To pull off a triple ambush is no easy feat to achieve. The right information was the key. What that meant was that Grey had to re-interrogate the spy, and unlike the she-elf he used more than words. How else you can trust the information if it didn’t come through excessive violence?

Unfortunately, the succubus seemed to be a seasoned spy. She just reiterated what she had told the elf. That was not the worst part. The worst was that the succubus seemed to get off from the excessive violence. It was almost disgusting. No need to say, Grey found no joy in such unrewarding work. No, he found it mightly unpleasant.

Not only she continued to spout lies, but she also took pleasure in perverting Grey’s hard work with her obscene moans and shudders of orgasm. Grey had enough of this farce. He snapped the two horns on her head out of frustration.

There was a sudden change. Yes! There it was, the genuine pain and agony.

“You didn’t like that! Did you?”

It was almost sad that she had only two of those. Maybe he should have teased her about it first. Oh well, the spy was crying now. The fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

“What have you done? Why? Why?” She repeated like a broken record.

“You need to tell me the truth or else I will rip something else.” He threatened like he usually would.

“I didn’t lie! Why? My horns!” She grasped her head in her palms trying to feel something that wasn’t there.

“Here you go again. How am I supposed to trust a spy?”

Grey tried to interrogate the succubus again, after all the truth was still hidden.

The truth never came. Actually, the succubus slammed shut like a clam. She wasn’t speaking at all! Grey could rip her limbs off, but the elf needed the spy for one scheme or the other. So she was more useful alive that in his belly. After all, he had to admit the she-devil schemes often worked for his benefit. Or at least they were made to seem so.

He stuffed the succubus back into the cage and went to check on those schemes.

“Is she still alive?” Was the first question the elf had asked.

“Yeah, sure.” He gave her an inquisitive look.

The elf was different. She was wearing tight spy leathers. Well, they were quite loose in certain parts for the elf. She didn’t look like a succubus at all.

“Here.” Grey handed the two horns. “To complete the look.”

“How thoughtful of you, but you shouldn't have. Really!” She took the horns with displeasure. “Oi! Won't need that prop no more.” She shouted behind her shoulder.

A man stood up from the desk he was working by. “But I am almost done.” He presented two wooden horns. Both crooked and misshapen.

“Bring me some straw, I need to make my babies look bigger.”

The elf readjusted her breasts and the loose fabric supposed to hold them.

“So why the decoy is you?” Grey asked curiously.

“You might forget, but I am a mage too. Anything turns sour I will blast that spy in the face.”

Grey didn’t forget. How could he?

“It’s not like they won’t be able to tell.” He mocked.

“Upclose yeah. But from further…”

She activated the enchantment on the leathers. Her features became blurry and her face was hidden completely by the shadow. Even the pleasant smell she carried was gone. Grey was impressed.

“I see. So what's the plan?”

“I distract, you snatch.”

A good plan, if this wasn’t a triple ambush, which it was.

“There likely will be more succubus surrounding us.”

Grey wondered if maybe they shouldn’t go at all.

“Why would there be? The spy already told us of their arrangements. This will be quite straightforward.”

“And you believed her…” Grey thought the elf was smarter than that.

“You suspect a trap?”

Grey nodded in affirmation.

“Hmm… we can’t risk taking our men. We might spook them. And we need to keep our prisoner safe.”

Oh! The succubus might have planned an ambush and a diversion. While Grey was distracted they would rescue the spy. So maybe Grey had to stay and keep an eye on the captive, but then won’t the elf be in danger?

“You are right we can’t. But I don’t want to let either of the spies to get away. They are both guilty!

“I get it, no one likes to be spied on. But the cat is out of the bag, they already know.”

“Anyways, I just want to see if what the succubus told me was true. I mean their capabilities. If you can provoke the other spy into combat that would achieve it”

In the end, if the trouble came Grey was confident he will be able to deal with it, triple ambush or not.

…

Grey had double-chained the cage and bent the doors so that it was impossible to open them. Plus leaving a good number of guards to watch it. But what good were few men against the succubus charms? He would only be buying time.

Most of his men were positioned somewhere in between his lair and the House of Pleasure, discreetly, of course. They were there to wait for the signal to either reinforce Grey or to cut the succubus escape.

The elf, no longer looked like an elf. With those horns and obfuscating spell, she would easily pass as a succubus. Disguised and cloaked in shadows succubus that is.

Grey followed the elf at the distance. That was in order not to alert the other spy, but of course, the spy would know that he knew hence the double ambush. No, make it triple because he knows they know.

That was why the she-devil carried a special improvised device with her. This was their trump card.

Surely enough, and right on time, just before dawn, the other similarly cloaked figure appeared from right the bend in a narrow alley. Spy walked towards the she-devil as if the spy didn’t know about their ambush.

Grey was feeling tense. He didn’t quite know what to expect, but he was positive the elf could handle herself. He circled around the alley so that he would cut the spy’s escape and or deal with the other succubus which was meant for him.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

There was the sound of shattering glass and a loud “Eh!”

The first phase was completed. Grey waited in anticipation. Now he will deal with the ambush and call in support if necessary; this was the second phase. The third was capturing the second spy which was now reeked of concentrated perfume. Grey would use that smell to chase after the spy.

Naturally, there was some more noise of a struggle at the alley where the elf and spy was. Grey just hoped the elf will get out on time. He was supposed to get ambushed right about now.

Okay, there was more shouting from the alley. But his time was almost… Now! No, still nothing. Something went very badly. Grey had no choice but to run back to the alley to check on the elf. Did they get her? But there she was, unhurt and underneath her was the spy. Somehow she-devil had managed to capture her.

But where is the ambush!?

“Anytime now!”

Grey braced for magic barrage, foul mind spells, a dagger to his back. But nothing came.

“So this was only the distraction.”

It made no sense for the Queen to abandon this succubus for the captive, but Grey had a plan just for that.

“Plan F!” He commanded.

“F?” The half-elf asked confused.

Oh right, he hadn't told her about this plan since it was very unlikely.

“Just signal the men for reinforcement and we rush back to the lair.”

“But how is this different from the original plan? We just caught the spy without a chase, even better. I’ll call my men back.”

Grey grabbed the confused and still shivering spy. She definitely had something to say but Grey had no time for such distractions.

She elf raised her hands in the air, and soon there was a big fireball launched into the sky. It flew towards the clouds but dispersed without even getting close.

“Hey, what's the rush? I can’t keep up!” She complained trying to catch up with Grey.

“Just keep running.”

She knew the destination. Reluctantly so, Grey had to leave the elf behind. Ever so quickly he was back in his lair. Nothing was smashed and nothing was on fire. His guards were still there, bored. He sniffed the air for stealth magic – nothing. It was as if there was no ambush meant for him. Unbelievable.

No, this was not the victory, this was a failure. Grey roared in anger, because he didn’t achieve his goal. He still didn’t know if the spy had lied or not. And most importantly he wanted to find just how much the succubi were capable of, after all, they were mages.

So he dropped the one he was carrying. The same one who didn’t even try to cast a single spell during her abduction. Highly suspicious.

“Fight for your life, spy!”

She seemed hesitant at first. Probably because she was in the dungeon part of the lair already. The stairway was blocked by Grey and upstairs was guarded by his men. So what real chance did she have?

“Fight for your life!” Grey roared.

Any intelligent animal then cornered will fight. That, or they will pretend to be already dead. In that awfully long moment, Grey feared this spy might just do so to spite him further.

Luck was on his side after all. The spy produced a dagger seemingly from nowhere. The air around her person turned first to shadow and later she disappeared from sight. It was near invisibility, but grey could see the air rippling when the spy tried to move closer to the wall. Actually, he didn’t need to see, he felt the effects of magic.

“Sparks of Baresimus asshole! Fight me; not try to flee!” He hated repeating himself.

Grey threw his spear embedding it right between the spy's legs.

“Eek!” She squealed indignantly, her cloaking spell broke.

“Come at me!” Grey urged. “No? Then I will come at you.”

He approached her ever so slowly making sure to leave ample time for her to cast. But there was a limit to how lethargic he could be.

“Cast something!” He demanded.

Finally! There it was, magic formed in her hands. At first a tiny spark… no, just a tiny spark; only a tiny spark. It flew and pattered out before it could even reach Grey.

“You jest me!” Grey roared.

He was within arms reach of the spy, she tried to flee past him but Grey just snatched her by the horns.

“Do something.” He urged.

The spy flailed. She even used her dagger against his arm. It was not mithril, so it was quite useless. In the end, it just got stuck in his hand. A minor flesh wound.

“That’s it? I will snap your horns off you know.”

“No, I beg you!”

There it was. Usually Grey enjoyed this part, but today it felt soured; He didn’t want that.

“Useless.”

He was angry. Maddened. He slammed the succubus to the wall knocking her out in the process.

In the end, all this meant that there were no lies. Regretfully so…

The succubi were the mages but that didn’t mean they were the fighters. While there were seasoned fire mages by the queen's side those allegedly were few. Believe it or not, there was no mind magic or charm in a fairytale sense, only a strong suggestion. Well, the potent suggestion of magical nature - yes, but not ‘do as I say, my thrall’ type one. The Queen of course was an exception. Most succubi stayed within their house, content in draining men in perpetuity. Only a few developed unique talents and skills and those were of sheer necessity. And, perhaps, really the Queen had sent the spies just to check on her secrets from being exposed.

Grey felt like a fool about letting his imagination to run wild.

Conveniently and breathlessly the elf was there to greet his failure with a mocking look and a snarky comment.

“Don’t tell me, you had interrogated this one too?”

Did she have to remove her hood just to give him this condescending look and an unwarranted comment? Grey, still angered, gave the elf a withering look. He was serious!

“Ah, sorry.” The elf visibly paled.

It felt like she was getting out of check with that odd behaviour.

“I am hungry!”

He was hungry-hungry, and not mana hungry.

“I’ll find you someone at once, but shouldn’t we lay low?” She whispered the last part as if unsure.

Grey didn’t care so he gave another withering look.

…

The second spy was drained like the first; but less violently.

By this time the Succubi Queen must have realised something was off so Grey had to act. To get some backing. There was no better time to see the little shrimp noble than now. So he did just so.

Of course, he couldn't leave the two spies unsupervised. Never leave all of your eggs in the same basket or something similar the saying went. So Grey left one spy caged in the dungeon, and then he took the other on the trip to see the noble.

The spy still had a pained face, not too happy about her horns being broken. Her sporting a metal collar and a chain did not help her pitiful image as Grey dragged her towards the better part of the city. It did draw attention but all it meant was that Grey simply used the powers granted to him. After all, she was caught red-handed and now under so-called arrest.

The elf tagged along for the journey.

The men guarding the gates leading to the noble’s villa admitted Grey and his crew with no issue; they were expecting him.

There the redhead girl met Grey with a big toothy smile, seemingly all of the pep had returned to her. One wouldn’t be able to tell that just days ago she suffered almost a lethal injury. She sprung towards Grey and hugged him by the thigh.

“See, she’s all better. No need to worry.” The elf spoke to Grey.

He didn’t worry. He barely carried.

“So you did worry about me! But why no earlier visit?”

“I… I was busy.”

“We were investigating the matter.” The elf pointed at the still chained succubus.

“Succubi!? Were they involved?”

“Yes.” Elf nodded.

“No.” Grey shook his head.

The she-devil gave Grey a disapproving look.

“Well not quite. We are still investigating.” Grey explained.

He didn’t want to throw succubi Queen under the proverbial carriage just yet.

“And the intruder? Did you catch him?”

Grey frowned at the memory of the man. “No, his were bounds remain a mystery.”

“With my father's help we will get him eventually.” Elri clenched her fists in determination. “Speaking about my father. He prepared you a reward.”

The wanna-be mage produced a bag of coins.

“Thanks for saving me again.” She thanked honestly, her complexion even took a pink shade of blush.

Grey didn’t care much about the money. Knowingly the elf was already salivating at the sight of gold.

“While we appreciate the reward didn’t Grey deserve more?”

Elri looked at the Grey’s companion in thought.

“I guess I could ask father for more…”

“No, what I mean is he deserved a rise. He proved himself already did he not?”

“A rise?”

Grey smiled since they weren’t here for the money. “To put it simply, I need more backing and power. I have others aiming for my neck.” He pointed at the spy.

“I will need to speak with my father.”

“No need, dear.” The man appeared from the corner as if he was eavesdropping all this time.

“We thought about this for quite a while. And this was the final push the other nobles needed. They can’t argue with it any more. From now on you are a chief peacekeeper.” He handed Grey an improved version of the badge and a paper proving his authority.

“Splendid!” The elf rubbed her hands already conspiring to pull one scheme or the other.

The noble raised a finger to pint a very important point. “With great power comes great responsibility. You are to raise your own funds through a portion of taxes. And you are to recruit your own men.”

“And if I am in great trouble. Let's say with The House of Pleasure?”

The noble looked at the captive succubi.

“A spy and a trespasser. Potentially another assassin.” The she-devil elaborated.

“I advise you to solve it peacefully. But if push comes to shove you can expect some backing. How much I cannot say.”

No one wanted to fight a full house of mages.

Grey sighed, he knew he couldn’t expect humans to take his side.

“A show of solidarity. A few men to signal what I have the city behind my back.”

“For?”

“For the negotiations with the Succubi Queen.”

“I can give you a few of my personal guards.”

“That should suffice.”

Grey took the bag of gold and handed it back to the noble.

“I didn’t do it for the money.”

He pulled this stunt just to spite the she-elf.

“Once again, you have my gratitude. I know the slums are in good hands.”

The succubus prisoner wanted to say something to the noble but Grey pulled on the chain before she could. She was instructed to stay quiet or else!

They left hurriedly towards the succubi base, tow human guards in tow. Time was of the essence.