Aurelia flew over the wretched human city, delighting in the agonized screams from below as the pathetic imp led her toward this so-called ‘Silverbeard’. She couldn’t wait to kill the dwarf, if he even existed in the first place, and then torture the worthless imp.

Some fat dwarf causing trouble for an abyssal horde of demons? What a fool the imp was. What a pathetic, flimsy lie to use. And soon he would be punished for his incompetence. She smiled wickedly at the thought as the idea of causing pain and death sent a fluttering heat through to her core and made her wings quiver in anticipation of the ecstasy she would soon enjoy.

“That’s him. Him that is. Mhm!” the imp said with a nod toward a fat dwarf striding down a wide street, drinking heavily from a flagon. The oversized helmet slid forward as the imp nodded to the dwarf, obstructing the imp’s view for the thousandth time.

The imp gave a frustrated growl and muttered something under his breath as he adjusted the helmet back enough for him to see, only for it to slide forward and block his view yet again. A sight that filled Aurelia with twisted mirth and vindicated her choice to give the items to the pathetic wretch. After all, what was the point of having someone under your command, if you didn’t use the opportunity to make their life as miserable as possible?

Aurelia narrowed her eyes as she noticed a carpet of dead demons behind the dwarf. The city’s defenders were still able to resist to this degree? Perhaps there was some small merit to the imp’s outrageous claim. She would have to investigate this and find whichever resistant group of mortals had done this. Then, she could kill them too. Perhaps, she would get them to take her in so she could lead them into an ambush…

She bit her lower lip and squirmed a little in the air. Oh, even the thought of betrayal was so utterly delicious. Yes, she was certain now. First, she’d deal with the dwarf, and then she’d track down whichever upstart mortals had so recently killed the demons here. She noticed she was panting and feverish now and calmed herself outwardly with an effort of will.

“Come, slime. We’ll go to the alleyway ahead of him and make preparations,” she said, her mind still playing scenes of the shocked faces of the group she would betray. She pictured them with faces like innocent babes, utterly unable to believe that someone would trick them so. It felt like lightning racing up and down her spine.

She landed lightly in an alleyway some distance in front of the dwarf, making sure to keep out of line of sight so the fat fool wouldn’t have any reason to suspect her treachery that was soon to come.

With a wave of her hand, Aurelia conjured an illusory mirror against one wall of the alleyway and slipped an illusion over herself. It felt much like putting on a silk evening gown and the way the illusion caressed her skin with thoughts of the lies and death she would soon visit upon the hapless dwarf made a dark giggle bubble out of her.

She watched in the mirror as her horns, long sinuous tail, and bat-like wings shimmered and vanished. Her skimpy clothing, little more than lingerie, was covered now by a white dress more befitting the worthless human women that lived in the city.

She made herself look delectably attractive and accentuated her looks with enchantments to further amplify their effectiveness. Just looking at her creamy skin would make anyone, man or woman, mortal or immortal, desperate to taste it. She mussed her long golden hair and wove a subtle enchantment to further provoke thoughts of how it would feel to move fingers through it… to see her golden curls spill over bed pillows… to hold it roughly while…

She smiled at her handiwork. But, still had the feeling that something was missing with her chosen appearance. It needed… more.

She tore the top of her dress slightly, further exposing her shapely breasts, and conjured a gleaming necklace that would lead the eye right down the middle of her impressive assets and trap an onlooker’s eyes there.

There. Now there was nothing in this world or any other that could ever hope to resist her.

“Um… Gillywix will look out of place next to human lady. Perhaps Gillywix shall stay here and guard the alleyway?” the wretched imp said with a detestable note of hope in his voice.

“No, worm guts. You will come with me. You will act the part of my adorable, lost, innocent child and further help to sell my act. And if you screw this up, I will peel the skin from your flesh and then enchant it to whip your bleeding body!” Aurelia snapped.

The imp whimpered and curled in on himself, trembling with fear. It was perfect. Just the thing for a sweet human child lost in a city under attack.

She threw an enchantment over the imp. Not bothering to hide his oversized helmet or sword. Let the dwarf think the ‘child’ had picked them up as they’d fled. Both items were too big for them to ever pose a threat to anyone while in the imp’s possession and would surely only further lower the guard of this fat dwarf.

Aurelia hiked up her dress in such a way as to make it look like she was trying to keep it from touching the street while giving her a chance to show off her supple calves and weave a little enchantment to make all who looked upon it imagine what it would be like to pull her dress up just a little further and claim her as their own…

“Remember to act the part, slime. And leave the talking to me,” Aurelia snapped at the imp before running up the street toward where they’d last seen the dwarf.

The imp waddled awkwardly after her, struggling to keep up as his overlarge helmet slid forward constantly while he strained to keep his sword from dragging along the ground.

As they crested a hill, Aurelia saw the dwarf. A flagon of mead still in one hand and an axe dripping with the blood of demons in the other.

That last fact sent a shiver of fear through Aurelia. Perhaps this dwarf was more dangerous than she’d thought?

But, as quickly as the fear had come, it melted away. What did it matter how good the fat dwarf was in combat when she would not be fighting him? No. She would seduce the fool and with one kiss from her lips, devour his soul and leave his body as nothing more than an empty husk upon the cold cobblestone street. Just as she had done to countless mortals before him. Including several ‘heroes.’

She adopted a suitably hopeful yet desperate look and waved to the dwarf with one hand as she ran toward him.

“Oh, Master Dwarf! Master Dwarf!” she cried, letting just the right mixture of hope and despair bleed into her voice and capping it all with a desperate catch in her throat that would melt even the coldest of hearts in an instant.

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The dwarf looked over his shoulder at the empty street behind him, as though searching for who she might be addressing before realizing her gaze was set upon him.

She kept a cruel smile from curling her lips as she drew closer and cried out again, “Oh, Master Dwarf!” she said, “the city is filled with demons, and I—”

“Filled? I wouldn’t call this filled. Now, the Battle of The Six Bridges in Gordleburg was filled. Aha! What a night that was! Endless demons rushed to meet my axe and fall in pieces down into the gorge below. All while runners brought me fine mead and finer meats! Though I must admit, it did prove slightly tricky to eat while fighting. The trick is to get meat that’s still on the bone. That way you’ve still got a club in hand to…”

Aurelia reached the dwarf and found her entire seduction plan disrupted as the fat fool recounted some ridiculously exaggerated past battle. She smiled patiently at first, but quickly found it harder and harder to keep up the façade as the dwarf talked… and talked… and talked.

“Please, Master Dwarf!” Aurelia finally interrupted, “My name is Aurelia and you must protect us! Why what is a woman to do in a city overrun with demons? I’d do anything for your—”

“What are you to do? Why kill them of course! Have you not tried it, perchance? No wonder you look so irritable. I’d feel so myself if I were missing out on one of life’s greatest pleasures…” the dwarf said as he launched into yet another endless monologue.

Irritable? If I look irritable it’s because you talk more than even the most boastful of demons, you fat fool! Aurelia hissed inwardly while doing her best to keep her anger from showing.

Finally, when it became clear that the dwarf had no intention of shutting up, Aurelia interrupted him again.

“Not all of us are as powerful as you are, oh mighty dwarf,” she said through clenched teeth before taking in a deep breath, “I’m terribly sorry if I seem irritable, Master Dwarf. It’s just that it’s been such a nightmare of a day. A delicate woman like myself is simply not suited for such horrors! Oh, please, Master Dwarf. I implore you. Take us under your protection.”

She leaned close to the dwarf before he could respond and launch into yet another of his endless monologues. She took his gauntlet in her slender hands and clutched it between her breasts, trying to make the gesture seem innocent and desperate while ensuring he got a palmful of her breasts. A little magic ensured he’d feel their soft heat even through his armor as she purred the words, “I’d be ever so grateful… and more than willing to express that gratitude in any way you desire…”

Her breath was hot on his neck and her words thick with a desire that’d turn any man into an obedient puddle. Every word was laced with seductive magic that would burrow into his mind and give him fantasies of their bodies entwined in sweet carnal ecstasy.

Even the very scent she gave off was an intoxicating perfume that brought out desire and lust in even the most resilient the realms had to offer.

She drew closer to him, her eyelashes lowered, veiling her eyes as she bent down, her lips so close to Silverbeard’s that he surely felt her every breath and the desperate heat radiating from her lips.

“Anything…” she whispered with a husky voice, filled with hunger and promises…

She pressed her luscious, needy lips to his own and felt elation wash over her. This was it. This was the moment she loved above all others. The moment she got to devour a soul. To taste its sweetness as she consumed it forever. Even now, she felt her sinister, demonic magic wrapping itself around Silverbeard’s soul. Then it pulled with a force that had felled even the mightiest of heroes.

The fat dwarf leaned into the kiss, deepening it, and she knew she had him utterly now. Only… his soul wasn’t budging an inch.

And, curiously, her perfumed scent was replaced by the smell of burning flesh.

Then, she felt it. Searing agony wherever her skin touched the dwarf’s ridiculous beard.

“AIEEEEEE! My face!” she screamed as she recoiled from the dwarf, clutching at her now burning face with shaking fingers.

Her illusion shattered then, revealing her for what she was, but in the agony she barely even noticed. She took stumbling steps away from the dwarf, still screaming and clutching at her face. It felt as though her face had been thrust into an incinerator. As though her skin were melting!

“What are you!?” She shrieked.

The dwarf laughed. “Haha! Don’t go getting upset now, just because you can’t handle a little bit of blessed silver,” he said as he stroked his beard, and the metal beads and threads of silvery metal woven into it.

Aurelia glared at the dwarf through her fingers as the pain settled enough for her to think at least.

What kind of madman used one of the most precious metals in all the realms to decorate his beard!? No wonder her skin had burned on contact with the blessed metal. It was anathema to everything she was! Any demon would surely burn just from its touch.

She backed away, her eyes flicking to the dwarf’s axe. She needed to get away from here. She hadn’t come equipped for an actual fight. Not to mention the dwarf had been freakishly immune to her power. Blessed silver or not, he should be dead all the same. And if he could resist her most powerful of magic, then what else was he capable of?

No. She needed to get away. Have a chance to think and better prepare to kill this one. She thought then of the imp. The pathetic creature would have no hope of killing this dwarf, but he would be a suitable distraction. A sacrifice so that she might get away.

“Kill him! Kill him now!” She shrieked.

Nothing happened.

Aurelia turned to where her ‘child’ had been standing only a moment ago to see the imp’s sword upon the cobblestones beside a helmet still spinning beside it with a rattle of metal. With not a sign of the imp in sight.

“You cowardly wretch! I’ll rip out your black heart and eat it before your eyes for this!” she screamed.

The dwarf laughed. “It would seem that your friend has abandoned you, little succubus. Now, where were we?” Silverbeard asked as he approached her.

“What!? No! Get away from me you fat oaf!” Aurelia cried as she took stumbling steps backward, her legs weak from the agony that still pulsed in her face like veins of bubbling magma.

“Fat? Bah! You’re just jealous of my voluminous physique. I look the picture of health and vitality. While you look like a scrawny chicken wing left too long in the pan,” Silverbeard said.

“You have bigger breasts than I do you overweight butterball!” Aurelia cried.

“It’s alright, Chicken Wing, we don’t choose the bodies we’re born with. You’ll find no judgment from me,” Silverbeard said.

“That’s not—but I – you – argh!” Aurelia snarled, too overwhelmed by pain and the sheer insanity of his words to form a complete sentence.

“Come now, Chicken Wing. I’m more than happy to give you what you’re looking for. Though I must warn you, it’ll take much more than a peck on the lips to give my soul a tingle haha! I hope you have more stamina than the last succubus I encountered! And keep those horns away from me if you please, I can only imagine they’re there to give me something to hold onto, but a real dwarf needs no such assistance!” Silverbeard said as his paunch jiggled with laughter, rattling his armor.

He drew closer and Aurelia finally gained the presence of mind to use her wings before he could get his paws on her. She flapped them frantically and sped away from the crazed dwarf, his laughter echoing behind her like the flogging of a whip lashing humiliation into her soul in a way she’d never known before.

Even after centuries of living in the cruel abyss, she had not been treated like this!

“Did I intimidate you, Chicken Wing? Come back! I promise I’ll be gentle!” Silverbeard bellowed with more laughter as she flew away.

Aurelia growled. How dare he! I am Aurelia the Irresistible! I have brought angels low and bent them to my will! There are none more beautiful than I! None! How dare he treat me like some stray pet to be pitied! She fumed.

If she weren’t so confident in her illusion magic, she’d swear he’d merely been toying with her and had known what she was the entire time.

But that was impossible! And what kind of madman put divine silver in their beard!? One of the most precious metals in all the world and the fat dwarf used it to decorate his facial hair!? And further to that, how had he resisted the call of her kiss?

And what he’d said about some other succubus bothered her too… had he truly worn out one of her kind and survived? She didn’t want to believe it… but he had survived her kiss.

Shame, outrage, and pain each competed for her attention as she flew away from the fat oaf. Her mind turned to the cowardly little imp that’d so readily abandoned her and her eyes scanned the city below like a hawk searching for a tasty rodent.

She didn’t know how the dwarf had survived her kiss, but if she couldn’t kill him then at the very least she could take out her anger on that worthless, useless slime of an imp!