Chapter 34: Evening

Anton gave the clear impression that he was relaxed as he sat dozing in his chair at the breakfast table. With his eyes closed, his head leaned back against the chairs head rest and Molly sprawled out across his lap, he seemed to be completely unconcerned about the presence still lurking about outside and more than content to let the evening simply drift away.

The two dark elves seated across from him however, were not as inclined to feel so relaxed.

“Mmph!” groaned Fiona as she bit down on the rubber ball that had been wedged between her teeth.

Anton cracked a single eye and grinned at her.

“Now, now. I don’t want to hear any complaining. You two brought this upon yourselves after all.” he teased as he shifted his shoulders up and down and went back to his dozing “This wouldn’t even be necessary if I didn’t have to worry about you two bouncing around and possibly destroying the house whenever things finally get started...”

Fuming, Fiona began to twist back and forth against her binds as she pointed her ears straight back behind her head.

Sitting in the seat next to her, Kianna paused her efforts to pierce her short fangs into her own ballgag and turned to give her struggling sister a quick glare. With her silent message sent, she focused back on damaging the offending chunk of rubber that was currently filling her mouth.

Both of the dark elves had been locked back into full sets of bondage gear and strapped down to the chairs they sat in. The gear included not only their new gags but also a series of thick leather belts that were wrapped around their legs, waists and torsos. These straps were what kept them effectively trapped in their seats. Their arms had been folded away behind their backs and were held in place with the same box-tie leather binders that they had worn before, while their legs were similarly held together by two more leather binders wrapped around their shins and thighs.

Growing more and more frustrated by the moment, Fiona tried to focus her aura and growled in anger as it was immediately diffused by the charm planted within her bloodgem.

Sighing through his nose, Anton cracked both eyes and gave her a tired look.

“You can keep trying that all you want, Fiona. But it’s not going to work...” he mumbled.

Fiona narrowed her eyes at him as she defiantly pulled forward against the strap that held her shoulders pressed back against the chair she sat in.

“Such a stubborn dark elf...” grumbled Anton “Why can’t you just behave yourself and sit there quietly like Kianna is?”

Blinking at the sound of her name being called, Kianna froze mid-mauling and pointed her ears straight upwards as she turned her attention to Anton.

Anton couldn’t help but to grin as he took notice that the dark elf’s sharp teeth were all but invisible against the white surface of the rubber ball that was wedged between her jaws.

“See? She’s being such a good girl and keeping herself occupied over there.” said Anton as he smiled at her “Aren’t you, Kianna?”

Kianna sang out a happy chirp and rocked her head back and forth in a cutesy manner before viciously biting back down on her ballgag and continuing in her efforts to destroy it.

Grumbling in irritation, Fiona rolled her eyes and went back to testing the straps that held her in place.

“Just try to be patient, Fiona...” mumbled Anton in a lazy tone as he went back to his dozing “I’m sure it won’t be too much longer before our little friend starts to move around again...”

Fiona’s eyes darted to him before shifting over to where the presence still sat outside.

It had been several hours now since their unwelcomed visitor had made its foray around the house and then returned to what appeared to be its base camp, where it had since remained completely still, even as the sun had begun to set and darkness fully fell across the world outside.

After staring at the presence for a moment, Fiona’s eyes drifted to the end of the table and the strange collection of things that sat there.

Strewed along the edge of the table on Anton’s right hand side were a selection of odd items that he had Earlivi gather together for him. These items had apparently been carefully picked out and meticulously arranged in some kind of order that only Anton seemed to understand, as they made absolutely no sense as a group.

Among the items present were a spay bottle full of water, a pair of rodent glue-traps, a long extremely slim, rectangle shaped black magnet, several spray cans of a compressed, foaming rubber sealant, a tennis ball, and finally, a keychain sized laser pointer.

Several other odd items had been set up around Anton as well, and these included a wooden walking cane with a curved handle that was leaning against the table. A small table top fan with its face pointed upwards was sitting on the floor just behind his chair and a basket of fully filled water balloons was sitting halfway beneath his chair and just within arms reach.

Fiona had no idea what Anton could possibly be planning to use all these things for, as she couldn’t see how any of them would even be all that useful against an armed assassin. According to Anton however, these things should be all that he would need to handle whatever it was that stalking about outside. This was a claim that she very much doubted.

She also couldn’t help but to doubt Anton’s assurances that he would try not to use any of his magic. As again, according to Anton at least, if whatever was outside was what he thought it was, then he shouldn’t necessarily need to use any.

This seemed like a completely stupid idea to her. But unfortunately, in her bound state, there was little she could do about it except for try to be ready for whenever things inevitably went south.

If she was really lucky, Anton would be killed and she would be able to use her magic again, and she could then both escape her binds and kill the assassin herself. And this exact scenario was what she was secretly hoping for.

After nearly another hour of waiting, Anton raised his head as he and the dark elves all looked towards the back of the house in unison.

“Hm, well. Looks like it’s finally woken up...” mumbled Anton as he looked down at the little dog in his lap and gave her head a light tap “Molly.”

Molly instantly looked up at him and perked her little ears in attention.

“Bed, Molly.” said Anton as he pointed to the small dog bed set against the far wall.

Molly immediately jumped down from his lap with a grunt and ran to the bed, where she turned around and stared at him as she sat down.

“Stay!” said Anton as he smiled at her and pointed his finger downwards.

With another tiny grunt, the little dog laid down and flattened her ears as her tail swished back and forth.

“Good girl, Molly.” said Anton as he turned away from her and focused on the presence that was now making it’s way towards the side of the house.

Fiona and Kianna couldn’t help but to glare at their former pet, who had never been quite so obedient while under their care.

Anton grinned as he turned back to the glaring dark elves.

“Alright girls, I’m going to need you both to stay focused and pay close attention tonight.” he said as he reached forward and picked up the tennis ball.

Both of the dark elves immediately turned to him and snapped to attention with their ears raised and pointed straight upwards.

“Now, even though I plan to use as little magic as possible during this fight. I do want you girls to understand that I will use it to keep you safe. And if things do get too far out of control, then I’ll deactivate the charms keeping your auras defused and you’ll be able to put up your aura fields. Which if you do that right, you should be able to rip apart the bondage that’s keeping you in your chairs.” explained Anton as he looked from one dark elf to the other “Hopefully, things will go smoothly and none of that will be necessary. But just in case, I want you to have the thought of your aura fields in your minds and to be ready to use them. Understand?”

The dark elves glanced at each other and nodded before looking back at Anton.

“Good, now! Tonight, you’re going to learn just how predictable most assassins can be.” said Anton as he gave the tennis ball in his hand a light squeeze and glanced over his shoulder “This will be a bit of a crash course as there’s obviously going to be some real world training involved. But even so, I’ll try to explain things as best I can. So first of all, I want you to understand that most assassins are usually predictable only because their goal is not to simply kill their targets, but to be as untraceable as possible when they do so. And in order to accomplish this they use the methods that most often give them the best results, while leaving behind the least amount of evidence. Now these methods are fairly limited. And as such, they become predictable.”

The dark elves kept their ears trained to Anton’s voice as they let their eyes drift over to where the presence outside was quickly approaching the side of the house.

“Things become even more predictable when you know what species you’re dealing with. As different species tend to prefer certain methods over others.” continued Anton as he kept his eyes on where the presence had stopped just next to the house “And if my guess is correct ... Tonight, we’ll be dealing with a shinoccubus...”

The dark elves both glanced at him before focusing back on the presence.

“ ... Alright, here we go.” whispered Anton as he rolled his shoulders in an effort to loosen the tension from them “Its inside now...”

The dark elves eyes widen as they felt the presence suddenly jump closer and begin to slowly move around in the large living room that took up a solid chuck of the bottom floor.

“Stay absolutely quiet...” whispered Anton as the presence began to slowly move through the house and make it’s way towards the kitchen “And until I say it’s okay ... Do not look directly at it ... If I’m wrong, and it’s not a shinoccubus ... It’s possible it might be able to turn you to stone...”

Both Fiona and Kianna blinked before looking directly at Anton. Finding him focused on the darkened entryway, they quickly turned to each other and creased their brows in uncertainty. Slowly, they both tilted their heads to the side and tentatively watched the entryway out of the corners of their eyes.

After what seemed like an eternity, the presence finally turned a corner and stopped directly in front of the entryway. Though it was now less than fifteen feet away from Anton and the dark elves, and could without question see them sitting in the lighted kitchen, it was itself still completely invisible, as it currently stood in solid darkness.

For several long moments everything remained completely silent and still.

“Well then!” cried Anton as he shattered the silence and caused both of the dark elves to jump in their seats “Looks like we don’t have to worry about being turned to stone! That’s a relief!”

Blinking away their shock, the two dark elves both pointed their ears straight back as they glared at him.

Chuckling, Anton smiled at them as he tossed the tennis ball back and forth from one hand to another.

“One of the nicest things about dealing with shinoccubi is that they rarely ever use guns, wands or even any combat magic of any kind.” he explained as he caught the tennis ball in his right hand and made a show of holding it up to his face while examining it “They don’t use any of those things for 2 reasons. For 1, they all leave traceable evidence. And for 2, shinoccubi are prideful and believe that such methods aren’t skilled enough for them.”

The dark elves let their ears return to their relaxed positions as they stared at the tennis ball.

“Or at least that’s what they try to claim.” said Anton as he eased the tennis ball away from his face “The real truth though. Is that they’re just bloodthirsty little monstrosities, that like to cut people open...”

The dark elves kept their eyes on the tennis ball for another moment before as one they turned to stare directly at the hidden presence.

“Oh, and by the way!” called Anton as he too turned to look straight at the presence “In case you somehow haven’t figured it out by now. We do know you’re there.”

Without another word, Anton rolled his arm back and threw the tennis ball right at the hidden being.

A series of loud noises could be heard as the presence tumbled to the side and the tennis ball, having missed its mark, began to bounce around the room.

“Hey! You better not have scuffed up the floor in there!” called Anton as he narrowed his eyes at the darkened entryway “I swear, if I find a single mark there’s going to be Hell to pay!”

The dark elves widened eyes darted back and forth between Anton and the entryway as they waited for something else to happen. When it didn’t, they glanced at each other in confusion.

“ ... Well then. It seems like it really doesn’t have a gun.” said Anton as he eased back into his seat and sighed in relief “That’s good. Very good. I hate dealing with guns ... So I guess that means we won’t be needing the balloons after all.”

The dark elves blinked as their eyes fell to where the water balloons sat mid-way beneath Anton’s chair.

“Now, I’m not sure if you girls have noticed it by now or not. But when it comes to conflict. I’m of the mentality that the best offense is a good defense. And by that I mean, I would rather let my enemy make the mistake of coming to me. As opposed to going after them.” explained Anton as he picked up the wooden cane “Now this generally works pretty well. Though it can occasionally require a bit of ... goading, on my part.”

Leaning forward in his seat, Anton lifted the cane above his head and began to use it as a make-shift back scratcher. Grunting and groaning in mock pleasure, he made it a point to make a show out of disregarding the still hidden presence.

Reacting to some unseen warning, Anton blocked the side of his head with the curved handle of the cane just as a pointed spike-like blade with a ring at the end of its grip came sailing out of the darkened entryway and flew straight towards his head.

Both of the dark elves eyes widened to their fullest as they locked onto the solid, black-colored blade that had become embedded into the handle of the wooden cane.

“Hm, a kunai. Fairly typical one too...” mused Anton as he moved the cane in front of his face and examined the stuck blade “Definitely should be a shinoccubus then...”

Still staring at the blade, the two dark elves again jumped in their seats as a slim bodied feminine form suddenly appeared in the space in front of them and landed on the table.

Pulling the small blade free from the cane, Anton used it to block a downward strike from a thin-bladed black-colored steel sword.

“Well hello there! Okay, as you can see girls! A teleporter can be pretty predictable as ... Wha, wait ... what? What in the world are you wearing?” questioned Anton as he looked over the being that was now looming above him “ ... Is that supposed to be some kind of lingerie!?”

The attacking being was scantly clad in two, black-colored silken cloths that were strung together over her shoulders. These cloths flowed down her front and back and were held in place against her body by a silken scarf-like belt that was tied around her waist. This thin garment was fully open down its sides and as such it did little to hide her underwear, which were a pair of black, lace panties that looked so tight around her hips that they seemed to be at least a size or two too small for her.

She wore no bra but instead had a second black, scarf-like shawl wrapped around her ample bust.

A third, far thicker scarf, was wrapped around her neck and this was left to flow down her back and billow out behind her. Her face was mostly obscured by both this scarf and a cloth mask that stretched from below her chin to up over the bridge of her nose. When combined these two items effectively hid her neck and the lower part of her face.

Stretched over her arms and legs were thin chainmail gloves and leggings that had been woven into the forms of fishnet stockings and finger-less opera gloves. These separate pieces of armor all ended in, and were held in place by, thick, shining black leather belts which were wrapped tightly around each of her thighs and upper arms.

Strapped over her chainmail gloves were thin metal bracers with attached wrist and elbow pads.

Her legs were similarly protected by armored boots that encased her shins and ended in metal coated knee pads.

The plated, lightweight metal that covered both her boots and bracers seemed to have been styled so as to be reminiscent of dragon scales, and were colored black with splashes of bright purple highlights and inlaid with intricately flowing, golden designs.

“ ... Okay? ... I’m not exactly sure what to make of this, outfit?” mumbled Anton as he gave the being’s risque attire another quick look over “I’m guessing this might be some kind of traditional, or possibly ceremonial garb? ... I mean, this is a shinoccubi. Which is technically a cubi ... Still though ... You generally wouldn’t see one, dressed, like this while they’re working...”

As he spoke the shinoccubi pulled back on her sword and struck again in a sideways sweep.

“Alright, anyways! For the sake of our lessons, I guess we’ll just have to try and power through this embarrassing lack of professionalism...” said Anton as he blocked her attack with the smaller blade and pushed back against her “So I’d like you girls to still try and take this whole thing as seriously as possible. Even if our guest clearly isn’t...”

While holding the sword back with the smaller blade, Anton swung the cane forward to feign grabbing at the shinoccubi’s legs with it’s curved handle. And this caused the surprised shinoccubi to leap back to the end of the table where she took a stance with her legs spread wide, her sword raised to the level of her head and the tip of its blade pointed straight at Anton.

“Right. Okay. Girls. Pay close attention! This is a shinoccubus, which is a species of cubi.” explained Anton as he recomposed himself and indicated the shinoccubi by pointing the small blade at her “Now, like all cubi, the shinoccubi insist on giving their separate genders different names. A female like this one would be referred to as a “Kiochi” while a male is called a “Kiogah”. Among the cubi, the shinoccubi are considered the “warrior” race. Although realistically this title is not very accurate, as they’re so lacking in overall strength, that they make very poor warriors. They are however, very fast, agile and are capable of being incredibly stealthy. And as such, they do make excellent spies and assassins ... Or at least most of them do ... I’m already starting to have my doubts about this one?”

The dark elves kept their ears trained to Anton’s voice even as their eyes stayed locked to the kiochi.

At the first glance it could be all too easy to mistake the kiochi for a mere human, as she was very human-like in size, general shape and appearance. But a closer, second look would quickly reveal her for the inhuman being that she truly was.

Her skin was smooth, hairless and had the same tone as that of a very light skinned human. And although she had a trim, lightly toned physique, she still had a provocatively curvaceous figure, with her large bust, thin waist and wide hips giving her the shapely hour-glass form that came naturally to all female cubi.

Even though the mask and scarf that she wore did obscure the better portion of her face, the kiochi’s natural beauty was still easy enough to discern. As many of her features could still be seen quite clearly.

Her ears were broad, sharply pointed and were situated on the sides of her head. They were a little longer than what a humans would normally be, but were not quite elf-like, nor were they anywhere near as long as the elves were.

Her long hair was a raven-black in color and was soft, flowing and silk-like. The majority of its length was held back in a multi-banded pony-tail that flowed down to the middle of her back. The bands that held her pony-tail together were flanked along their sides by tiny, ornamental looking shuriken star blades. Her hair was human-like, but had an odd, dark blue shine to it that would shimmer brightly whenever she moved beneath the kitchens overhead lights.

Her bangs hung down in long strands that framed the sides of her face. And these bangs were kept in place by two sharply pointed, spike-like horns that grew out of her forehead, just above her eyes. These horns were short at only about three inches in length and were a polished, shimmering black in color.

Her large eyes were easily the most striking feature of her face, as they blatantly illustrated her demonic heritage. They were framed in what appeared to be a form of natural eye-liner, as a darker, bluish nearly black, portion of skin around the base of her horns streamed downwards in two thin stripes that ran along the groves made by the bridge of her nose to her eyes. And once there they then broadened into a blushed, saturated shadow that surrounded her eyes and gave them a sense of depth.

Her eyes themselves were piercing, as they contrasted with the darkness that surrounded them. Her irises were easily twice the size of a humans, and each took up the majority of her perceivable eye. They were a shockingly vivid, emerald green in color and shun out brightly against the pale whiteness of the sclera they sat in. Her pupils were long, tapered, vertical slits that appeared thin when at rest but could become fully dilated at will.

Although the demonic attributes of her face were certainly noteworthy, they were still subtle enough to go unnoticed with a passing glance. Despite this, identifying her for the fiend that she truly was could still be done fairly easily, as no other singular aspect of her anatomy was more pronounced and noticeable, than her tail.

The kiochi’s tail was an thin, jet-black-colored, coiling thing, that was easily longer than her body was tall. At its tip was a spearhead shaped spade that appeared to be a natural weapon for her, as unlike with a more traditional succubus, her spade seemed to be made of a hardened, black-colored metallic-like substance that was lined with a sharpened, bladed edge that glistened as it moved through the light. At the base of the spade her tail expanded into a thick, tear-drop shaped bulge that housed four curved, hook-like sharp barbs. Each of these barbs had a set of musculature at their base that allowed her to flex them outwards, and whenever flexed, they would curl backwards and point away from the tip of her tail. When at rest, the barbs retracted back into this bulge and were kept hidden away. They were the same glistening black color as both her horns and the bladed edge of her spade.

The kiochi poised on the the table in front of Anton was not very large at all, and was easily smaller than the two dark elves that were seated near her. Regardless of her smaller size though, she was still quite intimidating. Especially now, as she stared at Anton with her sword poised to strike and her thin tail eerily twirling and coiling through the air both above and behind her.

Her tail suddenly stopped in its motions as just next to her, Kianna began to cry out through her gag.

Kianna was struggling angrily against her binds as she attempted to jerk herself free from her restraints. With her ears pointed straight back behind her head and her glowing red eyes locked to the kiochi, there was little doubt as to whether or not her intentions were hostile in nature.

Seemingly surprised by Kianna’s hateful glare, the kiochi stared at her for a moment before shifting her eyes to Fiona and then bringing them back to stare blankly at the clearly enraged dark elf who was apparently threatening her.

Anton remained silent as he watched the kiochi and waited for her to strike at the dark elves. When she instead turned to him and narrowed her eyes into a glare, he couldn’t help but to smile.

“Ah. So, I’m your target then.” he whispered to himself as his smile broadened “Good.”

The kiochi tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword as she curled the end of her tail up and over her head. Pointing the sharpened tip of her spade down at Anton she exposed her hidden barbs by slowly flexing them in and out of their sheaths. Though completely silent, her threatening message was menacing nonetheless.

“ ... Hm, alright then.” nodded Anton as he turned away from the kiochi, hung the cane on his wrist and picked up the laser pointer while dropping the small blade on the table “Alright girls! Let’s get back to our lesson! Now, I’m sure that just by looking at our guest here, that one of the first things you’ve noticed about a shinoccubi is how creepy they are. This is because they keep their emotions locked in while working in order to stay as focused as possible on their missions. This trait can be very misleading as it gives the impression that shinoccubi are emotionless beings. This is absolutely not true, at all! Remember, they are cubi. And as cubi, they are in fact, very, very, emotional! So, this being the case, if you find yourself facing one, always remember. One of the easiest ways for you to beat them, is to just get their little feelings ... all riled up!”

Turning back to the kiochi, Anton found that she was apparently listening to him as intently as the dark elves were. Smiling, he waved the laser pointer back and forth and began to shine it into each of her eyes.

Blinking in surprise, the kiochi tried to block the point of light with her sword before, without warning, she suddenly lunged forward and dived at Anton.

Leaning to the side to dodge her attack, Anton flipped the cane back into his hand and, using the curved handle, twirled it up and around her sword before pulling it downwards. With this one motion he steered the pointed end of the weapon away from himself and locked the side of the blade against the edge of the table. With his other hand he reached forward and quickly undid the silk belt from around the kiochi’s waist, before pulling not only the belt back to himself but the sheath to her sword as well.

The surprised kiochi quickly recovered and responded by jabbing at him with the blade at the end of her tail, which Anton then blocked with her own sheath.

“Okay, now! The second thing I’m sure you’ve noticed is her tail ... Hideous looking thing, isn’t it...” said Anton as he continued to use the sheath to knock the attacking tail away from him “Just ugly as sin ... Anyways! The tail may look weak, as its so thin, but its actually quite strong, and as I’m sure you’ve noticed, it has an actual blade as well as several sharp barbs at the end.”

The kiochi pulled back on and slid her sword free before jumping back and taking a low stance. Her cloth garments, now free from her belt, hung away from her body and seemed to float about with her movements. Narrowing her eyes, she pointed the tip of her sword back at Anton as her tail began to coil menacingly back and forth above her head.

“ ... That tail is both ugly and very dangerous. Not only can it cut or stab you, but they’ll occasionally smear it with chemicals that could be venomous or acidic.” said Anton as he watched the kiochi’s eyes and let her sheath fall to the floor next to his chair “Its sharp ... And as with anything that’s sharp ... the best way to deal with it...”

Keeping his eyes locked to the kiochi’s, Anton reached out to the side and used the curved end of the cane to tumble one of the cans of rubber sealant and fling it over her head.

Instinct getting the better of her, the kiochi immediately crouched down and slashed at the can with her tail as it sailed above her.

“Is to make it dull!” sang Anton as he smiled at the dark elves.

The sharpened spade of the kiochi’s tail effortlessly sliced right through the thin metal of the can and, within a single instance, released the entirety of its pressurized contents. The resulting geyser of gelatinous slime then completely encased not only her spade, but the bulge holding her barbs as well, as it exploded out of the can. Since the rubber was manufactured to bind to smooth, hard surfaces and solidify as it made contact with air, it didn’t take long for the end of the kiochi’s tail to harden into the form of a large black, blob-like ball.

The startled kiochi jumped back again as she flung her tail back and forth. Clearly panicked she frantically dragged her tail along the top of the table and slapped it against the sides as she tried to dislodge the ball of goop from her spade.

“Shinoccubi will not only use their tails as weapons but also as a means to help them maneuver around. There’s a natural elasticity to it, and it can stretch to twice the length that you’re seeing right now.” explained Anton as he and the dark elves all watched the kiochi desperately try to free herself “The barbs at the end allow them to use it as a sort of natural grappling hook, which can then help them to scale walls and ceilings fairly quickly. Again, it may look weak since it is very thin, but surprisingly, its strong enough for them to actually lift themselves up with, and even hang from. Now, I know what you’re going to ask next, and yes! Whenever they do this they do look exactly like evil little monkeys!”