《Super Spies》 Dark Moon First day at Dark Moon secret intelligence service, and Corey was nervous. Stepping over the threshold of the glass dome for the first time, the doors slid aside for him and he found himself in a glass panelled ante-room, empty except for the receptionist at the desk. The receptionist peered owlishly at him through her ornate glasses. ¡°What ya doin¡¯ here?¡± Her voice was a nasal whine. ¡°I¡¯m a new recruit. A ¨C a novice,¡± stammered Corey. ¡°We don¡¯ want a new recruit,¡± the receptionist replied. ¡°Get outta here.¡± ¡°I should be down on the list,¡± he protested. How hard could it be to get this kind of thing right? ¡°List? What list?¡± The receptionist shook her head. At that moment the crystal doors at the far end of the hall and a lady strode in. Before he could stop himself, Corey gaped at her. This lady was absolutely stunning. She was wearing a tight-fitting blue silk garment that showed off her body ¨C one that could have been poured into a running-suit. She had a cascade of long, thick, dark brown hair that tumbled down her shoulders, and big brown eyes. He felt his face grow hot. The lady beamed at him, showing perfectly white, even teeth. ¡°Welcome! You must be Corey, the new recruit?¡± ¡°What noo recruit?¡± grumbled the receptionist. ¡°Thank you, Sandra, I¡¯ll take it from here,¡± said the gorgeous lady. She came up to Corey and clasped his hands. She was tall for a lady, only about a heady shorter than him. Close to, he could see she really was beautiful. Luscious, full lips, soft brown eyes, a sprinkling of freckles over her delicate nose and her fine cheekbones¡­ ¡°I¡¯m Nadine. A Super-Spy. Great to meet you, Corey. Let me be the first to welcome you to Dark Moon.¡± ¡±I¡¯m Corey,¡± he said, forgetting for the moment that she already knew who he was. She smiled at him, crinkling her freckled nose. He felt like a right fool. Nadine led him down a white panelled corridor lit up by sparkling crystal lights in the ceiling. ¡°This way to the novice dorms.¡± ¡°I¡¯m nervous,¡± he confessed. ¡°I¡¯ve trained so hard to get in, but what if I can¡¯t cut it.¡± She smiled and patted his arm. ¡°You completed the training. You should be proud of yourself. It¡¯s normal to be a bit nervous on your first day.¡± The novice dorm room contained rows and rows of bunkbeds, each one was four bunks stacked high, almost up to the ceiling. Not exactly spacious¡­ Next Nadine showed him the way to the novice mess hall. ¡°I wonder if I¡¯ll ever be a super-spy, like you,¡± said Corey. ¡°I bet that took a lot of hard work. And experience.¡± She laid a slender hand on his arm. ¡°You could do it. I believe in you.¡± Looking into those warm, brown eyes, he felt himself turn gooey inside. He wondered, was he falling in love?
00O00 First day of field training was hard. They had to practice stalking around the indoor jungle and shooting each other with paintball guns, and even though they wore body armour, the paintball shots still smarted. Plus he felt all hot and sweaty from the humidity of the jungle and the showers were cramped and the other novices jostled. Corey was feeling lonely and homesick, but he¡¯d already got the impression you shouldn¡¯t show that in front of the other cadets¡­ Pete, one of the cadets, blurted out at that moment. ¡°First loser who cries on his first night gets hazed.¡± Clearly Corey shouldn¡¯t let them know he was already homesick. He needed comfort. He remembered Nadine¡¯s kind face and dazzling smile. He had to find her. He did not go to the mess hall, but crept down the corridors to the information hub. It was automated. You had to ask it questions and it would tell you answers¡­ according to the sign, anyway. It looked like a gleaming microphone set into the wall. ¡°Where is super-spy Nadine?¡± he asked clearly.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Super-spy Nadine Reiter is probably down on V-level. The civilian level,¡± the computer returned in clipped, lady-like tones. Corey wasn¡¯t sure where that was, but he went to an elevator anyway. There were rows and rows of buttons, but he soon found one with the label ¡®V-level.¡¯ He pressed it, and the elevator whirred silently downwards, coming to a halt seconds later. The doors slid open and Corey found himself in a passage with floor, walls and ceiling as black as obsidian, with lamps glowing blue. The passage opened into a black room with little glittering lights in the ceiling, like stars in the night sky. Nadine was seated at a table with a group of men. She grinned. ¡°I win again.¡± The voices of the men arose in an angry hubbub. Nadine spread her arms wide. ¡°Now, now, guys. Don¡¯t be sore losers.¡± She noticed Corey and beamed wider. ¡°Hey, Corey!¡± A sullen looking man with a bald head sitting to Nadine¡¯s left addressed him. ¡°Do you place Tabaac, Corey?¡± ¡°N-No,¡± said Corey. ¡°Then you¡¯ll have to leave, Corey,¡± said the bald guy. ¡°Shame, Stubbs,¡± said Nadine. ¡°Where are your manners? This is a Dark Moon novice you¡¯re speaking to. Of course he doesn¡¯t play Tabaac.¡± They two of them left the table to stride over to Corey. Stubbs sighed theatrically and bowed to Corey. ¡°I beg your pardon,¡± he said, sarcasm all too obvious. Nadine¡¯s freckled cheeks were flushed rosy pink and her brown eyes were shining. ¡°We¡¯ll have to teach him.¡± ¡°Aah!¡± Stubbs had a hungry sort of look in his eye at that moment. He ushered Corey to the table. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s very easy to learn. How much money have you got? Give the young fellow a seat.¡± He grabbed another bald man and shoved him off a chair. ¡°You. Out.¡± He pushed Corey into the vacated chair. This was moving too fast for Corey. He didn¡¯t want to gamble. He turned to Nadine. ¡°I-I¡¯m homesick.¡± Her brows drew together and she bit her lip. ¡°Come.¡± She beckoned. She led him away as the men jeered. ¡°You can¡¯t leave now¡­ you¡¯re winning!¡± protested Stubbs. ¡°Sore loser,¡± said Nadine. She found a quiet table and they sat down on either side of it. Corey gazed at her freckled nose and cheeks, her soft, brown eyes and her glossy, light red lips¡­ he¡¯d never sat across the table from anyone so attractive before. ¡°Corey¡­ honey¡­¡± she said, ¡°what you¡¯re going through is completely natural. But being homesick will lift. Getting familiar with this old place will help. I¡¯d like to help.¡± Corey felt happy and confident in her presence. She helped him scout out the upper levels that were the domain of the Dark Moon ranks, including the libraries, armouries, swimming pools and special bathrooms. ¡°Now let¡¯s try something fun,¡± Nadine suggested, leading him through another pair of sliding doors. It was a wide room with synthetic turf and a wide array of trampolines in all the colours of the rainbow. ¡°A trampoline park?¡± Did super-spies enjoy such frivolous stuff? Corey didn¡¯t really know¡­ Nadine winked at him. ¡°I¡¯m the super-spy, so I get to give you an order¡­ catch me!¡± She bounced from one trampoline to another, her long dark hair and firm boobs bouncing around as she flung herself in the air, doing somersaults and other stunts in mid-air. Corey leapt after her, bounding from one trampoline to the next, until he caught up with her and she leapt onto a mat. He landed beside her. She was a bit pink in the face from bouncing. ¡°You ticklish, Corey?¡± she asked. ¡°Actually, yes,¡± he admitted. ¡°Thought so.¡± She tickled his sides with her delicate fingers so he screamed with laughter. Nadine leaned her freckled face close to his. ¡°You can¡¯t outwit a super-spy. Surrender now.¡± ¡°Gerroff! I surrender.¡± ¡°Peachy.¡± She helped him up into a sitting position and put an arm around him. ¡°How¡¯d it feel to work your way up through the ranks and become a super-spy?¡± asked Corey. ¡°Being a super-spy can be harder than actually getting there,¡± said Nadine with a wry smile. ¡°I gotta do weird and crazy missions sometimes, let me tell you. But I started out as a novice. I have faith in you, Corey.¡± Time at the Dark Moon complex did get easier for Corey, although it would have been hard without Nadine as a friend. In the dorms, he would try to shut out everything else, the noise and bickering of the other novices, and think about her. He¡¯d dream about her adorable face and fabulous body long into the night, and those thoughts helped satisfy him, but eventually would always leave him longing for more.
00O00 Nadine was summoned to a briefing by Isla, the Chief, the head super-spy, in the celestial briefing room. Isla looked very grave. ¡°A tragedy has struck,¡± she said. ¡°It concerns Arctur, the frozen warrior and national hero. You know the legend of Arctur ¨C no one needs introducing to it, but I have to explain it as part of regulations. The legend is that he is magically frozen until such time as the nation of Opal Isles needs him again. His tomb is guarded night and day. But we are betrayed. A traitor has plucked Arctur¡¯s frozen heart from his breast as he lay in frozen sleep.¡± Nadine¡¯s stomach heaved. This was outrageous! That poor man, treated that way as he slept. ¡°But don¡¯t we know who did it¡­?¡± ¡°An elite soldier has betrayed us, but we have no proof. We suspect a certain Blarsh ¨C a chaos ogre.¡± Isla pressed a button on the side of the wall and a flickering image appeared of a grotesque ogre. A massive green humanoid being with a face distorted like clay, a massive, bloated stomach, and¡­ Nadine¡¯s eyes widened at the sight¡­ a bulge in the regions of his pants. A chaos ogre must be well endowed. ¡°Blarsh is a misfit ¨C the only chaos ogre in the elite forces,¡± rapped out Isla. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not fair to suspect him just for that,¡± protested Nadine. ¡°He can¡¯t help being different.¡± ¡°This ogre is promiscuous ¨C he has a habit of sleeping around wherever he¡¯s posted and leaving a trail of green half-ogre babies in his wake,¡± said Isla. Nadine thought that was crudely put. ¡°Your mission is to investigate him. Find out where he¡¯s getting a payoff. I doubt he stole Arctur¡¯s frozen heart for the heck of it.¡± Nadine hoped that she would be able to investigate and clear suspicion from the poor ogre, but she couldn¡¯t help but have a niggling doubt. Ill Conceived Corey was having trouble with the other novices picking on him. He had been screwing up in targeting practice today. If only it could be as easy as the obstacle course. Pete pointed at him in the mess hall. "What a wash-out. Why are you here?" The other novices began to join in. At that moment, they fell silent. Nadine had come striding in, moving with her typical fluid grace. "Hey, Corey," she said. "Just wanted to say bye-bye before I go off on a secret mission." "Y-You know him, Ma''am?" said Pete in an awed voice, saluting her clumsily. "We''re friends," said Nadine. "I''m friends to all the good guys." She kissed Corey on the cheek and he thought he would melt right there.
00O00 Isla hadn''t told Nadine everything she really needed to know before her mission. If Nadine knew more about Blarsh, how far would she be willing to take her investigation? Isla watched footage taken of Blarsh after briefing about the mission to guard Arctur, when the drill sergeant had left and he thought he was alone. The green monster yelled aloud: "stoopid ''yuman takin'' digs at me fer being an ogre¡­ let me tell yoo somethin''¡­ ogres never miss. I c''n put my dough in any woman''s oven, whether she wants it or not. And I could eat yoo too. I c''n eat flesh raw¡­ An I got the heart. I''ve stole it and took it away." Did that make it sound like the ogre was weird? Or dangerous? Nonetheless, Nadine went on her mission without knowing everything¡­ At the Um Bongo club that night, Nadine began her investigations around Blarsh the chaos ogre. She was in her civilian clothes ¨C no one was to know of her super-spy capacity. Even her friend Stella was in the dark about it. Nadine was talking to Stella now. Stella was gloomy. She had already "met" Blarsh the ogre. And screwed him. "That awful ogre¡­ he''s interrupted my moon flow." Stella patted her belly. "I''ve been throwing up in the morning. I''m going to have a baby. I know it." "Ooh! Congrats!" Nadine grinned at her friend and clasped both her hands. "Not congrats," said Stella, irritably. "Had you forgotten I''m a married woman? Won''t it be a bit obvious if I have a green, half-monster baby?" Nadine bit her lip. "You should ask your husband for forgiveness and prove you still love him. If he loves you, he will forgive. Look on the bright side. You''re a mom now and you can all be happy¡­" Stella scoffed. "Bright side? What bright side? You''re such an idealist. No practical sense at all. Why''re you imagining rainbows for me now?" Stella pushed her blond hair away from her face. "The trouble is¡­ I regret doing it with that awful, smelly, green creature, but I''d do it again. His dick¡­ it has five parts. The head is star-shaped. It stimulates a woman the way a human dick doesn''t. My orgasms were so strong, I fainted." She blushed as Nadine stared at her. "Yeah, you might look at me like that. How can incredible sex be worth wrecking my marriage?" Nadine wondered about that indeed¡­
00O00 Nadine tracked down Blarsh the ogre using her super-spy skills. A chaos ogre certainly stood out.Twelve foot tall, bright green, many times wider than a man¡­ He was standing by a night time butcher stand, demanding a haunch of oliphaunt meat. Nadine approached him, flashing her winning smile. She was wearing a low cut dress to show off her rounded cleavage as much as possible. "I do admire a guy with a big appetite," she began. "An'' I admire yer titties," grunted the ogre. Charming. The ogre certainly believed in being direct. Nadine was still determined to pump him for information. How far would she go?
00O00 The ogre''s den was messy, and smelled of rotting meat when Nadine and the ogre both arrived there. There were gnawed bones strewn around the floor. Nadine wrinkled her nose at the smell ¨C she couldn''t help it. Had Stella come here when she and Blarsh mated? Nadine found the mess and smell off-putting and she was nowhere near as prissy as Stella. Nadine hoped very much that Stella had not insulted her poor husband even more by taking Blarsh into her marriage bed. How could Stella risk hurting the poor man''s heart? Nadine herself could not even fathom such a thing.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Show off yer boobies," growled the ogre. She smiled on the ogre and began to loosen her dress, letting it fall. The flickering light of a blubber lamp shone off the ogre''s green, mask-like face. When she let her breasts show, the ogre''s nether regions betrayed him. She could see them expand. A huge bulge, putting strain on his pants. She licked her lips seductively. "I bet you could tell a tale or two about your travels, Blarsh darling. You must get about, doing exciting things." "Yerrse¡­ Yoo can tell where by the trail of green babies." She grinned. "Babies. How cute." "Pretty sure the green ones are from my loins," said the ogre. Charming. "C''mere, slip yer things off, and I c''n tell yer things," said Blarsh. She slipped off her dress. The den was draughty. She sat on the bed of animal skins, shivering slightly. Then she stared as the ogre took off his clothes, revealing his swollen, blubbery form. The flickering light of the oil lamp shimmered on his oily green stomach¡­ and swollen, five part cock, longer and thicker than Nadine''s arm, the end shaped like a star with five segments. "I c''n tell yoo things," said the ogre. "If yoo snuggle down. I just want too see yoo and talk, don'' be afraid." Nadine smiled, feeling unsure, and slipped into the filthy animal skins. The ogre plonked down beside her. Then he was distracted by the haunch of oliphaunt meat lying by the bed, and turned away from her to chow down on it, guzzling and crunching as he tore off bloody lumps in his jaws. Close to, the poor creature really stank. Was that an oily coating on his green skin? He turned to the haunch of meat and had turned his huge, green buttocks towards her. The smell was overpowering¡­ "Noo laughing matter, bein'' an ogre," he said between mouthfuls of meat. "my father wanted to eat me when I was born." Nadine felt her gut clench at the horror of such a thing. "Oh my God, I''m so sorry to hear that." "It''s not un''eard of with ogres¡­" She bit her lip and drew the covers up around herself. "Um¡­ wanna talk about it?" "Why talk?" Blarsh replied between mouthfuls. "I''m gettin'' the energy I need." "What for?" Nadine was puzzled. "Listen, I want to talk." "No talk," said Blarsh, pushing the bone away. Then he roared. "GIVE IT UP!" and in one movement, he rolled on top of Nadine with incredible speed and inserted his five part dick in her while crushing her to the floor. She screamed, but the next instant she was flattened and her face and mouth covered by green flesh so she couldn''t struggle or even make a sound. With two tons of green ogre crushing her to the floor and pressing down on her face, she could only give very muffled cries as the ogre thrust and thrust himself into her squirming body, filling her full of his seed and guaranteeing eternal looseness of her lady part...
00O00 The upshot of Nadine''s investigation was that she put her detective skills to use. The ogre had the energy and the libido to do it over and over again, ignoring her screams and struggles. His five part dick was just such a shape to stimulate a woman to the max, and she had reached a state of constant orgasm. Her orgasms had been so intense that she had fainted and Blarsh had considerately brought her round my wiping some of his shit on her face so the smell woke her up. Great. Thanks, Blarsh. She indignantly recalled how he had squeezed her face so her tongue stuck out and nodded her head for her when she tried to protest again. Then he jumped on her and did it all over again. And so on, over and over. A chaos ogre had incredible sexual potency and endurance. After a lot of showering and scrubbing she got the smell of the ogre and the cave off her. She had gathered up some of the avocado coloured excrement in a special phial, and taken it to the lab for analysis. The lab had found traces in the poop of a certain small lizard that only lived on one island. Blarsh had gone off there at some point¡­ Later, Isla showed her the video footage she had of the ogre boasting about his treachery... and his out of control libido. "Now we know where he went. As you can see, he was rambling about stealing the heart. I couldn''t show you this earlier¡­ you had to be prepared to go on the mission. If you knew the risks, you might have hesitated." Nadine curled her lip. "You didn''t tell me all I needed to know in case I''d hesitate. So you don''t mind that I was... w-was¡­" she stuttered to a halt. She hated to think that she had been raped. She had been trying to justify it to herself, but she couldn''t. And her body had reacted so intensely. She would never be able to forget that. "Your next mission," Isla continued, "is to go to the distant Isle of the dawn, far out in the Diamond Sea. That must be where Blarsh took the heart. I have assigned you a partner for this mission. He ought to be arriving shortly. Where is that stupid boy?" "Boy?" said Nadine. "You can''t seriously be sending a boy? What if this mission''s dangerous too? Have you no shame?" "The young don''t have the psychological maturity to grasp life and death concepts, so they''re always willing to prove how brave they are." "You mean they''re too dumb to get what''s in store for them," growled Nadine. At that moment the door slid aside and Corey came in, grinning from ear to ear, his grey eyes shining. Corey! Isla wanted Corey to go on a mission like this? This could not be! A Perilous Mission "Corey!" Nadine spluttered. "I get to go on a top secret mission with you!" said Corey, giving her that adorable lopsided grin. Nadine didn''t know whether she wanted to hug him real right for being so sweetly dumb, or be exasperated that he would want to go blindly into danger. She breathed through her nose. "On a mission¡­!" She shook her head. "Corey, it''s too dangerous. You''ve got no idea what going on a mission means. You can''t come." She would have said that she was raped repeatedly by an ogre on her last mission, but she didn''t want to upset him. He didn''t need to know that the super-fertile chaos ogre had put a lot of his seed into her and even smeared his shit on her face. Corey''s face fell mournfully and Nadine felt her insides squirm with guilt at seeing him disappointed. She bit her lip, but had to be firm. "Overruled," said Isla smirking. "Young Corey has to start somewhere. And I''m sure you both agree that he couldn''t do it in better company." Nadine glared at Isla. Isla turned to Corey. "Don''t worry. Nadine''s just being a sourpuss. I believe you''re ready for your first mission. I''m certain Nadine can''t tell you a good reason why you shouldn''t go." Isla was making Nadine the bad guy?! The nerve¡­ Nadine covered her face with her hands. Corey came up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. His soft touch made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. He was such a silly thing¡­ "Don''t be sad, Nadine. I want to go with you and make you proud." "You wouldn''t want him to go on a mission with anyone less qualified," said Isla. "That could be dangerous." There was an implied threat in that. Nadine knew, with a hopeless sinking feeling, that she had to capitulate.
00O00 Nadine took over Corey''s target practice for the following week. She tried a different technique with getting him to aim, placing her hands on his shoulders and whispering encouragingly in his ear. Funnily enough, he improved immensely in a short time. "This gun''s real powerful," he said as he fired a cougar magnum at a tree stump that served as the target in the indoor jungle. "That''s loads better, honey," said Nadine, pleased. She hugged him in congratulations, stroking his downy, blond hair.
00O00 Corey was thrilled that he and Nadine would be going on a long mission together. Travelling with Nadine was so much better than having to share a dorm with a crowd of mean novices that it was like a happy dream. Before they left, Isla ran them through the special gadgets they would be using. For some reason, Nadine seemed uncharacteristically tetchy around Isla. Why was that? Corey noticed Nadine glaring at her with those big, brown eyes. Did Nadine hold a grudge about something. Isla held up a gadget shaped like a lipstick. "Plastex lipstick ¨C explosive plastex disguised as simple lipstick," said Isla, handling it to Nadine. She handed them goggles shaped like cats eyes. "Cat''s eye night vision goggles. Guaranteed to make you see in the dark." Isla lifted up a rubber suit with a glass visor. It looked like it was meant to fit Nadine. There were spaces for her boobs. "This is a splunking suit. It can recycle air so you can swim underwater in submerged caves indefinitely. There is one for the young man too." Corey was excited. Isla held up a little red bug in her thumb and forefinger. "This is a technotick. Useful little robobug to have in various predicaments. And this one is pretty basic." Isla held up a round gun. "A pellet sprayed, for wild beasts, giant crustaceans and the like. It should be a deterrent. I know Nadine''s too soft to kill things, even creeping things like crabs or spiders." Nadine glared at her again. "I won''t kill if it can be avoided." She sounded angry. Why was she in such a bad mood? It wasn''t like her at all. She had always been in a good temper before the day Isla announced the two of them would be going on a mission together. What had happened to Nadine that Corey did not know about, and what had Isla had to do with it?This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Then there''s a stronger deterrent. A stun-stick," said Isla, holding up a pair of metal sticks. "These deliver a mild shock on impact. When they had their gadgets together they were all set. They got to travel by private jet, then by a private cruise ship. Corey had his own cabin ¨C luxury! He didn''t have to be in a crowded dorm with the novices anymore. But when it came down to it, being in his own cabin was a bit lonely, so he went to Nadine''s cabin for comfort. She looked really stunning in her blue, silk gown which just revealed the rounded treasures of her breasts. Well really, she looked stunning in everything. Completely comfortable in her presence, he laid his head on her lap and looked up at the beautiful, freckled face as she smiled down at him. Her cascade of thick, dark hair tumbled all around him, tickling his face. It was so restful, and yet so arousing to be close to her like this. She stroked his hair and told him stories of her past missions. On one mission she had been surrounded in a cave by troglodytes who had made her take part in the ritual of the arrow. Basically giving her a head start to run before they hunted her with their bows and arrows. She had outwitted them by hiding in an underground river, using a little wooden tube to breathe. "Didn''t your husband have a problem with you doing such dangerous and cool things?" he asked, gazing up at her in awe. She sighed. "He did¡­ I wonder if that''s a reason we grew apart. In the end, he found comfort in the arms of a geisha girl, dressed in oriental style, then left me." Nadine''s luscious bottom lip quivered. Corey reached up and touched her freckled cheek. "He was stupid. Anyone would be an idiot to leave you." She smiled, crinkling her freckled nose. "You''re so unbelievably cute."
00O00 They landed at a Dark Moon base on an island in the Diamond Sea. After a respite, they were taken by another boat, this one black so that it wouldn''t be seen when it dropped them off at the Isle of the Dawn at night. That was island they would find the stolen heart of Arctur the hero. At night, the Diamond Sea glittered with the countless reflected stars in the clear night sky. The full moon cast a silver path of light across the water. The sea looked so beautiful, like its name. They stood on the deck, the salty tang of the sea on their lips. The shape of the island with its rugged mountains loomed closer. Nadine looked sort of pale. "This is it," Nadine said softly. The island and the prospect of their mission ahead were so ominous that they both felt they had to speak in hushed voices. "Now it''s important to remember¡­" Suddenly she clapped her hands to her mouth, retching. She looked pale in the moonlight. Her freckles were really showing. She leaned over the side of the boat and vomited. Corey laid a hand on her back as she barfed again. "A-Are you alright?" he said anxiously. She straightened up and tried to smile reassuringly, though she was pale, clammy and trembling. "Don''t you worry, darling." Her breath was foul with vomit. Was she seasick? The boat dropped them off in a little, sandy cove. Corey had fantasised about this a lot. Dreamed about it¡­ dreamed about himself and Nadine on a private island together. He wondered what it would be like to make love to her on a beach. He sighed to himself. Could she ever really be into him, like that? Somehow, he doubted it. She was a super-cool, older lady, and a super-spy. She was out of his league. What could possibly make her want to be an item with him? What mitigating factor could there possibly be at this or any time? Corey couldn''t think of anything, but perhaps you can. They crept into a cave in the cove, the crashing of the tide echoing eerily around them. The cave walls gleamed with bioluminescence. The shimmering lights cast weird colours over Nadine''s pale face, making her look pink, then red, then for some reason green¡­ what could be the significance of that? They held hands as they crept deeper into the cave, which opened onto a tunnel. From here, they intended to find a way to get onto the island undetected. The tunnel opened out into a cavern with a stalagmites and stalactites and a still pool of water. Suddenly, they heard a scuttling sound, and a giant crab sidled into view. It was bright red and clacked at them threateningly. "Let''s try out our pellet sprayers?" suggested Corey, interested to see how that particular gadget worked. Nadine nodded and they sprayed pellets at the crab, making it sidle off and into the pool, where it sat just below the surface of the clear water. "That did it," said Corey. Suddenly he felt something sting his cheek and then something else sting his cheek as well. He grabbed at it and turned to see a much larger giant crab. He had grabbed its antennae. It had hit him on the cheek with them. Now it clacked its claws threateningly, reaching out for him. "Get away from my boy, shellfish!" screamed Nadine. She whacked the crab very hard with her stun-stick. There was a buzzing sound as the force of the blow imparted an electric shock to the crab, which sidled dizzily away. Nadine checked Corey over anxiously, cupping his face in her hands. "Are you alright, sweetie?" "Um¡­ fine." Her brown eyes gazed into his. Her freckled face still looked pale and sickly. She started fussing over him. "Hold on¡­ you''ve got sand on your jacket." She licked her finger and wiped determinedly on his jacket. "There!" She grinned at him. "Don''t you look handsome?" Um¡­ why was she acting like a mom? Was she going to be a mother, or something? She was acting like pregnant ladies who get hormonal and start acting really maternal to random people. Nadine acting motherly¡­ throwing up¡­ what was going on with her? They made their way from the cave, down the winding tunnels. They came to a crossroad, whether the tunnels branched in all four directions. All of a sudden, Nadine caught his arm. Her face was eerily pale in the near darkness. Her brows drew together in worry. "I can hear something¡­" So could Corey. Something like a rushing sound¡­ no, a pattering sound. A pattering, or a scuttling? Suddenly a mass of giant, red bugs rushed down all the tunnels and surrounded them. Corey''s first shocked impression was that they were giant crabs, but no¡­ they were huge red ants. Giant ants with crude, flint spears. Giant ants surrounding the two of them and staring at them with blank, compound eyes, their mandibles clicking ominously¡­ Giant Ants Attack! The giant ants gathered Nadine and Corey up in their segmented arms and carried them down the network of tunnels. Their strength was incredible. Although Corey knew that an ant can lift a lot more than its own weight. The insects made eerie clicking noises with their mandibles. Were they communicating with one another? Nadine was pale, but she looked determined. "Don''t worry, hon. Keep still. Don''t provoke them. I''ll get us out of this." The ants took them to a shelf on the wall of a huge, underground cavern, where some freak property of the rocks caused everything to be lit up in a sickly, green glow. They bound their arms and ankles to stone pillars. The pillars were above. There was a huge dam made up of piled boulders. The weird underground lights down here were almost as bright as day. The air was so cold and smelled of rotting seaweed. Corey''s heart was thudding in his breast. He turned to Nadine who gave him a reassuring smile. Her freckles looked really weird in this light. The sight of her smiling face made him feel better ¨C in fact, he felt a happy glow inside. He smiled back. Nadine wiggled her left wrist. Her wrists were slender and delicate. Could she get out of her bonds? She could! She had already worked her wrist free. She withdrew a penknife from a pouch at her belt, and began cutting through the rest of their bonds. Corey hoped fervently that the ants wouldn''t notice. But they were swarming all over the cavern floor and the shelves of the cavern! Nadine withdrew a lipstick from another pouch at her belt. No, it wasn''t lipstick. It was that plastex explosive in a lipstick case. She unscrewed the top and broke a piece of the red, gelatinous much from the stick with her gloved fingers. It hissed and fizzed alarmingly, but she held it in the palm of her hand and flicked it at the stone dam, gazing intently at the point of the stone structure she flicked it towards. The little red glob landed on a boulder at the base of the dam. BOOM! There was a tiny explosion and the dam began to wobble. The chill, salt water spilled over in waves as the rocky structure quivered. The ants all crowded around the damaged dam, clicking their mandibles frantically. Nadine took Corey by the hand. "Quickly!" The ants were distracted, so they paid the two of them no notice. Nadine led Corey round the shelf and through another hole and down a passage. Then off a side passage, then down a fork to the right, not slowing down. Corey wondered how she knew where they were going. He was already hopelessly lost and disorientated. Occasionally, Nadine would pause and put a hand to her ear, as if listening intently for something, and sometimes would mutter, "I think we''ve lost ''em," or "Shake those ants off." Then suddenly she halted. "Sorry, darling. I''ve gotta sit down," said Nadine weakly. They sat on a smooth, flat boulder. Nadine took some deep breaths and then clapped her hands to her mouth. She was retching slightly. Corey put an arm around her shoulder. "Are you alright? Um¡­ Do you think you''ve got an upset stomach?" She turned her freckled face to him. Was that a sad or a fond smile playing around her soft lips? "Sweetheart¡­ I- I- I might be going to have a baby," she said in a rush. "We might not get out of this and I don''t wanna keep it to myself. Ohhh¡­" She groaned and then buried her face in her hands. Nadine was having a baby? What?! A baby? Now? Since when?! Corey blinked as this information hit home. He felt giddy at the questions revolving around in his brain. "S-sorry¡­? Nadine? Um¡­ you''re not married anymore though?" He squirmed uncomfortably. It wasn''t really his business to comment on that part. "Oh God¡­ I wish I knew exactly what to say." She looked up and kissed him on the cheek. "You''re sweet. If you knew exactly what to say, you wouldn''t be you." Her bottom lip quivered. Tears shone in her brown eyes. "W-We might not get out of this. I''m so sorry you got pulled into it." Corey didn''t want to see her so sad. He cupped her face in his hands, the way she sometimes did with him when he was sad. "I''d never miss the chance to go adventuring with you." He wanted to show off how brave he was. At this time he could only tell her. "I don''t care about the danger." The sparkling tears began to trickle down her freckled cheeks. "Y-You''re so silly. That might be why I love you." Still cupping her gorgeous face in his hands, he kissed her freckled nose. They gazed into each other''s eyes for a while. Nadine had such beautiful eyes, and Corey thought they were even more beautiful now. Soft and brown, warm and shimmering¡­ Who was the lucky guy who was an item with her? Corey did not know anything about the character who had put a bun in her oven, as the saying goes. He assumed that Nadine must be a couple with him. He never dreamed she''d been raped by a chaos ogre. "We have to keep going," she murmured. "The ants could find us at any time."
00O00 They crept along the tunnels. The tunnel opened out into a rocky chamber. There were huge, white grubs with little mouths lying around the stony cavern. "Ooh! Baby ants!" squealed Nadine, putting her gloved hands to her face. She picked one up. It squirmed in her arms, and she tickled it. It''s little mouth turned upwards in an absurd impression of bliss. "So cute," she said, her brown eyes misty. Weird. But Corey knew she was pregnant, so it must be her maternal instincts kicking in.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Better leave them, or these larvae, or the ants might get angrier with us," he suggested, touching her arm. "We''ve already damaged that dam of theirs." She sighed, nodded, and kissed the blunt, white head of the big grub. "Take care, little ant." She put the ugly larva down on the stony floor with the others and Corey took her by the hand. Holding hands, they went down a longer passage which opened out onto a ledge in the wall of yet another great cavern. There was a sweet, musty smell in the cold air here. Looking around, Corey could see shiny green strands of ropes hanging from the rough, rocky walls... and a glimpse of the starry sky in a hole in the roof of the cavern, high above them. Then they heard an angry, buzzing, droning sound and looked up. A startling sight met their eyes. Nadine gave a little cry and Corey gasped. What did they see? They saw a colossal, red ant, but this one had wings and its abdomen was grossly swollen. "The queen," said Nadine. "Oh my God¡­ I think she''s angry." She held up her plastex lipstick. "Sure hope I have enough." She flicked a gelatinous, red globule at the wall of the cavern, both below the level of their ledge and to the left of precisely where they were standing. There was a small explosion in the wall below them and the ledge juddered. The queen ant buzzed even more angrily, and swooped down, spitting some kind of yellow tinged liquid in the direction of the explosion. Nadine grabbed one of the weird ropes from the wall and looped it around their waists. It was some kind of strange seaweed. Then she tied them together and took another strand of weed from the cavern wall. She took Corey''s hand in hers. Her fingers were so white and delicate. "Gotta time this just right," she said, breathing hard through her nose, her boobs rising and falling. "Jump when I say jump, please." Corey got ready to jump when she said jump. The queen ant flew down and to the left in the direction of the explosion sound. When she was immediately below them, Nadine yelled "JUMP!" Hand in hand, they leapt down onto the thorax segment of the great, flying insect. Nadine looped her other coil of seaweed around the queen''s great segmented body. "Sorry, your majesty," she muttered. "But take us up!" She pulled on the seaweed reins and the queen ant buzzed angrily, but rose into the air. He beating wings on either side of them whirred and zzzzed like great electric fan turbines. Nadine held Corey tight as she gripped the bug''s red thorax with her legs. The queen ant took them up and out through the hole in the cavern roof and Nadine pulled on the seaweed ropes so she descended, landing on the ground near a forest of trees. The intrepid spies slid off, and Nadine pulled Corey backwards, away from the queen. The queen buzzed and clacked her mandibles, but then decided to get back to her own turf and took off into the air alone, back the way she had come. Nadine gave a sigh of relief. The first, faint streaks of dawn were visible on the horizon and in the rosy light, her pretty, freckled face glowed with a sheen of perspiration. Overcome with relief, they hugged one another tight and Nadine nuzzled Corey''s neck, giving a little moan as she did so. "Dunno about you, but I''m about done in," she murmured. They entered the shelter of the trees. The leaves were blue-green and weirdly shaped like diamonds. In the gnarled roots of one of the trees, there was a hollow and they bedded down in it, wrapped in each other''s arms. It wasn''t exactly luxury, but Corey felt so happy and safe with her arms around him, that he quickly fell asleep.
00O00 When Corey woke up, it was warmer and the sun was higher in the sky and cast dappled shadows through the diamond leaves of the weird trees. Nadine was just outside the hollow and when she saw he was awake she grinned and kissed him on the cheek. "Was gonna wake you earlier, but you looked so adorable lying there." She shoved a wooden bowl at him. "Good morning. Have something to eat." She thrust a wooden bowl of yellow gungy stuff at him. Corey trusted her, and began to eat. He didn''t know what it was, but it made him feel great. Afterwards, they bathed in a stream that ran through the forest. The trees shaded them from the sun as they stripped off. The stream bed was covered in soft white sand that felt all weird under Corey''s toes. Little shoals of rainbow coloured fish darted around their legs. Corey blushed at the sight of Nadine''s pale, freckly body unclothed, her boobs bobbing and floating as she swam through the tepid water. The sight was arousing¡­ Corey felt himself harden and determinedly swam up and down. "Hey, Corey! Come and catch me!" called Nadine. She winked and swam off downstream. He splashed around after her and she waited in the shallows, grinning, her dark hair now limp and sodden. When he got close, she splashed him and then swam off again, this time following the stream into a rocky cavern, lit up by bioluminescence like the tunnels of the giant ants, only much more beautiful, with all the colours of the rainbow and stars in the sky. The lights lit up her gorgeous, freckled face as she sat in the sand, waiting for him to catch up. She tutted. "That''s how you catch me? No, no. This is how it''s done." She leapt on him and he let her wrestle him onto the soft sand, gripping both his arms. Oh God¡­ her closeness, her naked body and her boobs pressing into him were making him really hard. She grinned and touched his nose with the tip of a slender finger. "That''s how it''s done." She leaned close, her warm breath tickling. "I got you and you gotta stay with me¡­ my sweet boy. After all that awful business in the giant ant nest¡­ I realise something. Why couldn''t I see it before. I love you and I can''t lose you. It''s like you''ve stole my heart." They rubbed their noses together and he held her in his arms. It felt so right¡­ but then Corey remembered. "Nadine¡­ what about your¡­ baby''s father¡­" He felt uneasy as he said that. She looked into his eyes. "Darling¡­ the father is¡­" she sighed and stuck out her bottom lip. "Listen to me." Her voice quivered. "On a mission one night, I had to investigate a chaos ogre soldier ¡­ um ¡­ Isla didn''t tell me he was dangerous and he raped me." She said that in a rush and then gasped. Corey felt a cold sensation of shock in the pit of his stomach, followed by anger. "You were raped! And Isla knew about it?" She sniffed and nodded, her bottom lip still sticking out. "That''s how I''m pregnant. Believe me, I do not love the father. In fact, I think he''s just a sperm donor." Wait¡­ awful as this was, didn''t it mean that Nadine was available and had all the more reason to want to marry Corey? Her baby needed a real father. She could see that. Could his dream of being with her come true? Surely it could, if he proposed to her now, but did he have the nerve? "Nadine, I ¨C I love you too¡­ I will you um¡­" She gazed at him, her brown eyes wide. "Marry me!" He said in a rush. "If we get out of this, I ¨C I wanna be your baby''s father and ¡­ we''ll be a family straight away and we can live together and be happy." She stared at him, her brown eyes wide and round. Had he presumed too much? "Oh Corey ¡­ Yes! Yes!" She kissed him fiercely, he could taste her tongue and luscious lips, though fortunately she didn''t have pregnancy vomit in her mouth at this time. He began to feel sensations rise in him at her closeness and kissed her back as they clutched each other, but then there was a splashing through the water and something came lolloping towards them. They broke apart and saw, to their horror, a huge, slimy thing, leprous grey in hue, like a deformed humanoid thing, completely hairless, with sunken pits for eyes, a gaping mouth and long feelers instead of fingers. Some horror of the island''s underworld, but freakier than the giant ants. It was groping its way towards them, searching blindly for food, its gaping mouth open wide to reveal razor sharp teeth¡­ Warlock of the Mountain Nadine grabbed Corey by the hand and drew him to stand against the rocky wall of the cavern. The myriad prismatic lights of the cavern played over the curves of her pale body, dappling her alluring shape with all the colours of the rainbow and more. He couldn''t help it¡­ the presence of her naked so close was so captivating that he almost forgot about the creepy, deformed thing skulking around nearby. "Keep very still," murmured Nadine. "That poor creature is completely blind. Many eons ago, its ancestors were men and women, very much like us. Down in the dark of the tunnels beneath, they''ve wound up like that." A terrible fate. The spies edged their way out of the cavern and then hastily swam up river to get clothed again. Corey was already forgetting the uncanny creature in the cave as he thought again, with a thrill, that he and Nadine would be getting married and living together. He almost forgot the perils of the mission. "Nadine¡­ can I move in with you as soon as we get back?" He wouldn''t have to be stuck in the crowded novice dorm anymore, stuck with those guys who teased him and having to listen to their snoring or smelling their cheap aftershave. To think, he would get to be with Nadine the entire time¡­ and she would actually be his wife. Such a fabulous and fun lady. He would get to embrace her curvy form and kiss that freckled face every day. Not to mention fulfil his fantasies. He didn''t say that out loud though. Instead he blurted another thought that came into his head. "How do we decorate the baby''s room?" Nadine grinned, her brown eyes lighting up. "If we''re having a little boy, I think maybe a nautical theme to create a fun and adventurous space. If we have a little girl, then pink with a Princess theme." She touched her belly pensively. Her brown eyes had a far away look. "Yeah, I don''t have a stereotypically girly career. But would I want my baby to get into my line of work, with what happened to me?" She sighed. "We still have to get out of this. Get the heart back. If we can just do that, then we can get married. My bed is too big for just me, and it''s been lonely." She smiled. "You''ll love the cuddles in the evening that a man and wife should do to detox. But first, we gotta go on a honeymoon. Somewhere fun." She winked. She took his hand and they travelled through the woods, up to the heart of the island. Eventually, the trees gave way to a boundless plane, covered in blue-green vegetation. A crowd of ugly, two legged things with beaks, sort of like shrivelled brown birds with no feathers, scampered towards them and ran past, stumbling in their ungainly gait into the distance. Nadine scratched her freckled nose and gazed after them. "Grunts. They''re mighty spooked about ¡­ something. Acting like they''ve been frightened, or driven away. I think we may have a lead." They went in the direction the grunts were heading away from. This direction took them in the direction of a mountain that loomed menacingly against the horizon. When they grew close, they saw a dark, cave entrance. Nadine''s smooth brow puckered as she frowned. She ran her gloved fingers over the edges of the cave entrance. "This is not natural. This was carved. There may be a network of tunnels beyond here. Whoever it was who stole poor Arctur''s heart¡­ they may have their hideout here." Holding hands, they crept into the cave which opened into a tunnel. Little, black and white striped rodent like things scampered away from them as they went into the dark, their way lit by strange, glowing stones that had an iridescence that lit up the tunnels just enough for them to see by. The pale light made Nadine''s face look kind of ghostly ¨C like a ghost who''s freckled and fabulous, of course. There was the sound of shallow breathing echoing down the tunnel ahead. They saw a carved chair in the wall, with a small, ugly humanoid creature asleep. It was dressed in a crude guard uniform. It was like a little man, with an ugly, brown, make like face, with protruding bottom teeth. "Orc guard," whispered Nadine. "Not very alert. Now we tiptoe." They tiptoed carefully past the sleeping orc. When they were level with him, he grunted and shifted in his sleep. Nadine put her gloved hands on his shoulders and leaned her beautiful, freckled face close to his ugly, mask-like one. "Sleep¡­" she breathed. The orc sighed and seemed to relax. Nadine took Corey''s hand again. "Wish I''d had to investigate an orc," she said glumly. "I wouldn''t have been raped then. I know it." This was awkward. Corey''s insides squirmed with a painful mixture of feelings. Hot anger that she had been hurt, sad pity for her and yet at the same time, he felt unaccountable jealous pangs of the ogre whose baby she had inside her. It was very difficult to rationalise this. Even if her baby was conceived from a chaos ogre''s sperm fertilising her egg, Corey was the one she loved. Didn''t that mean Corey had won a great victory ¨C the one for her heart. A great achievement, when one considered how cool and glamorous Nadine was. He put his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. She gave a little moan and nuzzled his cheek as he stroked her long dark hair and her back. Hugging Nadine always made him feel so warm, and the scents of her hair and skin so exciting. "You make me feel better ¨C even at the most craptastic times," she said softly. "I love you." "I love you, too." They began to kiss. Corey felt giddy and his heart began to race as he felt aroused. They were making out here? But it felt so right and the feel of her soft lips against his made him want more¡­If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. But just as they were on the brink of giving themselves over to passion, they heard a dreadful yelling and crashing. They broke apart, startled. The whole ambience and series of events on this island had naturally made them both a bit jumpy! Holding hands, they crept up to the source of the noise. There was a screeching and yelling coming from behind a heavy, wooden door in the wall. Nadine turned her freckled face to him and put a gloved finger to her lips. She leaned against the door, heaving it open. In the room, there were two orcs. One was bigger than the sleeping guard they had seen. He was very nearly the size of a man. He was dressed in more expensive looking armour than the guard as well. He was whipping a tiny little orc. "Take that, you worthless sack of pond scum, take that, you miserable little runt." Nadine strode forward, glaring. "Stop that, you bully!" The orc raised his whip. "I''m chief, and I can beat my slave, freckleface! Yer going ter die down here¡­" At that moment, the orc slave growled and turned on Nadine to attack her! Ungrateful wretch. The little orc sank his teeth into the soft leather of her boot, but Corey kicked him hard across the room. Nadine raised her stun stick, and let the Orc Chief make an ass of himself, trying to strike her with the whip and getting it wrapped around her stick instead. Then she rapped him smartly over the head with it and soon had them both tied up with the whip. Nadine knelt by them, glaring. Corey thought he''d better leave the interrogating to her and see how a super-spy handled these things. "Tell me the truth," said Nadine, "who are you working for?" "This is the domain of the Warlock, stupid wench," grumbled the Chief. Nadine compressed her lips. "Right. And this Warlock, would he steal anything of like, value. I mean, anything that can be used in whatever magic he does." "Course. He hoards magic items. Didn''t yer know that already?" said the Chief. "And has he stolen a heart lately?" "Well I don''t know, he doesn''t exactly discuss it with me. No more than he would tell a human witch like you. He does steal stuff from off the island though. Foreigners¡­ so dumb." "Hmm¡­" Nadine twirled a strand of her long dark hair in her fingers, looking thoughtful. "One more thing¡­" she blushed and bit her lip. "Um¡­ has there been a ¨C a green chaos ogre around here¡­?" She went so deep red that her freckles looked weird. What was she thinking about? She was trembling. "Huge, fat, green¡­ ummm¡­" "Only one chaos ogre around here," said the Chief, frowning. "Uncouth monster. Don''t know where the Warlock dug ''im up from. He''s Blab or Blarsh or something. Always rambling about spreading his ogre seed among human women. Women may be stupid and blind, but even human men can''t be stupid enough to let stuff like that happen. They''d end up raising generations of cross-bred things¡­" Nadine took a deep breath. What must she feel about the Orc Chieftain''s crassness, especially since the ogre had raped her? "Alright," she said. "Stay here. Don''t make a peep. And don''t be so rude about women. While we''re at it, don''t beat orcs weaker than you. I suppose I''m wasting my breath¡­" She took Corey by the hand, and led him into the corridor. "Sounds like that Warlock must be the mastermind behind this theft," said Nadine. The tunnel grew wider. They could hear the sound of rushing water ahead. The tunnel opened out onto the sandy bank of an underground river. The air was chill here, but smelled fresher. There was a rickety old wooden bridge that crossed the river, but it looked in a shocking state of repair. Nonetheless, they tentatively set foot on it and took the risk. The bridge was damp and slimy. Corey almost slipped on a patch of slimy moss growing on it, but Nadine grabbed his arm to steady him. "Careful, darling." But being careful wasn''t enough. As he followed Nadine, the bridge gave way beneath Corey, the damp, rotten planks snapping under his weight and he fell into the icy water below. Nadine screamed a vehement exclamation and immediately dived in after him, her slender hands clutching at him as she dragged him back to the far bank. There they sat and shared her waterproof packet of dried fruits and meats and rested, while they dried out. Nadine put an arm around his shoulder. "Don''t worry, my love. We''ll find another way across." "Across? A way across? A way?" A reedy little voice sounded over the rushing of the river. It was a little man with a ratty face, punting a raft across. "I can get you across." He disembarked from his raft nearby them. "Twenty gold pieces." Nadine smiled at him. "Sorry. We''ve definitely got no gold." "A pouch of silver?" asked the ratty man, undeterred. "Um¡­" Nadine reached for her belt pouch. "Would you accept three silver pieces?" "Hmm. It''ll have to do," he squeaked. Corey didn''t think he''d trust the raft in a bathtub. Nonetheless, he followed Nadine as she crouched down on it, and the raft man punted them across to the far side. After they had bidden him farewell. On the far bank, there was a large timber door set into the wall. They both heaved it to one side and found themselves in a rough, stone room with broken furniture and a single wooden cupboard. There was a weird smell of bad meat in the air. There was a guy in shabby clothes lounging on a bench. He was staring at them without blinking. He had shaggy hair and red rimmed eyes. His ears were a bit pointed. Why? He looked like a human guy in every other way¡­ "Hey!" said Nadine, grinning at him. "What''re you doing here?" growled the man. Corey spoke up. "We''re on our honeymoon in the Diamond Sea." That was almost true. He slipped an arm around Nadine''s slender waste and she leaned her head against his shoulder. "On your honeymoon, eh?" said the man. "You''ve lost your way." "Yeah," said Corey. "Do you know much about this place." "This is in Warlock''s inner domain," said the man. "A refuge for the worst outcasts. I, kids, am a werewolf. I''m not welcome anywhere else. I''ve always been an outcast." Nadine''s brows drew together and she walked over to the werewolf and touched his arm. "I''m so sorry to hear that. It''s wrong to pick on people for stuff they can''t help." "Hmm," said the werewolf. "But how d''you stop them doing it? You can''t. The boatman and I have nowhere else to go. I suppose you''ve encountered him. Little guy with the raft. He''s a wererat." "I honestly had no idea," said Corey. He decided to try and flatter the werewolf to get info out of him. "You seem like a smart guy. What else can you tell us about this place?" "It''s cursed," grunted the werewolf. "The undead haunt the tunnels beyond. The warlock''s scariest bodyguards." Nadine looked worried. "We''ll be careful. Look after yourself." She took Corey by the hand and led him through the door at the far end of the room and they went down a dark tunnel. The place had the ancient, fusty reek of an underground dungeon. Nadine pressed her belt and a torch set into it flickered on. "Corey¡­" she said. "I think this is gonna get really dangerous. Whatever we''ve seen so far will be a picnic compared to the undead. I couldn''t stand it if anything happened to you¡­" The tunnel opened out into a rough chamber. The fetid stink was even worse here. They stopped dead at the sight of three corpses strewn around the rocky floor. Nadine gave a little cry. But this was nothing¡­ one of the corpses twitched, and it''s eyes flickered open. It''s eyes burned red! It bared rotted fangs and with unnatural, jerky movements, it flipped onto its feet, hissed at them, and then lunged with yellow fingernails¡­! Escape the Undead! The horror reared to its feet ¨C a semi-decayed man. His long tongue flickered in and out with a hissing sound. "A ghoul!" cried Nadine. "Don''t let it bite or scratch you!" She fired at the ghoul and so did Corey. The undead fiend dodged Corey''s bullet, but Nadine''s lodged in its shoulder, centimetres from its heart. This didn''t seem to bother it however. It danced around them hissing: "Fresssshh meat! At lassst." "Not on your un-life," said Nadine. She gritted her teeth and fired, this time getting the ghoul through the skull. The ghoul fell to the ground, where it twitched and died. Nadine let out a long breath. "You OK, Corey?" "Yeah. What exactly was that?" "A ghoul. The spirit of a cannibalistic evil-doer. We stumbled into his larder. Look at the other bodies¡­" She gestured around. "I can''t perform last rites for any of them. Don''t know what faiths they were, if any, and probably don''t belong to them. Rest in peace though, guys." They left the dreadful chamber and crept along the stone passage. It grew almost pitch black as they went on. "Cats eye goggles!" said Nadine. They put the goggles on. Nadine smiled at him. Through the night vision goggles, everything looked like it was suffused in a greenish yellow light. Nadine looked beautiful, even with the goggles on, although Corey thought he must look silly. The tunnel sloped downwards and the entered a vast crypt of some kind, the ceiling supported by cracked pillars. At one end there was an altar and various coffins were strewn about the room. "Based on what we''ve already seen¡­ I''ve got a real bad feeling about this," said Nadine. "Stick close to me, darling." The silence was deathly. A slow drip startled Corey as they crept around the coffins and towards the altar. The altar was ornately carved and studded with jewels. The drapes hanging from the walls would have been beautifully woven once, but now they were rotting and threadbare. A creaking noise made them jump and whirl round. The largest coffin was opening. A huge, muscle bound man sat up in his coffin as the lid swung open. His face was ashen, with dark areas around his glaring eyes. He bared his teeth at them. They were sharp, like the teeth of a wolf. A terrifying hiss came from his throat. He beckoned to them. "Vampire!" Said Nadine. "The ghoul was something like a very poor man''s vampire." The vampire was dressed in a nightshirt or shroud. He gave a drawn out hiss. "Come to me, my little running buffets." "Don''t look at his eyes!" urged Nadine. "Dunno if cat eye goggles filter out vampire hypnotism." "You have a beautiful throat, freckleface," gloated the vampire. "Just the right size for my teeth." Nadine fired at him and he snatched the bullet out of the air. Suddenly, the bullet exploded in the vampire''s grasp and the undead being caught fire, staggering around the crypt, roaring and hissing. Eventually he collapsed to the rocky floor, just a charred skeleton. Nadine took Corey''s hand. She was trembling. "Let''s go," she said, her voice trembling. She led him quickly from the crypt and down a winding stone passageway. After they had turned a corner she checked him over. "You OK?" she still sounded odd. The full beauty of her face was diminished in the weird, greenish tinge of the cat eye night vision goggles. He imagined she would look pale in the clear light of day and her freckles would really be showing. "I''m alright¡­ I didn''t think anything bad would happen. You''re with me." "Oh, Corey¡­" she sighed. "What we''re doing is dangerous and we''ve got lucky so far." "Cheer up," he said, touching her cheek. "Think of us getting married when this is all done." "I really hope," she said softly. They went down the winding corridors, Nadine checking the compass as they turned each corner. Suddenly, they saw a glimmer of light in the distance. The removed their cats eye goggles, and crept closer. In the room were four little humanoid creatures with blue-green skin, sitting around a table. They were each about three feet tall. They were leaning back on their little stools and smoking clay pipes, the clouds of smoke giving off a sweet, musty aroma. There were strangely shaped dice on the table, all the colours of the rainbow. "Well hi!" said Nadine, grinning and starting forwards into the room. She scooped up one of the little creatures in her arms. "What''re you doing so far down this hole of the undead then, eh?" "Hey! Gerroff!" The little creatures struggled. Nadine put him back on his chair, where he tried to recover some of his ruffled dignity. "We''re goblins. The Orc Chieftain sent us away. Said we were runty and useless." Nadine scowled. "I wanna slap him."You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Corey wondered why she was so protective of the goblins. Could it be her maternal feelings kicking in again? "We''re playing SwindleStones," piped another Goblin. "Won''t you play, too?" Nadine''s freckled cheeks flushed pink as she was suffused with the gambling fever. "Nadine, hadn''t we better keep moving?" asked Corey, tugging her arm. Nadine had already drawn up a stool. It looked pretty funny, her sitting at the table. It was really too small for her. The goblins were all three foot. She was five foot nine. "One round won''t hurt," she said. "Relax, boy." Piped a goblin. "We only play in coppers." The gambling game was a complicated one. The players had to throw the dice and then guess the numbers each player had thrown. They covered the dice with their hands so the others could not see. The dice were magic and couldn''t be moved once they had landed, until it was time for the next round. Nadine was grinning, her brown eyes shining, as she stared into the eyes of each goblin and bluffed about her throws. "Can any of you beat five fours? Anyone?" She had in fact only thrown one four. But the goblins fell for it and she won the round. "Come to momma!" She swept all the coppers to her. "Want a smoke to celebrate?" asked a goblin. Nadine smiled. "No, thanks. I''m going to have a baby, you see." "What?" squawked another goblin. "That boy blow his beans up your muff?" He pointed at Corey with his little green hand, that had only two fingers and a stubby thumb. Nadine scowled. "No! An ogre did that to me." She breathed through her nose. The goblin definitely had a weird and vulgar way of phrasing it. Corey tugged on her arm again. He had to be bold, if he was going to snap her out of the gambling habit. "A gambling thing¡­ you can''t really have that either, if we''re going to be a mom and dad together." He thought wording it cutely might get through to her. She blushed, looking more beautiful than ever. "N-No, Corey. I think you''re right." She rose to her feet. "Take care, goblins. I still feel bad about you being in this random room in the undead realm, like this." "What''re you clearing off now? You''re winning," grumbled a goblin. Corey dragged her towards the door. "Maybe the warlock will know what to do about them. He may be a thief, but he can''t be all bad if he gives refuge to outcasts." They went down various passages, leading in different directions like a maze. The came to another door, and unexpectedly, it opened into a carpeted room, lit up by flickering candles, the walls lined with bookshelves. An old man in star spangled robes was poring over an old tome with vellum pages. He glared at them. "Well? Why are you disturbing my concentration." Nadine put a hand to her mouth. "Sorry, sir, we just got lost¡­" "Get lost now!" He snapped, thumping the desk. The floor gave way beneath them. Corey yelled as they fell onto something soft and squishy. A green, viscous substance of some sort. They were standing knee deep in it. They were in a rocky cavern, in a pool of this stuff. "Oh my gosh, Corey, are you OK?" Nadine began checking him over. "What''re yoo doin'' here?" A huge, ugly green monster, his skin glistening with an oily sheen had shambled into the cavern. Nadine gave a gasp, and blushed deeply. Her freckles looked weird when she did that. "Blarsh!" That ogre that had raped and impregnated her. Corey felt indignation well up in him, but he couldn''t move his feet. "Yoo just one of my conquests, ''uman woman," said Blarsh, pointing at Nadine. "I''ve made more half-yooman babies ''an I c''n count." What number could the ogre count to, exactly? He had more half-human babies than that, anyway. Nadine was just one of that number of mothers. "But yoo¡­" the ogre pointed at Corey. "Yoo prettier and sexier ''an she is. I''ve no such tendn''cies, but if I ''ad¡­ cor!" Wait! What exactly did that mean? It didn''t exactly make Corey feel very comfortable. Nadine''s mouth had fallen open. What exactly was this doing to her, seeing the ogre again and then hearing him tell Corey that he must be sexier than her? It was beyond weird, to say the very least. "Now that rump¡­ cor!" said the ogre, pointing at Corey''s behind. Nadine scowled. "Don''t talk about him that way." The ogre ignored her and continued rambling to Corey. "If I did it with ''er again, I''d be thinkin'' of yoo, all the time." This was really creepy. Especially as the ogre was breathing heavily. If the ogre had no such tendencies as he put it, then why was he rambling on about Corey in this way? If he wasn''t really attracted to Corey and was only attracted to women, then surely, or so Corey thought, the ogre would be reminiscing about doing it with Nadine and making their baby? She was carrying his baby in her womb, and she was standing right there. The ogre rambled on. "I know class, I does¡­" He pointed at Nadine. "She''s not very excitin'' to mate wiv¡­ She jus'' keeps strugglin'' and fighting it even tho'' I gave her multiple orgasms that started ''er swoonin.''" Then the ogre started insulting Nadine, giving very uncomfortable and specific intimate details based on his complete carnal knowledge of her. Nadine glared, her brown eyes glinting. "H-How dare you¡­" Her voice was trembling. "I wouldn'' both wiv ''er, ''cept she might be a good mother," said the ogre, still prattling on in this weird way, now insulting poor Nadine. "I''ll ''elp yer out of there, tho.''" Blarsh pulled Corey out of the pit. His boots came free with a squelch. "I''d like ter do it wiv yer, you gorgeous and perfect hunk of man candy," said Blarsh. Uh Oh! This was quite ¡­ horrifying. "No!" said Nadine, turning pale, her freckles really showing. "Get me out of here¡­ I''m going to be the mother of one of your kids and I want another go¡­ I can''t stop thinking about you. Have me here and now." "Oh, alright," said Blarsh, heaving her out of the pit with a squelch and then pulling off her jacket. Nadine gritted her teeth and seized the stunning stick from inside her boot and rammed it into the ogre''s private parts. There was a buzzing and the ogre collapsed roaring to the ground. "Ooooh! Urrrrgh! Right in the breeding parts! After they gave yoo multiple orgasms and a baby¡­!" Nadine grabbed Corey''s arm. "Come on. Run." Corey knew perfectly well that it was against Nadine''s kind nature to ever kill anyone, but he couldn''t help but think it would be better if the ogre was dead and that they had just missed a chance to see to it. What if the ogre should sue for visitation rights for the baby? Corey didn''t want the ogre in his life, for obvious reasons that need no explanation! It would just be so much better if the ogre was out of the way. He could love Nadine''s baby just fine if he didn''t have to think about the biological father¡­ They hurried along a passageway that veered to the west according to Nadine''s compass. They reached a small rocky arch, beyond which was a vast cavern, partly lit by natural light that shone in through the roof. As they shone the torches on their belts around the cavern, they heard a rumble and the flickering of fire in the dim light... Corey''s heart hammered in his chest as a great, green dragon came stalking out of the shadows towards them, smoke curling from its nostrils! The Dragon, The Warlock, and The Ogre Fortunately Nadine held up a shield to deflect the blasts of dragon fire. It appeared to be made of the dragon¡¯s own scales. ¡°Lucky I had this glue with me,¡± murmured Nadine. She held out the dragon shield and it repelled the dragon¡¯s tongues of fire. The light lit up Nadine¡¯s face. She was so beautiful it made Corey ache with longing just looking at her face, let alone her boobs. It must have been the pregnancy making her cheeks glow like that. Corey could only wish sadly that it was his baby she was carrying. Nadine narrowed her eyes. ¡°Aww¡­ the poor dragon¡¯s blind. It must be from being stuck down here.¡± She picked up a pebble and chucked it into a corner of the cavern. The dragon stopped, distracted by the noise and they ran past to the cavern exit and down a long, winding corridor that led to a heavy wooden door. Nadine pushed it open, and holding hands, the two of them walked inside. In the room was a table at which an old man with a beard sat playing a complicated game of patience (or solitaire is the American word). Who was he and where was the warlock? Nadine curtseyed. ¡°Good Sir, we are not thieves, we come in peace. We only want what was stolen. The frozen heart. Nothing more. We definitely do not want to fight. We must have the heart back. It could save a man¡¯s life.¡± ¡°Why does he need to know this?¡± asked Corey. ¡°And where¡¯s the warlock?¡± ¡°I am the warlock, you dunce,¡± said the old man. ¡°You say you come in peace, young lady? And I suppose the pair of you left a trail of my dead minions in your wake?¡± ¡°No!¡± said Nadine, her smooth brow creasing. ¡°We¡¯d never kill the poor guards. We did have to defend ourselves against the undead, but releasing them from the curse of undeath was a mercy that should have been granted already. I¡¯d also like a word about how you treated the dragon. The poor thing looks ill.¡± ¡°Sorry to cut you short,¡± said the warlock, ¡°but let¡¯s keep to the point. You want the heart? Then are you willing to play for it?¡± He pointed at the cards on the table. Uh oh¡­ Corey didn¡¯t like the sound of this. Nadine gazed at the cards. ¡°What would you put down as a stake?¡± asked the warlock. ¡°Your hand in marriage to Blarsh the ogre?¡± Nadine put a hand to her belly. ¡°The ogre has had his fill of me already,¡± she said, wrinkling her freckled nose. ¡°He made it clear he¡¯s got no further interest in me, even though he left me pregnant. Corey will have my hand in marriage. The ogre lately threatened to sexually harass Corey, and I will never allow that. I won¡¯t let him anywhere near us.¡± ¡°The jealous type?¡± said the warlock. ¡°He must save himself for you? Then will you put your child with the ogre down as a stake? Remember Rumpelstiltskin? An unwanted child shouldn¡¯t be as big a deal.¡± Nadine¡¯s freckled cheeks flushed pink and her lovely eyes glinted with her anger. She breathed through her nose, her boobs rising and falling. Corey may have failed to realise who the warlock was, but he could see that Nadine was gravely offended on her unborn child¡¯s behalf. Corey put a hand on her arm and she turned to him, her gaze softening. ¡°I think the warlock is joking and trying to say that a gambling addiction can lead to bad places.¡± He didn¡¯t know if that was right or not, but it fit the moment. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Nadine shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re right, my love.¡± She smiled at him then turned to the warlock, folding her arms. ¡°Point taken. I trust that you had that good intention for what you just said.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Tell you what,¡± said the warlock, ¡°I¡¯ll fight you for the heart if you don¡¯t want to try your hand at the cards.¡± The warlock pushed the cards to one side. Corey noticed something like a spark as he did so. Hm¡­ were the cards more than they seemed? Nadine held up her slender hands. ¡°No, no, I said no fighting, I don¡¯t want anyone getting hurt.¡± Her bottom lip quivered. All the stress and excitement was getting to her. The warlock rose to his feet. ¡°You wanted a contest, so we will have to fight. I will win. I have mystic energy and skills honed over decades. You are a freckle faced girl armed only with tacky gadgets.¡± The warlock raised his hands that began to pulse with blue energy. This did not look good. What gadget did Nadine have to fit her for this? His eyes were fixed on Nadine, so he wasn¡¯t paying attention to the table. Corey quickly swept up the cards. The warlock whirled round. ¡°Leave those! Or taste my wrath.¡± Corey took out the simple cigarette lighter he kept hidden in his pocket in case of emergencies. It was just for lighting fires. Nothing fancy. It wasn¡¯t even one of his gadgets. It was too low tech. But it could make short work of the cards. He set them alight and the warlock cried out wildly as they burned and then doubled over coughing. So¡­ the warlock¡¯s power came from his cards. He had supposed Corey was too dumb to realise this. The warlock staggered, but Nadine stopped him from falling. Her soft brown eyes were wide with worry. ¡°Oh! Hang on, you¡¯ll be alright.¡± She rummaged through her pack and brought out a glowing blue tube. ¡°Nuclear energy ¨C should bring your energies to maximum.¡± There was a flash and the warlock was surrounded by a blue aura. ¡°I live!¡± he said. ¡°Your artificial energy sustains me. As you spared my life I think a reward is in order.¡± ¡°Silly. As if I¡¯d just let you die,¡± said Nadine, shaking her head. He touched the door on the other side of the room which swung open. There was a room beyond lit by dimly burning torches. It was bare except for an iron chest. ¡°My chest only opens for me,¡± said the warlock. For no one else.¡± He unlocked the chest and drew out a red crystal heart and a small bag. He handed them to Nadine. Here¡¯s the heart. And your reward. Now begone.¡± There was a secret passage from the room where the warlock had had his magic cards and it led Corey and Nadine back to the shore. From there they were able to contact a boat that took them home. The bag contained diamonds of unusually good cut and clarity, so Nadine was now rich. Just as well Corey had got her to promise to marry him. She was not a lady to go back on her word. They were able to retire from the Dark Moon Spies.
00O00 It was a glorious wedding. Nadine looked the definition of freckled and fabulous in her blue satin dress. Her family were all so nice, just like Corey thought they would be, especially her mother. Corey was so lucky to get a mother-in-law like that. Then they got to go on a honeymoon to a paradise island with no monsters or danger. Or so they thought¡­ After they had been swimming in the tepid azure waters, they returned to their chalet and began cuddling and kissing. Nadine¡¯s baby bump was showing now. It was distracting Corey thought, feeling it pressed against him. ¡°I love you,¡± said Nadine, her brown eyes shining. ¡°I love you too,¡± said Corey. Suddenly there was a crashing and the chalet wall broke. It was Blarsh the ogre! ¡°Surprise, surprise!¡± he bellowed. Corey¡¯s heart sank. This was like a development from a nightmare. How had the horrible ogre got in? Then he saw a hole in the sand like a mineshaft of something. A route onto the island? Not the strangest thing they had ever encountered. Nadine was staring, her eyes wide and her face going pale, her freckles really showing. This must be weirder and more disconcerting for her than for Corey. Her memories of Blarsh were very detailed, vivid and relevant. ¡°I said I was coming ¨C for you, pretty boy!¡± the ogre told Corey, completing ignoring Nadine, even though she was carrying his baby. ¡°Oh no!¡± said Nadine. ¡°I¡¯m protecting Corey.¡± She quickly pushed aside a flagstone with her slender hands and pulled out a taser which extended long like a radio antenna. ¡°Sorry to have to use this,¡± she began as the taser crackled. ¡°I¡¯m not, give me that,¡± said Corey snatching it from her. He tased the ogre in the balls, causing him to bellow and his eyes to roll. Corey tased him again, causing him to stagger backwards and fall down into the hole in the sand. There was a pause and then the ogre hit the bottom with a resounding thump and did not move again. ¡°Self-defence,¡± said Corey. ¡°It was justified. And it saved our marriage too.¡± He put his arms round Nadine who was pale and trembling, her sweet nature easily upset by stuff like this. She hugged him and cried softly onto his shoulder. Corey was triumphant! Blarsh was dead and Corey¡¯s family would remain intact no matter what.