by Atlas Kane
“Now, up again,” he demanded, knowing she wouldn’t mind being told what to do. Sometimes, assertiveness is wonderful, especially when you’re worn out.
The demoness sat back up and turned her head to smile back at him. “That was nice,” she said simply.
“Do you mind if I continue?” he asked quietly.
She shook her head, so he pulled more of the cream from the husk and, moving closer, oiled her belly. He took his time, knowing that even though the stomach tended to be soft, tension could be held there as well. Ketzal moaned as he applied every bit of skill he could manage. In fact, given his ridiculous Dexterity score, more than double what it had been in his previous life, he found he could surpass his old self.
He moved up to her ribs, and finally her breasts. Making sure to keep the touch gentle and caring, he let his caresses blend sensuality with pure physical relief. Cade stroked the underside of each breast, and then over the top of her chest. Finally, he kneaded each in turn, both hands moving the soft tissue around in as non-creepy a manner he could manage.
When he finished, he was breathless. Ketzal reached an arm back and pulled him closer. His chest pressed against her oiled back and squeezed her to him.
“I think it is time to remove the rest,” he told her, and watched as she stood and turned to face him.
She finished undressing and stepped out of her pants. Then she moved closer.
Her eyes were filled with yearning.
Again, he retrieved more cream and wrapped his arms around her back. It was odd to do so, but before he gleefully attacked her buttocks, he oiled and massaged her tail. It was an inch thick, and sinuous, though when he stripped his fingers down its length, he could tell she enjoyed the sensation.
Muscles there too, I guess. Else, how would she move it?
Finally, he lathered the rich cream into each of the woman’s tremendous thighs, down her shapely calves and even her feet. Then he ran his hands back up her legs and oiled the curved expanse of her ass.
Both hands full with her tender backside, Cade pulled her closer. Guessing at his game, she tipped up her pelvis.
Softly, as if kissing a girl for the first time, he kissed her mound. Unlike Satemi or Minda, Ketzal didn’t have a single hair on her body. Everywhere and all over, she was nothing but pure, silky skin.
Cade kissed along the ridge of her mound, finding the canyons at either hip. She giggled when he was too light, so he amended his approach. Finally, he let his tongue find her sex.
She was sea winds and salt and heady wine all in one. He loved the taste of each of his women, but Ketzal may have taken the prize. Mixed with the burned-incense fragrance of her skin, he felt his mind tumble away, falling down a chasm he didn’t care to come back from.
The woman ran her fingers through his short hair, pulled on his ears, and shuddered occasionally when he focused his attention.
Finally, she seemed to grow impatient. She lifted up his chin and bent over to kiss him deeply.
Her mouth was eager, unafraid of her own taste.
Then she pressed her hands to his chest and he eased to his back. Straddling him, the demoness lowered herself onto him.
He was the one to gasp this time.
She moved in tiny, subtle circles, letting the wet of their excitement spread to his inner thighs. Already, he felt himself begin to grow tense, the sensations vibrant and wild.
Before he had a chance to do anything else, however, she performed a simple miracle. As graceful as a dancer, she spun atop him, turning round to face the other way. Most impressive of all was that she didn’t lift up more than an inch. He remained within her hot sex, her pulse mirroring his own there, as she twisted painfully slow.
“Gods of this fallen world!” he groaned. “How the fuck did you do that?”
Ketzal laughed, and rather than answer, began a new dance.
Pressing back and grinding down into his cock, she rolled her ass into him. She didn’t move faster, didn’t bounce up and down like a silly girl; she moved with the inexorable force of a planet in motion. He held her tiny waist and watched the perfection of her ass curving backward and forward.
With perfect rhythm, the demoness worked atop him. She was patient and masterful.
Finally, the inevitable cliff loomed above Cade, and the muscles in his thighs twitched. Gritting his teeth, he fought to remain in control.
A second before he collapsed, Ketzal reached down a hand and pinched the base of him. Her touch acted to suspend his arousal. It wasn’t snuffed out or diminished, only held there as if by magic. “Ketzal!” Cade cried. “Oh, I love you so much.”
She laughed, and finally, increased her tempo.
Still holding the thick base of his shaft, she churned her roiling sex around him. He groaned, helpless to do otherwise. In none of his fantasies or most private dreams had he envisioned a paradise so sweet.
And still she moved.
Then, something changed within the demoness. He felt her clench inside, her thighs grip him tighter. Her free hand crushed his leg, and she moaned. Her expression of joy was so sweet to his ears, that Cade felt tears well up in his eyes. She released him at last, and he tumbled skyward with her.
Cade arched his back, pressing himself deeper than ever. She fell forward and her spine undulated slowly.
When they’d collected their wits once more, the demoness blushed, a magenta flush running across her chest, neck, and face. “I wasn’t lying when I told you I always enjoy sex. It is pure pleasure. But that…”
“Was your first?” he asked, as shocked and baffled as she was.
Ketzal laughed and collapsed against his chest. “Yes. Yes. Yes,” she said, before biting one of his nipples playfully.
“Easy there. I’m still sensitive.”
“I am too,” she admitted, and then grabbed the edge of the nearest fur and pulled it over them both.
They lay still, enjoying the lingering energy storm they’d stoked up together. And finally, ignoring the brightly burning oil lamp, the occasional laugh or distant voice from the outside, and the rest of creation itself, the two fell asleep.
22
Of Daggers and Dark Places
The scream of someone dying, alone and in the dark, tore through the relative peace of Camp Casmeer.
Cade was lucky enough to have at least pulled on his pants the night before, a chill having crept over him after he’d fallen asleep.
So, in only a pair of loose linen trousers, his blast axe in hand, Cade ran out to meet whatever fate was befalling his dear home. Ketzal threw a fur poncho over her shoulders and ran out after him. Poor Satemi, Gemma, and Minda, who must have stumbled in after their various shifts, were still wrestling with their furs and trying to get their wits together.
The spaces between the buildings were empty. All around, Cade could hear people waking in response to the scream. Yet, for the most part, all remained in their sleeping quarters.
He wandered about, hoping to find the source of the trouble. When he’d woken to the scream, it was still echoing off of the cliff face above town, and shattering over Camp Casmeer. There was no way to discern its origin, not without having been actively listening when it began.
A growl closer to the front gates was enough of a clue as to where he might be needed, however.
Glancing to Ketzal, Cade gave her a nod and then sprinted toward the trouble.
He arrived two minutes later to find a Kotani alpha fighting tooth and nail with a nightmare. Three more of the guards were doing their best to help out as well, each struggling with more monsters that had somehow breached their defenses.
Seeing one of the guards cut down, Cade ran to defend the man, hoping he could stay a killing blow from the terrible beast. Cade screamed out an Alpha’s Call and followed by triggering Wyrm’s Wrath. Both skills gave his tired body and mind the boost they needed, and he leapt in to swing at the monster.
It had the inky-black skin of any other abyss creature, but its form wa
s entirely new. Though its dimensions seemed wrong, and it had two tails instead of one, the beast he faced looked much like a scorpion. Two pincers flared open to either side of its body. Instead of being thick, like a lobster, the pincers were sleek and pointy, curving inwards with barbed hooks between them.
They were perfectly designed to grab hold of a victim.
The deadly part of the beast were the tails, something Cade had just witnessed in action. After having been struck in the chest by one of the whip-like tails, the poor man had drooped to the ground, boneless.
Without Cade’s natural resistance to poisons and venom, thanks in part because of his Lycan Metabolism and the blessing he’d been given by the Horde Spiders, the guard went unconscious immediately.
Cade cried out and shot the abyss creature in what he assumed might be its face. A Double Tap, both rounds crashed into the hard carapace of the monster, making it jump back with a squeal.
Turning to face him, the beast flicked out both of its tails in quick succession. Cade dodged the first and timed his counter attack perfectly. He swept his axe around and severed the second tail cleanly. With another screech of pain, the monster jumped forward with both claws open.
Managing to avoid the first, Cade felt the burn of the other claw crush around his right knee. The barbs sunk into his flesh, but it was the bone-deep bruising the claw caused that shocked him. It felt like he was being pinched by a crab the size of Ronden.
Pissed off and injured, Cade triggered Ratcheting Reach and Impact Rod. His axe extended and when he swung it down atop the creature, it slammed through its armored exterior with a vicious pop.
Fluid burst over Cade’s half-naked body, but the monster went limp at last.
After tugging his axe free from the remains of his enemy, Cade surveyed the other fights around him. Ketzal had helped the ape subdue its quarry, and only just in time. Though the ape seemed to resist the paralyzing effect of the scorpion’s sting, it had been struck several times. The beast sat on its haunches, blood spilling from several holes in its chest and torso.
The other guards had teamed up to face off with another of the creatures. His blast staff recharged, Cade fired a Piercing Round into the scorpion, causing it to stumble. The guards finished it with their spears.
A tiny lull fell, one in which time stretched.
Cade heard distant screams, evidence that more of the creatures, and god knows what else, must have climbed the walls and entered.
Glancing over to the other side of the wall, Cade saw two guards lying still, a Kotani ape slumped beside them. The rest must have overrun them. Gods, I hope they are just sleeping, Cade thought, but had no time to go and find out.
Instead, he turned to the crowd of approaching villagers, all with various weapons and gear in their hands.
They’d arrived just in time.
Behind him, Cade heard a growl. He spun to see a bulky creature climbing to the top of the wall. A few torches flickered above the ramparts, reflecting off the beast’s oily hide. And a clear sky bathed everything in pale silver. Still, the lighting was too poor to help him make out what he was witnessing.
Many limbs wriggled over the thing’s body, and it hunched for a moment before pouncing. Twice the size of a Kotani alpha, the beast would have crushed Cade on the spot.
He dodged out of the way and swung his axe to counter. Cade triggered Culling the Pack as his blade bit into its flesh. A sickly green glow emanated off the area where he’d struck, indicating it was wounded.
Slowed by Cade’s attack, the monster couldn’t avoid the many spears and few arrows that darted out to finish it off. Though it shriveled up and died, it had only been the first of a second wave. Behind, a dozen more of the wriggling monsters, and half a dozen more scorpions, climbed over the wall.
“Form groups of three! Bring these shits down!” Cade shouted, and switched his axe to Burst Clip.
Having been closest to the wall, Cade found it easy enough to sprint off to one side. As the abyss creatures fell to the ground and prepared to assault the Casmeeri forces, he fired controlled bursts into each. The bullets tore through the armor of a scorpion, shattering its defenses easily. By the time it stumbled in range of the villagers, it was chopped down effortlessly.
Rather than go full out, Cade kept his strafing to short bursts of four to five rounds.
He targeted another of the writhing masses next, weakening it so that, again, the villagers could cut it down in no time.
Again and again, he fired into the flank of more of the beasts, and his tactic was incredibly effective. Yet there seemed to be no sign of the monsters slowing.
Dan’s arrival was announced by a branching lightning attack that crackled between two of the abyss creatures. Cooked on the spot, both went still immediately.
More of the villagers arrived after, Ronden included. The giant man’s hammer became a force of destruction. He pounded in the shells of half a dozen more scorpions in a matter of moments, helping the villagers carve out an opening in the enemy’s ranks.
Eventually, the attack began to abate, and one by one, the monsters were taken down.
As the last scorpion died, its scream fading away, other sounds could be heard, sounds Cade didn’t at all care for.
Screams of pain and struggle rose above the town from several locations. The echoing walls around Camp Casmeer made the sounds blend seamlessly. He couldn’t hear where anything was, but the shouts of “Help!” and “Please!” were enough to chill his blood.
Panting, and covered in the slick blood of the ungodly beasts, Cade shouted a few commands. “Satemi, keep ten here with you and hold the gate. Minda and Ketzal, you stay with them. The rest of you, form two groups, one with Ronden and one with me. Let’s go see what kinds of nasty has infested our town. Now move!”
Satemi counted out those who would stay with her. She barked her own orders and two groups of five emerged, heading to stand behind the walls.
Five large Kotani alphas and five Casmeeri villagers remained, Dan and Ronden standing off to one side. All looked to Cade. “Dan, stay with me. Come on, Ronden! You’re in charge now! Take the villagers and get moving! Head to the cook fires first, okay?”
After a half second of hesitation, the giant man shook his head and got his shit in gear. “Let’s go!” he bellowed, and the remaining villagers ran after him as he jogged away.
Ketzal turned from the group of five she’d joined under Satemi’s lead. Speaking briefly to the apes, she helped explain Cade’s need. Facing the massive alphas, Cade smashed a fist to his chest, hoping it might inspire a bit of enthusiasm. The roaring shouts that exploded from their fanged mouths nearly knocked him over. Even Dan looked taken aback.
Okay, troops are fired the fuck up! Now, I just have to live up to their savage expectations. No pressure!
Raising his axe, Cade gestured for them to follow, and he ran to the north side of town.
His goal was to see if any villagers had made it into the Town Hall. The communal building had strong walls and would be a natural defensive location.
Before him and his group of badass banana slingers could get there, however, they passed the Clothier’s Shop on the way. What they found there was chilling.
Several monsters huddled outside the front door. One of the writhing balls, its appendages moving about like tentacles, pried at the door. Inside, Tessra’s shrill voice could be heard. “No! Get back! I said get back!” she shouted, a long pair of shears flashing out of the crack occasionally to cut the creature.
Dan saw what was happening and before even the alpha apes could react, flipped his gods-be-damned lid.
A massive ball of lightning arced through the monsters, cooking half of them to their rotten bones. Then the wolf man flashed his long claws and leapt forward with a growl so intense and terrifying, Cade’s arms and neck were covered in goosebumps.
He struck out wildly and with such aggression and speed that the fight was over in moments. All around him, the dea
d abyss monsters lay bleeding out.
Cade wanted to clap, but remained professional. Seeing the look of devastation and fear on the lycan’s face as he observed how close to death his love had come, Cade ordered him to remain with her. “Hole up in the shop, and if anyone passes by and needs help, I expect you to open up for them. Got it?”
Dan nodded, gratitude shining in his eyes. Then the two newlyweds locked themselves inside the Clothier’s Shop before Cade turned and continued deeper into the town.
Sure enough, a crowd of black death was gathered around the front doors of the Town Hall.
At least twenty abyss creatures, a few even larger than the two types they’d seen already, pressed into the barred doors, vying to get inside.
The muffled shouts of villagers inside gave away what the monsters were after. Whoever had shut themselves had done so with greater effect than Tessra had. Still, the front doors were already ragged with holes, the continued strikes from two large scorpions beginning to wear them down.
Wishing he’d had another burst of lightning from Dan now wouldn’t change the situation at all. Instead, Cade dropped an Explosive Shot in the center of the group of monsters, then shouted for the Kotani alphas to charge.
Thankfully, the apes had their own tricks to play. As they rumbled toward the unsuspecting abyss creatures, each of the huge males dropped their shoulders. An aura of power ignited around their thick torsos, and when they collided with the rear ranks, shockwaves of force rippled off of them.
Several more monsters were dead instantly, and a few more stunned. The apes roared and tore into the others with their long-clawed hands.
Cade used Earthen Assault and watched as the attacks from the apes grew more powerful, their arms thickening with earth mana. Feeling the buff take effect on his own body and within his axe, he triggered Locust Leap. Landing in the midst of a clump of scorpions, Cade dropped a shockwave of his own, knocking back the enemies in a wide ring around him.
He’d keep Ratcheting Reach activated, which was helpful, but in such a thick crowd, he didn’t want to slow his strikes. Deactivating Impact Rod, Cade instead used Electric Touch.