After the Fall

The planet seemed to adjust after the resurrection of the old ones. Most of the people that didn't succumb to the effect, tried their best to survive in a world that had been yanked out from under them; "How the mighty have fallen." Though mind you, with the streets full of monsters and the cities shifting into various states of decay, survival may not have been something high on the list of importance.

Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans, Canada, San Diego, and a good chunk of Europe, had been chosen as transmogrification sites. The ancients had been able to get a good solid foothold; eons of imprisonment can reap the right rewards if enough patienc e is exercised, and they wanted no mistakes this time around. But as always, they knew there would be small groups of human beings that would try to fight them as long as they were able.

Sunset came on time for once, and hopefully the lack of lights would give them the edge they needed to take the nest by surprise. But they were screwed if the dogs were out.

"Adam...I want you and Dianna to go through the vent in the back tower....Phillip, you take the east entrance and David the west. And you know what to do if you get caught..." The woman known only as Jeswrith said.

The others nodded their understanding and disappeared. Jeswrith waited until they were clear before moving to the stairwell that led to the roof. She never traveled with a partner; she didn't like having that kind of responsibility. The others disagree d with her naturally, and were probably reluctant to face peril alone.

It took her about fifteen minutes to make it to the roof, give or take a decayed step. She never liked heights, but decided she could convince herself otherwise; considering the options...

Finding the roof clear, Jeswrith made her way to the roof door. Opening it released a smell that reminded her of rotting animals in a hot slaughter house; what a shame she'd left her gas mask in her other backpack.

Making her way down the stairs, Jeswrith could hear screaming and sounds of grunting and moaning....the visual was not something she was looking forward to. These hives were always worse than what went on in the streets, and a lot harder to deal with if you couldn't handle the overall picture.

Round about the third flight, she began to see movement and took out her binoculars. Two of the spawn were busy humping each other, and for the life of her she couldn't tell one sex from the other. But one thing she did know, if she got too close to the m the released energy of the coupling might have a "less than desired" effect on her. As long as they stayed where they were she should be all right...hopefully.

At the fifth flight, where the exhibitionists were bearing it all, Jeswrith made sure not to attract attention to herself. They were lying on a metal platform on the far side of the building and thanks to the heat, they didn't sense her. Either that or they didn't care and were too caught up in the moment. Probably the latter.

Continuing down, Jeswrith found she was short of breath and excited, then she felt the orgasm of the couple on the platform. She was on her knees before she realized what happened.

Luckily, she had been far enough away to avoid transmog, until she noticed that her shirt had become far too tight...loosening it revealed that her breasts had swelled to biblical proportions and her hair had become longer and changed color...jet black wa s better than blonde any day.

Adjusting herself properly, Jeswrith quickened her pace before any more surprises occurred; she hoped the others weren't having as much fun as she was. But knowing them, they probably were knee deep in it.

Adam and Dianna hadn't been in the ventilation shaft for more than twenty minutes when the first waves of sensation hit them. Bodily organs swelled to more than half their size and clothes began to rip and shred like paper. And the rest was a blur of ha nds and legs as they rushed to make their way towards the origin of the wave.

Phillip hadn't gotten half-way through the east door before he was attacked by a group of twenty or more females who were hungry for affection. Suffice to say, he was not the same after the experience.

David was the luckiest of the lot, having made it through the west entrance and down the halls, which led to the main chamber. He had taught himself to ignore the waves and fight off the effect, so his progress had him just outside the main doors. His i nstructions were clear and he would carry them out no matter the outcome...

In the main chamber, the high lord Daragoth was holding court. Men and women in various stages of flux, were writhing on the floor for the pleasure and amusement of their master. Adam and Dianna, their bodies more spawn than human now, had found their w ay to the high ones' chamber, eager to please and ready to prove themselves.

Lord Daragoth, fourth in command to the Nameless Twelve, The SoulTaster. He had been the sole ancient responsible for the taking of Great Britain and Ireland.

**You will have your chance to show your loyalty to US....your commander and one of her warriors is still loose somewhere in this complex...bring them to US and you shall have all you desire...** Daragoth smiled, his hair a mass of twitching tentacles.

Adam and Dianna bowed low before their lord, forked tongues kissing the sandaled feet of the great one.

"What of Phillip, great lord, do you wish him to aid us in our search?" Dianna asked, rubbing her backside against the massive trunk that was Daragoth's leg.

As if by magic, Phillip appeared before Lord Daragoth, the women responsible for his change milling around him, impatient to continue their lovemaking.

"I am here great one, order and I obey." He said, mouth full of sharp, shark's teeth, his flesh one crawling tattoo.

**WE wish your commander, and the one with her, brought before US....she has eluded US like no other...WE may wish to mate with her and bridge the gap between the species. The male could be of great significance to US as well.**

The three bowed once more before their lord, then vanished into the shadows.

David reached the outer hallways with no problems, keeping himself hidden in the shadows. Keeping his concentration had been easy up to this point, but he knew as soon as he came within spotting distance of any spawn there could be trouble.

Most of the west side of the site had been converted into living chambers, due to the number of captives that were brought in during a day. David had heard stories of thousands of spawn, housed together to avoid the effect from spreading too quickly thro ugh the human populace. If situations didn't improve, the Earth wouldn't belong to human beings any longer, but to the ancients; that was one reason he was trying to make a difference.

Jeswrith had instructed them to make their way to the main audience chamber, deposit the dimension frags and get out as quickly as possible, before they went off. Otherwise you'd be pulled back into the ancient's dimension prison along with everyone and anything within the blast radius.

Keeping his options in mind, should he find himself in real trouble, David continued to make his way towards his objective.

Rounding a corner, David spied a young woman. She was dressed in what appeared to be a dark blue body suit, but as she moved closer, David saw that as a result of the effect, her skin had become blue. She was very beautiful nonetheless.

Suddenly curious, David decided to follow her, as long as her destination wasn't too far away from his objective.

By this time, Jeswrith had made her way to the hallways that led to the main audience chamber. As strong as the sensation waves were in this place, they must have found a command site; probably one of the higher ancients, which wasn't good. She hated w hen she was right.

As she moved farther down the hallway, she caught glimpses of people coupling in larger chambers; somehow they had rigged the heating system from hell...nevermind. She had to find the main chamber, plant the frags and get the hell out of Dodge before she lost control of herself completely.

The nek had told her that these particular frags would negate the ritual incantation that opened this particular rip and pull all the creepy crawlers back into their dimensional prison. And she had told him, that if he thought it was so easy he should tr y it himself but he gave her the excuse that he couldn't leave his power base.....right, pull the other one.

At any rate, here she was, risking her soul; not to mention her already incredible figure, on the word of a crazy street nek...well, if you can't enjoy life why live it, right?

Round about the time Jeswrith was done arguing with herself, her ex-partners caught her scent coming up the hallway. They would enjoy dragging her to the master and watching while he took her.

While the others planned their ambush, Jeswrith continued her approach, making sure she wasn't seen; which was difficult in this place because the walls could literally have "eyes".

"Why do I feel like I'm walking into something I'm going to regret....I haven't heard any explosions, so I think it's safe to say that the others have been compromised. Damn...." She said, deciding on another course of action before she was discovered.

Looking to the closest door on her left, Jeswrith ventured inside. The chamber was empty of furniture, except for a large furred rug in front of a massive fireplace. Strangely enough, whoever was occupying this room did not seem to be here; but someone definitely had been here because the fireplace was still burning and the heavy smell of musk was still in the air.

Forgetting about the room's occupants for the moment, Jeswrith moved towards the ventilation grate set in the far wall of the chamber. And of course, it was just high enough that she couldn't reach it without standing on something; which would be very di fficult in a room with no furniture.

Just then, from the corner of the chamber, Jeswrith heard movement and hid in a niche between the wall and the fireplace. It seemed the occupants had returned, probably from the bathroom; if you still needed to use it once the effect took you.

Three women and a younger man appeared from the shadows, dressed in practically nothing. The man was escorted to the rug and seated, while two of the women massaged him vigorously. The third woman made herself useful by giving the man oral pleasure. Th is was not the place to be once the waves began.

Then, there came a knocking at the doors, followed by the entrance of Adam and the others. They probably figured she had ducked into one of the rooms to avoid capture. One of the women stopped massaging the youth and moved to speak with their visitors.

"How can I be of assistance Adam...do you wish to join us?" The woman smiled, licking her lips in invitation.

"Sadly no, we have been given commands by the great one to find two humans we believe might have come this way. We came in together before being turned. She is called Jeswrith, the other is David Argus." Adam said, finding it hard to concentrate with th e woman standing before him.

"Feel free to search our chambers. If they are in here, they won't be able to hide for long..." She said, running a finger down the contours of Adam's chest.

"Thank you...Jesra...but we will wait until they emerge before taking them..." Adam smiled, allowing Phillip and Dianna to lead him out before he forgot himself.

Jesra bowed slightly to the search party, before returning to her fellows. She hoped they would find the intruders soon, then Adam could return to her..

By this time, Jeswrith was sure she needed to get the hell out of the chamber before anything else happened. Checking her weapons, she came up with a small canister of sleeping dust, which was guaranteed to work on spawns or your money back...if you live d that long. She hoped David hadn't been turned as well...this whole situation could get out of hand real quick.

Pulling the pin, she tossed it into the midst of the room's occupants, held her breath and ran like hell. By the time she reached the door, her hosts were out cold. Thank the heavens for little miracles.

Jeswrith found the halls empty when she emerged from the chamber. Exhaling, she made her to the nearest vent she could easily access. Once inside, she headed toward the main audience hall, with the use of her handy dandy pocket source-stone; she would d efinitely be paying another visit to the nek if she got out of this one, so far, everything she'd bought from the old vulture was working smoothly.

As she neared the main chamber, the source-stone gave off a dark blue glow...paydirt. There was a small airgrid in the wall, just large enough for her to toss the frags through.

Lord Daragoth was seated on his throne of spines, which was decorated with animal skins. A girl had been brought before him, probably caught crossing too near the building. She didn't look any older than fourteen.

The bastards liked young human females for their breeding wards. The woman was impregnated, fixed into a birthing mound and fitted with a feeding hose that was inserted directly into the stomach. Some of them became so hugh they couldn't move and after t he effect took them all they cared about was giving birth for the ancients.

Trying not to think of the girls' fate, Jeswrith prepared the frag grenades. Then, she pulled her bowie from it's sheath and proceeded to cut the grating open.

The blue-skinned woman made her way to a room, closer to the main chamber than David would have preferred, but not so far away that this little detour would delay him from completing his mission.

The doors of the room seemed locked, until the woman pressed her palms against the chest of the figure carved into the door; or at least he hoped it was a carving. After this action, the doors slid open and the woman moved inside. Seeing his chance, Dav id moved quickly, figuring the doors would close as soon as the woman was inside.

The room was huge, compared to some of the others David had seen as he made his way through the site. Spawn seemed to prefer space they could lounge in...as well as immense fireplaces...the void they came from must have been damn cold...

Standing in the shadows of a pillar, David watched as the woman walked over to the fireplace and lay down on the furred rug. In the light from the fire, he could see that she had silver tendrils for hair and a black striped pattern on her skin that remin ded him of a bengal tiger. The effect had been kind to her it seemed.

"You can come out now, I know you're there." The woman said, glancing over her shoulder and smiling.

David froze, pulling his bowie from it's sheath at his waist.

"I won't harm you. Obviously I could have raised an alarm already if I thought you were a real threat to me or his lordship." She said, her voice like windchimes.

David decided to trust his instincts for once and play along; he'd kill her without a second thought if he had to. So, putting his knife away, he stepped out into the firelight where she could see him.

"Why did you wait until now...why..." David stopped as the woman approached him.

"I was just as curious as you....David Argus....I have never found an attraction for a human male." She smiled.

David tried to keep his distance but found he was equally attracted to this woman. Even though he was a little leery of telepaths.

"Human male....you came through the rip when the incantation was invoked..." David said, suddenly unsure of his situation.

"That frightens you doesn't it? I've never been human so how could you possibly find me alluring." She said, moving all the closer to him as they spoke.

Suddenly realizing that time was passing and Jeswrith must have reached the main chamber by now, David knew he'd have to leave as quickly as he could.

The woman smiled, now standing before him; her eyes shone like onyx crystals.

"Don't touch me....I don't want to hurt you....I have to leave..." David whispered, trying to move but finding that his feet wouldn't obey him.

After a cursory scan of his mind, a frown passed over the woman's face.

"I don't wish to return to the madness of the prison, come with me, I will take you away from here." And with that, she led him from the chamber.

Meanwhile, the search party had returned, telling their master that Jeswrith and David were close and the best way to capture them would be to wait for them to show themselves. Daragoth agreed and allowed Dianna to approach him. Adam excused himself and returned to Jesra's chambers, while Phillip returned to the affections of his harem.

Just as Jeswrith was ready to deposit her frags, Lord Daragoth's crystal bearer entered the chamber. This man was keeper of the speaking jewels that the ancients used to communicate with one another at the various power sites. This call was from the anc ient in New Orleans...Lilith, Mistress of Skulls. To ensure that no one took the stones, they had been joined to the man at the time of transmogrification. All the caller need do was speak through the host's lips to communicate.

**How goes things there Lord Daragoth, I've heard rumor of a woman that was sent to destroy your hive.** The voice of Lilith spoke through the crystal bearer.

**She is here Mistress Lilith, though she hasn't shown herself yet. Have no fear, she shall be rooted out from her hiding place and converted.** Daragoth spoke confidently.

**For your sake I hope you are right. The Twelve would be displeased if that site were no longer available to US. Contact me if you have need of me.** And with that communications were broken. The bearer bowed low before Daragoth, before leaving the ch amber.

His mood broken, Daragoth sent everyone from the room but Dianna and Phillip. Adam appeared also, after a mental summons by the ancient. He informed his lordship that Jeswrith had used a dust grenade to put Jesra and her partners to sleep and they were just coming around when he reached the chamber.

**Good. Secure the doors and search for her, I have the feeling that she is very near.** Daragoth said, looking about the room in agitation.

"All right you bastard, time for a one-way ticket back to the twilight zone." She said, pulling the pins on all six of her frags and throwing them through the grating. She then proceeded to remove herself from the building post haste. It would take at least three minutes for the frags to activate once they landed, and she wanted to be in the next county by that time. She prayed David was already outside and out of the blast range; losing three people was bad enough.

Before she had made it outside, a powerful surge of sensation hit her full force, knocking her to the ground. They were trying to force her to come to them.

Concentrating, Jeswrith was able to make it outside and limp to the woods beyond the structure, before losing consciousness. She hoped she was far enough out of range that she didn't get dragged dimension side. Only time would tell....

When Jeswrith woke up, she found herself in a bed with a cloth across her forehead. Someone was sitting in a chair by her bedside, and it sounded like whoever it was seemed to be chanting over her. Trying to move was a bad idea.

"Keep still Jeswrith...your suffering from effect syndrome...I don't know if I can do anything...you might remain like this permanently." The man said, continuing to chant.

Trying to speak hurt almost as much as trying to move, so Jeswrith thought she'd take her host's advice and rest.

When she opened her eyes again, it was evening and the night air cooled her skin from the open window set in the ceiling.

"Hello...are you there?" She called out. Something weird had happened to her voice...sounded like she had an extra pair of vocal chords.

"No need to shout Jeswrith, I'm here. How do you feel today?" The man's voice spoke from the shadows of the room.

"I feel strange...where am I. How did you find me...feel free to jump in anywhere." She said, trying her best to sit up so she could see her host.

The man smiled, stepping into view and taking a seat at her bedside. She recognized him immediately.

"Malory...how in blazes did you find me...I thought you said you couldn't leave your power base....I'm waiting..." She said, the volume of her tone causing the necromancer to clap his hands over his ears.

"Softly woman, I don't fancy a pair of ruptured eardrums. In answer to your question...I didn't leave here. I found you by homing in on your bio-signal and teleporting you here...luckily you were out of range of the displacement and remained here. " Mal ory said, placing his hands over Jeswrith's chest and head to check her signs.

"Did the frags work..." She asked.

"Of course they worked...I don't sell defective merchandise to my customers...unless they piss me off of course." The necromancer smiled.

Then she remembered David.

"I don't think I was the only one to get out Malory....I think David Argus got out as well. He went in the west entrance...we thought the more of us that went in the better the chances were of us pulling this off....but it cost three people their humanit y..." Jeswrith said, glad that she still retained a conscience.

"You were the only person I could pinpoint Jeswrith. If Mr. Argus survived, he might be resourceful enough to look for you here...I will do my best to locate him for you in the meantime."

"I'd appreciate it Malory. Now, how bad am I and is the damage permanent." Jeswrith said, knowing full well that the blast that hit her before the dimension hole opened, was clear off the scale.

"As you've already found out, you have a new set of vocal chords. Most of your major organs have mutated due to the wave effect. I was able to negate most of the extra skin and bone growth that occurs from blasts of this magnitude. Your eyes, bodily hair and skin color have all been permanently changed, as well as your overall strength, dexterity and life clock. There may be other side effects, but it is still too early to determine them yet."

"Do I still look human, or am I going to have to live out the rest of my life in disguise..."

"You'll have to make that judgment for yourself. I'll step outside....give you some time to be alone." Malory said, taking his jean jacket from the chair before leaving.

Getting out of bed, Jeswrith discovered she was naked, her skin was now a healthy shade of lavender. Thank the heavens Malory had stopped her breasts from getting any larger...

Taking stock of herself in Malory's full length mirror, Jeswrith found that she wasn't as bad off as she'd imagined. Her hair was still raven black but streaked with the same shade of lavender her skin now held.

The only problem she did find was in her eyes, which had become goatish. Now, every time she looked in a mirror she would be reminded of that bastard who liked to impregnate little girls....damn.

To be continued...