The Fall of Maleficent

Thanks to Hilde's mirror we knew we had plenty of time, so we spent a few days training. Cassandra quickly got the hang of her new powers, and it only cost a few criminals who no one would miss. I made sure to spend plenty of time sparing with both Rapunzel and Cassandra. You'd never think of the flighty healer as formidable, but she could hold her own with that stupid cast iron pan against Cass's sword. Thanks to Martial Talent, soon so could I.

Ariel spent the time getting used to her legs and exploring life on land to her delight. Gothel got more used to being a maid and did not enjoy it. Ariel spent some time with Hilde working on her talent. Writing magical contracts was indeed there but so was an ability to magically charge her singing. If she could use song to lure someone in and charm them into writing a contract that would be some crazy, powerful synergy. For now I was satisfied that she had enough control to keep from using her abilities accidentally.

Kat could teleport to any member of the retinue, but that was the limit of her range outside of Wonderland. Still very useful, even if she couldn't take someone with her. She did not tolerate Hilde's attempts to dominate her, refusing to accept anyone over her but me. I was fine with that, Hilde could use the blow to her ego. Not one to dwell on defeat though, Hilde just decided the cat girl was outside a normal hierarchy. Or maybe it was just a cat thing, Hilde was a witch after all.

She was thankfully fully devoted to me as her 'husband' and never far away, even when invisible, unless on an errand. I insisted she play nice with the others after finding out Ariel's blowjob obsession was her work. No more messing with people's heads unless I okayed it. Not that I was at all complaining about Ariel's new oral addiction.

Speaking of, of course plenty of time was spent with sex. Sexual Calibration couldn't have come at a better time, cause with nine girls to satisfy I definitely needed it. Though some of them did take care of themselves in ways. Gothel was Cass's pet and only got to enjoy sex when she let her, but spent plenty of time **** to serve others. Snow and Ella had developed a close friendship with benefits, though still devoted to me. Cassandra was still only sleeping with Ruby, when she wasn't using Gothel, but Ruby told me she was coming around to wanting some vitamin D. And Kat got off just as much watching me use others as when I was railing her. Still, it was a lot of fun.

Three days was all the time we had though. By the time we got to Maleficent we'd have just over a week before Phillip showed up, and I figured she'd resist hard. Between Hilde and myself though we had a good plan.

Snow, Ella, Ariel, and Gothel stayed behind at the castle when the rest of us made our next trip. No horses this time, as we were traveling on foot. Or well paw.

Once we were far enough into the forest, everyone stripped down, and I stashed our gear in my extra-dimensional space. After that we became a pack of wolves.

Ruby was a natural, of course, but Hilde and I didn't look off either. That could not be said for Rapunzel's blonde wolf form or Cassandra's with its glowing white fur. Kat blended in the best as she just stayed invisible. She'd have no problem keeping up with us as is and was adamant about not having her race changed. She'd been well behaved and was integral to the plan, so I had no issues there. I'd been tempted to change everyone into Cheshire Cats but wasn't sure if they'd be able to control their urges. Maybe we'd work on training that another time.

We headed north this time. Hilde had shown Ruby our destination on her maps, and unsurprisingly nothing wanted to interfere with five man-sized wolves. Certainly not when one of them glowed. If the vegetation got too difficult Cass just killed it with a wave of entropy.

The group covered a surprising amount of ground on the first day out. Running with the pack was great fun. Finding a clearing for the night's camp we all shifted back to human form and no one seemed bothered by the nudity at this point. Hilde and Rapunzel were worn out, not used to all the running, but the Queen assured me we didn't have as far to go tomorrow, and they'd be fine. Cat even delivered fresh food straight from the castle for dinner while I pulled our bedding from my storage space. I made sure to grab Hilde's staff and Cassandra's sword as well. Also my bow and a quiver of arrows Hilde had prepared. The glowing heads had a greasy substance smeared over them. Dragon's Bane.

Hilde wasn't too tired to ward the camp, probably restored some by Rapunzel's hair as they had rested together. I spent the night bundled with the two of them and Kat while Ruby and Cassandra kept each other company.

Breakfast was likewise delivered by the cat girl. She then took Cassandra's sword in a sheath about her waist, my bow and quiver over a shoulder, and held Hilde's staff in hand before fading with a wink and her characteristic smile. She had my trump card in a bag too, but she'd been carrying that all along.

Back in wolf form, we raced through the forest. Now in a section called 'The Moors' for some reason. It wasn't long before I noticed a rather large raven trailing us. He followed for a while and eventually must have decided we were indeed heading right towards the fallen castle, because he flew off, leaving us behind. Perfect.

We could have traveled all the way to the mountains, where Maleficent's castle stood overlooking the forest, but there was no telling what that place had in store for visitors. No thanks. Luring her out to deal with a 'pack of werewolves' was a much better plan. Plus we wouldn't have to run all the way back for Aurora after.

Not long after, as the crow flies, we got to a clearing with a good-sized rock formation in it near the far side. And standing on top, making a rather dramatic appearance, was Maleficent herself.

She was very tall and thin, wearing long black robes over a long black gown. She had very pale, greyish skin and vivid green eyes. Her hair and horns were both pitch black, as were her long nails. She held a dark twisted wooden staff that clutched a glowing green orb. "Begone from my woods!" She bellowed as the light from the orb flared. "You know not what you disturb here. Begone or face my wrath."

Well, phase one had worked.

Cassandra shifted to human form with Rapunzel close behind her while the rest of us split off. Maleficent didn't seem at all shocked. Man-sized wolves, especially ones with glowing fur, obviously aren't normal. So werewolves was an easy guess. She raised her staff, and thorny vines sprouted between the trees about the clearing, except for the way we had come. Guess she was still playing nice.

Maleficent was keeping most of her attention on Cassandra, who now had white flames dancing up her arms, so she didn't see Hilde shift back to human or Kat pop up and hand her her staff. She did notice when her own staff was suddenly yanked from her hands to go flying towards the Queen. "Grimhilde?! You dare attack me? Even if you are apparently a werewolf now you are no match for me!" The thorny vines nearest Hilde grew larger and nastier as they reached for the naked woman. Then they withered and died, dust blowing away on the wind, as a blast of entropy from Cass hit them before they could reach Hilde.

Maleficent turned back to the glowing-haired woman and unleashed a bolt of green fire at her, apparently deciding she was the greater threat after all. Hilde had said she shouldn't be able to aim her magic at us without the staff, but she seemed pretty accurate with the blast to me. Not that that was a problem as a shield of moonlight flared up before Cassandra, blocking the magical fire. Plenty of distraction for Ruby, who had made her way behind, to run up the stone outcrop and sink her teeth into the evil faery's leg through her dress.

She wasn't stupid enough to stay there and leapt clear before a screaming Maleficent could blast the rock where she had stood. A pained yelp said she hadn't totally made it clear though. Before Maleficent could try to hit Ruby with a follow-up blast, I got her attention by putting an arrow through her hand, having shifted myself and been rearmed by Kat.

Also now holding her sword, which was wreathed in white fire, Cassandra strode forward. And Hilde, holding both staves, hurled a small boulder at Maleficent.

Screaming in frustration and anger, the dark witch of Forbidden Mountain erupted in lurid green flames, which deflected the boulder and my next shot. Then she swelled up in size as she shifted to her black draconic form.

Well, phase two had gone pretty well. She'd been injured and disarmed, and probably wasn't thinking too clearly now in a bestial rage. Ruby had been burned some, but she should have made her way over to Rapunzel by now. A fair exchange, I decided.

Hilde had made her way over towards Cassandra by now, so the blast of dragon's fire towards her was caught by the glowing-haired woman's moonshields. I couldn't see the wave of weakness and despair Cassandra was sending back, but knew it was part of the plan. Speaking of the plan, I put my next shot into the dragon's shoulder. The enchanted head easily parted scales, leaving the poisoned bolt deep in her flesh. Now it was my turn to have a blast of fire directed at me in retaliation.

I didn't have Ruby's reflexes yet but still managed to avoid being singed, as Hilde yanked me flying with her staff. I landed in a heap on the ground by the two women. "Thanks. How's everyone doing?"

Cassandra was sweating with the effort she was putting into her shields. "Rough. Her fire packs a punch and I'm not sure how long I can keep blocking it, even while draining her vitality to support mine."

Hilde shrugged. "I'm not much use in a direct confrontation against someone on her scale."

"No worries, you did great getting us here." I held up another glowing arrow with a wink, then ducked around the faltering shield to sink the arrow in the dragon's belly. "Showtime." I told Hilde after I dodged back to avoid more green fire.

The Queen used magic to magnify her voice. "Maleficent, you've been poisoned by dragon's bane. Keep fighting in that form and you will die. Surrender and I will give you the antidote." Phase three seemed to be doing pretty good so far. Ruby walked up to me holding her own bow, that Kat must have grabbed from the castle. I hadn't thought of that. I pulled half my remaining arrows from the quiver and handed them over, motioning to the other edge of the shield. Cass had a wide enough barrier up that the dragon could probably only flame one side at a time. Weak from entropy and poison, surely she couldn't keep this up for long.

I peeked around the shield in time to see an arrow catch Maleficent in the knee, ouch. Ruby was taking those burns personally. More green fire, only this time she was immolating herself. The burning form shrank back down to her more human one. The arrows had burned away, but her wounds still bled. "Surrender? Never! I will take you all with me!"

I wasn't sure what she was going to do next but it didn't sound pretty. I thought the dragon had been her ace card. Suddenly, Kat was right next to her. "Oh I don't think so. No one threatens my husband but me." Maleficent gestured towards the grinning cat girl but instead of throwing fire she just zoned out. And that was phase four.

Cass dropped the shield, and we all walked towards the outcropping as Kat led the occasionally struggling woman down. Up close the iron band with its gleaming emerald that was now clamped on the horned woman's arm was plain to see.

It was just a matter of time now. "Well done Kat."

"She never saw me coming."

"Indeed. Now let's go collect my sleeper."