Chapter Eighteen First Loot

The very room seemed to shake, the door bent and bowed as it was mercilessly pounded. Horon and Thron pressed against the door to help hold it shut, not trusting the sturdy plank they’d found to hold it shut. Arlie fidgeted a little as she watched it. Was that door going to hold? Somehow she didn’t think so, a breath left her as she turned back to the chest, while the twins had been sorting debris for anything that might serve as a weapon she’d been checking the chest for traps. Thankfully her magic hadn’t found one, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any. She wasn’t a thief so her knowledge of magic in this area was limited.

Behind her the door shook again and she let out a breath, she’d have to open it sooner or later. Pausing for a moment she threw the lid open and a magic light spilled out of the chest before revealing three pairs of silver panties and a hammer. She lifted the hammer out first, it had a sturdy wooden handle about thirty centimeters long, the head was metal flat on both sides, the sheen coopery. She tapped it, definitely solid. Using her magic, she started appraising the hammer, quickly determining the handle was ironwood, while the head was solid bronze. Not the most impressive tool, and completely mundane but it was better than nothing.

She set the hammer aside, behind the door bent as something slammed into it again. Arlie heard something creak, they didn’t have long, but she hoped it would be enough time to appraise the panties. Picking one up, she noted the style, they were pretty standard aside from the front, which was cut to expose the labia of the wearer. She noted they were designed to be secured by a ribbon on the front. The design was fairly cute overall aside from the opening on the front.

Arlie would have just flat-out ignored them if it weren’t for the feeling of magic about them. Expanding her senses, she started working out the enchantment. It was a powerful defensive; the user would be protected by magical wards and the panties were made of demon silk. That was a high-end material, highly sought after for clothing. It took her a moment longer to work out how strong the wards were and she blinked when she realized the panties would act like plate armor for her lower half, they wouldn’t protect her upper.

Rose came over, “So what do we have?”

“Three sets of... panty armor, enchanted and a mundane hammer, bronze head.”

“No crotch?” commented Rose as she held one up.

The door shook, creaking more, “Afraid not, but it's got a strong defensive enchantment. Lower half of the body only.”

The door creaked loudly as another bang hit it, the boards starting to splinter. Lily fidgeted nearby, “We don’t have long to think about it.”

Arlie handed a pair to Lily, and took one for herself. She hadn’t checked for any other enchantments but they were out of time. She quickly pulled the pair she was wearing down and slipped into the new ones. They felt really good on her skin and she felt the magic activate forming a defensive barrier around her legs, feet and waist. It didn’t extend above the top half of the panties. She gasped as she felt herself grow wet, a warm tingle between her legs. That was funny but not entirely unwelcome.

Glancing at the twins, she noted they were wet too, their pussy lips engorged. Lily tried pulling the old pair up on top of them, only for the old cloth to break. Somehow Arlie expected that, but she didn’t have time to think about it. The door finally gave, splinters raining into the room as the boys moved out of the way.

Arlie launched a firebolt into the dust, and tossed the hammer, “Horon, Catch!”

He caught the hammer letting it drag him a bit before bringing it to bear to smash in the face of a golem just as it appeared in the rapidly clearing dust. Behind the now smashed golem, two screaming goblins could be seen burning. She barely gave them a glance, instead focusing on the other threats, the four goblins moving into the room and the two other golems.

Arlie started channeling, while Thron intercepted the goblins. His fist sent one flying into a wall, while Horon smashed a second in the face with a nasty crunch. It crumbled to the ground, while the buddy behind it tried to slash Horon open. Horon sidestepped the blow and smacked it in the face, just before a golem tried to whack him. The blow swung wide thanks to Horon ducking under the swing and then he slammed his hammer into the golem’s leg. The hard earth crumbled to the blow and the golem toppled. It wasn’t finished but it was out of the fight.

Seeing an opening, she unleashed her next spell, a bolt of rock flew from her hand and smashed through the chest of the final golem. Earth might not be her favorite element but in this case, it was the right choice. The conjured rock ripped right through the softer earth of the golem was made through and shattered the core. The construct crumbled, and the remaining goblins were quickly dispatched.

__________

The group looked out into the hall, no more enemies were in sight. It seemed they finally had a moment’s reprieve. Horon turned back and then blinked, “Um, what are you three wearing?”

Lily fidgeted, but Rose grinned, “You like?”

Arlie sighed, “Don’t ask, it was in the chest.”

“Um, right.”

Thron stared, “I don’t know, it looks pretty good on you.”

“Uh, thanks,” replied Arlie.

Horon changed the subject, “Well then, which way do we go?”

Arlie took a look out and then gestured to the right, “We haven’t been that way, we came from the left. Might find something that way.”

Lily fidgeted, “Um, what about a... safe zone?”

Arlie shrugged, “Don’t know, I’m sure we will find one sooner or later.”

The friends shared some looks and after a moment went down the path. What it would hold for them remained to be seen.

____________

Turning a corner, the friends were presented with two doors on the left and a mural on the right. Arlie was attracted to the mural and took a look at it. She frowned, the mural had several panels and the content wasn’t exactly normal. It was creepy. The first panel depicted young women entirely naked, their eyes glazed as they stood in a line. Every single one of them appeared to be pregnant, but only about three or four months in, it would be awhile before they would give birth. They were waiting to enter a room with an odd door.

The next panel showed a strange room, several girls at a time were laid on tables, their wombs splayed open and their immature baby removed. Some of the girls in the scene had something else being placed in their freshly emptied womb.

In the third panel, she saw the same women leaving, but their bellies were swollen larger. Yet their eyes remained just as vacant as before. While in the final panel, she saw the immature babies, tubes connected to them as something horrific was being done to them.

Text was written under each panel. Arlie read it carefully, her frown deepening with each second. Nearby Rose commented, “What is this?”

Arlie looked up, “A warning more or less. It's talking about one of the great evils locked away in the Abyss. Something about their habits towards the young women they abduct.”

Lily commented, “It’s creepy.”

“Very,” said Arlie as she turned towards the closer door.

“Why is it even here?” asked Lily?”

Rose took another look at it, “Good question.”

“My guess? It might be a hint for a puzzle or something.”

“So it's something to keep in mind,” said Rose.

Arlie nodded, then followed the boys in the room they had gone into. She found the boys looking over a chest.

Walking up to them, she asked, “Find any traps?”

“No, but we don’t have your magic skills.”

Arlie moved closer and started looking it over, the chest didn’t seem trapped to her either. So after a moment, she threw it open. The lid popped open and a magical light spilled forth before revealing the contents. In this case, she saw three short tops and a weapon; specifically a mace.

As interesting as the tops might be, she ignored them in favor of checking out the mace. The handle was ironwood, solid about forty centimeters long, the head was covered with short spikes and made of solid iron. Arlie found no enchantments so it was just an ordinary mace. She gave it to Thron, figuring he would be able to use it easily enough.

Then she turned her attention to the tops, quickly noting they were demon silk but there was something strange about them. Arlie did notice they had the same defensive enchantments the panties she was wearing had. She blushed as she recalled the design and the fact that her pussy was fully displayed. Making her quite aware of how wet she was as well.

She squirmed a little, as Rose plucked one from her. “What’s this?”

“Well demon silk top, same enchantments as the um... panties we are wearing.”

Rose grinned, “Sounds fun, we should wear 'em!”

Lily fidgeted, “But the panties are already embarrassing!”

Arlie looked down at her own top, the new ones looked thicker. Maybe her nipples wouldn’t show?”

Horon and Thron exchanged looks, “We’ll step out of the room.”

Rose commented, “Come on Lily, I know the panties were a bit much, but they are armor. Those enchantments could save our lives.”

Lily groaned and took the top, “This better not be...”

She was interrupted by Rose suddenly pulling her top off.

“Hey! Don’t strip me!”

Rose giggled, then pulled her own top off. “You were being slow.”

Arlie grinned, enjoying the show, the twins were just adorable and they had the most delightful boobs. She just wanted to squeeze them. She blushed as the heat in her core grew a little and thoughts of what she would do given the chance flitted through her mind. Now wasn’t really the time, was it? 

Turning around, she pulled her own top off, then hesitated looking at the new one. Then decided to hell with it, she’d deal with the downsides, and pulled the enchanted one down over her head. This one also strained to contain her breasts, then she gasped as her boobs felt warm. Looking down she watched the fabric reshape itself a bit, starting to fit better and then a hole appeared, her nipples poking through completely. 

Blushing she turned around and noted the twins in the same state. Rose giggled, “Well, aren’t these fun?”

Lily groaned, “I knew it!”

Arlie sighed, “Well you look sexy.”

Lily blushed, then marched towards the door, “Come on, let’s get this fucking dungeon over with.”