Slowly, cautiously, Mariel and Steve worked their way through the gardens. It was not easy -- there were many enticing fruits and flowers that would lure the unwary to sex, or dreams of sex, or otherwise incapacitate them. Then there were guards -- and not just the "normal" guards on the paths, though those were bad enough, as they patrolled in pairs and at least one of each was a beastman with sensitive nose and ears.
But there were sapients hidden amongst the plants as well. A dryad; an alraune; a leopard girl appearing to nap in a tree. A breeze wafted them the scent of a brace of shifted werewolves -- mostly dangerous in that they were in heat, and the aphrodisiac perfumery of the flowers, hanging unavoidably in the air, meant that Steve had to exert all his willpower not to go after them.
But they made it. Crouching in the shadow of a buttress, Mariel conjured up thick vines of ivy that crawled upwards along the pink marble wall. When they reached the top, the two heroes climbed the leafy ladders. And finally, they swung over the parapet, safely atop the roof of the lower hall, with only a short walk between them and their goal.
Mariel leaned back against the parapet, panting from the exertion of climbing several storeys. Steve nocked an arrow, alert to any threat while his mistress recovered. His ears twitched as off to his left, out of sight behind the bulk of the Palace, he heard a bit of commotion in the grounds below.
"Do you... hear something...?" Mariel asked.
"Mrrrrm. I'm afraid for the others," Steve growled. "This might be up to us now."
"Gods I hope not." She pushed off the wall. "Still, let's continue. Titus and Klyde are good warriors; even if they've been spotted, they might be able to get away."
So saying, she renewed her Detect Magic spell. Then the two crept along the path by the parapet, a hedge screening them from the hall. At length, with the first hint of dawn now showing in the east, they came to a trellis arch overgrown with grape vines.
Peeking around it, they saw a path leading straight to a door. Mariel noted a ward on it, and on the windows to the left and right of it; but it seemed simple enough to dispel. With neither sight, sound nor scent of guards they hastened towards the entrance, Mariel rehearsing the spell to remove the wards.
They were halfway down the path when light flared inside the room. They froze as the door opened, framing a tall silhouette with pointed ears and a multitude of waving tails. Golden irises glowed around slit pupils.
"Welcome to my halls, strangers," purred a dark voice of honeyed steel.
"Luma!" growled Steve. Shaking off his surprise he lifted his longbow, drawing the arrow back and releasing it. It flew straight at the figure's heart, but a yard away veered sharply and buried itself in a flowerbed, to an amused laugh from the Kitsune.
"Surely you didn't think a wizardess of my calibre wouldn't be defended against missiles?" she taunted. She stepped out of the door, letting the light play over her white breasts and fiery body. As always, she was naked, and a hint of red at her groin promised their fate to the two adventurers.
"Run!" commanded Mariel.
"Not so fast." The two had barely tensed their muscles when dozens of black tentacles erupted around them. They latched onto werewolf and Elf, coiling around their bodies, ankles and wrists; and lifting them into the air. The wriggling members allowed them to struggle; but they could not break free.
More began to shred at their clothing, all of their equipment thudding to the ground. Two tentacles snapped the bow in Steve's hands, while a third ripped away his loincloth, allowing a thin tendril to twist snugly around his ballsack and poke at his sheath.
"What the --" he grunted.
"What is this?" demanded Mariel, horrified as the tentacles stripped off her leather armour and tore the seams of her leggings.
"My own twist on a DnD classic. I call it 'Luma's Lewd Tentacles.' Not quite hentai, since the main purpose is to immobilise you; but they're oily for a reason."
"Nnn." Mariel grit her teeth as a tentacle tore off her panties and began probing her lips and clit. "And how did you know we were -- ah!" She caught her breath as a slick, squirming tip started to work into her vagina. "My -- Detect Magic -- there's no ward -- nnnn -- on the garden --!"
"It's woven too deep into the fabric of the gardens for Detect Magic to see," explained Luma. Carelessly she walked into the field of wriggling tentacles. Mariel expected them to attack her, as per the base spell, but they did not.
How powerful is she? she wondered, doing her best to keep her pussy closed against the invading tentacle.
"Relax," Luma urged with a smirk. "That's why people come to the Pleasure Palace, after all. Or did you have some other reason for your visit?"
"We -- came -- to rescue our friends!" huffed Steve. The werewolf was now fully erect, the black tendril lovingly squeezing along his canine length, while another tentacle rubbed between his ass cheeks, threatening a new violation.
"Oh? I don't think you've come yet -- but you will. Meanwhile, which friends exactly? I'd be delighted to reunite you -- once you're wearing my collars."
"Never!" shouted Mariel. "We'll never submit to you, no matter what you do to us!"
"'Never say never,'" quoted Luma. Mariel snorted.
"We've already been through Hell and back. You can't do any worse than what that other witch did to us!"
"'Other witch?'" Luma threw her head back and laughed. "Oh... Oh." Now she guessed who they were -- who they thought to rescue. "The Stone Witch? Please. She may have been more than I gave her credit for, but she is still nothing compared to me. My cum alone carries a charm enchantment that enhances the lust and submissiveness of anyone it contacts. And as for my magic..."
She let the words hang as she gestured. Mariel's holy symbol, a small carven oak, floated off the ground and into Luma's hand. "Hnh. How generic." The carving burst into flame, levitating up above her palm as it shriveled to ashes.
"Oh, don't worry," Luma said as Mariel blanched. "You won't be missing it once I'm done with you. You can't expect to retain the privileges of adventurers after trespassing, after all." She stepped closer, casting her scrying spell. "A druid, I presume...?" She took Mariel's chin, to make her meet her gaze -- and this distraction was enough to make the Elf drop her guard, leeting the tentacle finally slide into her pussy. Her eyes went wide and she gasped, her body instinctively clenching on the invader even as Luma's golden orbs filled her vision.
"Indeed..." Luma murmured. She patted the druid's cheek. "I see your name and class, but not much of your history. Why don't you open your mind to me, as well as your legs?"
"Burn in Hell," spat Mariel.
Luma shook her head. "That's no way to talk to your Mistress. Well, maybe the puppy will be more forthcoming."
But, as tormented by pleasure as Steve was, Luma could glean little more from him. In addition to seeing that he was a ranger and werewolf, though, she did confirm that they were here to rescue Ty and Steph, and the relationship between druid and ranger; for these were the things he was concentrating on to keep her out of his mind.
She also got an amusing impression of what the Stone Witch had done to them.
"Interesting bond you two have." She stepped back. "The kind of thing I like to preserve in my slaves. And don't worry, I'm not as cruel as the Stone Witch -- I won't force a role reversal on you."
She followed this with a powerful lust spell, to soften them up for the coming transformation. In delight she watched their resistance to the tentacles' advances weaken. Steve thrashed about, making a last wild attempt to escape while also thrusting, trying futilely to knot the tendril playing with his maleness. Meanwhile tears of shame began to leak from Mariel's eyes as the tentacles encircled and squeezed her breasts, making her moan like a slut as the member in her pussy began to pump in and out.