Brachus' Lady

Brachus' Lady is an encounter in The Battle for Krezzor.
==Enemies==
* Loquax Demon (1235 Gold, 152 XP, 95 Energy, 7 HP)
* Kelhamel and Melhamel (1235 Gold, 152 XP, 95 Energy, 7 HP)
==Transcript==
===Introduction===
Last night...
"Niknak!"
The imp appeared beside Brachus before the second syllable had left the prince's lips.
"Yes, great purple lord?"
"I'm retiring to my tent..."
"Sleep well, O mighty prince!"
"Perhaps. But not just yet."
The imp giggled. He gave a wink so long and pronounced that it seemed as though he were in the grip of a facial convulsion.
"Trust Niknak!" The imp bowed. "Niknak will bring what the master seeks!"
The diminutive green form whirled round and scampered away through the darkness. Brachus grinned as he strode to his tent. After he took back Krezzor, he'd have to reward the imp. For all the trouble he'd caused, Niknak was a good minion. And good minions were hard to find.
A towering, broad-shouldered fiend stood guard on either side of the flap. Brachus dismissed them both with a gesture before entering. He wasn't in the mood for an audience.
Just a single night, then battle. His fate and that of his friends and foes would be settled. Victory or destruction, triumph or perhaps torturous deaths at their enemies' hands. But it did no good to dwell on such things. That's why he'd sent for a distraction...
The prince was lying on his back when the entrance flap rustled, resting amongst a great heap of luxurious cushions which -- like the tents themselves -- bore ample testament to his servants' resourcefulness and eagerness to please.
Two voluptuous crimson forms slipped inside. Each was a vision of hellish lust, all feminine curves, long splashes of night-black hair, and bare, shapely legs. And those eyes... A lesser fiend might have drowned in four alluring oceans.
"Master is pleased?" Niknak asked. The imp pushed his way between the fiendish beauties.
"Yes..."
"Perhaps Niknak can join-"
"No."
The imp coughed, bowed, and left.
Brachus said nothing more. The succubi needed no prompting. In an instant their seductive smiles were flitting down towards his recumbent purple flesh.
He lay back and closed his eyes, reveling in the stroking, teasing, caressing hands that worked their way up his muscular thighs. The touch of skilled succubi... Each fingertip a sensuous-
Two gasps, a single thud, and two soft groans brought an end to the glorious massage. He opened his eyes. The succubi's heads were pressed together, their eyelids sealed in unconsciousness. A blue hand clutched the side of each crimson skull.
Y'Raxa Krund tossed them aside in opposite directions. Then she slid onto Brachus' broad chest.
"I told you once that I don't share lovers," she said.
"You told me you were spending the night with Mirabilis."
"I was waiting for you to barge into my tent, tear his spine out, and take me for your own." Y'Raxa laughed, and planted a kiss on a slab-like pectoral. "You've been away from hell too long, Brachy. You've forgotten the ways of demonesses."
"Perhaps... Why don't you remind me?"
Her lips twitched in a soft but wicked smile.''
***
Y'Raxa Krund sighed. The buildings around her, the elegant arches and lofty summerhouses, brought back pleasant memories.
"Brachy and I made love in every one of them," she said, "while his enemies hung outside from their entrails."
The four-horned demon replied with a splutter. Perhaps he wasn't given to romance. Or maybe it was the sword blade biting into his throat, whilst Y'Raxa's hand pressed his head down into it. The technique was her own proud creation -- a wrestler's chokehold, but with the edge of her weapon braced against his tender, vulnerable neck in lieu of a forearm. She'd heard other demons refer to it as Y'Raxa's Necklace. But she liked to call it the Double Smile, for it always left one on her lips as well as her enemy's throat.
A squelching crunch told her that this one was broken. So she let him fall, and sauntered off in search of another plaything. It didn't take long to find one. As soon as she rounded a corner, her smile broadened into a grin.
Loquax demons, battling some of her minions. And a taller form amidst those two-headed fiends. That one had three violet heads rising from between his broad shoulders.
She whistled, then called out.
"Belhamel!"
The three-headed demon turned. Two heads glared at her. But the one in the middle gaped.
"Y'Raxa?" Belhamel said.
"Whore!" the right head said.
"Harpy!" said the one on the left.
"Kelhamel, Melhamel." She nodded to each of them in turn. "As pleasant as ever, I see."
Kelhamel and Melhamel growled. Their mouths opened as though to issue further abuse, but Belhamel spoke first.
"You're fighting for Kherazade?"
"That pompous bitch? Of course not! Brachy's back. I'm with him. Call your minions off -- I'll let you live, for old time's sake."
"Okay! I'll-"
"Shut up Bel!" Kelhamel said.
"Yeah, you love-struck idiot!" Melhamel added.
"What's the matter, boys?" Y'Raxa asked.
"The matter?" Kelhamel spluttered. "You knocked me out!"
"And me!" Melhamel said.
"Then you... you molested us!"
"Molested you?" Y'Raxa laughed. "Ask Belhamel if he felt 'molested'."
The left and right heads turned to glare at their middle counterpart. Belhamel reddened slightly.
"I..."
"They're our loins as well!" Kelhamel said.
"You had no right to use them on... on her!" Melhamel said.
"As entertaining as this little head to head... to head... is, I have a battle to win." She waved her sword, encompassing the clashing demons nearby. "So what's it going to be?"
"We surrender!" Belhamel said.
"No we don't!" the other two chorused. "Kill her!"
"I'm sorry!" he said, as the three-headed demon advanced on her. "They're controlling the limbs!"
===Conclusion===
"Die, bitch!" Kelhamel cried.
"Die, you... you harlot!" Melhamel shouted.
Their three-bladed spear thrust at her. Y'Raxa beat it aside with the flat of her blade.
"Belhamel!" she exclaimed.
"I'm sorry!"
The triple-bladed punch dagger in the demon's other hand slashed at her neck, forcing her to spring backwards.
"Bel, if you don't do something right now, I'll rip your face off and feed to the hellhounds!"
"Okay! Okay!"
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then jerked his skull to the right.
"Ow!" Kelhamel moaned.
Melhamel turned towards the commotion, just in time to catch Belhamel's second headbutt square in the jaw.
The demon tottered, and fell onto one knee. The tri-bladed weapons dropped to the ground.
Azure flames bloomed around Y'Raxa's sword.
She slashed twice. Two heads rolled across the grass.
Belhamel screamed for several seconds. Then he opened one eye, looked to his left, looked to his right, and became aware of the cauterized stumps on either side. He opened his other eye, turned to face Y'Raxa, and gave an experimental curl of his fingers.
The one-headed demon laughed.
"It's mine! It's all mine!"
"Good. Then stop babbling like a fool. Pick up your weapons, and tell what's left of your minions that they're fighting for me now."
"Yes, Y'Raxa!"
Category:The Battle for Krezzor