom rattled the mountain and he cast his gaze upward. The trees along the ridge had been blown free and another avalanche had been triggered, carrying the flaming logs down the slope. Columns of smoke floated into the sky, ash now falling on them like snowflakes. The ridge disappeared and a geyser of fire shot through the air above them.

A loud roar echoed across the hillside. Mike turned his attention to a large shadow that slowly lifted above the distant tower, its large wings beating hard to gain altitude. The creature disappeared in the smoke above, but it roared again, much closer this time.

“Is that a fucking dragon?” He gripped a nearby tree so hard that he accidentally tore off some of the bark. Zel’s eyes had gone impossibly wide, her hands hovering over her mouth.

“We. Need. To. Go!” She pulled his shirt, yanking him free of the tree. They broke free of the trees and Mike realized that she was still trying to drag him uphill, but away from the sounds of magic. “I think we can circle around and get to the trees.”

“Are you nuts? There’s a dragon up there!”

“It’s better than the alternative, trust me!” She slipped in the snow and fell. He knelt down to help her up and caught the glimmer of yellow light out of the corner of his eye.

Another loud blast echoed from up above. Through the smoke, something was generating a tremendous amount of light. The wave of heat hit him suddenly, making his mouth dry out.

“The sun stone!” He thought it had made it down the hill with them, but he must have dropped it at the top. The dragon roared and streams of water now trickled down the mountainside.

“Oh no.” Zel pointed through the smoke at a dark shape that was tumbling rapidly toward them. At first Mike thought it was a log, but realized it was a large snake about twenty feet long tumbling head over tail. He ran forward, hoping to intercept Ratu, and immediately noticed how soft the snow was becoming under his feet.

“We need to find shelter,” he called out over his shoulder. He could hear Zel’s feet sinking through the slush behind him, his stomach filled with that familiar cold sensation. It steadily built, filling him with dread as he knelt down and caught Ratu around the middle of her body.

She dragged him off his feet, causing him to slide several feet down the hill. Once he was able to stand, he struggled to lift her, grateful when Zel finally caught up and lifted Ratu’s tail. The large python in their arms was unconscious, making the dead weight feel that much heavier.

They all sank into the softening snow. Up top, another large sheet broke free and raced downhill, smashing into a thick group of trees. The glow of the sun stone was becoming more intense, and he could see the shadow of the beast circling above. It didn’t seem to be looking for them, instead remaining directly over the molten red glow of the magic rock he had left behind.

“Where can we go?” He looked back at Zel, her face frozen in panic.

After several seconds, she let out a loud sigh and pointed downhill. “If we keep going, we should encounter a side trail that will lead us onto a bluff with a small cave network.”

He didn’t bother asking how she knew. Draping Ratu over his shoulders, he ran his hands along her skin, worried at how cold she felt. Zel did the same, but lost her footing and fell. She slid past Mike, her arms outstretched, and caught his ankle. This caused him to tumble as well, then all three of them were sliding on the slick hill.

“Mike!” Zel twisted around and pulled his feet under her armpits, leaning back on his lap as they picked up speed ... Realizing what she was attempting, he pulled Ratu onto his torso, holding on tight while trying to coil her up onto his chest. She stirred briefly in his arms, her body shrinking down to a more manageable six feet.

Rocks appeared on the slope ahead and Zel used her legs to steer, her hooves clattering off the tougher chunks of ice. They zoomed between them at a speed of maybe fifteen miles per hour, but Mike felt like they were going sixty. The cold wind grabbed at his ears, his eyes squinting against the ice and snow that blasted them. The mountain rumbled underneath him and he chanced a look back. Another large sheet of snow had broken free and was coming their direction.

The rocks were becoming more frequent, and Zel twisted her body to take them down a steep pass. They curled around a tall rock formation with deep crags. She spread her legs wide, the snow rolling up over her legs and onto her stomach. The ground was leveling out, but a large drop off was coming.

Mike shoved his free hand into the snow and they all came to a slow stop. Stumbling to their feet, Zel led him along an area with a twenty-foot sheer cliff above them. A ten-foot wide trail overlooked the valley below and a cave-like structure had been carved into the stone. Zel stumbled forward into it, collapsing toward the back wall. Mike was right behind her, the sounds of the mountain now vibrating the thick stone walls around their hiding spot. The world grew dark as the avalanche finally caught up to them, billowing over the rocks and filling the valley below.

Several seconds passed by, and the snow was mixed with water. Trees and rocks spilled out over the cliff, the sound deafening. Mike opened up his shirt and tucked Ratu inside to warm her up, then clung to Zel, praying that it would end soon.

Yuki narrowed her eye at the scene below. Astride the mighty Jabberwock, she watched as the sun stone sent out another wave of heat, nearby trees bursting into flame. The mountain was covered in smoke and steam, and she had lost sight of the naga.

Their fight had been intense and evenly matched, but Yuki had summoned the beast to her with a mere thought. Constructed of magic and clay, the creature wasn’t technically alive, but it did have tremendous power of its own. At the arrival of the Jabberwock, the naga had thrown what Yuki had thought was a poorly aimed fireball. Dodging to the side, Yuki soon realized that the target had been a sun stone apparently dropped by the man she had sent down the mountain.

Intent on winning the fight, it was far more important that the sun stone be extinguished. If the fire spread, it could burn down the trees that led back to the house on Earth, trapping her here officially forever. Commanding large cyclones of snow, she continued to pile on her ice magic, frustrated at how much energy she was wasting on something so stupid. She knew all about the sun stone and its abilities and wondered why the fool had removed it from the Vault in the first place.

Beneath her, the glow of the stone was making the mountain look like a volcano about to erupt. Frustrated, she stuck a hand in her pocket and pulled out a deck of tarot cards. She cut immediately past the Major Arcana and began sifting through the cards of the Minor Arcana. She hated to be wasting so much magic on a stupid problem, but it had to be done.

An updraft caused the Jabberwock to buck violently, and she grabbed on to her harness. All three of her tails flared out behind her, sending a radiant wave of magical energy beneath the beast to stabilize it. If she was going to act, it needed to be now.

She pulled the Ten of Cups free. Scowling, she tucked away the rest of the cards in the special pouch she had pulled them from. She had a lot of free time in the tower, and she had spent a substantial amount of that time drawing tarot cards. This deck, however, was the most special of all. She had infused every card with powerful magic, each one taking nearly a month to craft.

The ice and the snow had been enough to absorb the immediate heat of the stone, but she needed to smother the nearby flames that kept feeding it. The easiest way to do that would require a rainstorm of epic proportions.

The card glowed an icy blue in her hands as she undid the magical lock that she had put on it. Commanding the Jabberwock to climb higher, she threw the card down, watching it pulsate with light as it sank into the smoke. The Ten of Cups she had drawn depicted the valley below beneath a large rainbow surrounded by cups full of water. The easiest way to summon a rainbow was to wait until after a storm.

This card had been a pain in the ass to make primarily because she had captured a rainstorm inside. Years back, on the back of the Jabberwock, she had spent hours trapping the stormcloud inside while high up in the sky, nearly falling twice. The storm in question had been particularly difficult because she had captured it during the height of monsoon season.

Down below, she heard a blast of thunder as the storm was released all at once. Through the smoke, she could hear the torrential downpour of inches of rain falling onto the mountaintop all at once and could see the immediate rush of water farther down the mountain. This spell would inevitably trigger mudslides and wreak havoc on the ecosystem down below, but that was a problem for someone else to deal with.

She waited, her eye on the glow of the sun stone. It gradually faded, the nearby fires extinguished. After several minutes had passed, the Ten of Cups was extinguished, and she could no longer feel the magic of the stone. With a heavy sigh of relief, she commanded the Jabberwock to circle, pulling the Ace of Swords out next. This card shimmered like heated air, and transformed into a longsword in her hand. The Jabberwock flew lower towards the clouds beneath and she swung downward, commanding the magic to release once more.

A powerful blast of wind cut through the clouds, causing them to billow apart and flee. Soon, she could see the mountain top and grimaced at the devastation. They landed, and she frantically rushed through muddy soil to the copse of trees that were all singed around the edges. Pushing through, she was grateful to see that the ones in the middle had been spared any damage from the fires or the flood.

The doorway was secure. She sent a command to the Jabberwock to keep an eye on the mountain and used her magic to create a throne of ice. She pulled some smoked meat out of her pocket and took a bite, her stomach rumbling with hunger.

How many years had it been? Her face scrunched up as she tried to count. Being confined to this pocket world had driven her mad with rage for so long that she had been unable to keep track of time. Almost a couple years back, she had felt Emily’s passing and had become terrified at the idea that she might have to spend her remaining centuries in this place forever.

That was, until the new Caretaker had moved in. She had been able to feel his presence occasionally, trying to capture his attention through the portal. However, magic at such a distance was weak at best, and she was aware that Emily had sealed it from the outside. The thought had occurred to her more than once that the magical compulsion she had cast may end up in the destruction of the entrance but hadn’t cared. If he had destroyed the portal, then she felt like she could at least move on.

She stood up and approached the trees, her hand outstretched. She could feel the air currents that would lead her back home, escape only a few feet away. There was nothing stopping her from stepping through and claiming the house for herself. After all, she had the right.

“Not yet.” She couldn’t risk stepping through with enemies on her heels. And she definitely wouldn’t go without her loyal fairy companion. Emily may have left Yuki behind, but the kitsune refused to ever do the same to her friends.

Once she heard back from Daisy, she would make her next move. Until then, it would probably be a good idea if she found that troublesome sun stone.

Beth waited just outside the greenhouse, smoothing out the sundress she wore. She couldn’t hang clothes up in her closet because they disappeared when the cavern was opened, which meant folding them up in a dresser. She needed a better way to store her clothes if she wanted to avoid wrinkles.

She used her phone to check her makeup. She had quit wearing it since covering up the mirrors in the house, but she had used selfie mode to confirm that she had dark circles under her eyes. Happy to discover that Oliver didn’t appear in her phone, she had done some quick touch-ups before setting out for a little dalliance with Asterion.

The minotaur arrived, his axe casually slung over his shoulder. He bowed his head in greeting.

“Friend Beth.” His voice was the rumble of an old sports car, his dark fur shining in the sun.

“I was wondering if we could go for a walk?” She pushed open the door of the greenhouse, revealing the large space within.

“If you wish. I cannot be gone for long, not with Ratu absent.”

“We won’t go far. The faeries know they can find us here if they need us.” She let him walk in first, admiring the thick muscle in his thighs. If Asterion had an ounce of fat on him somewhere, she had yet to find it. Closing the door behind them, she fought the urge to ask him to leave his weapon behind. If there was something in the world more important to him than his axe, she had yet to find that either.

They walked along the edge of the cliff overlooking the jungle. The world was eerily quiet, other than the rustling of the trees down below. Behind them was a large wall of glass, an eerie anomaly due to the greenhouse containing an entire world inside of it.

In her childhood, Beth had often dreamt of traveling to Fantastica, Narnia, or even being carried away by a twister to Oz. The simple act of passing through the greenhouse door sent a thrill directly to that inner child; an entire world was now laid out in front of her ready to be explored. Mike had explained that he thought nothing else lived there inside the greenhouse, but he also had no idea how far it went. She wondered if it eventually had an end, or if she could simply walk for all eternity and never see another living soul.

“We missed our path.” Asterion’s voice snapped her out of her trance and she turned around.

They had found an easy path that led down to the bottom of the cliffs that wasn’t too hard to descend. She also liked it because it gave her a great view of a series of waterfalls that eventually emptied into a pair of rivers that trickled through the forest. She had no idea where the water came from—it blasted out of a hole in the cliff up above from underneath the greenhouse barrier.

The falling water filled several different basins, but she and Asterion had explored and discovered an offshoot near the bottom. Most of the water flowed into one area, but on the other side of the rocks was a second waterfall that filled a small pond before turning into a river that meandered into the nearby trees. Behind the rocks, the roar of the water was greatly muted, and the waterfall here fell in a smooth sheet that made it look like a pane of glass.

“I love how cool it feels down here.” Beth flipped her hair away from her neck, letting the mist kiss her skin. The sun was directly overhead, warming the hidden cove. As long as they stayed out of the shadows, they wouldn’t get cold.

“Hmm. I like how the sun feels.” Asterion rubbed the top of his head where his hair was thin enough that she could see the dark skin beneath. She didn’t know much about his past, and often wondered if he had been born in a different labyrinth or even created in the current one. What was the life of a minotaur like? It was easy to imagine them as vicious creatures, but watching Asterion tilt his head, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the sun’s warmth, she wondered if perhaps he was yet another victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She stepped in between Asterion’s thick arms and pulled them around her shoulders. “I like how you feel.” It wasn’t even meant as an endearment---the sun had warmed his fur to the point where he gave off heat like an electric blanket. Finding a pocket of warmth in the cold shadows of the cliff made her smile, and she turned around and pushed her hips back into his.

He said nothing, one hand settling on her hip bone and squeezing. He lowered his weapon and set it against the rocks behind them. While not much of a conversationalist, this was one message that he received loud and clear.

Closing her eyes, she reached over her shoulder and stroked the tight flesh along his jawline. It was covered in thin, coarse hair that made a bristling sound when she rubbed it. His free hand moved up to her breast and squeezed it from beneath. She covered his hand with hers and urged him to squeeze even harder.

I wonder if Mike would squeeze my breasts like this.

The stray thought made her eyes pop open. She looked down at the thick fingers toying with her breast from beneath. Thick veins stood out beneath Asterion’s skin, but his grip was gentle. She guided him, putting her hand on top of his, and moved his fingers up toward her nipples. He pinched them, sending a jolt of arousal straight down her spine and into her hips.

She closed her eyes once more.

“Yessss,” she hissed. His stiffening cock pushed into the crease of her ass, and she rolled her hips up and down, stroking him through the fabric. She reached back to push his loincloth aside, allowing his thick member to hang free, then pushed it up against his belly so she could pin it between them.

He snorted, a hot puff of air hitting her neck. She melted into him, her hips moving to a song that only she could hear. Asterion’s other arm circled her waist, pulling them together. As she swayed, she pressed her thighs together, the fabric of her panties bunching just enough to press her labia together.

“Mmh.” She moved her hand along Asterion’s muzzle down to the thick muscles of his neck and pulled, going up on her tiptoes. Her ass rubbed up and down the minotaur’s thick shaft and a throaty moan escaped his lips as it responded to her attention.

The arm around her waist tightened. She let go of the hand at her breast and ran her fingers along the thick muscles in his forearm. Through the dense fur, she could feel slight imperfections, scars from a past full of fighting off intruders. She leaned forward, using the sudden space to lift up her skirt and hook a thumb through the band of her panties. Off they came, and she opened her eyes to toss them casually to the stones nearby.

She missed. Instead of coming to a rest on the rocks, they tumbled into the small pond and floated there for a few moments. The dark lace at the top disappeared first, and once the water soaked its way through the white cotton, they disappeared beneath the surface.

Well shit. Beth didn’t think they’d float down river, so made a mental note to retrieve them before they left.

“Keep holding me,” she told him, leaning forward again and grabbing his thick, meaty shaft. She moved it to the side, sliding the wet head of his cock along her buttcheek. Moving it inward, it was now placed between her legs, his dick sticking out a few inches and creating a bulge beneath her skirt.

He snorted, and she grabbed the head of his large cock through the thin fabric of her skirt. A small wet spot appeared almost immediately, and she teased him through the fabric, the warmth of his dick now radiating along her inner thighs. He leaned back and her toes left the ground when he flexed his shaft.

A flood of heat rushed to her labia as she was now balanced on his shaft alone. Grabbing his glans, she tugged it upward and then leaned forward, her clit now rubbing solidly along the top of his cock.

A gasp escaped her lips. Asterion moved the arm around her waist, his hand sliding over her stomach. He parted his fingers into a V and moved them so he could press on her labia while also squeezing his own cock.

Another round of liquid heat flooded her belly, and she put her hand on top of his, pushing in on his fingers so that they were now pinned between her thighs. Sliding back and forth, she could feel him getting hot and sticky from her own juices.

She slid forward far enough that the head of his cock rested directly against her swollen clit. Asterion held her there for a moment, and she could feel the strong pulse of his heartbeat through the steady throbbing of his large dick.

Could I feel Mike’s heartbeat this way?

Beth shook her head, chasing the thought away. Why was he popping up in her thoughts like this?

She wiggled her hips and Asterion’s bulky dick slowly pushed aside the folds of her pussy, spreading her open. He let go of her waist and grabbed her upper arm, giving her more room to maneuver while keeping his hand on her breast for support. His large stature had given her the ability to chase down several of her own sexual fantasies, and she had worked hard to communicate these desires to the minotaur. He knew now to hold still, to wait for her to adjust to his immense girth.

“Oh fuuuuck.”

The head of his dick pushed her open, but didn’t enter. She needed several breaths of air to psyche herself up for the next step, because it would happen suddenly. Biting her lower lip, she took a deep breath and then let it out, leaning forward to create a better angle for penetration.

No longer supported by her pubic bone, her body began a slow descent, powered by gravity alone. Beth fought the urge to cry out, knowing that she would tense up and ruin the process. It was a sensation she needed to allow, that powerful fullness that wedged its way inside her and caused all of her thoughts to go astray.

Asterion flexed, and her whole body lifted slightly. When he released, she sank even deeper.

Her cries echoed off of the rock walls, bouncing back and forth until it was soaked up by the mist. With every inch that slowly sank into her, she could feel the world around her melt away, gobbled up by her desire. It wasn’t just the sheer size of the cock inside of her that drove the reaction—it was the scruffy hair on Asterion’s arms, the animal grunts that came from his lips, the sheer insanity of being fucked by a minotaur in the first place. It was so many late night solo fantasies now being fulfilled, the realization that magic was real and she had stepped fully into it’s world, oh god, he was so deep inside of her now.

She let go of his neck and tried to grab one of his horns, missing a few times before she finally got her hand around it. It wasn’t just the thrill of grabbing that sacred part of him, a part nobody else could touch, but the fact that she could now lift herself back up and experience the sensation of sinking down on his massive cock all over again.

Asterion was a beast bred and built for killing, his legend steeped in blood and violence. Yet the gentleness he exhibited in allowing her to please herself, his ability to stand perfectly still while penetrating her to the very center of her being without devolving into animal lust, spoke volumes about the depths of his soul.

He shifted his hand to her waist, helping to support her weight. She was gasping for air now, letting out her breath every time he sank into her, then pulling herself back up and breathing in once she no longer felt so full. She had wrapped her legs around his thighs, trying hard to maintain her composure, but with every passing minute, she grew closer to an orgasm.

“Let me down,” she told him in between breaths, and he knelt, his cock still buried inside of her. She no longer trusted her own movements and didn’t feel like jabbing herself in the uterus. Shaking, she turned them both toward a rock formation that allowed her to lean forward and support her weight with her hands.

Once she got herself positioned, she reached back and grabbed his cock, squeezing it as hard as she could. He let out a grunt and slowly pushed himself back inside of her.

Would he be as gentle too?

She imagined human hands on her hips, thought about what it would be like to let Mike have his way with her. Sure, his cock was large, but nowhere near the size she was accommodating right now. What sort of tricks had he picked up from the women at the house?

Stop it.

It made no sense to be fantasizing about him right now, and she cast him away once more. Asterion had picked up his pace, and she used the flesh of her palm to tease herself while his cock slid through her fingers. The throbbing in her pussy matched pace with his thrusts, and she briefly wondered if their hearts were now somehow in sync.

She came long before the minotaur did, and he kept fucking her the entire time. Her hand slapped at the rocks, pulled at her breast, and then finally settled back on his shaft. She laid flat against the stone beneath her, content to stare out toward the jungle while Asterion pushed himself into her. His grunts became snorts, like a horse racing across the prairie, and before too long, she felt a thick load of come pumping through his shaft before blasting her insides with his seed.