Chapter 35: The Part Where Things Go Wrong

IRO

“Iro.”

At the sound of Zeltaria’s voice, Iro stopped his library cleaning duties and turned around. He stood straight, hoping he hadn’t done anything wrong or that his uniform wasn’t messed up.

“Yes, Miss Zel?” he responded, feeling a bit nervous about being called out of the blue.

Zeltaria chose her words carefully. “I…need a favor. It’s something different for you. Holly is…~unavailable~, and I need someone to accompany me to the council meeting today. I was hoping ~you~ could step in.”

Zeltaria was dressed in a professional outfit and looked like she had just stepped out of the bath, with tiny water droplets still clinging to her smooth skin and her horns shining.

Iro swallowed hard and clasped his hands in front of him. “Are you sure? I-I don’t think ~I’m~ the right person—”

Zeltaria leaned in, bringing her face level with Iro’s. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t believe you could do it. So, are you in?”

Iro swallowed again but nodded. “I-if you think it’s okay, then when do we leave?”

Zeltaria straightened up. “~Now. ~Holly’s unavailability has set me back, and we need to leave ~now~.”

Zeltaria placed her hand on Iro’s back and quickly led him out of the mansion, leaving a quick message for Cerys, the centaur, that she was taking Iro out for the day.

Soon, Iro and Zeltaria were at the estate’s front gate. Zeltaria sighed in relief and pointed to an approaching two-seater carriage pulled by a muscular centaur man in an official uniform and helmet.

“Ambassador Zeltaria? Sorry for my tardiness. I hope it hasn’t caused any inconvenience,” the centaur said as he stopped in front of Zel and Iro.

Zeltaria opened the carriage door and motioned for Iro to get in. “No worries. I was also running late. Let’s not delay any further.”

The centaur nodded but, as Zeltaria closed the carriage door, he muttered under his breath, “Don’t worry, ~monster~.”

ZELTARIA

As Zeltaria settled into the seat across from Iro, she noticed something: Iro was asleep. Or unconscious.

Before she could react, a sudden sharp pain in her neck blurred her vision and drained the color from her surroundings. Soon, Zeltaria couldn’t fight it anymore, and she lost consciousness.

IRO

Iro woke up with a start and began to squirm and jerk around. He tried to speak, but a fabric gag tied around his snout muffled his words.

Not that he could ~see~ anything, since he was also blindfolded.

Trying to calm down and figure out his situation, Iro realized his wrists were tied and suspended above his head.

His ankles were also bound tightly, making it hard to move or stand up straight. All Iro could do was whimper softly.

“Iro? Are you waking up, finally?”

Iro jerked again. He recognized that soft, seductive voice, but it had an unfamiliar edge to it. “Zmf?” he mumbled through his gag, trying to locate the voice.

“You’re not used to sedatives or anesthetics, are you? Probably for the best.”

Iro could ~hear~ Zeltaria speaking, but not being able to see or touch anything was making it hard for him to calm down. “Amf wmf imf trmblmf?”

Iro felt a pang of sadness when he heard Zeltaria sigh. “Yes, I think we’re in trouble. Here, lower your head…let me see if I—”

Iro tilted his head towards the voice as much as he could and felt a soft poke on his cheek.

The poke turned into a slight jabbing pain until his blindfold was clumsily pulled off, revealing that the jab was from Zeltaria’s pointed horn. Zeltaria was also bound, but her situation looked worse.

Zeltaria was naked, her full breasts and inviting pussy exposed, and bound not with ropes but with metal cuffs and chains marked with glowing green runes.

Zeltaria didn’t seem too badly hurt.

But she had a growing bruise on her left cheekbone and a few scrapes on her bare body, signs of a struggle.

Zel’s arms were tied behind her back and connected to the ankle and thigh cuffs on her legs. The chains linking all the cuffs also ran through a metal loop in the floor.

“There you go. Now you can see. ~And~ you can see we’re not in a good place.”

Iro looked around and saw they were in a dark, damp cellar.

A small, barred, half-circle window across the room was the only source of light, apart from the faint glow of Zeltaria’s eyes and the runes on her cuffs.

Iro noticed he was mostly naked, left only in his underwear, though he didn’t understand why.

“Wmf hppmf?” Iro mumbled through his gag again.

Zeltaria let out a small laugh before shaking her head.

“I’m not entirely sure, but I think some of my rivals in the council and old enemies have finally decided to come after me.

“You were unfortunately caught in the crossfire. Here, let me see if I can get that gag off too.”

Zeltaria stretched her neck and pointed her horns at Iro. Using his newfound sight, Iro angled his mouth to hook the gag over her horn, and they worked together to pull the gag free.

Iro was panting heavily, gasping for breath when Zeltaria broke the silence.

“Just so you know, they didn’t gag me because they wanted to hear me talk. I gave them a piece of my mind, and they said they’d be back…so we need to get you out of here before they return.”

Iro’s eyes widened as he looked at Zeltaria, shaking his head in disbelief. “W-what? No way. I can’t just leave you here. W-we—”

“Iro. Listen, these cuffs aren’t going anywhere. They’ve blocked my magic, you’re not the one who cast the spell, and you don’t know the incantations to break it.

“I’m stuck. ~You~…well, they didn’t seem too worried about you. I’m more than happy to use that to our advantage.”

Iro whimpered a little, but he understood. He was out of his league, and Zeltaria, with her mysterious past, seemed to have a handle on the situation.

“What should we do?”

Zeltaria grunted. “You need to bring your feet over here so I can chew through those ropes. Then you can work on freeing your hands. Just…try not to get too excited,” she said, forcing a smirk.

Iro raised an eyebrow, but did as he was told, trying to position his feet near Zeltaria. Her warm breath and soft skin felt surprisingly pleasant against his furry paws.

With a surprising amount of skill, Zeltaria managed to use her sharp teeth to cut through the ropes around Iro’s ankles. She was panting from the effort and the struggle against her own restraints.

“There. Think you can get your hands free?” Zeltaria asked, looking up at Iro.

Iro nodded and managed to curl his body up, getting his hind paws to the ropes around his wrists. He was able to loosen the knot enough to slip one hand out, then the other, freeing himself.

“Good boy. Now, you need to find a way out of here. I’ve been hearing ~dripping~, so I think there’s a drain somewhere in here,” Zeltaria said quickly and quietly, trying to rush Iro to safety.

Iro, however, had no idea what to do in a situation like this. He knelt beside Zeltaria, trying to pull at her cuffs, only to earn pained grunts and muttered curses from the Succubus.

“Hey, ~dog~, I told you it won’t work. Listen to me, ~listen!~ You need to get out of here. Go home. Tell Cerys. Try to figure out where ~here~ is. If I’m right, that drain will lead you out, but you don’t have time to waste on me. ~Go~.”

Iro whimpered softly and looked directly into Zeltaria’s eyes. “I’ll come back.”

Zeltaria forced a smile. “I’ll be here.”

Iro stood and quietly made his way through the dark room, eventually finding a drain. He was relieved to find it was a small metal grate in the floor leading to a narrow passageway.

Iro looked back one last time to see Zeltaria’s glowing eyes staring back at him from the darkness.

He heard footsteps outside the room, behind a heavy metal door, and knew he was out of time.

Grabbing the metal grate, Iro was relieved when it moved. With a powerful pull, he managed to remove the grate.

Iro fell onto his backside but quickly recovered, dropping into the small hole and replacing the grate behind him.

The sound of the door in the room above being thrown open made Iro jump, and the angry words spoken in a language he didn’t understand made him shiver in fear.

A sharp slapping sound suggested that Zeltaria didn’t have much time left. Iro needed to come back for her soon.

Ignoring his own discomfort, Iro squeezed through the tight tunnel as quickly as he could. Suddenly, he fell into a small channel of fast-moving water.

With a scream, Iro was swept away into the rushing water. He struggled against the current, trying to get to the surface for air.

Despite managing to breathe occasionally, Iro quickly lost track of where he was as the water connected to more and more channels.

Finally, with a gurgling yell, Iro was washed out into one of Inasa City’s many canals.

CERYS

“Ceryyyyyyyss!” Airy called out, prancing through the mansion on her taloned feet and resisting the urge to fly. “Cerys!”

Cerys stepped into the hallway to respond to the harpy, an annoyed look on her face. “~Yes~, Miss Airy? Do you need help?”

Airy shook her head. “Where is Iro? He said he was going to play on the clotheslines with Airy later.”

Cerys frowned. “You’re not ~playing~ on the clotheslines. You’re helping Miss Aranya hang the laundry to dry.”

Airy shook her feathered head. “Airy likes to hang on the wires, it makes her head feel heavy and smart.”

Cerys sighed and grabbed the back of Airy’s collar. “Come on, let’s go find Miss Aranya so she can remind you how to do your job properly.”

Cerys half-carried Airy out of the hallway and into the foyer, only to hear a soft thud against the door.

Cerys looked at the door curiously while Airy looked straight up, flapping her feathered arms in an attempt to free herself from Cerys’ grip.

Cerys ignored Airy’s flapping and set her on her feet, taking a step toward the door just as it swung open. A soaking wet, nearly naked, dripping mess of a white canine flopped onto the stone floor of the foyer.

“Iro?!” Cerys exclaimed.

“Doggy?!” Airy cheered.

“C-Cerys!” Iro gasped, trying to stand but failing, clearly exhausted beyond belief. “Z-Zel!” He coughed, spitting up a bit more water.

Cerys moved in closer, attempting to lower herself to his level. “Mister Iro, calm down. What’s happened?”

Iro was gasping for breath, struggling to find the energy to speak. “Zel. They’ve taken Zel!”