The Succubae Seduction Bk. 02: The Twins Ch. 01

Twins, the product of two worlds, fight to protect what they know and love. Traps are set for them, and aid arrives when it is most needed. But can that aid be trusted? Or is it another trap?

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Chapter 01

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Ogre the Top

Sheldon Lance grinned at the hideous monster before him. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he taunted the ogre. He swapped hands with his sword, and then back again. This was going to be fun.

"Mmm, yummy!" Drool splattered from the ogre's open maw as it bellowed. The thing was just as ugly as the rest of its kin; with a brow that hung far over its deep set eyes, and a complexion that would make even the most acne riddled human teen blanch. It towered over Sheldon, or Eldon as he preferred to be called, by almost ten feet. Its biceps were bigger around than Eldon's waist. The ground shook as the thing took a step towards its prey.

"Don't say I didn't give you a chance," he told the dumb monster. Technically he was only here to stop the beast from hurting visitors, on Aunt Lysa's orders, but Eldon wouldn't lose any sleep if he had to put one dumb ogre down. He'd killed before.

The ogre swept a meaty palm at him, trying to smash him, but he deftly moved aside. The thing was fast and tried to backhand him, but Eldon was faster. He stepped in and prodded one of the huge fingers with his sword.

"Owie!" the ogre bellowed, pulling its hand back.

"Are you going to keep attacking visitors?" Eldon asked, giving the sword a flourish.

"Would you quit twirling me around like that?" his sister demanded. Shelly, his twin sister, had formed herself into the sword he held and was able to speak by creating vibrations in her blade. Sometimes when she transformed she made a mouth, but considering the places he was going to be sticking her, he couldn't blame her for not using a mouth. "You're going to make me sick. Bad enough you're going to shove me into that disgusting creature! And quit taunting it. Let's get this over with and get back home."

"Sorry, Shells," he replied, using his pet name for her. "I'll try to make this quick."

"Yummy visitors!" the ogre bellowed, coming for Eldon again. He almost felt bad about having to kill such a dumb animal. Almost.

"Eldon, behind you!" Shelly screamed.

Eldon didn't hesitate. He trusted his sister without reservations. He dropped to his knees, and then shoved hard against the ground, dodging to the side.

The maneuver saved his life. Another ogre, one he hadn't seen or was even aware of, picked itself off the ground right where Eldon had been. This one was bigger than the first by a couple feet. Eldon would have been crushed if not for Shelly's warning.

"Yummy," the second ogre grinned, licking its lips. Dirt still clung to its rotund belly where it had landed. The thing had tried to do a belly flop on him!

"Something's not right," Shelly muttered. "That ogre literally just appeared right behind you."

"No problem," Eldon tried to grin. He couldn't let his sister know how shaken he was from that near miss. "As long as you're watching my back, I can take on two ogres. Three might be trouble, but I can handle—"

"Duck!"

Eldon rolled, again dodging to the side and out of the way. And again, his sister's timely warning saved his life.

"What the hell!" he exclaimed as he came back up to his feet. "How did two ogres sneak up on us?" The creatures were huge and lumbering. They didn't know the meaning of being quiet.

"I don't know, but this is more than we can handle," Shelly informed him. As if he didn't already know that! "Ouch, you're squeezing my head too hard!"

"Sorry," he said, loosening his hold. "It's not my fault you put your head as the grip."

"I'd rather have my feet plunged into one of those smelly monsters, than my head," she retorted.

Eldon dodged to the side as the third ogre swung an uprooted tree trunk at him. Dirt from the uprooted roots splattered him. He had to squint his eyes to keep it out.

"Dodge back," Shelly said and Eldon obeyed.

"Another one?" He asked, looking around, but it had only been another attack by the third. This one was the biggest by far, easily five feet taller than the first. "We're in some serious trouble," he muttered, as the second ogre took a swing at him.

"Lysa, are you there?" Eldon called, barely avoiding another blow from the tree trunk. "We could sure use some help right about now!"

The wind was silent in response.

"We've got incoming," Shelly warned.

"Shit, just what I need!" Eldon swore. "Another fucking ogre!"

"You know Dad wouldn't approve of you swearing," Shelly said, but it was obvious that she was just as rattled as he was. "This isn't an ogre."

"Who?" Eldon had just enough time to ask, before he saw her. Long black hair flowed out behind her as she ran. Long, darkly tanned legs flashed beneath a skirt made of some type of black furred animal skin.

"Looks like you could use some help," the stranger offered, brandishing two large daggers.

"Sure," he quipped, trying to flash her a smile. It was ruined by having to dodge an attack from the original ogre they'd been sent to stop. "Lemme just clean up this refuse, and we can talk—oomph!"

Eldon was a bit too slow dodging the next attack, and it struck him in the gut. He recovered quickly, rolling back to his feet and brandishing his sword.

"Focus! If you're done being cocky, maybe you could actually fight," Shelly chided him.

The stranger looked around trying to identify where Shelly's voice was coming from.

"Yeah, yeah," Eldon said, feeling his cheeks flush from embarrassment. He should have been able to dodge that one. Maybe he was wearing out.

"I'll take the big guy, if you think you can keep the other two off my back," the strange woman told him. Before he could respond, she dodged getting smashed by the tree trunk. His jaw fell open as she jumped onto the tree and began running up it at the massive ogre.

There are a few things I'd like to do with that backside, he thought, watching her move. The second ogre reached for her and Eldon remembered her request. With only two ogres to worry about, he had enough time to attack. He stepped in, bringing the sword around and severing the tendons in the ogre's wrist.

"Yow, yow, yowie!" the beast bellowed, yanking his arm back.

Eldon stepped forward to shove his blade into its heart, but the first ogre took a swipe at him. He had to move fast, to avoid getting crushed by the thick palm.

"Ger off me," the biggest ogre bellowed. Eldon didn't have time to look as the first ogre used its speed to reverse its attack.

He dodged to the side again, but this time he took a swipe at the monster's hand, leaving a long gash.

The ground shuddered from something as he followed up his attack, and this time his sword sank up to the cross guard in the ogre's chest. His sword slipped free of the mortal wound as he pulled it out. He spun on the spot, facing the last standing ogre.

"Shelly! Spear!" he commanded, pulling his right arm back. The weight in his hand shifted. With all his strength, he threw his sister at the ogre, aiming for its chest.

Just before the spear impacted, Eldon saw the other woman climb onto the ogre's back. Her daggers flashed as she slit its fat throat and the spear buried itself in the ogre's chest. Between the two of them, the monster never stood a chance.

"I'd call that one and a half for each of us," the girl said as she cleaned her daggers off on a filthy piece of what the last ogre had considered clothing. "Of course, I took down the biggest one, so I think that puts me ahead."

"I killed one, while facing two," Eldon replied, trying not to laugh at her bravado. "I think that brings us back to even."

"Yuck! I'm never going to get this stink out," Shelly complained as she extracted herself from the ogre. She'd changed back into her true form. Shoulder length brown hair was matted to her head with sweat and blood. From her waist down, she was covered in ogre gore. "I hate when you throw me like that!"

The stranger spun on her, daggers out and ready. "Where did you come from?"

"Relax," Eldon told her, holding an empty palm out to show he meant no harm. "She's with me."

The girl's blue eyes flashed between them for a moment. After a few tense seconds, she grimaced and put away her daggers.

"Damn, you're taken. I was hoping to get some cock after that fight. Something about killing monsters gets my blood going, but I don't mess with men who are taken."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Eldon said. "It's not like that! We're siblings! Eww!" The thought of getting it on with his twin sister did not appeal to him.

"Your sister?" the girl asked. "I don't see any resemblance. You don't even have the same skin color."

Eldon looked down at himself, and recalled changing his shape to that of a body builder. It was his favorite form to fight in. His arms were dark and matted with hair, whereas his sister was fair toned. It only took a moment of concentration to shift into his natural state.

"So, you're a shape shifter, huh?" she asked, and then glanced at Shelly. "Both of you?"

"Kind of," he replied. "I—"

"Something like that," Shelly interrupted him. "Who are you?"

Eldon knew that look on his sister's face. She didn't trust this stranger.

"Shells, relax. She saved us. Don't be rude. Dad wouldn't like that either," he told her, getting back at her for her comment about him swearing.

"It was rather convenient," Shelly responded. "How do we know she didn't bring the other ogres?"

"You'll have to excuse her," Eldon told the other woman. "She gets grumpy when anyone attractive is around."

"No, I get grumpy when I don't know what's going on," she shot back. "Eldon, those ogres appeared out of nowhere. We were sent to fight one, but suddenly there were three. This was a trap."

"Well, if she meant us any harm, why did she save us?" Eldon shot back. "She could have stayed back, and watched us become their 'yummies'!"

"Okay," the other girl interrupted. "You have me convinced. You're siblings. You can quit squabbling now."

Eldon's cheeks burned at the laughter in her voice. Turning to look at her, he saw her holding her sides, trying to keep her laughter down. He realized what he had at first taken for a good tan, was actually her natural skin tone.

"Look," she said when she could get enough air, "I saw someone in trouble, and thought I'd help. No big deal. You can go on your way, and I'll continue on mine." She turned to walk away, but Eldon called after her.

"Wait! What's your name?"

"Jessica," she called over her shoulder. "Jessica Angel."

* * * *

"Tell me again," Aunt Lysa said to the twins after making their report. "How did they appear out of nowhere?"

"I don't know," Shelly said. "One moment we were facing one ogre, then another one appeared out of thin air and tried to make Sheldon a pancake. The third one was the same, only it appeared with most of a tree in its hands."

"You don't think ogres have learned how to teleport, do you?" Eldon asked the Pillar of Air. Technically, she was the twins' sister, not their aunt, but with her position of power, and being over twenty years older than them, they preferred to think of her as their aunt. Of course, she didn't look any older than them. She'd been brought into the world as a full grown adult, while Shelly and Sheldon had to grow up the hard way.

Sheldon didn't mind his childhood. He'd had a few other siblings to play with, as well as a world of magic to explore with their mother. Their dad wasn't around much, but not because he didn't care. He was an important man in his own right. As the father to one of the Pillars of the Shadow world, and married to another one, he was the perfect person to act as the ambassador to the Earth governments.

Over the last fifteen years, regular humans were slowly being allowed to enter the Shadow World. This broke a law over a millennium old, but their dad fought hard to get the change made, along with another of his wives, Becky. They'd argued that the two worlds needed to work together, so societies like the Paladonic Knights, or what was left of them, and the Daughters of Respite wouldn't be so strong.

There had been a few deaths in the beginning on both sides, but every one that travelled between the worlds knew that there was a risk. For many humans, it was a chance to experience magic. For many of the more ancient supernatural creatures, it was an opportunity to return to the world they'd been born in.

"Of course they can't teleport!" Shelly scolded him, bringing Eldon back to the present. "Not even the Pillars can teleport, though they can move incredibly fast through their own elements."

"No, this has to be something else," Lysa said. Eldon could tell that she was getting agitated, by the way the air was constantly moving around them. They were outside, but the power of the Pillar of Air was a tangible thing when she was getting worked up. Lysa was the youngest and newest of the six Pillars. Even after twenty-two years, she still didn't have complete control over her powers. "What about this girl you mentioned? What was her name?"

"Jessica Angel," Eldon said with a smile. She really had been a looker. And those moves! Why had Shelly had to go and be rude to her?

"Hmm, I don't know of her. Do you think she was human?" Lysa asked.

"She didn't seem to use any powers or abilities that I saw," Shelly offered.

"Other than the way she moved," Eldon added.

"Of course you'd notice that!" Shelly back-handed his chest.

"Well, I am my father's son!" Eldon grinned. When they looked into a mirror, it was easy to see that they were twins, though obviously not identical. Their personalities on the other hand were something else entirely.

"Hmm, she didn't try to stick with you, so I doubt she was the one to spring this trap," Lysa said. "Yes, Shelly, I agree that this was a trap of some sort, but who would want to kill you?"

"The Knights or Daughters," Eldon said without hesitation.

"Maybe," Lysa offered, "but I doubt that. Everyone who comes here is heavily screened, and all the portals are watched. One of their order hasn't been able to pull off an attack since that bomb twelve years ago. Still don't know what they were thinking, trying to kill a fire elemental with an incendiary bomb."

"What do you think it is, then?" Shelly asked.

"I don't know," Lysa replied. "But until we figure it out, I want you two to be careful. I'm not sending you on any more missions alone, either."

"We can handle ourselves," Eldon tried not to sound like he was complaining. He knew it wasn't the case, but he felt as though they were being punished. "There's nothing Shelly and I can't handle together."

"Except three ogres at once," Shelly muttered.

Eldon grimaced, but he couldn't argue with her. If Jessica hadn't shown up when she did, those ogres would have been fighting over Eldon pancakes.

"Get some rest, you two," Lysa told them. "And I mean it, Eldon. Don't do anything foolish!"

Aunt Lysa faded into the air, leaving the twins. Their rocs were waiting behind them, to carry them home, and to their respective baths. Eldon wasn't as filthy as his sister, but he still stunk from the battle with the ogres, and claiming his spoils afterwards.

He pulled out a small vial from his pocket and grimaced. It held some of the blood of the biggest ogre in it. Enough to allow him to change into the monster's shape and form.

* * * *

What Eldon was about to do was foolish. He knew that, and his sister knew that, but he was still going to do it.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Shelly asked. She was cleaned up, and sitting on a bench by the forest that sat behind their house. They'd made their residence in the Pillar of Earth's domain, with her blessing of course.

"We never know when it might come in handy," Eldon said.

"I know, but what if you can't control yourself?" she worried. "What if we have another incident? I wasn't able to stop you last time. I can't stop an ogre on my own, either."

"This won't be like that. Ogres are at least humanoid in shape," he told her. But inside he shivered as he remembered the last time he'd tried to take on a form that was too different from his own. The closer to his normal form he tried to stay, the more of him remained. If he tried to change himself too much, he would lose who he was, until he changed back after so much time had passed. The time needed to change back differed, depending on the form. Chaining him up wouldn't do much good against the strength of an ogre.

"If you try to attack me, I swear I'll turn into a bear trap and cut off your leg," she warned him. Why didn't she have the same restrictions on changing her form that he had? She could take the form of any nonliving thing she touched. He could only replicate living things.

"Well, here goes," he said. Before he could stop and think better of it, he popped the top of the vial, and tilted its contents into his mouth. He wanted to gag as the vile stuff hit his throat, but he forced himself to swallow.

The first change was always the worst. He had no control. It happened the instant whatever he used as a catalyst entered his body.

Agony split through his limbs as his muscles grew and bunched into inhuman proportions. His arms and legs lengthened, shredding his clothing, and the shape of his head changed. Even his teeth became loose and jagged.

The worst part, however, was his mind. He actually felt himself growing dumber. Fog seemed to seep into his thoughts, slowing them down, or hiding them entirely.

When it was done, the man that had been Eldon Snow lifted a huge head and looked around. Something smelled delicious nearby, and his tummy rumbled. He sniffed the air some more to try and pinpoint what smelled so good, and found it in front of him. His eyesight wasn't the best, but he made up for it with his sense of smell.

"Yummie," he grinned as the frightened creature started to back away. Fear made it smell better. It tried to talk to him, but the words were too fast and complicated for him to understand. "Yummie," he repeated.

Suddenly his food's scent changed. It no longer smelled yummie, but sharp and painful. He backed away, confused by the sudden change.

Shelly, the thought floated through his muddled brain. The emotions that accompanied that thought were too complicated for the poor beast's intellect. He tried to flee, but didn't know where he was, or how he'd gotten there. He was in a small depression in the ground with a few trees around him, but that was all he knew. He wanted to smash something. That sounded like fun. But he still smelled that dangerous thing, and didn't dare smash it.

I'm Sheldon, another thought floated through his mind. This one seemed to stick a bit better. He almost understood it. Something in the way it applied to him.

"Sheldon?" the word reached his ears, and he backed away.

"No!" He bellowed. "I Sheldon!" That's right. He was Sheldon. Not this yummie in front of him. Why would she call herself by his name? Where had the dangerous thing gone? "You, yum—um. . . Shelly?"

Slowly his human mind started to push its way out of the fog. "Me Sheldon. You, Shelly," he repeated over and over again, until he felt sure of himself. "Wow, ogres are dummies!" He exclaimed, happy with how intelligent that sentence sounded.

"Are you back, Sheldon?" she asked him. She stayed back and wouldn't come near him.

"I'm me," he said proudly, thumping himself in the chest with his massive fist. It felt good to do so, and he did it again. Then he thought to bring his other hand into it, and beat against his chest with both fists. "This fun!" he bellowed, laughing.