Contract: Succubus

Authors Note: This was originally a stand alone story. There’s multiple flashbacks and timeskips which might end up a little confusing in the chyoa format. Hopefully it makes sense and you enjoy.

Ciri stumbled forward. Her boot lost its footing and slipped out from underneath her. She stumbled to one knee to stop herself falling completely over and groaned as her leg sank into the mire. She was exhausted and her entire body ached. She pressed her hands into the wet earth and watched as the muddy ground oozed through her fingers. Her skin ran flush with heat and the cool mud felt refreshing against her flesh. She sat there for a moment on all fours, in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, and tried to regain her composure.

With a heavy head she looked up at the lights coming from the small village in the distance. Dazed she looked back at the forest behind her. The untamed woods blanketed the lands south for as far as she could see. As far as she knew, no one had charted that far south. So she sat there now, on her knees, on the edge of known civilization.

She sat in the darkness, the overgrown underbrush and thickly rooted trees working well to block what limited light the moon provided. It would be easy for anything within the forest to remain unseen and unheard.

Unwavering, Ciri stared into the cloaked woods. She half-expected something or someone to be staring back at her. Her breath heavy, her chest heaving as if she had been running for hours, she waited, her mind and body on edge. But there was nothing but darkness. No great beast exploding out from between trees, no glowing eyes glaring back at her. There was nothing.

It unnerved her to no end.

She shook her head and picked herself back up, forcing one foot after another until the muddy path turned to packed gravel as the distance between her and the small town shrank. She reached the beginnings of a wood fence. She leaned heavily against it and closed her eyes. She was at the village's limits, the forest giving way to farmland scattered with a dozen houses. And with the small buildings and the firelight emanating from within came a sense of safety that allowed Ciri to relax and think, to realize she had no idea where she was, or how she had managed to get here. The last few days were little more than haze of dreamy images she couldn’t place or hold onto.

Knowing it would do her no good to dwell on things she could not control, Ciri shook away the troubling thoughts. It did not matter now. She was weak and exhausted and she knew she needed food and rest. She pushed herself forward towards the largest building of the village. Its windows glowed with the flickering of a fireplace and she could smell the barest hint of charred meat.

The door swung open and Ciri did her best to stand tall as she entered the tavern. A large, fat man standing beside a cooking fire glanced up with her for a moment, then looked towards the only occupied table in the building. Ciri followed his stare to where two men shared a table. Both stiffened when they saw her.

Too tired to wait (or care), Ciri moved forward towards the first chair she saw and threw herself down onto it. Her elbows rested on the table and she buried her head into her hands. It was all she could do not to pass out there right. She absently wondered if the tavern rented rooms when she heard the planks of the floor creak as the large cook waddled over to her.

"So, what did ye find?" The rotund man leaned in and asked in a cautious whisper.

Ciri's brow furrowed in confusion. She turned to face the man. He was a heavy set with a large belly, clean shaven with a mop of curly black hair on his head. He wrung his hands together before drying them on his apron and looked expectantly at Ciri.

"What?" Ciri asked, confused. She was surprised at how hoarse her voice sounded. With a cough, she tried to clear her throat.

The man seemed slightly taken aback by her response. "Did ye find our boys or not?"

"Three of our best workers, young and strong." The old woman said, looking at Ciri. She was a large woman with a strength in her frame that came from a lifetime of hard living. Thick, wavy grey hair pooled over her shoulders. Her face was pockmarked and was red with damage from the Sun. Her back was slightly hunched and she seemed to be favouring one leg but her was voice clear and she had a confidence that came from years of experience as matriarch and leader of the village.

"They gone up to the forest," the woman said, pointing to the seemingly endless expanse of woods that sprawled to the south. "Some beast be takin' them. Those boys ain't be the type to be running away from their duties so I fear the worst. That they already be dead. Food for some ungodly creature. Be that the case they at least deserve vengeance."

The memory rang in Ciri's head almost painfully. "I..." She stuttered taken back. She had been in this village before, she had a contract to find-

"I told you there was no such thing as no girly Witcher," one of the men sitting the back of the tavern yelled out.

Ciri turned to face them.

"She's nothing but a thief," he said looking at her.

"I'm no thief," Ciri answered, glaring at the man. He stood, his jug of ale swirling over and spilling onto the floor..

"Then you be craven?" He motioned with his jug spilling another good portion of his drink. "You see one sight of the beast and run with your tail between ya legs, leaving your sword behind."

Ciri immediately felt the lack of weight on her back and reached back to confirm what she already knew. Her sword was gone.

How had she had not noticed?

How did she lose the last few days?

"Such a pretty thing doesn't need a sword so ugly, does she?" the soft whisper of a voice felt warm in her ear. "So sharp, so violent. You don’t need this." She could feel the delicate digits gently wrap around her waist to where her sword sheath hooked into her belt. The buckle snapped open. Her sword fell back onto the soft furs that blanketed the floor.

A large fire at the center of the cave bathed everything in a soft warm orange glow and the flickering of the flames made shadows dance along the uneven cave wall. Ciri felt almost entranced by the sight and the warmth that was quickly spreading over her.

"You don't need any of this," the voice said again, sending shivers down Ciri's spine. The fingers slipped up her chest and Ciri gasped as they lightly traced the curve of her breasts before gently undoing her blouse.

"No need to fight. No need for ****."

Ciri could feel smooth pouty lips against her ear. She leaned back against the creature, its soft skin and supple breasts pressing against her back.

"We will take care of you here. My boys will take care of you. They’re so young and strong. There's no need to fight."

Ciri's shirt soon joined her sword on the ground as two soft hands clasped around her bare breasts, pulling and teasing her nipples. Ciri moaned and looked at the far end of the cave where the three well built men stood naked, ready and waiting for her.

"I'm no coward," Ciri said softly as the memories washed over her. She could feel her skin flush and she hoped no one would notice.

"Not a coward, not a thief, then what are you???" The man asked angrily. "The old lady gave you forty gold pieces to find her grandsons and you come back with no sword, no grandsons, no nothing. You come back after half a week lookin' like a drunken harlot."

Ciri reached down to her belt, no gold, no nothing. She felt around her body. All but the dagger in her boot was gone. Everything else: her gold, her supplies, her sword... all missing.

"So what exactly were you doing all this time then?"