Leon City side Stories (Kinktober 2026)

Rilliana pushed aside a large leaf that was blocking her path and held it steady so Maria could pass safely. The scribe was the only one she was required to take along, according to the contract. She had left the rest of the expedition party in the village. Rilliana didn’t want too many eyes on her back. It was bad enough that she had to hide her elven ears, she didn’t need to worry about a dagger in her back as well. Rilliana glanced at the map and then looked through the trees toward the sun. They were heading in the right direction, but the trees made it nearly impossible to estimate the distance. For humans.

“We’ll be there soon, Maria. Not much farther…,” Rilliana fell silent when she heard voices.

“What did you say, Señorita Aearoneth?” Maria asked before stumbling through a few huge leaves and crying out in surprise, “Señorita Aearoneth, I thought we were traveling alone!”

“So did I,” Rilliana muttered, following her through the leaves. It was beyond her comprehension how anyone could have gotten here before them, but apparently her employer had managed it. Doña Elvira de Cabrera. Daughter of a famous noble family in distant Spain. Rilliana had undertaken the arduous journey back to America with her to collect magical artifacts and save them from the greedy hands of humans. She had largely succeeded in doing so until now. Two guards appeared beside Rilliana and grabbed her. She was dragged into a large tent and forced into an uncomfortable chair. Elvira stood before her, bent over a map.

“Señorita Aearoneth, I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t set out without us,” she said absentmindedly as she studied the map.

“As I stipulated in the contract, I prefer to work alone.”

“That’s certainly true. However, I suspect you haven’t been entirely honest about your latest discoveries. That’s why I’ll now be leading this operation.”

“Suspicions. My successes speak for themselves!”

“Successes… old vases and rusty weapons. No gold, no artifacts, and above all, no fountain of youth!” she exclaimed indignantly, slamming her fist on the table. Rilliana looked at her, unimpressed. It would take a bit more than that to intimidate her.

“I asked for time and…”

“Time we don’t have. My lineage is dying, Señorita Aearoneth, and I’m tired of being fobbed off with excuses. We’ve been waiting only for you to help us find the remaining last portion. However, I could just as easily take your maps.”

Rilliana clenched her teeth. The power that might lurk within this temple was not meant for ordinary people.

“Accompany us or spend the time until we’re back in Spain in chains. I don’t care,” Elvira muttered, looking back at the map. Rilliana nodded. That was a threat Rilliana didn’t want to hear.

“Very well… but I won’t take responsibility for your men,” Rilliana declared, standing up.

Rilliana led the small column of soldiers, Maria, and Elvira through the green hell to the abandoned temple in the heart of the jungle. It was a breathtaking sight. Even though the temple was overgrown with vines and trees, it had lost none of its splendor. The white stone had been cut with precision and showed no gaps. Statues of strange creatures guarded the stairs leading upward. Rilliana stopped in front of them while the soldiers ran up the stairs.

“I’ve seen you somewhere before,” she murmured, pulling a book from her backpack that she’d taken from Celine’s library. Maria looked over her shoulder as she leafed through the book.

“What beautiful script… can you read that, Señorita?” Maria asked curiously, pointing to the Elvish script.

“It took me a good part of my life to learn this writing,” Rilliana murmured, looking up from her book at the statue. She swallowed. The temple was much older than they had assumed.

“Is there a problem, Señorita Aearoneth?” Elvira asked, glancing disapprovingly from Rilliana to the statue.

“We shouldn’t go in there. This temple…”

“Holds the goal of our journey. I won’t give up at the last step! These are just old statues and crumbling stone!” she snapped, kicking the statue. The stone gave way and tipped to the side, where it fell with a thud into the tall grass. The statue glared accusingly at them, but Elvira paid no heed and climbed the stairs with her men. Rilliana looked at Maria.

“No matter what you do, stay right by my side,” Rilliana whispered, snapped her book shut, and swapped it for her old sword, which was every bit as good as the Spaniards’ weapons.

With her sword and torch, Rilliana led the way into the dark temple. The walls were adorned with symbols and figures she couldn’t decipher. Still, they sent a cold shiver down her spine.

“This temple is much older than we thought, isn’t it?” Maria asked as she sketched a wall engraving. Rilliana nodded.

“Neither Aztec nor Maya. Older… and evil…,” said Rilliana, kneeling down as she saw a particularly elaborate wall painting. It depicted the temple and people who seemed to be pressing against it with their hands. In its center was a dark, glowing figure.

“Are they building the temple here?”

“No, they’re pushing it… sealing it shut?,” Rilliana muttered, suddenly hearing a stone scrape against another. One of the soldiers had walked further and stepped on a trap.

“EVERYONE DOWN!,” Rilliana yelled, and everyone threw themselves to the ground. But nothing happened.

“Old stones and broken traps,” said Elvira as she stood up and brushed the dust off her clothes. “Don’t worry, gentlemen, that was a dud. We can relax…”

She fell silent when she heard stone scraping against stone again—but this time louder and behind them. A stone was wedging itself into the entrance, trapping them inside the temple. They were trapped.

“And that’s why I prefer to go into dark temples alone!” Rilliana said snappily and walked ahead again. The soldiers followed her, casting dark glances at the one responsible for their predicament. Rilliana’s eyes were trained to spot even the slightest irregularities, and so she was able to lead the group past additional traps that would certainly have been fatal. But something made Rilliana suspicious. She passed another trap and looked at the walls leading towards the exit.

“Stop!” she said, motioning for the soldiers and Elvira to stand beside her.

“What is it?” she asked impatiently, watching as Rilliana tried to push down a stone with the tip of her sword. When the stone finally sank, arrows suddenly shot out of the walls and burrowed into the stone.

“And with that, you wanted to…”

“Check whether the traps are there to keep us out… or something inside. We have to…”

“If you say one more time that we shouldn’t be here, I’ll shoot you,” said Elvira, shoving Rilliana deeper into the temple. As she did so, Rilliana stepped on another slab that immediately lowered. The floor dropped instantly, and a stone slide caused the three women and the soldiers to vanish into the ground. Rilliana immediately drew her black dagger and rammed it between the stones, where it became wedged. Maria and Elvira were just barely able to hold onto Rilliana’s legs, and the weight made them groan. The soldiers weren’t so lucky. They slid screaming down into the darkness. Rilliana heard them fall into something liquid, and then they grew silent.

“Do you still want to shoot me?” Rilliana asked, looking down at Elvira. She was pale and was staring past Rilliana down into the pit. A viscous substance bubbled inside it. It glistened in the light of the torches and seemed strangely familiar to Rilliana.

“What… what is that?” Elvira asked, clinging even tighter to her leg. Rilliana looked down into the pit again. She was almost certain it was latex, but she didn’t want to explain to Elvira what that material was.

“Climb up on me. We have to keep going,” she merely muttered, wincing as the women scrambled up her leg without much delicacy. Maria then helped her up, while Elvira stared down into the pit.

The only path they could take was a staircase leading deeper into the temple. In the passageway that opened up before them, there were built-in platforms. Some of them had statues on top.

“These statues… they aren’t from the temple’s builders,” Maria remarked, and Rilliana stopped to shine her torch on them.

“Spanish soldiers…,” Rilliana murmured as she recognized the uniform, even though it was about a hundred years old and covered in black latex.

“Are those…”

“No… these ones are older, but…,” Rilliana said, but fell silent when she heard the crunching of stones again. She swung her torch toward an empty pedestal, where, at that very moment, another statue was being lowered from a hole in the ceiling.

“Those are your soldiers, Doña Elvira de Cabrera,” whispered Rilliana, continuing to shine her torch down the corridor as statue after statue filled the pedestals. Every single body was encased in latex and motionless.

“By God,” whispered Elvira, walking toward one of her soldiers, “Diego…”

She touched his chest and closed her eyes as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Rilliana shook her head sadly while Maria cupped her hands over her mouth and gasped, trembling. The elf turned away and looked further down the hallway when her companions suddenly screamed. Rilliana spun around immediately and saw that the Diego statue had come to life and was grabbing Elvira by the arm. Startled, Maria leaped backward and ran straight into the arms of another statue, which held her fast from behind. Rilliana reacted in a split second as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She ducked under the grasp of another statue and struck with her dagger. A mistake. Instead of blood, a torrent of latex poured over her and knocked her down. Instantly, she was glued to the floor, rendering her unable to fight, while the other statues bound Maria and Elvira with latex restraints and forced them to kneel on the floor next to Rilliana.

Of course she had to come along. Rilliana thought this as another gush of latex enveloped the rest of her body and robbed her of her senses. At the same time, she felt the latex deform and transform into arm and leg binders while a mask enclosed her face. Unable to run away, let alone defend themselves, the three women were lifted up and carried away. Deeper into the dark temple.