Near Mint Mill

It wasn’t that Saroria wanted to impose, it was more she didn’t want to owe anyone anything. By her nature she wanted to be on the positive side of the debt ledger, although regardless of her attempts to keep their relationship even, Santi had managed to learn she had a thing for a nice bath. So he had commissioned an appropriate little tub from the blacksmith that she could sit in within the privacy of her little loft above the kitchen. Saroria had spent her quiet late nights carefully carving specific runes and sigils onto the interior and exterior of the tub. Time that had been found due to her and Santi falling into a comfortable routine. The kryt owner would open the tavern first thing in the morning. She would wake up in time to either help with lunch or clean up from it. They would work together, Saroria serving and Santi cooking dinner. Then she would take over the evening stragglers giving the kryt some much needed recharge time, something he had been severely lacking before her arrival.

Which was why he had gifted her this tub as a thank you for all she had done so far. Saroria inspected it one last time before applying a touch of power to the primary sigil. She watched as all of her etchings gained a low red glow and the tub started to fill and steam with heated water. Saroria cast a glance over the railing of the loft, knowing full well Santi had long gone to sleep in his room in the back of the tavern. Another thing he had had custom made for his own flora biological needs. She pulled off her tunic, undid the sash around the waist of her pants and let them fall to the floor, pooling at her feet.

The scarlet skinned beauty stepped carefully around the tub to have her back to it so as to carefully lower herself to sit within it. Saroria could not fit her entire body into the wooden circular tub as it was built similarly to a typical washing basin only a little larger but still small enough to be moved by a singular person. Her excitement at having a bath outweighed the sizing issue and she was able to find a relaxing position even though her arms and legs hung over the sides. The heat immediately started to do its work and she let out a sigh of relief as she settled into the tub.

Her runes did an excellent job of keeping the water hot so that its warmth worked wonders on her muscles. Saroria had already made a few notes on how to improve the experience next time. Though some of those ideas relied on whether or not she was lucky any travelling traders that came through the town carried the items she desired. Her thoughts eventually drifted away from her needs to those of the town and her recent memory of the thugs from just over a month ago. A minor smudge on an otherwise enjoyable existence within the village so far.

Saroria’s short time here so far, had been finding her place and falling into a routine with Santi that was beneficial for both of them working together within the tavern. The ruffians had always been in the back of her mind but it was not until now when she really had a true moment to herself that Saroria could analyse the situation. While she had not been hiding what she was from anyone, she had also not been actively telling any of the villagers about her true nature. Whether Santi or other villagers knew, they had not expressed any concern as of yet. That did not mean, however, she was not going to ignore fundamental aspects of her being and it just so happened those existential traits would work to her advantage in this situation.

She let out a breath, letting the heat and steam overtake her and with practised ease she separated her essence from her body. Saroria had no soul to worry about like the mortals were wont to do. Her essence was more a culmination of her experiences and accumulated power, something she could manipulate as easily as she could a hormonally charged male, wrapping them around her finger with the potential of fulfilling their sinful desires of the flesh.

While her body relaxed in the tub her consciousness was floating high above the town. She did not see the world as if she was walking through it, being a devil she had the ability to see a mortal soul. From her new vantage point could see the radiating light of the villagers’ souls as they slumbered in their beds scattered outwardly from the center of the town. Mortals got so hung up on their souls, not fully understanding how they worked. Malleable things that lost and gained pieces of themselves as easily as one removed some hair only for it to grow back. Every interaction left behind or picked up pieces. It was for these reasons that magically tracking an individual through objects they interacted with was possible. While Saroria did not have a soul to give, she could leave an imprint of her essence on another’s, an act typically done through memory.

Looking down at the spotted collection of villager souls, they all had a slight pink tint to them indicating Saroria had left a mark within their  memories. A darker pink one brought a smirk to her ethereal lips as a young male villager was clearly dreaming of her. She had the thought of indulging him, and herself, with spicing up his dream but a radiant red beacon of a soul off in the distance caught her attention.

It took but a minor amount of focus and Saroria found herself within the sexual charged, explicit dream of that skinny brown nef thug.

It was his dream, she merely allowed herself to be a passenger in it. Saroria had no idea where he was, she could not even guess if the room and bed they were occupying was his actual current location. Her dreamself moaned and the real Saroria rolled her eyes. If this was to be his final dream she needed to make it worth her while. It was unfortunate that this was the thug she first found dreaming of her, as from what she had seen at the village square he was most likely the one to change his ways. But fate served him up on a gilded platter and Saroria was determined to protect the villagers with all of her skills she had at her disposal.

She took a breath, her dreamself mirrored the action and the succubus infused her essence into his image of her. The two versions of herself now fully merged, Saroria had the ability to fully interact with the nef in his dream, and the scarlet succubus was going to make it the best dream of his life while also being his last. She typically made a conscious effort to only take snippets of a soul, enough to survive while not causing serious harm. But in this instance, for these parasites, her retribution was going to be absolute.