The Tower of Passion

As Ash muttered something else in the arcane language, and Fiona felt the toy lodged deep in her ass give less pressure, Qae explained, pointedly ignoring the soft plop as the spiral cock flopped out of the berserker.

"I believe this to be an arena floor - they are short, hard, and brutal." The dragon queen explained. Qae and Liddy had to pull the two women off their shared toy, which had been a fun experience for everyone involved. The stretching and power made Fiona cum again - to her absolute shame. Everyone decided to ignore it and carry on with her dungeon.

Which somehow was the worst thing they could have done. Once empty, she couldn't meet anyone's eyes.

"How short?" Liddy asked, having volunteered to towel off Ash's toys for a reason no one, not even Liddy could understand. But she said it, and she was doing it. The fox and the barbarian were getting dressed, back in their outfits. However, that never took long for Fiona.
"A day - maybe two, but unlikely. Sometimes just hours" The dragon looked around at the weaponry. "We can take anything we need from here, but I do not believe we need it."
"So how does it work?" Fiona asked now, having recovered somewhat from her escapades.
"If I am correct I believe if we step onto that" A blue-nailed finger pointed onto the platform. "We will be brought to some form of arena and will be in immediate, constant combat. Cannoneer - I do not need the full details of your class, but a basic preferred strategy would be pertinent. "

Ash was sat on the floor wiggling her way into her leather trousers, stuffing her shapely legs into the tight clothes.

"Short story? It takes a second to set up, but I do immense damage. Slow, strength-based ranged attacks with the cannon" She got her ass full into the trousers, her tail smoking out through a gap in the leather as she started putting her boots on, having to take them off to get dressed. 

"I do have some options for faster attacks, and some surprises... I do like my toys. Power over speed though." She smirked, and Fiona blushed.

"Ideal is if you can keep them off me, I can blow them up"

"Sounds like a reasonable strategy and we should not have any issue doing that. Any further questions or should we get started- I feel enough time has been spent"

No protest the trio gathered up on the platform - Ash in the middle with the three melee fighters surrounding her. With one look at her team, Fiona pulled the lever and the mechanism lurched to a start lifting them up towards the light. Ash started preparing her cannon, strange elaborate hand movement sending a black flame shimmering across the steel, before taking a cannonball out of her inventory. Dousing it in some form of liquid, she then poured multiple types of powder into the barrel before loading the fist-sized projectile. As soon as it was in the weapon, a small black flame puffed out of the barrel.

The rest of the party looked on with curiosity their preparation not more than just unsheathing their weaponry. Liddy was spinning her new chakrams around, excited to try them out.

"Extra prep for the first shot. Not quite this slow normally." She held up her cannon, a thick leather strap over her shoulders helping her hold it up.

"Whatever enemy appears first" She held the trigger of the weapon, which was on top of the barrel as it swung next to her hip. "Well... I'll show you what lil baby can do. Just leave it to me" She patted her cannon, as the rest of the party nodded.

Their heads perked up as the ramp arrived at its destination, a dusty circular arena floor covered in debris and dust.  Enormous stone walls surrounded them, and ten iron gates set into the walls. Two - on opposite sides far larger than the rest.

"Seems you were right" Fiona looked at Qae. The setup was clear, and the dragon assessment had to be right. This would be quick, compared to the previous floors.

And it would be brutal, looking at remains covering the sandy floor. They all held their breath, scanning the doors waiting for something to happen.

The seconds turned to minutes turned to Liddy shouting.

"DO SOMETHING."

Which she immediately regrets deeply, as a loud voice booms across the sand.

"Weelcome challengers, to the desert of DEATH! Your challenge is imminent, will you prevail against the forces of destruuuuuction? Ten challenges stand between you and great rewards! LEEEETS BEGIN!"

Fiona cringed at the announcement- whoever it was - but had little time to think about it, as a gate next to the larger one started opening. 

"Right, clear the way please." Ash jostled her way forward, pointing her cannon at the gate. Finger on the trigger. 

"Might wanna cover your ears?" Fiona thought the woman's breathing slowed, as she adjusted her cannon slightly, waiting as the iron portcullis was being lifted up, the click-clack of the mechanism being the only sound.

The trio awkwardly tried to cover their ears while still holding on to their weapons, as the metal gate clanked to a stop. 

Shadows appeared, about five of them, slowly lumbering towards the group. Silhouettes of large bipedal creatures, gleams of steel on spikes and weaponry. 

"Bye-bye" Ash nearly whistled, followed by a click, a poof

, and a woosh.

And then the world ended.

Well, at least for whatever enemies were approaching them, the gate, and a portion of the wall.

A short second after she'd hit the trigger, Fiona had expected an explosion. What she got instead was the opposite.

The projectile hit in the middle of the approaching group - No one had a chance to see what they were, as a circle of black flame extended out, casting the entire arena in a harsh white light before the flame suddenly retracted.

And so did everything it was touching.

The result was a large hole in the wall and ground, a red mist in the air the only thing remaining after the intense pressure the creatures had been under. 

Fiona almost felt bad.

"Intriguing. How often can you do that?" Qae answered in a restrained voice, unlike Liddy's reaction of "WOAWWWW"

"Once per day. Big setup though, and has to be used quickly - if I get disrupted it cancels out." Ash knelt and started putting another ball into her cannon, with less preamble this time.

"You like"

Everyone nodded silently.

"WHAT? THEY HAVE-" The announcer sounded confused, but quickly gathered themself. "Ahem, well done - let's see if you find the next challenge as simple!"

The next gate started moving with the same clickety clack and the party got ready. Qae is in front, shield at the ready with Fiona and Liddy right behind her. Ash had her reloaded cannon in its strap behind her and had pulled out two single-shot pistols wielding one in each hand. As the gate was fully lifted they stared into the dimly lit hallway waiting for... well whatever was coming next.

More of them this time... A lot more. Fiona held her hammer - Qae suggested they keep their formation to protect Ash, so she could unload her powerful attacks. No rushing ahead. Her hands tingled though, she wanted to get in as she saw the mass of bodies lurching towards them. As the first got through, she saw what they were fighting.

Zombies. Dressed in loose, tattered robes, stained and dirty. Some wielding sharp pieces of metal barely qualified to be called a dagger, other random pieces of wood.

"Fuck, should have saved that shot." Ash burst out stepping around to the side of her party, before the clank of the cannon firing was heard again. Woosh whistled, before another explosion. This was more as expected - the black flame was still there, though the harsh light was not as intense. 

The destruction was absolutely nothing to scoff at though. The shot had landed right on the head of one of the zombies and took out another two in a violent burst of black flame, sand, and zombies. Ash stepped back in line just, and the rest of the zombies rushed into action, feet pummeling the dusty sand to get to the party. 

Fiona readied herself and felt the now familiar sensation of [Accelerate] from Qae, as Liddy summoned Timmy & Chompy. Holding steady, hammer at the ready, the first zombies were about to clash with the group. 

Clash right into Fiona's hammer. She swung in a wide arc, faster, stronger thanks to her friend's buff as Liddy sliced and jumped through the horde with her new weaponry. Qae set up her [Time Wall] in front of them, slowing the horde down as they rushed through. Fiona's opponent suddenly was stuck, half his body in the wall, the others outside. She kicked him back into the wall, leaving him weirdly floating for later before dodging another one lurching in from her left. She spun and swept its legs out from under it, before finishing it quickly

She took a moment to take a look around - Ash was staying behind taking shots at Zombies trying to flank the trio, shots from her pistols exploding in little bursts of black flame. Qae was holding at least five of them at bay still, while Liddy and her spirits roamed the battlefield at great speed, hitting zombies and then disappearing before they could react. Fiona smiled, ready to move back in and happy her earlier activities had only slightly impeded her - a mild discomfort with all this movement. She kind of liked it, if she was honest with herself.

As the zombie pushed through the [Time Wall] Fiona's hammer was there, ready to finish it, and before long the party had finished of the horde with nothing more than a few scrapes hitting them. 

It was tiring though. Another few, Fiona could do, but there seemed to be more than a few. And if it was anything like what she expected, it would get harder.

"Well done challengers - Eight remain! Let us see what the deeeesert of DEATH has in store for you next!"