New Blood (Patreon)

Merry Christmas!

This is the next $10 snippet story in queue but it grew far beyond what I normally write for them.  So, please, if you're in that tier, don't expect this length.

I hope it's decent as I stay up late to finish and edit and I'm worried some things slipped through.

The stones of the cobbled streets dug into the thin soles of the man's boots, annoying him with the unevenness of their placement.  A few rocked loosely in their setting, as if to purposefully add to his displeasure.  They were poorly made but he'd never noticed until now.

As a child, he was raised in the flea district so whenever his forays brought him into the more well maintained areas, he'd been amazed at the cleanliness and sheer richness of it all.  Now, returning to the city after more than a year away, he was disgusted by what he saw.  The patina of wealth was still apparent but it was false.  The smell of offal twined with the duelling scents of alcohol and some harsh burning new drug that he wasn't familiar with.  All of it was vainly and inexpertly hidden by the lye-laced water they used to clean the streets and buildings.

People gave him wide berth as he stalked down the streets.  He noted humans still covered their faces in heavy white makeup with rose-colored cheeks and was further appalled to spy a few spindly elves adorned in the same fashion.  All of them, even the doublet wearing dwarves with their well-oiled beards, stared as he passed.

He was dressed as a trapper might dress, or a ranger long on the road who needed to replace their worn out clothing with furs and leather.  Over a year ago, he'd have been amused at his clothes, mocking the person who wore them as a backwater farmer.  Now- now he found comfort in their fit.  He'd hunted every piece by himself and his new wife had taught him to sew.  They'd both spent nights by the fire making his outfit and he was fond of that time with her.

Banks gave way to brothels while cobblestone dissolved into dirt and he felt more at home while also more nauseous.  This had been his life, before.  Drinking all night after surviving through the day.  Waking in the tavern or the brothel when the money was good or in an alley when it wasn't.  It felt right and good at the time but now he just felt anger at who he'd been.  Anger at what his life was.

The pain and frustration glowed like a hot coal within his chest as the crowds grew dense and loud.  Before, he would've loved it.  As a child, he would've dived right in, tugging on purses and cutting what he could to steal a little money for food with his meager skills.  Now the screaming and cursing and yelling threatened to drive him mad while the miasma made his stomach twist unpleasantly.  He ducked his head, held his breath and walked faster through the endless stream of people.

The path to the guild was burned into his mind, despite how many months had passed.  He crossed streets and dirt paths until he found the entrance.  It was flanked, as always, by two guards in scalemail who stared him down as he entered.  Broken tables lay scattered throughout the large interior.  Rats and mice slipped through gaps in the floor and walls.  Knives thunked randomly around them as they raced throughout the building and raucous laughter and cheers followed as patrons tried their luck at sticking one of the furry creatures.

It all washed over him and, despite how repelled he was by the atmosphere now, he felt a twinge of homesickness that surprised him.  He'd been one of the many, many orphans in the city, forced onto the streets at thirteen years of age to make room for younger orphans.  They'd had to guess at his age and ultimately didn't care when he'd tried to argue against them.  He'd wandered, starved, fought and eventually joined the guild just to try to earn a little money.

The man touched a long scar that ran from his temple to the base of his jaw.  He'd been taken as a pack mule by a group of more seasoned adventurers and nearly died when they were swarmed by goblins.  Two of the other five party members did die but he was trapped beneath their collapsed wagon while the other three repelled the attack.  He'd gained other scars over the four years he'd work with the guild but none were quite as deadly as the first.

After a few moments to orient himself and to let the twinge of loss wash over him, he made his way to a tall desk set against the wall.  Groups lingered around the table, deep in discussion over listed bounties.  He passed them but kept an ear open to listen for which job they'd chosen.

Two groups were before him.  He waited impatiently, eager to be away from the guild and the city itself.  Around him, other adventurers cleaned and fixed their gear while boasting of their kills or planning their next trip.  He listened to those as well, just in case.

When his turn came, he stepped up to the side of the desk where an enormous metal ring was bolted to the wall.  Pages were irregularly attached to the ring and covered in a dark, flowing script.  With a quick, furtive glance over his shoulder, he huddled over the ring to read through the listings.  He was still learning to read - a new chore he'd grudgingly taken on in the past few months but some words stood out.

He found the page he wanted near the end of the stack.  It was weathered in comparison to most other pages but still legible.  An adventurer was supposed to make note of the listing's number, used by the staff to make an official entry of who was tackling which task in order to set precedence and reward.  The pages were left until the task was finished in which an official guild administrator would remove the page to take it out of rotation.  His hand closed over the page-

"Is that- it is!" a sharp, high voice called out from a nearby table.  "Jesad!  I'd recognize that vicious scar anywhere, even if your choice of clothes is questionable at best."

Jesad let the page slip through his fingers.  He recognized the voice and turned slowly to stare at the elf wearing a stained long sleeved shirt with drooping, loose fabric.

"Farris," he said.

"I knew it was you," the elf said with a wide grin.  He gestured to the two women beside him, both halflings who sat too close to the elf.  "I ran a job or two with Jesad before.  A passing good lock breaker when he was sober."

"That's all in the past now," Jesad told him.

"Then, why are you here?" Farris asked.  His bloodshot eyes suddenly focused with curiosity.  "We all- those you've worked with, as few as they were, thought you died in your last raid.  Nobody in your little party made it back."

Dammit, Jesad cursed to himself.  He'd needed to be swift and unnoticed and he'd been neither of those things.  He'd have to leave it and wait for another day in order to reduce his chances of his intentions being found out.

"The rest are dead," Jesad said truthfully.

"So," the elf leaned forward, setting his mug on the table.  One of the halflings whispered something in his ear that made it twitch and her hand slid beneath the table until he swatted it away.  "What happened?"

"I died too," Jesad answered.

He strode away, ignoring the elf's wrinkled brow and the yelled 'what does that mean?' that followed him.  He failed but would try again in a week, faster and without hesitation this time.

---

Tob whistled as he walked past the adventurer's guild.  An outlander, dressed in thick furs, stormed from the doors, startling the guards enough that one half-drew his sword.  But the man continued walking before breaking into a trot and then a run.  The other guard stepped into the guild to see if something happened but returned to his post and shrugged at an inquiring look by the first guard.

After the stranger vanished into the crowd, Tob nodded to the two guards with a closed-mouth smile and half wink that neither guard noticed.  With a tap of his fingers against the sword on his hip, he continued down the street, eyes roaming the flow of foot traffic for cutpurses and their like.  Hungry children in rags and a few halflings dressed like hungry children in rags earned his full attention and a harder grip against his sword but none bothered him while he walked.

A splash of filthy water rained down from a bucket poured by a woman on the second floor of the building in front of Tob, causing several furious shouts, raised fists and a few threats of actual violence.  Tob walked to the other side of the dusty street, shaking his head as one particularly angry dwarf stomped into the building with a knife drawn.

His head swam in the heat made worse by the bustling crowds but he smiled through it while sweat dripped down his back.  He'd spent the night with a wealthy older widow who nearly drank him under the table but, thankfully, the wine worked its magic fast enough to keep him from having to follow through on the heavy flirting he'd used on her throughout the night.  Unfortunately, he'd fallen into a drunken stupor after bringing her to bed, only waking when the woman's maid entered to clean.  It left him no time to search the room and he'd fled as diplomatically as possible with the few silver coins he'd been able to palm before falling asleep.

Along the way, he took off his wide brimmed hat to fan himself while mumbling about his headache and his dry throat.  He turned off the main path to a smaller one with less people, sighing in relief when the tall buildings nearby provided shade for the rest of his walk.

Off key singing began to fill the street as he neared his destination.  Shouting joined the singing with the undertones of a heated argument.  He shaded his eyes with his hat while looking up to see the broad wooden sign for The Queen's Bee.  With the thought of a cold, well, lukewarm drink in his hand, his head began to ache less and he quickened his steps, eager to be out of the sun.

Chaos reigned within the tavern.  Despite how early it was in the day, tables were completely full and a few patrons stood with their drinks.  Tob groaned and winced at the noise while making his way through the crowd, dodging thrusting arms and hands until he reached the bartender.

"Ale, whatever's coldest, I don't care where it's from," he said while reaching into his purse for copper coins he dropped on the bar.  "And some food.  That I do care where it's from.  Chicken or boar or something like that."

The bartender grunted, grabbed his coins in a practiced scooping motion before reaching for a hanging tankard.  Tob glanced at the man but then hid his eyes beneath his hat.  The other man was taller than most humans with skin tinged green and larger lower canines.  His wider frame and large hands completed the pictures, showing at least some orc in his heritage.  Tob shuddered at the thought.

Orcs were rare in the city, preferring their tribes in the hills outside the walls but a few walked the streets, male and female.  He knew humans who admired the beasts but he couldn't see the attraction.  The women, every single one of them, were taller than he was and more muscular.  Worse, their faces looked like a hog wearing a frog mask.

He shuddered at the thought of an orc woman nude and sweating and grunting, huge and domineering.  The few acquaintances he kept, not friends really, ribbed him for his racism but he didn't care.  He just wanted a nice, sweet, soft human.  Or maybe an-

"I'm- I'm- I'm sorry but," a sweet voice stammered behind him.  He turned and smiled slowly to see a silver elf dressed in a priestess' light robes.  Her thin, long ears quivered while her fingers twisted together before her.  "I'm not- I'm not here for that.  I just need help.  My sister-"

A man sitting at the table, his nose red and mottled from too many years of drinks muttered something while swiping at the elf but she danced away lightly.  Whatever he said made the elf flustered enough to leave her speechless.

Now that he had time to look at her, he noticed signs of wear and travel in her clothing and face.  She'd done her best to keep herself clean but gray dirt hid in the folds of her robe while her eyes were weary and lined.  She smelled desperate and his smile deepened further until he ducked his head to hide beneath his hat and compose himself.

"Gentlemen!" Tob said loudly, sweeping towards the table and the elf.  She looked over at him while picking at her robes.  "We should all remember to be gracious to our guests!  We can all see that Lady...?"

"Oh.  Oh.  Oh, Sylna," she said finally.  "I'm not a-"

"Lady Sylna deserves our best behavior," Tob finished.

"I'll give 'er my best behavior," one of the men said while grabbing his crotch and licking his spotted, stubbled lips.

Tob feigned disgust while reaching a hand towards the elf.  She hesitated, reached out but pulled her hand back slightly in hesitation once more.

"You're obviously hungry," he told her.  "And probably thirsty.  Let me buy you food and drink and you can tell me what help you require."

The elf nodded, gathered her robes and followed him, skirting around the table and the leering men.

"For the lady?" Tob asked while the bartender listened.

"Just- just bread and water, please," she said.

"Ahhh, not water, not here," Tob told her.  He turned to the bartender.  "Bread and the weakest drink you have that doesn't taste like p- bad.  My name's Tob."

"Thank you," she told him with a light touch against his shoulder.

"Of course," he replied, hiding his quick smile by turning his head until he could fake a more genuine expression.  "Now, please, what's wrong?"

"It's my sister," the elf said, sniffling lightly.  She wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye before continuing.  "We were traveling in a small group with items for trade but we were attacked!  I was thrown from the wagon in the attack and hid in the woods.  Our hired guards were killed and they took my sister.  Slavers.  They looked like slavers."

Well, shit, Tob thought, blinking several times with a frown.  There were slaver groups in the area, he knew from gossip in the tavern and elsewhere but slavery was illegal in the kingdom.  They were probably well on their way to the wastes and the lands beyond already.  Not something he wanted to tell her.

An angry screech from the other side of the tavern distracted them for a moment.  Tob raised himself on his toes to peer down the bar.  A woman stood, with her left hand planted on a table and her right pointing beneath the nose of a seated orc.  The woman swayed and hissed something but the orc laughed her off.

"I'm- I'm trying to raise money for a group," Sylna continued.  "To rescue her if possible or buy her if not.  I thought- I know there's an adventurer's guild here and I thought I could recruit a small group to find her."

Recruiting means she has some money, he thought to himself.  He took a measured sip of his drink to give him time to think.  Especially if she was traveling for trade.  But if she was attacked...

"How much do you have saved?" he asked her, putting as much indifference as possible into his voice.

"Four silver coins," the elf said softly.  "It's all I had on my person when they attacked.  They took everything else"

Shit, he cursed mentally, taking a longer pull this time.  She'd need gold.  At least 10 coins if she had to buy her back.  At least.  Elves are more sometimes, especially depending on their age and lineage.  Damn.  I could go with her, lead her far enough away and dump her early enough that she'd be forced to go back to her village and regroup.  Safer for her anyway.

"So, uhh, why don't you go back home to gather a group?" he prodded carefully.

"We're peaceful people," she told him.  "Followers of Shae'Ix.  Healers and priests.  We trade our handcrafted goods and keep to ourselves.  They would mourn her loss and pray for her soul but never look for her.  But, she's my sister!  She's an innocent!  I can't- I can't leave her to this fate."

Definitely needs to go back to her people, he thought to himself.  She'll get herself killed.  And she won't miss some coins along the way.  I'm basically helping her and being paid for the service.

"Well," he told her out loud while touching the pommel of his sword.  "You're in luck.  I happen to be an adventurer and a damn fine swordsman.  I'll help you find your sister."

"Oh, thank you!" she cried, grabbing him into a tight hug before pulling back and lowering her head.  Her ears trembled and she sniffled again.  "I think-"

"No, fuck you," the voice from earlier yelled.

A pained scream followed wood breaking and the shouting of several men.  Tob gripped the hilt of his sword when one of the men arced through the air until the edge of a table broke his fall.  The man slumped as two large guards, one nearly as big as an orc, waded through the crowds with saps in hand.

"We should go," Tob told Sylna, touching her arm.  She jerked at the contact but let him lead her through the tables as people began to stand and consider joining the fight.  More screams and grunts followed their exit.  "There we go."

The narrow street was relatively empty and well shaded now that it was past midday.

"Here, now, we'll just-"  Tob started to say until a red blur flew past both of them.

Sylna shrieked while hugging against Tob and he wrapped his own arm around her with a small smile that disappeared as quickly as it crossed his lips.  They turned to see a short woman, arms and legs akimbo, laying against the far wall.  Bloody scrapes and bruises covered her bare skin.

The elven girl gasped, grabbed her robes to lift them and raced over to the other woman.

"I wouldn't do that," Tob warned while licking his lips and glancing back to the tavern.  An angry mob was gathering inside the entrance.  He sighed, took his hat from his head to fan himself and smiled broadly while walking back to the tavern.

"Nicely done!" he said loudly.  All eyes swiveled to focus on him and he felt a cold finger against his spine.  A wavering groan sounded behind him and the eyes turned back to the elf and girl lying prone.  Tob sidled sideways to block their view.  "We'll take the miscreant from here and ensure she never troubles anyone again.  I'm certain nobody wants to get the watch involved in our little corner of paradise."

A few patrons glanced at each other and melted away while the rest appeared to reconsider further violence.

"Does she have any money?" Tob asked Sylna sotto voce without turning his head.  "Get her to stand or leave her there but we need to go quickly."

"Took it," a wavering voice said.  "Bastards took it."

"Ah, see?"  he told the crowd as sweat beaded his brow.  "Well compensated as well.  Enjoy the rest of your quiet, uninterrupted evening, gentlemen!"

Tob turned.  The woman, dressed in tattered, crimson flowing skirt and short, matching top that left her stomach and arms bare, leaned against the wall wiping blood from her mouth with the back of her hand.  Her short hair was spiked and her reddened eyes stared daggers at the crowd hovering in the tavern.  He grabbed her arm to give her support but she shoved him with a growl and he bounced away.

"Get offa me," the woman told him.  The smell of alcohol wafted away from her in sharp waves.

"Sylna, we have to go," Tob said.

"Come, please," the elf told the other woman.  "I can heal you further once we're away."

"Don't need it," the woman said.  She straightened with barely a wince.

"Please," Sylna said.  "My faith requires me to help.  I can't just leave you here."

"Fine!" the woman shouted but groaned and squeezed her eyes shut while swaying.  The elf wrapped an arm around her and they walked slowly with Tob reluctantly leading the way.

After several turns and what felt like an eternity walking at a slow pace, he led them to a quiet alley.

"Hafta- hafta catch my breath," the woman said, turning to press against the wall.  She slid until she sat on the dirt between two puddles of vile looking water.  Once seated, her head drooped while blood dripped from her mouth.

Sylna knelt before her while placing her slim hands against the other woman's bare shoulders.  Soft white light filled the alley as she prayed quietly.

"Nothin'," the woman said.  She shivered as the magic took hold, winding its way through her body to mend the wounds within.  "Got nothin'.  Nothin' left.  Nothin'."

"Shh, it's okay," Sylna told her as her magic waned.

"We don't want to get involved," Tob told her impatiently.  "If she's healed, we should go."

"Shae'Ix brought her to me," Sylna said.  "There must be a reason.  I was there when she needed me."

"No," Tob said.  "No, that's not how that happens.  Not at all.  She's just a drunk starting a fight in a tavern.  It happens every day.  Multiple times a day.  We just happened to be there when this one happened.  If we'd stayed longer, another fight would've broken out easily."

"I can feel it," the elf insisted.  She took the other woman's hand, running her thumb over the swollen, hardened knuckles until the woman snatched it away from her.  "What happened?"

"Cast out," the woman said, leaning her head back while massaging her temples.  "Cast out from the monastery.  Not fit.  Not pure.  Years and years and years of training.  Since I was a child. Taken from the streets.  Or sold.  I dunno.  One wrong confession after too much drink and they cast me out.  Fuckers."

The woman clenched her fist, cracking her knuckles in the process.  Sylna tried to take the hand to calm her but the woman yanked it away again.

"Now I'm nothin'," she finished.

"Come with us," Sylna said.

"No.  No no no no," Tob told her.  "Absolutely not.  No."

"She has to," the elf replied.

"She's a drunkard!"

"With reason!  My goddess-"

"She'll only slow you down."

"Either we take her," Sylna said, fire in her normally gentle eyes.  "Or I'll take her with me while you stay."

"Dammit!" Tob cursed, turning and kicking at a loose stone.

"Not goin' anywhere," the woman said with a tired sigh.  "Don't know you."

"Come now, I have enough coin for a room for the night," Sylna told her, once more providing an arm for support.  "What's your name?"

That's my silver, dammit, Tob groaned, grinding his teeth.  He watched the elf help the woman stand.

"Amalia," the woman said.  She fell forward but Sylna braced herself and held steady.

"That's a pretty name," the elf told her.

"Fuck you," Amalia answered before she slumped into a dead weight.

The two women tumbled to the ground with Sylna giving an unladylike squawk.  Tob cursed, jumping for them but too late.  He knelt and sighed heavily but grabbed the woman, only to curse again when he realized exactly how heavy she was.  She was shorter than him by a foot but dense and he grunted while straining and lifting her until Sylna was able to help.

Now standing, they carried the drunken woman together, with her feet dangling. She'd lost a sandal at some point in the bar fight and the other dangled by a single strap before falling away behind them.  Her bare feet were caked with mud and dirt.

Tob sweated freely while bearing the majority of Amalia's weight.  A few people gave curious looks but most ignored them, unwilling to involve themselves in whatever was happening.  The fact that an elven woman in robes was assisting prevented the more, rare, kind hearted person from informing the watch on them.

He led them to the nearest, cheapest inn he knew.  One where he hadn't swindled anyone in the past few months.  True to her word, Sylna paid for her room with a silver piece.  She swept the coppers she received back into a small purse she kept tied at her waist, which Tob noted with interest.

Amalia snored lightly as Tob dragged her up the inn's stairs.  Although she was short, she was robust and he found himself growing aroused by the feel of her breasts against his side.  It'd been too long since he'd lain with someone in their prime and his body reacted to it, cock straining against his trousers.  He adjusted himself but held her tighter, kneading his fingers into her soft ass while he dragged her to their rented room.  He felt strong, trained muscle beneath her skin.  Although that was usually a turn-off for him, she was still supple enough to entice him, especially with the drought he was experiencing.

Their room was plain with a small bed, a wicker chair and a small privacy closet with a bucket that reeked faintly despite the dried herbs lining the ceiling.

Tob brought Amalia over to the bed.  Sylna came to assist, cradling the woman's back.  As they lay the woman down, she snorted and wrapped her arm around the elf, pulling her down with her.  Amalia murmured as Sylna tried to extricate herself but Amalia snaked her leg over the elf's legs while wrapping a bare arm over Sylna's chest and nuzzling against her neck.

Sylna's eyes widened while she froze in place in the bed, held down by the far stronger Amalia.  Tob closed his eyes with a sigh, rubbing his eyelids and then walking to the chair set beside the bed.  He unhooked his sword to lean it against the chair while sitting and resting back.

So, no snatch and run while she's sleeping, he told himself.  Not with that muscular monstrosity trying to crawl into her skin.  Dammit.  I'll wait for tomorrow and see how things look by then.  A proper rest will do me well anyway after the night I had.

He watched the women for a while but his chin began to drop.  It bobbed until sleep took him and he rested fitfully.

---

With a start, Tob gasped and jerked forward in his chair.  He fumbled for the sword he kept at his side but realization set in quickly and grabbed it from the floor where it'd fallen.  The man stood and knuckled his sore back while staring at the women.  If anything, Amalia clung even more tightly to the elf and Sylna slept peacefully, undisturbed by the weight or closeness of the other woman.  The stress and exhaustion from her travels unknotted, leaving her in a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

Tob shook his head, took the key and left, heading downstairs to follow the scent of food.  He ate his share of dinner and theirs in a corner away from everyone else and his mind wandered without focusing on anything in particular.  Over the years he found it easiest to not plan so strictly and instead adapt to the changing situation with an overall plan.  At some point in the journey, he would take her coins and simply walk away.  It was inevitable and there was no point in heavy planning so he simply relaxed and enjoyed his time.

After finishing dinner, Tob left.  He followed a random route that eventually led him to a small room where he kept his gear and money.  He hummed quietly in the dark while gathering a few items into his pack.  He double-checked the hiding spot for his coins, adding a silver piece from the ones he'd taken the night before and then put everything back while shrugging into his backpack.

Once more, he walked a random route, meandering aimlessly until he found the inn, guided by the light of the yellow waxing moon peeking through clouds high above.  The stairs creaked beneath his weight as he made his way upstairs and he nodded in satisfaction when the door groaned after he unlocked and pushed it open.  It would be loud enough to wake him.

The women were still in the same position.  He walked to the other side of the bed where he laid out his bedroll.  The bed sat between him and the door, obstructing anyone's would-be thief's view.

Tob lay back with his hands against his chest and his sword by his side.  He stared up through the window set high in the wall beside him, watching the dark clouds creep through the sky.  Pinprick lights winked in the dark gaps behind the clouds, twinkling before vanishing and reappearing once more.

---

"Where the fuck?" a raspy, dry voice asked.

Tob jerked awake, grabbing his sword and rolling before standing.  Amalia leapt from the bed at the sound of his movement.  She hit the wall with one hand and her foot at an angle, crouched and coiled with her long skirt waving beneath her.

"Everyone's awake?" Sylna said sleepily, covering her yawn behind her delicate hand.

"Who the-" Amalia started to ask until faint realization dawned on her.  "Hell.  Thank you for the healing, I guess.  I don't have any money to pay you back."

"I don't ask for coins," Sylna said.

"Great, then, I'll be off," the other woman told her.

"Excellent," Tob agreed.

"But I do ask for help," the elf finished.

"Augh," Amalia groaned as she unwound to stand properly.  "I- listen, you don't want my help.  I'm a screw up.  I've been cast out of my monastery."

"You told me last night," Sylna replied.  "You have no money and nowhere to go.  Come with us.  Please.  My sister was taken by slavers and I need to find her.  There will be food and the safety of company and money when we're done."

"I-" Amalia said before pausing and scratching the hard lines of her abs with her dirty nails.  "I've never been outside the walls of the city."

"I have," Sylna said.  She gestured to Tob.  "And so has he.  I thought, before we set off, we could check for bounties at the adventurer's guild.  I'll need coins for the journey and to save to buy back my sister if we can't catch the slavers.  I know you can fight."

"Well, yeah," Amalia answered.  She tweaked her nose with a grimace.  Her lean bicep bulged while her elbow brushed against her breast.  "I've been trained.  Severely."

"Come with us," Sylna pleaded.  "Even ignoring the coins we may make on the side, my village would reward you with what we can or give you a place to stay for as long as you like.  My goddess led you to me."

"Huh," Amalia grunted while looking away.  Finally, she shrugged her shoulders.  "Fine.  I've got nothing else so, sure.  I'll fight for you as long as you aren't asking me to throw my life away."

"I wouldn't," Sylna said with a smile.  "Not ever.  Not even for the sake of my sister."

"Then, sure, I'll follow you," the other woman said.  "Not him.  You."

"I'm leading this little group," Tob said through grit teeth.

"Well, you can show us the way but I'll be listening to her," Amalia said with an even stare.  "Any chance we can eat?  My head is killing me and I haven't eaten in two days."

They gathered what little they had before Tob led them downstairs with Sylna in the middle.  As breakfast was being finished, Sylna made small talk but found resistance from the other two.  Tob answered with single words while Amalia simply had nothing to add.

"I've been studying with the monks since I can remember," she said finally.  "I've got nothing else.  No belongings, no wild stories, no- no life.  It was strict.  We had to earn our food daily through training and I starved a lot as a kid.  Until I was older and realized I was wasting away for nothing.  Some of these monks, they've been there from the day they were born until the day they die.  Others are allowed out but not Amalia, no.  So I started to sneak in drinks at night.  This fool server at a tavern wanted to learn to fight so I'd teach him boring drills in return for drink."

The food arrived and Amalia dug in with gusto.  Sylna picked at hers, mostly eating the bread and what few vegetables she could but she pushed the rest over to the other woman who accepted it with a grunt and a grateful nod.

"What happened?" Sylna asked when everyone was finished eating.  "If it doesn't pain you to tell me."

"Eh," Amalia shrugged.  "I'd had too much to drink and an elder found out.  He confronted me about it and I said a few foolish things about what I  wanted in life.  So he beat the shit out of me and they tossed me out on my ass.  I thought they were incredibly tough in training but I guess they'd held back a little bit."

"I'm so sorry," Sylna said, reaching out but pulling back when the other woman withdrew.

"It's fine," Amalia said.  "Perfect, in fact.  I'm done with them.  I'm my own woman and I can make my own way in life now.  Or starve to death in a gutter.  But at least it'll be my choice."

"The gods guide our path," Sylna told her.

"Sure," Amalia answered, shrugging once more.

"We should go," Tob interrupted, touching Sylna's arm.  Amalia tracked the motion carefully.  "We've got a long journey ahead."

"Yes, you're right," the elf said.  "The adventurer's guild first? I don't have a lot of coin left and we'll need something if we're to travel any distance."

"I was thinking the same thing," he lied.

They stood and took turns relieving themselves in the public privy before settings out with Tob once more showing the way.  It was a silent procession with Amalia and Sylna staring at the few sights around them.

The twin guards stood their ground at the entrance to the guild while the trio walked inside.  Amalia eyed everyone in turn, trying her best to assess fighting skills while Tob watched for people who might know him.  He ducked his head when possible while leading them to the bounties to wait their turn.

"May I?" Sylna asked as they approached the board.  Tob sighed but waved her forward with a mock bow.  "There's so many requests and only three of us.  And I can only help, not fight."

"Something simple would be best," Tob said while looking over her shoulder.  "A small goblin nest, perhaps. Or rats.  The big ones."

"I don't see any goblin bounties," Sylna said.  "Would- would a single giant-"

"Absolutely not," Tob said.  "It wouldn't even see us before stepping on us."

"Oh. Oh!" she said, grabbing a yellowed parchment sheet near the back.  "Twenty gold for a pack of wolves!  Twenty!"

"Impossible," Tob said, frowning as he leaned over her to look at the page more clearly.  "Dire wolves.  Just a pack, supposedly.  Why is this worth twenty gold coins?"

"Nobody comes back from it," said a lounging youth in full chainmail, waiting by the side as his group argued about the share of their bounty.  Blood stained his armor and a few chains appeared broken.  "It's one of the oldest bounties they have.  A few try it but they're never seen again."

"That's what I was trying to remember!" an elf said, standing up swiftly.  "I met Jesad yesterday.  His group went after the wolves.  I remember because they made a big deal of it, working themselves up and talking over what they would do with their share of the money.  He was alive just yesterday.  Jesad, I mean.  Strange but alive."

"He didn't claim the bounty?" the youth asked while cocking his head.

"No, he just pawed through the list and left in a huff when I called him out," the elf said.  "Didn't stay for a drink and didn't want to talk about it.  Just muttered nonsense and left."

"It's twenty gold," Sylna said.  "That's enough to buy my sister back with enough left over for all of us!  Well, for the two of you.  I don't want the gold; I just want my sister back."

Twenty gold for a pack of wolves, Tob mused, staring at the brief description.  A local lord had ordered the bounty just shy of a year ago and the reward was crossed out many times in an ever increasing amount until the angrily written "20" tore through the parchment in two places.

"What are dire wolves?" Tob asked.

The youth shrugged.  "Nobody knows.  The description just says the lord or his vassals caught sight of large wolves raiding his hunting grounds.  People've gone missing.  We all figured it was due to pride now, more than anything else.  The rich don't like their toys taken away.  It's their forest to hunt in and not for filthy pissants like us."

"Like you," another man said, slapping the first on the arm.  "Maybe they all leave in shame when they fail.  Maybe they're eaten.  Maybe they give up and go on to something else and travel the land.  Nobody's tried it since Jesad's group.  Too much trouble when there's easier bounties if you're willing to take your time."

"We don't have time," Sylna said quickly.  "Tob, twenty gold for a single bounty!  We could finish it and take a carriage the rest of the way or- or send a messenger ahead to purchase ahead of time.  I know this lord and his land.  My people have traded with him.  It's so close to us."

Twenty gold, Tob thought, staring at the page while the elf chattered in with excitement.  She's foolish enough to trust me and the other one is just one woman with no weapons.  I could race them back, leaving them lost in the woods to collect the bounty myself.  And then be gone.  For good.  I could take a ship across the sea in comfort and nobody would ever find me.  It's just wolves.

"I think we should do it," Tob said slowly.

"Yes!" Sylna agreed.  "Amalia?  Will you?"

"I said I'd follow what you wanted," the woman told her.  "Wolves don't scare me.  I've seen pictures in books and they're just big dogs.  Even if there's a lot of them, we should be able to outsmart them.  They can't climb and I'm handy with a sling if need be."

"Oh, wonderful!" Sylna said, hugging the other woman who froze, stone-faced until she was released.

"They sell provisions here," Tob said.  "We should grab a bit of food.  Enough for a couple days, at least.  There and back again.  Maybe three days or four in case we have to take our time to hunt.  Your coins should be enough."

He dropped all pretenses or flattery now that his goal had shifted.  There'd be no need to beguile her now.  Now was the time to take control, guide them to their goal and ensure he survived.

The elven woman nearly ran through the guild to an area where adventurers were reading over lists of gear to purchase and trade.  A little shop to the side had a bored halfling who perked up at her approach.  Sylna opened her mouth until Tob pushed in front of her to barter, arguing with the persistent halfling until he was able to buy five days worth of provisions for the three of them.

"We'll leave now, won't we?" Sylna begged.

"You're funding this thing," Amalia said.  "Why're you asking him?  Just tell us to go and we'll go.  Feed me and I'm happy."

"We're leaving now," Tob agreed, tightening the belt for his sword.

They left with Sylna buzzing over her good fortune and Tob guided them quickly through the city.  Slums gave way to the financial district where they fought against the slow traffic of wagons importing and exporting goods.  It worsened as they approached the massive gates where they were forced to wait their turn to exit.  Amalia gawked as an elephant was prodded through and into the city and even Sylna stared after it in surprise.  A few berobed figures followed after it while more carried a heavily draped palanquin that obviously belonged to the same group.

"That's huge," Amalia gasped.  She watched it the entire time, even when they were called to pass through, finally moving when the thing was out of sight.

Travelers clumped together for safety on the dirt road leading away from the walled city.  The trio followed for a few hours, with Sylna in lead, until she turned left off of the path.  Farmers worked the fields outside of the city and she lead them carefully through and around the fields as the sun rose and fell high overhead.

"We should be there tomorrow afternoon," Sylna said.  "If we keep at this pace.  I think we should continue for a little longer before we make camp."

And so they continued with Amalia following easily behind the other woman and Tob lagging behind.  He was embarrassed by his condition.  He'd always thought himself in good shape, able to race through the city but now his muscles were aching in unfamiliar ways and his feet were cramping.  The leather he'd chosen to wear chafed his skin and the bounce of his light chainmail shirt began to annoy him hours ago.  It was all made worse by how easily the two women traveled.  Amalia was even barefoot and seemed indifferent to the stones and sticks she walked over.  When asked if they should look for some covering for her, she'd shrugged and said she'd stopped being able to feel her toes and feet and even shins years ago, due to her training.

"It's- it's late," Tob gasped.  He grabbed at the flask to his side to take a swig of water.  "We should make camp now while we still have light."

"Oh, I'm- Yes, I'm so sorry," she replied.

Amalia shrugged the simple bag of provisions from her shoulders.  It thumped to the ground while Tob opened his bedroll and lay his own backpack down.  He sat and immediately took his shoes off to massage his feet.  Blisters covered his heels and a few of his toes. He picked at one until a hard pack of provisions hit him in the chest.

"Watch it!" he snapped at Amalia but she shrugged back at him.

"Pay attention," she replied.  "We're in the wilderness.  I assume it's not a friendly place."

"We're in the plains, still," he told her while undoing the string holding the food together.  "What could sneak up on us?"

"A few things," Sylna answered, turning in a slow circle.  Her gray eyes drank in the moonlight as she peered into and through the darkness.  The treeline to the forest was an ebony blob in the distance.  "Mostly small things but a few bigger animals, too.  But we're close enough to the capital that the more dangerous ones won't bother us."

Tob grunted while Amalia gnawed at her food and the elven woman sat on the grass while arranging her robes around her.  Amalia handed her her share of food.

"I wonder what kind of wolves they are?" she asked herself while picking at the seeds in the dense brick unwrapped in her lap.  "Wolves are typically protected in royal woods so they must be fearsome."

"Unless they're the size of that elephant or worse, we should be fine," Amalia said as she finished off her food.  She watched Sylna's food carefully.

"That's impossible," the elf said before laughing lightly.  Her long, slender ears bobbed as she hid her mouth behind her hand.  "Could you imagine?  The entire kingdom would go to war against them and the great beasts would knock down trees in their path."

The conversation tapered off.  Eventually Sylna passed the remains of her food to Amalia who broke it apart to chew slowly on chunks of the tough mixture.

"I'll take first watch," Tob said.  "I'll wake you when it's time, Amalia."

"Sure," the woman said while shrugging."If you get cold, you can use my bedroll," he told the elf.  As he had the day before, he tried to force nonchalance into his voice.  "But you'll have to share with me when I'm done with my watch."

"Oh, goddess, no," the elf said with a blush.  "I'm chaste.  And- and, anyway, I'm quite content in the open."

"Yeah," Amalia said, patting the grass and dirt beneath her, oblivious to the disapproving frown the man tossed her way.  "This is actually warmer and softer than the bench I slept on back at the monastery."

"Fine," he said, harsher than he'd wanted.  "You should both turn in so we're fresh for tomorrow."

Sylna lay on her back, wiggling briefly to settle herself into the ground.  Beside her, Amalia sat crossed legged with her back straight and her head bowed.

"You aren't going to sleep?" he asked her.

"This is how I sleep when I need to be alert," she answered, opening one eye to look up at him.  "I don't trust you or anything out here."

"Weird," he told her.

"You get used to it after a decade," she answered before closing her eye once more.

---

A cool wind rushed over the field, crushing the grass in waves as it passed, flowing toward the forest.

Four dark shapes hunkered low while raising snouts to take in the wind and the scents it carried.  The creature barely in the lead moved slowly and the other three followed as they crept through open grass, moving only when the moon was covered by the clouds rushing far overhead.

They stopped at a distance to stare at the three in their camp.  One of them, male, they knew, stood and they flattened themselves instantly.  The wind rolled over them, ruffling their fur and ears and tails but they lay preternaturally still, their claws digging deep into the earth.  Their eyes strayed to the elf, waiting to see if she would stir.

The man paced in a circle and then a figure eight, looping between the women and his gear over and over until he bored of it and returned to walking in a circle.  The four watched patiently and tirelessly and eventually he returned to his spot to sit on his bedroll with his back to the watchers.

Even then, they moved slowly and cautiously, again waiting for complete darkness in between the wide swathes of moonlight as they returned to the forest.  At the edge of the tree line, they separated and raced away in a flurry of dead leaves.

---

"Nobody woke me to take a turn last night," Sylna pouted with arms crossed.  "Just because I can't fight doesn't mean I can't be on guard!  And I can see in the dark!"

"It's fine," Amalia said with a jaw cracking yawn.  They all held smaller portions of food for breakfast, eating beneath a gray sky streaked with pink as the sun hid just below the horizon. Color leeched into the sky while they spoke. "You can have your turn tonight."

"I better," the elf huffed, snatching at her food with sharp movements, her nails closing over seeds as quickly as a heron snatching at fish.  "You both have to be alert and healthy if we want to have a chance at surviving."

"I'm fine," Tob told her.  He'd finished his food early and spent the time repacking his backpack and testing his sword's edge. "Nothing happened last night and we weren't disturbed.  I think we're only an hour away from the forest, now that I see it in daylight.  As soon as you're done eating, we'll go."

Mist clung to the earth even as the rising sun worked to burn it away.  The trio gathered their belongings, ensuring everything was strapped tight and comfortable before they continued on their way.

"Sometimes I'd sneak away between lessons," Amalia admitted as they walked.  She eyed the forest, glancing left and right in a futile effort to find where it ended.  "To stare from the top of the city wall.  I never had much time to really take it in but even hiding and glimpsing what I could, I thought it was beautiful.  It's more than that.  Why do people live in cities?  Why not in the wilderness?  There's just so much of it."

"It's dangerous," Tob answered automatically.  "And the parts that aren't, are owned by someone else.  If you're a farmer, you're paying taxes for the rest of your life on land you work for the lord.  Or you could join settlers and try to start a new village.  In the wild and without the protection of the knights and guild."

"I wouldn't mind something like that," Amalia said wistfully.  "Better than stuck in the filth and shadow of the city for the rest of my life."

---

"Are they here for us?" a young man asked anxiously, kneeling behind the thick trunk of a tree, his fingers digging into the moist emerald moss dotting the wood.

"Have to be," an older man answered, eyeing the group as they slowly made their way towards the tree line.  "If they were here to petition the lord, they'd follow the road with the others.  They aren't poachers, not dressed like that although the male has the look of one.  But just three of them?  They're fools."

The younger man turned to listen deeper into the forest.  "The others are coming.  We'll warn them off, won't we?  We're not going to..."

"We'll be leaving in a few days," the other answered.  "There's no time for newlings.  We should've left days ago.  Weeks ago.  Past time with the adventurer's guild breathing down our neck."

"Dor said he'd-"

"I know what Dor says and wants, Tomasz.  He whines every damn day like a child about it.  He's a murderer.  Should be put down."

"D- don't say that.  He said she-"

"Dor's a-" the older man snarled.

"Dor's a what?" grumbled a deep voice just behind them.  "Tell me, little one.  Dor's a what?  Tell me to my face if you have the nerve, Algwin."

The pair of men turned to see the others spread out behind them.  The orc, loudest of them all and seemingly incapable of learning to stalk quietly, towered over everyone.  He glared at the two men keeping watch.

"Dor's a liar and a murderer," the older man said, standing and turning to face the beast fearlessly.

"Enough!" the man in lead shouted.  "We've no time to fight.  Magra's on the move now, towards the forest itself.  We leave now with whatever we can carry on our backs."

Tomasz swallowed and turned to the north, staring through the trees while listening intently.

"There's a team of three making their way towards us right now, Bren," Algwin said.  "They smell like they wouldn't survive a basement full of rats let alone Magra."

"Women?"  Dor asked.  He moved forward until his line of sight was clear.  "Two women.  One is mine, or both.  It takes much to satisfy me."

"We warn them and leave," Bren told them.  His voice hardened as he turned to each in turn until his eyes settled on Dor.  "Nobody else speaks.  Nobody else moves.  Nobody steps out of line.  I'll speak to them alone."

With Dor's back turned, Bren motioned at Algwin and two others before making a fist and pointing at the orc.  The other three nodded sharply.

---

"So, what are they like?" Amalia asked the elf.  "Your people, I mean."

"We're happy," Sylna told her.  "We keep to ourselves, hidden away in our own little paradise.  Everyone does their part and we help one another when needed.  We spend our entire lives in step with nature, shepherds to the fauna that share our home while subsisting on nuts and fruits.  It's joyous."

Amalia nodded thoughtfully, eyes distant.  Something bothered her but she couldn't pinpoint the root.

"You shouldn't have left your village," Tob said.  "With a community like that, you should never leave.  The world isn't so kind."

"It can be," Sylna told him.  "I've met others who shared what little they had with travelers and expected nothing in return.  I refuse to judge an entire-"

"Something's wrong," Amalia interrupted. She grabbed Sylna, holding her firmly in place while stepping in front of the elf.

A few seconds later, a man appeared from the trees with his right hand raised and a smile on his weathered face.  Others followed him, a diverse group with hardened faces but the trio focused on the orc when he appeared.

Tob stared at the monstrous green figure and his fist tightened on his sword. With the orc, he counted eight men and five women.  Two of the women stood behind their men while three stood just off to the side, opposite from the orc.  They were a rough group but clean.  He couldn't see them as bandits but he also couldn't understand what held them all together.  One of the women winked at him and he recoiled in obvious disgust.  Dense horns grew from her forehead before curling to her temples.  Tufts of black fur grew above her elbows, the backs of her calves and her exposed midriff.  She smiled in amusement, showing little fangs behind thick lips colored by ochre.

The woman elbowed another to her side and Tob felt sick at the sight of the other.  A lizard or demon showed in her lineage, leaving her with scales covering her shoulders and forearms and the tip of a short, questing tail behind her.  This new woman snorted, showing her own fangs and now he saw the vertical slit of her red, contemptuous eyes and the black claws tipping her scaled fingers.  Her loose mane of red hair covered her entire back like a burst of flame from a dragon's snout.

They came from the forest but they obviously aren't from the lord's estate, Tob thought as he watched them take a few more steps forward.  An entire adventuring company?  Too large and there's strange tension in all of them.  And they aren't acting like it.

"Ho!" the obvious leader said, still with his hand raised.  Finally, he lowered it but kept his hands away from the sword attached to his belt.  "Fellow adventurers, I see!"

Sylna glanced at Tob who shook his head and the three remained silent.  The orc watched the exchange before settling his eyes on Sylna.  She squirmed under his stare and pressed into Amalia.

"Ah, well, no need to be afraid," the man said.

"We'll move further along," Tob said.  "We didn't mean to interrupt your hunt."

"You didn't and I wouldn't recommend it.  There's a giant in the area and my scouts tell me he's headed this way now and will arrive before nightfall.  He's a runt but still deadly.  We won't stop you but I wouldn't want your deaths on my conscience if I'd stayed silent."

"And your group?" Tob asked.  He wanted to trust the man, despite his cynical nature.  He appeared earnest and sincere enough, even with the unease the rest exuded.

"We're... cutting our hunt short and leaving.  We won't-"

With attention on the man speaking, they all missed the orc when he moved.  He bent, gathered strength in his legs and leapt, arms stretched out towards Sylna.  His ragged nails cracked and fractured, displacing dirt, old blood and flakes of skin as claws split his fingertips.  Bristly black hair erupted from the backs of his hands, tracing over his arms as he snarled.

Shouts erupted from the group behind him as three men burst into action, followed by the man who had been speaking.  They raced towards the orc but, too late.

Amalia pulled Sylna while pivoting on her heel, flinging the elf behind her as the orc's black talons sliced through her side.  The woman grunted as the orc rolled on the ground.  His clothing split to reveal green skin rapidly drowning beneath a sea of black hairs.  Amalia roared, anchoring herself as the orc readied himself to tackle the elf once more.  She hardened her fist and dashed, sinking into the soft earth when her now open palm made contact with the green figure.  Several loud cracks filled the air and the orc howled before being tackled by three men.

"Amalia!" Sylna shouted, reaching for the other woman from where she lay prone.

"You rotten, arrogant fool!" Bren snapped, joining the three men to hold the orc down.

"She broke my fucking ribs!" the orc howled.  Pinkish spittle flew from his dark lips.  "Me!  She broke my fucking ribs!  I'll kill her!"

Tob watched the struggle and his fear gripped him.  The men holding the orc were growing larger, tearing through their own clothes as bulging muscles held the orc down.  He stared at Amalia as she staggered and fell and then over to Sylna as the elf slammed the butt of her staff into the ground while kneeling.

"Shae'Ix protect us!" the elf shouted.

A wide ring burst into existence, filled with intricate symbols that glowed a painful white light.  The orc screamed and struggled and Tob gasped while scratching at his own arms.  His nerves felt like tiny teeth were biting at the skin above.

"Algwin, take her!" Bren roared as his voice began to deepen.  His wide back was covered by a swathe of thick fur.

"No," a voice said, close to Tob's left.  He jolted, distracted by the dull pain coursing through his body.  The lizardkin woman walked carefully over to Amalia, scenting the air the entire time.  "This one is mine, I think."

With fear in his heart and the abnormal discomfort terrorizing his body, Tob dropped his sword and ran.

"Grab.  Him," Bren enunciated awkwardly as his jaw expanded.  The orc panted beneath the four men but they still held him in place.

"With pleasure," the horned woman said, smiling as she pulled the laces of her bodice, loosening them and lifting her top over her head.  She watched the man run while undoing the strings holding her short trousers.  The woman stepped on the back of her boots to pull her feet free before letting her trousers drop to the ground.  She couldn't see the man and her smile widened as she shook her curly brown hair.  "I do so love a good hunt."

"Tomasz! Elf!" Bren spat one last time before his mouth could no longer form words.

---

A fever tore through Amalia, beginning at the base of her skull and spreading like wildfire.  When it touched the wound at her side, she gasped and then writhed as it moved lower.  She tried to focus on the strange woman in front of her but her eyes grew unfocused.

"You can feel it, can't you?  The heat?" the lizardkin purred as she lowered herself.  "I will remember my first time until the day I day.  The best thing is that it never grows dull."

"N- no," Amalia groaned, shaking her head slowly.  "It's- it's just a fever.  From- from the wound."

"This wound?" the other woman asked, bending lower until her chest, hidden behind her tunic, brushed Amalia's thigh.  She reached forward, sliding her claws into the ragged, bloody tears of the monk's loose tunic.  The woman pulled, widening the hole easily until the smooth curves of her talons slid over Amalia's breast.

"What are you- oh!" Amalia gasped, throwing her head back as she leaned against her elbows.

A slender tongue, split at the very end, lapped against Amalia's side.  Warm and completely smooth, it swirled against her skin over and over until she thought she'd go mad from the sensation.  The fever woke her nerves, leaving her raw to the touch and just the lizardkin's breath was enough to raise the tiny hairs on her arm.

"Here," the other woman said, gently grabbing Amalia's hand.  She guided it to her side but Amalia hesitated for a brief moment, terrified of feeling the rent flesh.  Instead, she felt smooth, unbroken skin.

"How is that-" Amalia broke off with a hiss as an invisible hand gripped her spine and yanked.  She opened her mouth to yell but no sound issued as her jaw creaked.  Her left hand clenched, digging through the dirt and she raised her waist, swaying briefly before settling back on the ground.  The ghostly fist twisted and her hips jerked as bones came undone, freeing the tip of her new tail.

"Shh shh shh," the lizardkin said before kissing Amalia's right hand.  She kissed higher.  And higher, nose brushing against the bare curve of Amalia's breast.  And higher, opening her lips to take a small brown nipple into her mouth.

Little pinpricks tickled Amalia's fingers but she barely felt it as the other woman's tongue swirled around her nipple, waking it slowly until it rose, erect and aching for more.  Black hairs emerged from her side, beneath her hand.  They pierced her flesh and lengthened, flattening beneath her palm and fingers until they spread, escaping to grow unfettered. She clenched her fingers against the hairs by reflex while moaning again and falling back.  Her left hand gripped the lizardkin woman's soft, emerald curls as she followed Amalia's movement.

Amalia mewled when the woman pulled back, her nipple popping loudly from the other woman's mouth.  Amalia writhed, raising her hips before lowering them and raising her chest.  She pulled the woman back down while opening her tunic and offering her other nipple.

The cast out monk slid her hand down through the silky fur beginning to cover her stomach. The sweat coating her feverish body mixed with the fur and her new scent began to fill the air.  She lowered her hand further until it slipped beneath her skirt.  She tugged at the tangle of her pubic hair while spreading her thighs and raising herself to alleviate the ache low in her back.  Her fingers slid between her already wet lips and she moaned.

Thoughts were scattered and difficult to hold onto.  The red haze fogging her mind grew and she growled quietly while her left hand slid down the woman's head and against her neck.  She felt cool scale covering the woman's nape but hairs brushed the tips of her fingers.

"Mmmm, it's hard to resist the changes," the woman said in between sucking and kneading at Amalia's nipple and breast.  She looked up at Amalia, catching her gaze and smiled, flashing her small fangs.

Something is wrong, Amalia realized.  She stared at the woman's face, searching it.  Tiny scales ringed the bony ridge around her eyes but there were hairs, too.  Dark green hairs.  Lengthening as bones shifted and creaked.  The scattered hairs grew thick until they surrounded the little scales and spread down her straining cheeks.  Her face was stretching and her fangs were longer and-

"Oh!" Amalia gasped as a small orgasm distracted her.  She hadn't realized she'd continued to play with herself.  She leaned back, enjoying the little taste of pleasure as the fever increased.  Claws scratched down her body, tearing at her clothing to reveal pale skin and glossy black fur.  Her nipples throbbed, still erect and glistening in the early morning sunlight and six more bright points echoed the pleasurable ache along her body.  "I can't- I shouldn't-"

Bones cracked and Amalia growled, the sound pulled from deep in her throat.  She could feel that hand again, clenched against her spine, tugging at her.  Muscles hardened in her back as her entire body lengthened inch by painful inch.  She ground her teeth, gnashing them together while her lips trembled.  The low fever flashed white hot and she gasped, struggling against the other woman when she wrapped arms around Amalia's side.

A wide, rough tongue, still split at the end, lashed against Amalia's cheeks and lips until she turned and opened her mouth, bending forward and wrapping her hands against the other woman's scalp, pulling her close into a deep kiss while her biceps bulged with new power.  Her muffled moans joined the other woman's excited growls until pain lanced through Amalia's skull.

The monk roared, slamming her fists down with a loud thump.  Her clenched eyes opened to show yellow over a field of pure black.  Fire burned through the bridge of her nose and her jaw ached with sharp needle pricks of agony.  Teeth screeched and cracked, healing quickly as her jaw popped and pushed forward, leaving slim gaps in her gums that were quickly filled as her canines lengthened and her premolars widened into new fangs.  Her tongue flicked outward and up, brushing against her nose before swirling left against her lips and the sharp black whiskers growing past the fur spreading on her lengthening muzzle.

Amalia clawed at her face and her nails pulled off to show wrinkled flesh beneath.  She growled but twisted as the other woman tore into her skirt.  Her touch was no longer gentle but frenzied.  Claws marked flesh and fur on Amalia's thighs but she welcomed the touch of pain.  A hammer pounded against the forge of her skull.  She pulled and clawed at her temple while pressing the base of her palm into her ears.

Soft black hairs grew along the edges of Amalia's edges as they unfolded and thickened.  She continued to rub her hands against her head and the skin covering her palm grew wrinkled as it dragged against the fur on her face.  Sharp claws touched her temples and she scratched down over her elongated ears as they began to grow to points.

A kiss brushed her clit and Amalia froze with a snarl that deepened into a groaning growl.  She looked down to see the other woman laying nearly flat, buried into the fur covering her mound.  Amalia watched as the woman's stubby tail began to lengthen.  Pale scales covered the new flesh before hardening into smooth green.  Keratin formed in layers over tiny bumps until they grew into sharp spikes in two columns down the center of her tail.  It thrashed as she wrapped her arms around Amalia's furred thighs and her face bent to the sweet, sticky cum covering Amalia's pussy.

The forge within her skull lay quiet but the heat bellowed out, destroying all rational thought until only the beast was left behind.  She wrapped her thighs around the other woman's face.  The muscles beneath the black fur flexed as they strained and pushed against her flesh.  She could feel her legs growing to match the rest of her bulk, granting her the speed she would need to hunt.

The remnants of her rational thought was blasted away when the lizardkin's tongue slid between her swollen pussy lips.  She'd never felt anything like it despite all of her secret fantasies.  Thick and warm and flexible and so incredibly long.  It opened her wider than she thought possible and her voice cried out in a thin, tinny howl that made her ears flex backwards.  Amalia moaned as the other woman began to work her tongue inside of her pussy but soon she felt herself being raised, releasing the pressure on her back as the tip of her exposed, naked tail wriggled against her ass.  Sharp teeth lay gently against the fur over her mound and she felt the fast breath of the other woman as she breathed through her nose.

Amalia stared up at the woman who knelt before her.  She reached for her but was too far away so she grabbed her breasts, massaging herself as the last of her bare skin disappeared beneath dark fur.  Even the pain lancing through her feet was nothing compared to the intense pleasure deep within her pussy.  She couldn't stop her deep voice from crying out repeatedly as the tongue flexed within and her tail began to tug against her back while brushing against the fur on her ass and thighs as it wagged.  The tips of her toes slowly appeared within her view as they lengthened behind the other woman, bouncing lightly as the woman worked her mouth and tongue.

Bending forward, she forced her breasts together and down until her own wide tongue could lap at her nipples.  She whimpered in short bursts over and over and over again as she edged closer and closer to her orgasm.  It was past her limit, well past anything she'd felt before in the few times she was able to masturbate and she couldn't understand how-

Amalia's thighs crushed against the other woman's face as her body suddenly grew rigid.  Her golden eyes widened while her muzzle opened in shock and her claws tore into the ground beneath her.  She gasped and choked and bucked and still the woman licked deep inside of her with her strange split tongue, made even longer by her own changes.  Amalia's pussy clenched against the tongue as if to hold it in place but it slipped free, torturing her oversensitivity.

Finally, she jerked and her legs kicked and the woman let her free, lowering her to the ground and pulling back when Amalia rolled.  She pressed her furred cheek into the dirt while clawing at the ground with her heavily padded feet.  Her body refused to listen to her as it bucked and quivered.

Strong hands rolled her over to her back.  The lizardkin kissed her hidden clit as her pussy began to change, lips folding and bulging.  The woman moved further and further up until she straddled Amalia's face.  Their fur tangled together while the woman's long, scaled tail rested heavily along Amalia's stomach.  The woman growled with a strange wolf-like smile when Amalia eagerly but inexpertly began to lick between her thighs.  The smile grew impish as she bent the tip of her tail to rub between Amalia's pussy lips.  Clawed arms reached up to hold the other woman in place as the two lost themselves to their heat.

---

Tob gasped as he ran.  His side ached and he stumbled over roots while cursing himself for losing sight of the woman chasing him.

"Leave me out this, freak!" he yelled but laughter echoed through the forest.

While his own footsteps sounded like a bull rushing through a field of glass, hers were completely silent and he cursed her for it.  His skin prickled at the thought of being hunted.  It was different from the times he'd run in the city.  There he could hide in an abandoned building or a random rooftop or any little hidden nook but there was nothing here.

This wasn't his world.

She was in front of him suddenly, stepping out from behind a tree with a wicked grin.  He tried to stop but slipped instead and she was on him in an instant, fist around his throat and the other holding his right wrist down.  He beat at her back and head with his left hand until she bent to sink her teeth into his arm.  She held him in place, biting harder and deeper until he was forced to scream from the pain.  The woman relaxed but didn't release her jaw, holding him in place for what seemed like an eternity.

Pain radiated from Tob's shoulders in waves that swelled higher and further away from his arm.  A chill, and accompanying cold sweat, filled the low points of the waves but it grew less and less until only the heat remained and he moaned while twisting in her grasp.

Finally, she stood and he pushed himself back against a tree, panting and gripping his shoulder.  He tried to speak but his voice croaked and he swallowed instead.  The woman walked to a fallen log before turning and seating herself carefully, crossing her legs at her ankles with her hands to her sides against the trunk of the log.

"I saw the look you gave me," she said with a smirk.  "I know your kind.  I've lived with those looks nearly my entire life."

The flesh burned beneath the hand touching his shoulder.  He felt dehydrated as his sweat dried up.  Tob swallowed again before laying his tongue against his teeth.  His breath came in short bursts while he panted.  The roots of his teeth within his jaw ached but he ignored it as he stared at her, wondering if she would kill him.

"Closed minded bigots," the woman said.  "I grew up quickly and learned even more quickly who to avoid and who was safe."

Her fingers trailed down a thin scar that began on her left shoulder and reached down her chest to her nipple.  Tob watched her finger, swallowing hard as his throat rumbled.  He felt his cock stir when she touched her breast and he hardened when she flicked her dark nipple.

"Sometimes I wasn't quick enough," she sighed.

Tob shook his head and glared at her.  Whatever heritage she had that left her disfigured with fur and horns and- his eyes traveled down her body as his free hand squeezed his cock.  He lingered between her thighs and she spread them slightly in return.  Completing his appraisal, he noticed she had three toes on both feet and all were covered with a dense, darkened toenail.  He tried to summon the disgust he'd felt earlier but his head swam as a sharp scent filled his nose.

Once more, his throat rumbled but it bubbled outward into a growl.  Veins stood out on his neck.  He leaned his head back, thumping it against the tree behind him as his canines slowly lengthened, scraping painfully against the surrounding teeth.

"Did- poison me?" Tob gasped, hanging his head forward.  Her laughter was deep in response and it echoed through the forest.

He looked up at her, flashing his teeth and she smiled slowly while spreading her legs even wider.  The smell intensified and he groaned, gripping his cock painfully hard.  He tried to look at her horns to remind himself how hideous she was but he caught himself staring at her lips.  And the smooth curve of her shoulder.  At the swell of her full breasts.  At the thick triangle of fur that nearly hid her dark pussy lips.  He moaned and pumped himself slowly when he noticed a string of liquid dangling between the hairs surrounding her sex.

"Some of those same men who loudly proclaimed how inhuman I was were the same that visited me later in the evening at the brothel.  So full of anger and vigor and cum."

She moaned at the word and slipped her fingers through the hair low on her belly.  He stared at the patch, wondering how it would feel in his hands.  How it would feel against his cheeks.  His hands pushed at his trousers, shoving them down until they slipped beneath his ass cheeks, leaving his cock throbbing in the air.  The woman moaned even louder and the tip of her finger brushed her obviously swollen clit.

Sand colored fur pierced his forehead.  More grew as they advanced up to disappear into his hair and outward to his temples.  His cheeks burned and he snarled as he grinded his still lengthening canines together.

"I learned pleasure in bed, the submissive little demi-human that allowed others to play out their worst fantasies.  I survived.  I saved money.  I tried to flee.  They caught up to me outside the city but they weren't the only ones to find me.  And again I survived, while they didn't.  And I learned even more.  I learned the pleasure of dominance.  The pleasures of the beast."

Skin gathered at the base of Tob's cock.  He dragged it upward as he began to masturbate, using the excess skin as a sleeve to help his hand glide along his cock.  Nearly white hairs emerged from the backs of his fingers and spread, becoming darker as they covered his hands.  The skin over his palm loosened, giving him more pleasure as he imagined himself plunging into her.  Fur prickled the thick skin at the base of his cock and a new line of skin grew, pulling his cock down as it connected to his belly.  He squeezed himself, feeling hardened lumps low on his dick and the unusual sensation made him growl.

"Yes, gods yes, yes!" the woman moaned as she watched him change.  "It's been too long.  Too long since I've had a lover."

"Not yourrrr loverrrrr," Tob growled but he licked his lips and nose with his floppy, wide tongue and lifted his chin to breathe in deeply of her.

"This curse, it doesn't matter who we are," she told him while sliding her legs together in a slow, hypnotic pattern.  Thighs and calves rubbing together while her ankles touched and her right foot rasped against the top of the left.  And then in reverse before switching legs.  Teasing him while enjoying the heightened sensitivity spreading through her body.  Her fingers continued to slip between her lips the entire time.  "It doesn't matter who you were.  What race you were, what god you worshipped, what beliefs you held.  It's an equalizer.  You'll see."

His sheath continued to grow against his belly but his cock slipped free, pushing the furred skin down beneath the twin lumps of his swelling knot.  He grunted and yanked, squeezing himself harder and harder as the skin on his palm began to tighten into thick padding.  His nails pressed into his skin until they pushed back to reveal dark points beneath.

"Come to me," she moaned.  More strings connected to the soft fur between her thighs and still more dangled to the ground.  "It's soooo hard to hold it back but I want to feel you like this first.  I want you to know what you're fucking before it goes too far.  Before I give in myself."

"I won't," he snarled but his palm jumped on his cock and he clawed at the roots of the tree with his free hand.  Those nails pulled away to reveal the tips of his claws as they rooted themselves to the underlying bones.  His jaw dragged at his skin over his cheeks and he huffed when the bridge cracked and his nose pulled flat.

"Now," she growled and he felt himself unwind.  "Crawl to me.  Lick me.  Taste me and pleasure me while you still have the mind to see yourself obeying."

He tried to stand but went to his hands and knees with his cock pressed against his stomach.  The tip lay above his belly button, far longer than when he was human, and his knot was swollen and angry.  He licked at the gaps in his jaw to feel the little pricks of teeth growing to fill to space.  And he moved.

The fur on her elbows and calves and pussy enticed him now.  They trapped her peculiar scent and seemed right.

Skin stretched low on his back.  He could feel the tail sliding against skin as muscles and nerves wrapped themselves over new bone before lengthening painfully slow.  Stubble covered his spine.  The skin bulged, pulling him apart as his entire frame widened and he growled loudly with the pain of it.

"Quickly now, quickly, gods quickly," the woman moaned, struggling to hold back from slipping fingers inside her wetness.  She could feel the puff of his breath against her swollen pussy and the beast within her howled to be let out.  Instead of pulling his face into her, she waited.  He had to do it.

Tob stared at the pussy before him.  He'd never wanted anything more in his life.  Her scent drilled into him, down to his core but the still human part of him yelled and screamed at him, shouting for him to pull away, to recognize the filth of her inhumanity.  To see how disgusting she-

His tongue wrapped over her pussy, soaking the surrounding fur with his drool as he licked her from asshole to her wet lips and over her swollen, exposed clit.  Now she did grab his head and she screamed, shoving her pussy into his face as he folded his tongue to plunge into her.

The woman stared down at him as her heart raced and her chest lifted.  The beast rattled its cage but she held firm to watch him change.  With one hand in his hair, she stroked his back, enjoying the feel of the fur growing from his nape and shoulders.  Before her mate had died, she used to fall asleep with her face pressed into the fur high on his back.  It thrilled her, the feel of it and now, with a new man after so long without, she reveled in its texture as he pleasured her.

"Yes yes yes yes," she whined, stroking his back as the fur continued to lengthen and spread down his spine.  He looked up at her and she looked back, her face serious.  She saw the yellow crack his brown eyes while obsidian leaked into his sclera.

"Want you," he growled with the limited vocabulary he had left.  His whiskers and fur tickled her thighs while the joints popped to allow for his muzzle to grow in place.

With great pain, she pulled him off and turned, shoving her ass back while leaning over the log.  She looked back to watch him stand and she growled when she felt his hot, heavy cock slap against her ass.

Black hairs slipped through her skin around her spine as she began to lose control of her beast.  She clawed at the log and rocked back while raising her ass, rubbing herself against his cock.  He grabbed her hips with a growl but bent to lick her bare shoulder and neck, causing her to shiver.  His chest was scratchy with scattered fur growing in place but she loved the feel of it and bowed up into him.  His right hand clawed up to grip her neck briefly before raising to her horn.

"Goooooods yessss!" she snarled, grabbing his hand to force it to grip her horn.  His thick padding rasped against her but he held in place and he pulled, forcing her head back.  She howled in pleasure and shoved hard against him.  "Fuck me!  Fuck me!  Mount me like the wolf you are!  You're mine now!  My wolf!  Mount me!  Shove your cock into my pussy until your knot locks me-"

The woman howled once more when his other hand dug sharp claws into her ass, piercing her skin as he spread her open.  She felt the smooth tip of his cock slid down through her soaked fur and her own claws tore at the log beneath her.  When she felt the head against her lips, she shoved, forcing him inside.

Words were lost to him now but he growled with pleasure and wasted no time in pounding deep inside of her while yanking her head back by her horn.

The others struggled to understand her.  She was fierce on hunts and gave no quarter, refusing to show weakness to the males at any point.  They thought her dominant but when she mated with her husband, often in the open in front of them, she showed the most pleasure when he took control.  She howled the loudest when he used her for his own pleasure, shoving her into the dirt to slam into her.  Although some asked after, when she was human and able to talk again, she never bothered to explain the give and take.  Never bothered to explain the intricacies of what it meant for her to enjoy the loss of control, just for a little bit.

When his hands pulled her from the log and slammed her to the ground, she screamed from her first orgasm with him and her quivering pussy allowed his knot to almost slip inside.

She felt it now, the drag of his chest fur against the fur growing over her back.  She could feel the beast exerting control, stealing her consciousness bit by bit.  She would never fully lose control after years of dealing with the curse but she was someone else when changed - they all were.

Tob went to hands and feet over her as she raised her ass to guide his cock to a better position.  He licked at her neck, dragging his rough, wide tongue over her fur until he opened his mouth to bite, locking his jaw in place.  She shuddered beneath him from a smaller orgasm and shoved up into him in encouragement.  His tail slashed the air before curling, dense with sandy fur.

Her scent drove him wild.  She was everything.  The heat was everything.  Nothing mattered more than the pleasure he felt from fucking her.  He was riled up beyond belief and he clawed at her sides before biting harder into her shoulder, forcing her to cum again.

And then she opened to him, her pussy stretching over the twin bulges of his knot.  The woman screamed, her voice wavering into a howl as she slammed to the ground, flat on her belly, kicking and growling.  A thin clear stream squirted from her pussy to darken the ground beneath her and still Tob wouldn't stop.  She tried to reach up to claw at his face but his teeth held fast to the back of her neck and he pounded harder.  Her furred ass quaked from the impact and her short tail shook.

He was growling, vibrating the skin he held in his teeth while breathing erratically.  Trapped by his knot, he forced short, powerful movements that mixed pain in with the overwhelming pleasure she felt.  She never wanted it to stop but she was approaching her limit and worried the beast would try to actually attack him.

When he swelled within her, she forgot everything else but the beast ravaging her.

---

Sylna twisted as she fell, caught off balance when Amalia pulled her aside. Everything happened too quickly for her to follow.  She saw the orc move in the corner of her eyes but then he was already there and Amalia was spinning, blocking her from him while she was falling.

Now she lay prone on hands and skinned knees with her hair cascading down to the ground around her delicate face. There was a commotion in front of her and a strange, huge beast with men holding it down.  Only the men looked odd.  Malformed and huge and wrong.

She grabbed her staff from the ground to her side while kneeling.  As quickly as she could, she remembered her prayer, feeling the connection while begging for protection from the evil surrounding her.  The elf slammed her staff to the ground with a shout.

"Shae'Ix protect us!" Sylna proclaimed as a silver diagram appeared around all of them. The beast before her roared in pain while trying to shake off the others who held it in place.

The elf was disheartened but not entirely surprised when Tob ran as the other party's leader shouted orders.  She heard his voice and the answering calls of the others but her mind was still stunned by the sudden action and the chaos surrounding her.  Her prayer was reflexive more than anything else.

I have to- I have to do something- she thought to herself, bowing her head to block out the others as she tried to remember the little training she had.  It was healing and protection, best suited to after battle or cast from behind the battle lines and never tested in real action. She'd been sure that she'd be able to do her part when needed but now, when faced with reality, she faltered.  They need me!  I- I have to-

A hand gripped her shoulder and she screamed, kicking away but it held fast and soon, arms wrapped around her, locking her in place while the figure crossed legs behind her.

"I'm sorry," he spoke, softly.  Through her panic, she recognized that he sounded so incredibly sad.  His hand held her throat, just beneath her chin and he pulled upward, tilting her head back. "I'm sorry.  We can't let others know.  We can't let them find us.  Let them hunt us again.  So many have already died.  And- And I'm- I'm so sorry."

His lips touched her skin and she felt the brief brush of his tongue before his teeth sunk into her flesh.  It burned, sharp and precise in her taut shoulder but she was powerless to stop him.  She jerked in his grip but he held her tightly until finally his jaw unlatched.

"I'm so sorry," Tomasz repeated as he kissed the bite wound gently.  She struggled briefly again but he still held her in his arms.

When the roughness of his tongue flattened against his shoulder to slowly, torturously drag against the burning wound, Sylna couldn't stop from moaning.  Her fingers clenched against the arms holding her and she tilted her head back, mouth open as his tongue swirled and dragged the length of her shoulder.  Shivers raced down her spine, raising invisible silver hairs in their wake.

She dragged her nails against his forearms as he continued to clean her wound with his spittle, working the broad, flexible length back and forth and around until the bite mark knit itself back together into unbroken skin.

"I'm sorry," he whispered once more but Sylna moaned in reply and pushed back against him.

Her body betrayed her.  She felt disconnected and drugged, pulled away by a thin tether and unable to control herself.  And yet every single sensation was doubled, tripled even.  The touch of his hair against her bare skin, the air caressing her quivering pointed ears, the feel of the sweat tracing lines down her back and stomach - it was all magnified.

She'd never felt anything like it.  She wanted... she wanted... something.  Something she'd never known before as coals raked down her back, forcing her to arch with her stomach out while a rough snarl bubbled from her lips.

Sylna hissed, grinding her flat teeth before opening her lips and moaning.  Her tongue lapped around her mouth and she pulled the arms holding her, desperate to feel their touch against her body.

The silver circle surrounding them blinked and vanished as she lay her head back against Tomasz's shoulder.  She found, as she moved her hands, that if she made his arms rub against her nipples, it sent waves of pleasure spiking down her midsection before terminating deep between her thighs.  And so she rubbed her slim chest with his arms until he released her, trying to pull away.

The elf growled and twisted, pinning the young man in place on his back.

"You- you don't- don't have to with- with me," he said as he stared up at her.  Blond hairs covered the edge of his jaw and drool slid from the corner of his lips.  Too many sharp teeth prevented him from closing his mouth properly.  "You're too beautiful for me."

She didn't understand him.  Couldn't understand him.  The words washed over her without meaning as she lowered herself to rub her body against him, grinding into him with drawn out moans that rumbled into quiet growls.

Her legs spread and she dipped, pressing her sex against his thigh.

She cried out, not to her goddess, the name forgotten, but to the ancient ones who had no names.  Her kind chose mates late in life.  With centuries upon centuries to live, evolution slowed down their reproductive needs and there were numerous decades before she would even feel the hint of attraction to someone, let alone arousal.

Now it was forced upon her by the heat of the beast taking root within.  Her connection to nature let her feel it happening.  It surrounded her completely and she was unable to stop it as the curse settled into her soul.  But she couldn't even summon the anger to care.

Sylna sat back, astride Tomasz's thigh.  She dragged her fingers through her hair with a growl before grabbing at her robes and pulling, tearing through the sacred fabric to expose the slim bumps of her breasts.  Her pale nipples were erect after rubbing against the man beneath her and she squeezed them with a moan, grabbing both easily with her hands while pulling outward and twisting her nipples.

She'd never known such pleasure.  Had never known any pleasure of the flesh.  Had never known it was even possible.

Sweat coursed down her bare chest, tracing over soft silver hairs that pierced her breastbone.  They grew in a line at once, just beneath the bottom of her neck to the top of her belly button, pushing through her taut skin to form a slick line of thin fur.  She clawed at it with her fingers, pulling the hairs before shoving her hands down to tear the rest of her robes apart and expose her hairless slit.

Blood rushed to the elven woman's pussy, forcing her compact labia to swell and expose her perfect, pink inner lips.  Sylna growled and clawed at her throat as the hairs from her chest began to spread upward and over her shoulders.  Already a dense tuft of silvery fur lay in an inverted triangle between her breasts and it too expanded, curling around the bottom curve of her breasts.

Hands grabbed her pert ass, pulling her down.  She gasped and smiled and shoved, uncertain of what to do but knowing that when her sex rubbed against something, it made the aching heat burn hotter.

She looked down to see Tomasz staring up at her with firm, adoring eyes.  Blond fur covered his face and his dark nose had widened.  She could still remember the way his tongue had felt on her shoulder, warm and wet and-

Sylna bent to him as he clawed her ass.  She opened her own lips while turning her head and she kissed someone for the first time in her life.  Sharp teeth touched her tongue briefly before his tongue flooded her mouth.

But, gods, the sensation of a twisting, hot thing in her mouth drove her wild and she growled while sucking at his tongue with her own.

Down between her thighs, her hidden clit became engorged, drawing back the hood covering it as her arousal continued to awake.  She gasped and her hips jerked but Tomasz pulled her, guiding her until she pressed against his cock through her trousers.

The elven woman screamed, throwing her head back as an unnatural howl tore through her throat.  The tip of his cock lay exposed and it touched her pussy, pressing between her lips as she shoved herself down against it.  The burning ache deep within her guts was an empty void but here was what she needed to fill it.  She shoved down harder with tiny movements while Tomasz eagerly spread her ass cheeks and the head of his cock pressed into her.

Silver fur crept over Sylna's chin before branching out along her jaw.  Her eyes shot open and her fingers curled into fists on the man's chest.  The claws hidden just beneath her fingernails tore through his tunic to mark his hairy chest.  Her mouth worked, jaw creaking and cracking as silver fissures widened the gray of her eyes, consuming the dull coloring until they appeared to glow with their own light.  Black specks appeared in her sclera, dotting the white.  More and more appeared until only black remained

He was too big for her and it pained her but she couldn't stop thrusting down against him.  Couldn't stop trying to ease the emptiness within her dripping, swollen sex.

Tomasz growled, grabbing one hand away from her ass to grab her breasts.  His leathery padding gripped her meager breast roughly, kneading her flesh while rubbing against her nipple, adding to the pleasure she felt from between her thighs.  She licked her lips and growled in return but it broke into a moan when he dragged his claws down her chest.

Her belly throbbed in time with the pulse of her heartbeat, echoed by her pussy.  As the beast wrestled control, it tried to force it's biology onto her, twisting her body into being ready to birth multiple cubs at once.  To feed multiple cubs at once.  But elves rarely gave birth and it fought back.  As the man's hand roamed her midsection, he caressed four sore points along her body.  He thumbed one when it pucked away from her skin beneath the expanding fur and she snapped at the air.

Sylna's teeth, all flat with the exception of slight incisors, ached as her jaw cracked and the joints popped.  Her tongue continuously ran over her teeth and against the roof of her mouth and so she felt enamel build on the four teeth that would be her canines.  They flowed, followed slowly by the surrounding teeth into sharp points as silver fur completely covered her lengthening face.

The motions of the elf's nonstop thrusting pushed the man's trouser down, exposing his furred sheath and his sharply pointed wolven cock with twin knots.  She growled in frustration and adjusted her position, lowering herself and curving her ass to try to force his cock into that one special place that had opened within.  She could feel it stretching bit-by-bit and was impatient for it to finish.

Nerves twisted down from her spine, questing forth like strange tentacles until they latched onto the seed of a bone.  Her kind had no coccyx but the beast would not be denied and it began to grow her tail in place, forcing muscle and tendon and flesh that bulged against the slight curve of her ass.

The fur over Sylna's shoulders had grown down her back and nape, tangling with her hair as more and more emerged to leave her with a dense ruff of silver fur dotted with gray.  From there, it advanced slowly, stubble growing inches at a time until the hairs lengthened into her pelt.  The line of hair traveled further and further until it touched her stubby tail.

Argent wisps of hairs dotted the folds of her long ears, spiraling along their lengths as she lowered herself once more to Tomasz's body.  She'd torn his tunic free and lay her furred chest against his to rub her nipples and teats against his body.  Her ass lifted and lowered and shook.  She could feel the tip of him just inside of her and she'd trapped him there, squeezing him with the muscles inside her pussy as she tried to force herself down.

Unlined skin along Sylna's elegant pale forefeet whitened as fatty tissue built within the flesh.  Bones groaned and the straps of her sandals strained as her paw pads filled out.  Charcoal colored streaks appeared in the expanding trefoil padding while her toes pushed forward and widened.  Her larger toes faltered and held in place as the other four grew broad to bear her weight.  Finally, her straps snapped and her new toes dug into the dirt.  She clawed briefly to ease the warmth of the flesh when the skin beneath her toes grew dark and thick to match her forefeet.

Dark claws split her toenails, latching onto the bone beneath before growing outward to rend the earth.  Her short tail slashed at the air above her and she snarled, lowering her sharp, furred ears and grinding deadly fangs.

She was opening to him now.  Her labia, pale before but reddened now, darkened further.  Microscopic stretch marks, obsidian in color, appeared as her lips became swollen.  Bones cracked within her hips and she moaned, pain mixed with pleasure as her mound shifted, ready for her to be mounted on all fours.

The elven woman's pussy lips rolled inward as they folded, pure midnight now.  Her hooded clit stretched as it changed to match, growing down to join the other lips.  She howled as her new trifold pussy relaxed and he plunged completely inside of her.  The changed position of her clit rubbed continuously against his slick cock and he became fierce, driven crazy by the feel of her around him.

Tomasz's claws anchored into her ass and waist, pulling her down hard over and over.  Her tail thumped against his thigh as she tried to match his rhythm but she was inexperienced and overwhelmed.

Frustrated by the position, Tomasz pulled free and shoved Sylna to the ground.  She raised her ass by instinct while lowering her chest and her ears trembled as she panted and pressed her forehead to the dirt.

He mounted her finally, chest to her back, burrowing his muzzle into her thick mane of fur as his cock, already soaked by her pussy, easily slid inside.  Sylna spasmed and jerked up on hands and feet, silver eyes wide with her broad tongue hanging freely over the sharp fangs of her muzzle.

The gentle man pounded her with a continuous growl.  She dug her claws into the ground to hold herself steady as he slammed into her hard enough to leave bruises that the beast immediately healed.  Her blackened pussy lips strained to allow his knot inside but he was too frantic to bother, pulling back as quickly as he pushed into her.

His teeth found her shoulder at nearly the exact same place where he bit her first and her eyes fluttered in her head.  She lost herself to it all, giving her body and soul to the beast as her mate fucked her raw.

Sylna knew Tomasz's orgasm was coming when he bit hard enough to draw blood.  His swelling cock spurted within her and the sensation of his hot cum filling her finally drove her over the edge.  Her first orgasm surprised her with its intensity and the beast only grew more excited - at the idea of being filled with pups and the idea of being fucked even harder.

Their twin howls joined together and others soon added their voice.

--- EPILOGUE ---

Hands gripped swords as the smell of fear filled the room. The slaves cowered in the corner as their master hid himself behind his men.  The dying screams in the floor below haunted them as they faded.

Footsteps echoed from the stone stairs.  The men spread out, facing the stairs but they hesitated when they saw the slim hooded figure who appeared before them in the shadows cast by the dim stairwell.  Although the figure wore loose fitting trousers and tunic beneath the cloak, it was easy to tell it was a woman.

"You- you fool!  Do you know who I am?!" the slave master yelled, incredulously.  He'd expected more intruders but to see a single assassin, and a woman at that, left him astonished.

The men looked at each other uncomfortably.

And then the woman stepped into the light with her arms held to her sides.  Razor sharp claws dotted the tips of her delicate fingers and thick fur ran from her wrist to her elbows.  Blood dripped freely from the ends of the matted silver hair.

Their hesitation cost them their lives as she lowered herself and dashed between them, spinning and slashing.  She growled as she cut them down and the last one fell when she took his throat in her teeth.

The gaunt slave master sputtered and gibbered, his back to the wall and his arms reaching for any weapon he could find.  The hooded figure ignored him as she walked to the group of slaves.

"You're free," she told them.  Her voice was low and harsh.  "No guards wait for you below and the rest of my companions are finishing the entire slave company as we speak.  Noone will hunt for you when you flee."

A man appeared at the top of the stairs.  He stepped carefully over the dead bodies and only glanced at the slave master before touching the woman on the shoulder.  She leaned her head back to nuzzle his hand until he took it away.

The woman crouched before an elf that sat alone and terrified as the others fled.

"S- Sylna?" the slave girl asked with wide eyes when the figure pulled her hood back.  "Wha- what happened to you?  You look- you're- you're changed."

"I am, yes," Sylna said, standing with a smile.  Blood smeared her face and her silver eyes glowed in the obsidian coloring surrounding them.  She turned to passionately kiss the man behind her, grabbing the back of his head.  "My mate, my husband.  A gentle man.  He gave me this wondrous gift and I'm still drunk from it.  From the power.  From the beast.  I'm told it can take a year or more to regain complete control but I don't find myself in such a hurry."

With a last kiss, Sylna turned back to her sister.  She lowered herself, scenting the air around the other woman.  Her eyes sharpened dangerously and her lips vibrated with her growl as she turned to the slave master.

"They're- they're- they're well treated," he stuttered.  His shaking hands found the handle of a pot and he clenched it against his chest.  "I had nothing-"

"You lie," Sylna growled.  She glanced at Tomasz and the man lunged forward with a sword he'd stolen from a guard below.  It speared the slave master's chest below the pot, crunching bone and flesh until it burrowed into the wall behind him.

"My poor sister," Sylna groaned, nuzzling her head against the other woman.  She could only imagine the mental and physical trauma she had to endure at the hands of these men.  "My poor, poor sister."

"It's-"

"Shhhh," Sylna whispered, brushing her lips against the corner of her sister's jaw.  She raised her head, touching lips to the other elf's quivering ears.  "It wouldn't be the same.  Ever again.  Going home.  Trying to fit in after being touched by these filth.  The eyes upon you.  Judgement for a sin that you had no part in."

Traces of blood marked her sister's cheek where Sylna rubbed against her.

"Shae'Ix may have abandoned you, but I haven't," Sylna continued to whisper.  "We haven't."

The elven woman's teeth sank into her sister's shoulder.  She held fast as her mate had months ago until her sister bucked beneath her with a gasp.  Sylna glanced back at Tomasz with a sharp smile before turning back to her sister to clean the bloody fur beginning to grow through the wound.

"My gift to you, sister," Sylna said before licks.

The other elf bucked and spasmed as sweat soaked her simple, dirty robes.  A growl filled her throat as her heat filled her body.

"You're one of us, now."