Chapter 110 - Beautiful Monster

The beautiful woman stood up in a feline stance, crawling back on the bed, and looking around. Gutard tilted his head to the side, frowning, but clearly curious about what would happen next.

Alexa, however, was scared. She had managed to banish the Shade, but did the Shade return? So fast? It didn't make any sense. Was it because it was in Alexander's body?

"Who is the masked person, Your Majesty?" the sultry voice asked, looking directly at the sovereign, and Alexa thanked herself for being with the accessory. "I don't understand. What should I do?" the dark-eyed, fleshy-mouthed woman was very sensual and seemed naively wonder whether she should welcome the unexpected guest or leave.

The Light Bearer wanted to have more knowledge. Right now, Alexa was just trying to understand what she had done wrong. The woman with the bronze foot was a Gello, or as Christians called it, a succubus. Alexa bet that if she told the details to Prince Gutard, he would be very disgusted to have touched and to have been touched by that woman.

His mind tried to work quickly and understand basic facts,

"Who made your foot? Who was the skilled craftsman?"

It was a trap, of course. Greek legends told that this accessory betrayed its nature, so Alexa imagined that showing suspicion could cause some kind of reaction.

And Alexa wasn't wrong.

The n.a.k.e.d woman turned to the masked figure with a look troubled by hatred, and leaped with supernatural agility at the Princess, knocking her over with the impact of their bodies. Alexa hadn't been fast enough for that monster. The creature's hands were strong, and she managed to hold Alexa's wrists, keeping her pinned to the floor. The Princess was having trouble fighting Gello, who leaned towards her face, peering into her eyes through the mask. Alexa wondered if whoever summoned her could see through her eyes.

But with a powerful tug, she was ripped off Alexa, and thrown against a wall. The towering man walked towards the supernatural creature with the sword drawn again.

Alexa was still getting to her feet when she saw the creature in the form of a woman trying to escape, reaching the window. But Gutard took her by the overlong hair and spun her around, raising his sword in a fluid motion. Before he could finish the movement, however, the dark creature wrapped her legs around his waist, and bit his shoulder, tearing off a piece of flesh, which she spat on his face.

Gutard grunted and screamed, but the sword fell and he landed a powerful punch on the creature's head, which felt the blow but laughed madly as it clung more firmly to his body. Alexa watched the fight without knowing exactly how to help. She had never seen a gello and just knew the basics about them, they were seductive and they could ...

She understood the purpose of the movements when the malevolent creature somehow knocked the big, strong man to the ground, bringing their pelvises together again. Gutard pushed her away, but from the effort he made, she looked heavy and strong. Alexa could even see the glow of sweat and the genuine effort of the man without being able to get rid of the creature's embrace and thighs. Both rolled a few times on the floor, in a clash of which only deafened grunts were heard.

Finally, Alexa understood,

'The bronze foot!' according to legend, this creature was a gello, or empusa, and its most striking feature was not having a foot, replaced by a bronze prosthesis. A hellish creature that served Hecate, which certainly gave clues very specific witches had summoned that. Reaching Gutard's sword, she positioned herself behind the couple and, hoping not to miss, struck a blow separating the prosthesis from the body.

A malicious sigh and a strangled laugh escaped the mouth of the gello when the bronze prosthesis rolled across the carpet. The Prince got rid of her body, which changed before their astonished and horrified eyes.

The skin turned bluish and from the cut that Alexa made on the creature's leg, there was no blood but a fetid and thick substance, and full of larvae.

Gello's spirit, however, vanished in black smoke, fleeing through the half-open window into the night.

Gutard sat down despondently on the floor, wiping sweat off his face, and remembered to cover himself again, pulling a pillow between his legs.

Alexa sat in a chair, away from the putrid corpse. It looked dead for days.

"Um… thanks," he said, looking up at her.

"Haven't you heard the rumor of a succubus in the castle, Your Majesty?" she asked.

"Er, I thought it was a fantasy or a woman 'in heat' visiting new lovers. I didn't think such a creature would have the courage to come to this castle," he confessed, sulkily. It was hard to say that he looked fragile, because he didn't. Just a little dejected and disgusted.

"Because of the von Wuttenfal's fame? With all due respect, I think this is the reason. It's not difficult to imagine that they want to destroy us all, and why. And if this gello had what he wanted…"

"What do you understand about succubus? Wasn't that what she was? And how do you know all that?" he motioned for her to bring him a garment that was lying on the floor, and when he got dressed, he stood up, casting a look of horrified scorn at the dead monster.

"Well," Alexa scratched her head, "legends from my region. A beautiful woman with a bronze foot is a gello. She seduces men and robs them of their manhood. Forever. Like…" she motioned with her finger, lowering it suddenly. Gutard frowned, probably looking back over the past ten minutes.

"Get off. Call a guard to get it out of here and someone to prepare me a bath."

"Um… I will do that but… Two things. The first is that I came here for a purpose, and it wasn't exactly interrupting your last bachelor night, Your Majesty. But I will not ask for forgiveness for this," at this point she wanted to provoke him a little for his lack of attention when choosing bed partners, but she couldn't demand explanations about it to judge better. And maybe he didn't even give them, either. But the main issues needed to be dealt with, and the Princess quickly reported the horror of her daytime life, the shipwreck and that Magnus was ill at that moment. After hearing in distress, Magnus and Alexander's father said,

"I will send messengers to the rest of the group and I will make arrangements to send help. When you're with him, help them, you're smart and good at it. I am grateful to have followed my intuition about you… Alexa," it was noticeable that he could see the person inside his son's body, but he was still embarrassed to go to Alexander's body by a woman's name.

She was grateful for wearing a mask at this point. He might be changing his mind about her, but she couldn't forget the things Gutard had said to Magnus about her. Taking a deep breath, she managed a pleasant voice to answer him,

"Well, father-in-law, I know that even if you send help, it will take time to arrive. And… I think someone wants to ruin one more of your weddings… or any other wedding in the future."

He mumbled something unintelligible in response, and taking her by the arm, he dragged her out of the room, pushing her into the closet again. Alexa protested,

"Ouch! I'm telling the truth! Think! Why exactly on the eve of your wedding? It can only be so that there is no consummation!"

"Don't worry so much about what happens in my bed. I already thanked you and I know it was God who sent you here. I must repent my sins. Now, while I deal with these matters you informed me, do two things for me!" the Prince said, holding the door and looking at it, already inside the secret passage.

"Yes?"

"Pray for our souls and… try not to express yourself as a girl while in my son's body. This is ... annoying," he asked sincerely.

"Oh!" Alexa became aware that she was being careless, and covered her mouth in a reflex act.

The door closed shut, and Alexa followed the narrow secret corridor back. Gutard had a lot to do, and he was certainly very frustrated that he had fallen into such an obvious trap. 'Ah, l.u.s.t almost overwhelms even the most feared Witch Hunter ...' she thought, as she walked as quietly as possible. 'Everyone is against marriage, so ... Could it be that Cordelia is the problem, not the groom?' She wondered, confused. She had many things to think about, and she regretted not being able to take anything with her when she woke up in the morning in her own body. While her thoughts turned briefly to the wreck and Magnus and Zand, she was already arriving at Magnus' room again when LAlexa felt a presence behind her.

A shade, to be more exact.

More annoyed than scared, she turned, but was surprised to realize that it was Nerissa's vibrant figure.

'What the hell? I forgot. Now I will be able to send it to 'The Path' and…'Alexa stopped, when realizing that the red-haired ghost put a finger on her lips asking for silence. Soon after, Nerissa disappeared and appeared further away, making a sign with her hand, in invitation for Alexa to follow her.

'She recognizes me ...' that was interesting, and at the same time, worrying. The shade kept trying to lure her somewhere.

Pondering what to do, Alexa decided to follow the shade.