The AC was broken in the van, but with the windows down it was tolerable. Hannah was the one driving, but with Sam on the aux cord it was a whole different experience and Katie could ignore the speed laws that Hannah were ignoring or destroying.
 
 
Katie turned the old parchment over and examined the back of it. “Are you sure we’re alright with bringing these things along? A photocopy couldn’t work?”
 
 
“Now where would be the fun in that!?” Scott exclaimed, organizing the rest of the parchment in his bag and taking the one Katie had. “Besides, if this really is the real deal, the magic would be in the parchment as well as the words!”
 
 
“I can’t believe you believe in this stuff, Scott,” Layla said, twisting a lock of her white and black hair in her fingers. Scott, his explosion of red hair framing his wide face, looked over at her and stroked his beard.
 
 
“But why not? It is simply fun to think about the possibility of magic existing, that means that so much could be possible in this world! A completely different tech tree, if you understand!”
 
 
Katie let the two banter and looked towards the back of the van. In the relative darkness, she could see the man sitting there, his heavy cloak very uncharacteristic in the summer heat and hiding his form in shadow. Sam and Scott had met him online and, according to what they said, had the knowledge to perform this ritual. The men haven’t explained just what this ritual is supposed to do, but they promised that it was going to be fun and that everyone would have fun with it.
 
 
Katie wasn’t sure, though. They’ve been classmates for the last 2 years, but even though they worked in the same university program for that entire time, Katie was the black sheep out of the group and never really hung out with them up until now. They said that they needed someone who knew European mythos and history to come along, as the ritual was apparently of Latin/Germanic origin and that had been enough to make Katie agree to come.
 
 
But now, 6 days into the drive to the place, Katie was wondering why she was there. They were so far in the back-country that phones had lost their reception and battery life dying faster than they could charge, quite a different experience than the city life Katie was used to. Katie looked over at the hooded man again and felt a shiver run up her spine.
 
 
Just what will happen on this trip?
 
 
*****
 
 
“Are you sure this is the place?”
 
 
“Yep! Can you taste it? The lure of adventure and the prize at the end of the journey?”
 
 
“More like the taste of bugs.” Layla said, swatting away the flies and trying to peer in the thick woods. “How long is the hike? I’m running out of water.”
 
 
“Well, if the map is correct, a few hours.” Sam said, elbowing Scott and grinning like they were sharing a deep secret. Katie’s eyes narrowed, but didn’t comment on it.
 
 
Hannah swung the large pack onto her back and grinned with the boys. “Come on, it’ll be fun! Just a hop and a skip and away we go!” And with that, she took off, parting the leaves with ease and pressing deeper into the woods. Everyone followed, Katie ending up in the rear and following behind the hooded man, who kept quiet as usual.
 
 
The hike was long and hot, just like the van ride, but eventually there was a break and suddenly the group could see an enormous ruin, the trees branching around it like a crowd of hands worshiping it. The hooded man actually pushed to the front of the group, pulling his hood back and whispering to himself, Katie unable to catch it as she was also admiring the building. It had to be at least 3000 years old, but the location meant that it could be as old as 5000.
 
 
However, Katie knew that the rest of the group didn’t care, as they were already charging across the underbrush towards the building. Following the group, the interior was surprisingly well lit, revealing that the building was taken up with one enormous room, probably 300ft squared and with a large pillar arching over towards the center of a huge circle.
 
 
“It’s real. I can’t believe it, the forms were right! Ah-ha!” Scott pranced around, glee splitting his face as he danced like a child. Sam looked over to the hooded man. “Will this work? Have we made it?”
 
 
“Yes, we have.” The man’s voice was thick, an accent that Katie couldn’t place that slurred his words. “Do you remember what you need to do?”
 
 
“Of course!” Sam turned to Hannah and clasped her hands, pulling her close. “Darling, I need you to listen very carefully. Scott explained what will be happening, but we have to follow this man’s instructions, alright? If we do that, we will have the ability to get everything we ever wanted. We can finally move away and get married, just like we dreamed.”
 
 
“Oh Sam, you didn’t have to go this far! I’ll be with you through all of the steps, I promise!” Hannah perched on her toes and kissed Sam, prolonging the kiss as Scott and Layla started to examine the circle, Scott pointing out certain areas as he talked.
 
 
Katie kept her eyes on the man though, a worm of doubt starting to form in her head. He was uninterested in the groups antics, instead looking at the symbols carved in the floor and seeming to pray and mutter again. This time, Katie caught a few words: “orbitae… libidine… Consummatio…”
 
 
Latin, the most famous language for summoning those of hellish nature. Why he was speaking this in a building that was several thousand years too old for Latin and the entire idea of it being of devilish nature since Christianity wasn’t even formed yet, Katie didn’t know. So, she didn’t trust him, but with everyone else entertaining the idea of this working, Katie decided to humor them and knelt down where she was asked to.
 
 
After the organization was finished, the room went silent. The 5 college students were set on marked stones, each one piercing the carved circle a couple of meters into it. The hooded man, the voice of the summoning, had climbed up the pillar and was now 20m high in the air, his voice echoing in the room as he called down some final adjustments and organized the papers that Scott brought.
 
 
Scott was sitting cross-legged, his wide and hairy body bristling with excitement. Layla was squatted, her eyes rolling as she fiddled with her hair and tassels on her shirt. Sam and Hannah were next to each other, smiling at each other as they waited for what was to come. Katie was directly under the pillar, feeling the speaker loom over her as he began to chant. Katie let her mind wander, wondering just how long she would put up with their complaining when it didn’t work.
 
 
“Digje me pasion, digje me urrejtje. Digjeni nga pikëllimi dhe digjeni nga gëzimi.”
 
 
Wait, what was he saying?
 
 
“Lërini flakët të mbushen dhe të përpijnë, sepse ato janë vetë shpirti.”
 
 
That wasn’t Latin, this was an older language.
 
 
“Shpirtrat tanë digjen të ndritshëm, të ndritshëm me karburantin e jetës dhe dashurisë, urrejtjes dhe trishtimit. Ne ofrojmë veten, o perëndeshë, që ti të shfaqesh brenda këtyre mureve.”
 
 
Katie was suddenly uncomfortable, standing up and looking around. While she was distracted, somehow braziers had been lit, their tall flames whipping and stretching into the room. These flames were not red, but a bright bluish-green that gave off an otherworldly presence.
 
 
“Lëreni që korniza juaj të gjejë blerje në këtë mbretëri të vdekshmëve, në mënyrë që ju të shijoni bujarinë tonë dhe të jeni të mbështetur ashtu siç na keni mbështetur dhe mbrojtur ne.”
 
 
Katie rushed around the pillar, seeing the stairs and pushing herself up them. Given what she knew about ancient european nations, what was being summoned was less than ideal since much of the mythos pertaining to these lands, at least the ones that were less corrupted by christian influence, spoke of monsters and titans and fae of great power and inhumane nature.
 
 
“Dëshira jonë e vetme është të të mbushim, perëndeshë jonë. Ju e dëgjoni lutjen tonë dhe na jepni një audiencë me praninë tuaj.”
 
 
Katie got to the top and beheld the sight she couldn’t from below. The man was floating, his cloak billowing in the same flames and skin smoking away in wisps. The parchment, still old and frail, were ablaze with light and the words seemed to burn into the man’s eyes, frying them into raisins yet still he spoke.
 
 
“Ne thërrasim emrin tuaj, emrin që është shkruar. I bëjmë thirrje Devorës, mbretëreshës së Ashtoreshit, të vijë dhe të shohë përsëri botën.”
 
 
Katie didn’t know what to do. Was this person a cultist? Did she have a moral right to stop him from unleashing who knows what from who knows where onto the earth?
 
 
“Unë jam i fundit nga Ashen Folks dhe të thërras ty, perëndeshë. Na lejoni të shohim edhe një herë hirin dhe fuqinë e tyre dhe na shpëto nga marrëzitë e botës së vdekshme.”
 
 
Katie ran forward and shoved the man square in the small of the back. As he tumbled forward, the parchment flashed and exploded, blinding hot bluish-green flames scorching Katie as the man fell straight down, his chant over as it was replaced by a scream. Katie also screamed, feeling the flames pierce into her very soul and being, carving the words and their meaning so deep into her frame that even after she passed, such workings were always possible.
 
 
Time slowed, Katie suddenly starkly aware of everything. She could see behind her, under her, outside of the temple and herself, all at once. It was impossible to comprehend, so she focused on the events unfolding in the room. As the man fell and the four students looked up, the carved circle flashed, the flames from the braziers arcing out and hitting the center, their heat crumbling the stone like ash as it collapsed inward. The portal crumbled open, revealing an empty void that stretched like a blackhole’s gravitational force into infinity. Katie looked into it and saw the truth, so great that even her glimpse into it nearly shattered her brain before erasing it from her mind so utterly and completely that she was only left with the knowledge that she was not supposed to know this while in a mortal form.
 
 
The form rose slowly, gracefully, like being raised by a cloud. Her red hair was tied up and behind her pristine white horns, the goat-like ears twitching in slow motion as her vibrant green eyes began to survey the place she was summoned to. Golden markings, whether put there by rituals or part of her natural beauty, shimmered softly as she rose and revealed her nude form. A pair of wings came out of her hips, tucked in to not brush against the summoning circle but large enough to be almost twice the size of her. As her feet passed the lip of the portal, it wavered and the ground reformed beneath her, the portal having done its work to bring the extra-planar being into this one.
 
 
Katie was amazed even as time began to move again, her focus slowly shrinking back to a mortal one and revealing just how large she was. The ceiling of the room was within arms reach of her and the 20m pillar which Katie was falling onto only came up to the middle of her thigh, granting her a clear sight of the perfectly smooth labia above her. The cultist’s screams came back into focus and with a heavy impact, Katie hit the stone, her head cracking against it and causing her eyes to flash white.
 
 
“Një botë e re? Jo... një kohë e re?” The giantesses voice was soft but clear, bringing Katie back to the real world. Groaning, Katie sat up, squinting from the pain of her burns and from being thrown to the ground. However, she did spot the cultist, encircled in flames, being floated up past her and circling like a satellite right up past the giantess’s breasts and towards her face.
 
 
The giantess seemed to ponder the limp man, the flames not burning him. “Pra, ju ishit ai që nisët thirrjet? Por ju nuk jeni ai që u shënua./So, you were the one who started the summonings? But you are not the one that was marked.” Katie flinched, feeling her gentle voice echoing twice in her head. One was the original language, Albanian but older and less tainted than the one spoken today, and the other wasn’t English, but a truer and more pure language; the language of the soul which forwent translations and transcended any flaws. Katies mind just translated it to English as it was the only language her mortal mind could understand the best.
 
 
“Ai që u shënua…/The one who was marked…” Katie saw the giantess look down at her, her huge frame simply mind boggling at this close range, “a jeni ju./is you.”
 
 
With a twirl of her finger, the flame-covered cultist disappeared into the perfect maw of the Giantess, an audible gulp echoing in the room. The giantess looked down and Katie realized that the four college students were still there, seemingly glued to their spots other than Sam, who had rushed over to Hannah’s side and was holding her tightly. The Giantess leaned over, her butt raised over Katie’s pillar and threatening to flatten her.
 
 
“Hello, little ones.” Her voice carried the same accent that the cultist had, but her words were soft and gentle, spoken like one would speak to a child. “My name is Devorah. May I ask yours?”
 
 
Katie was too far away to hear what the others were saying, but judging by Scotts excited mannerism, he was chatting away. Devorah shifted, her large wings creating a blast of wind that nearly swept Katie off of the pillar, and sat down on the ground, tucking her legs up beside her so that she could lean on her hands and listen. Even curled up she was almost the size of the circle’s diameter, which Layla had determined to be roughly 50m, and her wings were extended to grant her a little modesty by covering her exposed areas.
 
 
Katie felt like she was in a bubble, the world around her unimportant as she looked upon the succubus. She could still see the world and people around her, but it was almost like a dream where what you saw slipped away except for the center of focus. She could see Hannah and Sam still holding each other, finding comfort in their shared presence, and could see Layla sitting down properly, allowing herself to collapse onto her back and stare at the ceiling. Devorah spoke again and Katie focused in.
 
 
“So, you are asking for a boon? And what do you have in exchange for such a prize, for I do not give them out on a whim.” Katie couldn’t hear Scotts response, but Devorah chuckled, shifting herself so that she could extend an arm into a lazy stretch. “My my, you choose to summon me even though you do not have an offering? Now why did you go and do that? I was hoping that we could talk some more, but if you have nothing then I will simply have to take from you what I deem to be of value.”
 
 
Devorah’s arm disappeared from sight behind her body, leaving Katie with a view of her back and long hair pinned loosely in a comfortable fold. But then Devorah twisted, adjusting her wings so that she was now sitting down and leaning back, her free hand dangling a flailing Scott by his shirt. Katie could hear his screams and yells muffled, like her ears were full of cotton, as Devorah sat on a profile angle to Katie as compared to the over-the-shoulder one she was before. Katie saw the twinkle in Devorah’s eyes as she moved Scott closer and higher, earning more screams and beginnings. Katie had never seen Scott so terrified before, but when you were being hung by the shirt over top of a giant succubi’s maw, Katie couldn’t blame him.
 
 
The shirt tore, finally giving way under Scott’s weight and releasing him to fall straight down into the awaiting maw of Devorah. She didn’t close it right away, Katie seeing Scott’s arms struggling to get a grip on her perfect teeth and managing to pull himself up a little before a tongue looped around his shoulders and pulled him back in. Devorah sat upright, still a dozen meters taller than Katie’s current perch, and closed her mouth, allowing her cheeks to puff and wiggle as Scott flailed and begged. There were a few moments where an arm or leg would breach the lips, but they were quickly slurped back in before anything came of it.
 
 
Devorah was teasing him, torturing him with freedom and then snatching it away at the last moment. Katie could only imagine what it was like in there, the dark and humid space constantly shifting and pushing against you, twisting your perception of up and down and beating you down until you decided to stop struggling. Which Katie saw eventually happen, Scott’s struggles stopping as Devorah swallowed him down and looked over to Katie, seeming to wink at her before looking away.
 
 
Devorah turned her attention to the couple at her feet, tucking her feet and leaning over her knees, smiling down at them. “Awe, you two look so cute. How long have you two been dating?”
 
 
Devorah chatted with Sam and Hannah, the two slowly opening up and talking with her as if Scott’s devourment never happened. Katie split her attention between the conversation and Layla, who was still lying on the stone and staring up into space. Devourah’s wings fluttered, a couple feathers laying on top of Layla as she chatted with the couple, reaching down and carefully scooping up the small humans.
 
 
Katie watched as Sam and Hannah began to kiss, getting more and more passionate and aggressive. Devorah simply watched, smiling to herself as they began to feel each other through their clothes and intertwining their limbs. Devorah brought them closer, seeming to breathe in the energy they were exuding and a shiver went down her back, causing her wings to flutter and brush Layla across her face.
 
 
Devorah opened her mouth and let out a low note, her golden lines smoldering softly. A wave of flame wafted out, behaving like a gas as it curved and soaked in the humans. Their clothes withered and faded, increasing the touching and eagerness between the couple. Keeping her mouth open, Devorah slid them inside and carefully rolled them around, keeping them away from her teeth and letting her taste their passion.
 
 
Tilting her head back, Devorah allowed them to slip down her throat, a much larger bulge forming in her throat as she did so. Sighing with satisfaction, Devorah used a wing to scoop up Layla’s form and stood up, taking Layla in her hand and bending at the waist, looking down at Katie.
 
 
“Happiness, Fear, Passion, and now Sorrow. All of these result in such glorious flavours, flavours I can never get unless I am here again. My world is an empty one, one that requires the influence of yours to sustain it. Will you act as my eyes in this world, be my anchor so that I may taste of the light again? Will you sustain me so that I may be as you?”
 
 
Katie looked up into the eyes of the Giantess, watching as Layla was placed on Devorah’s tongue like a stick of gum and tucked away. Devorah didn’t play with her, simply waiting for Katies answer. Katie knew that it was possible, the markings on her soul was a powerful connection to this being, powerful enough to summon her again and allow her to experience the world alongside her.
 
 
“I can do my best, if that is enough.”
 
 
Devorah smiled. “It always will be, for me.”
 
 
Katie awoke, at the apartment building she called home. She stretched, feeling well rested for the first time in forever, and got out of bed, heading to the bathroom. As she pulled off her shirt, she paused, examining herself in the mirror. Her hair was different now, taking on the same glowing red as the woman she dreamed about. Canting her head up and to the side, she could see 3 dangling golden earrings on her right ear, sparkling in the light.
 
 
She smiled. Katie has a lot to look forward to.