The Accidental Necromancer
Slippery

As we walked I tried to come up with some way, short of death, of not having Lesseth follow us to the crypt, and came up with nothing.

“Lesseth, you looked fine,” I said to her. “No signs of wounds or anything. But you needed to be healed?”

She nodded. “Your spell diminished my vitality, Abby. It may not show on the outside, but it was the sort of injury that is hard to heal. The arrow Gren shot into me hardly hurt, but you have the power to deeply wound me.” She put her hand on her chest, dramatically. I suspected her of being arch, but she seemed totally serious.

“Seems to me like you’d want to get away from someone like that,” I said.

She shook her head. “Oh, I’ve always had a weakness for bad girls. Not that there was exactly a shortage where I come from.”

When we got to the crypt, there was no sign of Kathy and Talos. I sighed. “What happened to them?”

Gren looked around outside. “I can see their tracks here.” She bent down.

“So they got this far?” I asked, stepping out with her, trying to see what she saw.

She nodded. “Two humans. One male, one female. Walking very close. See these prints here? I think he must have had her hand around her waist.” She went into an almost trance-like state for a moment. “They turned. They kissed each other. With lots of tongue. She grabbed his ass. He grabbed her tits. His hard-on pressed into her belly as her pussy dripped wetness onto the ground.”

“You can’t possibly tell that from the tracks,” I said. “And don’t tell me that there’s signs of her arousal on the grass because she was wearing pants. And that sort of stuff only happens in cheap smut, anyway. There’s just no way.”

“I admit that most of it’s guesswork,” Gren said. She pointed at the open door. “They went that-away,” she said. “And tracked some dirt onto the stone toward the stairs. After that, we lose track. We have no idea what could have happened to them.” She smirked.

I checked my phone, only to discover that it was dead. I went inside to plug it into the charger. I thought of borrowing Gren’s phone to call Kathy, but then I thought about what I might be interrupting. The only logical conclusion was that Kathy and Talos had continued through the crypt and to Earth. I suspected the tracks, if followed, would lead straight to Kathy’s bedroom.

Lesseth was looking around the crypt curiously, showing more interest in the stonework and the coffin under the table than most people would, although she looked at the stuff that would have been new to her, too, like the electronics and the posters. I kept an eye on her, but she wasn’t picking anything up or touching anything. I think Valeria was keeping watch on her, too.

A few minutes later, my phone had enough juice to turn on, and I was able to see that I had a message from Kathy.

“Took him home with me,” said the first message. “Don’t worry. I’ll bring him back.”

I had visions of Talos cutting across the yard in plate armor, but then I spotted his armor next to one of the beds. That’s right, he had travelling clothes. So rather than a guy in a tin can, the neighbors would just see someone who hadn’t bothered to change after going to the Renaissance Festival. Well, it could be worse.

I was tired, of course. Physical exhaustion I could solve with Life Drain, but I tried to avoid using that in Xyla’s forest so that was a factor. But there was something else, mental or emotional or whatever, that told me I needed sleep.

Kathy and Talos probably needed sleep, too, but somehow I doubted they were getting any.

If I slept, there was no one to stop Lesseth. I didn’t know what they needed to stop Lesseth from doing, but I had the feeling there was something, so I started pacing.

Gren grabbed me from behind, her hands on my tits, giving them a wholly gratuitous squeeze. It felt good, and I didn’t mind being pulled back against her chest, either, but Valeria was watching, and so was Lesseth. “I was trying to think!” I complain.

“What’s there to think about?” Gren asked. “You either decide to trust her, or you kill her. Pick one, and let’s move on.”

“Uh, right here, you know,” Lesseth said.

“Also,” Gren said. “I know you’re not going to pick option number two. So why think? You need some sleep, and so does everyone else. Who are you taking to bed with you tonight, me or Val?”

“I –” started to protest neither, but it wasn’t as if I wanted to be alone. I tried to squirm out of Gren’s grasp, but she was strong, and she had my arms pinned against my side, so I wasn’t immediately successful. I suppose if I really wanted to get free, I’d have used Dimension Step.

“We should take shifts,” Valeria said suddenly.

In bed with me?

“And keep a watch,” she continued. “I’ll take first watch while you two get sleep. It’s possible Talos will return to take a shift.”

“I can take a shift, too,” Lesseth said, missing the point of what exactly we were watching.

“Oh, you’re a guest,” I said quickly. “We can’t make you do a shift.”

“Where do these stairs lead?” asked Lesseth. “They seem to go right up to the roof of the tomb, but then there’s something else there.”

“Don’t go up the steps,” I said quickly.

“I thought you said I was free to go where I want to go.”

“You, um, are. But I think going up the steps would kill you.”

Lesseth smiled. “It takes a lot to kill me, Abby. As you know.”

I cast Detect Magic. Sure enough, Lesseth glowed brightly. “Up there,” I explained, “magic doesn’t work. Which means – I think, that you don’t work.”

“Magic not working? That’s ridiculous.”

“I thought so too,” Valeria said. “But it’s true. I’ve seen it. And Abby changes into a man, because she is only a woman because of magic. It’s quite unsettling.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to share all that with Lesseth, but maybe it was better that way. With too many secrets, it was hard to remember who knew what.

“Abby? A man? She’s all woman,” Lesseth said. “But okay, I won’t go into your super secret space.”

“Hey,” Gren said. “That was pretty good.”

“Huh?” Lesseth said.

“Practically poetry.”

Lesseth shook her head. “I’m tired. Goodnight, interesting people,” Lesseth said. She oozed into one of the cells, and then lost all pretense of human shape, becoming a puddle on the floor.

I didn’t know whether to be pleased or otherwise, so I just smiled. “I’ll take second shift.” A part of me wanted to go upstairs and sleep in my own bed. If only the place wasn’t such a, well, tomb. And for that matter, a tomb with a slime girl I didn’t entirely trust in it, which was both why I didn’t want to leave and why I doubted I’d sleep well.

I undressed behind the screen, putting some shorts on because I didn’t want to have that discussion with Lesseth right then. By the time I was done, Gren was already naked and in bed, but still awake. She beckoned to me, and then I thought I really wouldn’t sleep well. Ah well. I put the bag of holding down next to the bed, wanting it handy, and snuggled up. She was as tired as I was, if not more so.

The next thing I was aware of was Valeria shaking me awake.

“Abby!” she hissed.

“Uh. My turn?”

Valeria shrugged. “Not quite, but – she’s gone!”

“Lesseth?”

“Yes. She couldn’t have gotten out the door, because I was watching. I don’t think there’s any other exit she can use. This stone is pretty solid. I didn’t watch her so much, because she’s almost invisible against the stone when there’s only a couple of torches to light the place, so I kept watch over you because, well, honestly, I think everything else is replaceable.”

Not everything else. But Val was talking to me, and Gren was snoring, so they were okay. I reached for the bag, but it was right where I left it.

“Well,” I said. “Let’s get some lights on and we’ll search.”

So we used a flashlight from my bag, and my phone, which was now recharged, and looked over the place. Gren slept through it all. But Lesseth was nowhere to be found. Granted, she could ooze almost anywhere.

“Lesseth, are you around?” I should have thought of asking first, but there was no answer.

“As far as I can tell, she’s always the same volume,” I said. “So she can’t hide in super small places, I wouldn’t think.”

“Yes,” Valeria said. “And she’s always wet.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“I mean,” Valeria said. “That she should reflect the light. Even if she’s the same color as some surface she’s on, or she’s clear, we’d be able to see her.”

“Right. Well, I guess she went away, then. Or –” I suddenly had a very bad thought.

“Yes. Or that,” Valeria agreed.

I ran up the stairs, with Valeria following. I was thankful for the little magic area up top, because my shorts would have gotten very tight, or probably ripped, if I transformed. I didn’t think Lesseth could have gotten far into the house if she’d tried to explore despite my warning, but I didn’t see any signs of her.

“I know you hate to change,” Valeria said. “I’ll look around the house, Abby.”

I did hate to change, but I thought the buddy system was a good idea. So I stripped off my shorts and grabbed a pair of jeans from the laundry pile, and then followed Valeria as she walked around. I showed her how to use a light switch, and we did a fairly thorough search.

Nada.

Then we had another bad thought and rushed back downstairs. But Gren was still snoring peacefully.

“Lesseth?” I called out.

It didn’t wake Gren, and it didn’t get a response, either. I shrugged, and got out of the jeans. If there was a problem, their bulk would only slow me down.

“Abby?” Val whispered.

“Yes?”

“Kiss me?”

I kissed her. I hadn’t remembered kissing her while I was topless before, although she was wearing her traveling clothes.

Then she broke off, took her top off, and we kissed again.

“I think it’s time for my watch,” Gren said. “You two want the bed?”

“What?” Valeria said, jumping back. “Uh, we were just, um – it was friendly.”

“Lecherous liar,” Gren said. She walked by Valeria, and said in stage whisper, “Her cock reaches all the best places. A recommended ride.”

“No pushing, Gren,” I said. “Besides, I think it’s my watch.”

“No,” Gren said, “you’ve been up for a bit. My turn.”

I sighed. “There’s not much to watch anymore, anyway,” I said, and filled her in.

Gren shrugged. “Well, if she wandered off, maybe that’s for the best.”

Maybe it was. It would have been a lot better if she’d wandered off before we took her to our secret hideout, but it was what it was. And I was still beat. I lay down on the bed, and to my surprise, Valeria lay down next to me. Gren smirked, and then moved out of sight.

But Valeria was even more tired than I was. She threw an arm over me and was asleep in less than a minute. I didn’t want to wake her, so I just stayed still, wondering if I was getting a bit of a taste of the bondage she loved so much. Slowly, I rolled, until her hand was on my left boob. It was still a novel feeling to be groped, and I wondered if I was taking advantage of her by moving my breast to her hand, but before I came to a conclusion about it, I, too, fell asleep.