“You alright?” Clover asked kneeling down.
“Is that how monsters always feel?” Triska worried. The other girls looked over to her as she turned her eyes down to her hand. “What that luststone did… how it made my monster energy spike like that… that uncontrollable feeling of lust… is that what a monster’s inner nature does to them?”
The other girls exchanged looks with one another before seeing Triska standing up and eyeing them each with a troubled frown.
“Is that what it’s like to be a monster? To have that… burning desire within you? All the time?”
“You didn’t already know this?” Clover asked standing up with her. “We’re monsters, Triska. We’re always horny.”
“It never stops, Triska,” Specca softly said. Triska looked to her in wonder as the nixie slowly shook her head. “Granted, the feeling isn’t normally as extreme as what the luststone instilled in us, but still… that’s how it is being a monster. Much like how Cindy’s hunger is never satisfied… our sexual urges can never be satisfied either.”
“You already knew this, didn’t you?” Alyssa asked hopping over to her. “You knew our inner nature compelled us to breed.”
“Not like that,” Triska softly said. “I didn’t think it was that… powerful. And you don’t look troubled by it at all, Alyssa. None of you do. You all look like you’re perfectly fine right now. You’re not still feeling that urge inside you, are you?”
“Triska, we’re always horny,” Specca answered as she set her book aside and came closer. “We’ve just had years of practice dealing with it. We don’t show signs of being troubled by it right now because we’ve learned to suppress those urges. To… block them out the best we can.”
“Even more so thanks to Daniel,” Alyssa added.
“Even now?” Triska asked looking to Clover. “You’re excited inside right now, Clover? You don’t look like it at all.”
“If you all gave the okay I would mount Dan and ride him for a week straight,” Clover replied with a raised eyebrow. “And then I would keep riding him until he begged me to stop. And I would still keep going even then. I’m fucking starving for a man’s seed, Triska. I have been ever since I came of age.”
“Came of age? What do you mean?”
“How does she not know all this?” Clover asked the others while waving over Triska. “Hasn’t she been with Dan from the start?”
“I don’t believe she or Daniel have ever asked about it before,” Specca clarified as she walked over to them. “Triska, we’re not horny all our lives, as much as mankind would like to think so. Most of us aren’t… interested in breeding until we turn about fourteen or fifteen years old.”
“During our early years it’s quite peaceful,” Doku explained as she came closer. “We’re just curious children much like you humans are at first. But when we come of age our inner nature blooms just as we do. And it usually hit us… really hard and sudden.”
“I wanted to kill myself,” Clover recalled. Triska turned to her in surprise as the elf had a solemn expression now. “The burning feeling inside… it wouldn’t go away. Masturbating doesn’t help, Triska. Our bodies crave breeding, we can’t fight that. It was so bad I wanted to end my life just to be free from it.”
“You wanted to kill yourself then?” Triska worried. “It was that hard on you?”
“Imagine playing with yourself,” Clover dared as she stepped closer. “I’m sure you have, we all have before. Picture doing that, getting yourself worked up so much, your body is just about to climax and release that wave of pleasure… and then hold it.”
“Hold it?” Triska slowly repeated.
“Hold that feeling you have when you’re so close to cumming but just can’t, hold that for years, Triska,” Clover scorned. “Have that constant craving for relief burning your insides nonstop for years. Maybe longer, because that feeling won’t go away until you fuck a man. And guess what? Not every elf gets a man when they come of age. Some of us never do. Some of us go our whole lives never being allowed relief.”
Triska looked around at the girls in disbelief as they nodded with worried expressions, except for Cindy who was listening curiously to the group while gently rocking Snapper in her arms.
“And even if we do have sex with a man,” Alyssa continued. “The feeling doesn’t stop. Our bodies always want to have sex. They always want to be impregnated. It’s just how it is for monsters.”
“You’re feeling it right now, Alyssa?” Triska worried.
“I am,” Alyssa answered with a small smile. “Triska, I want to mate with Daniel so much. Not just because I love him, but because every part of me craves him like you wouldn’t believe. If I was allowed to I would do just as Clover said, I would get on Daniel and never stop riding him. I’m controlling myself though, just like we all are. We’re all doing what Daniel believed we could do, keep in control and not let our inner nature dictate our lives. It’s just not as easy as you think.”
“I knew it wasn’t easy, I just…” Triska said before lowering her head in shock. “I just didn’t know how hard it was on all of you. Even now… I thought you were all okay.”
“We are okay,” Luna assured. “Triska, we’re happier than ever. We have Daniel, we have you, we have each other, we have cookies. We have a great life now.”
“We’re used to having that sort of inner nature,” Falla explained. “Yeah, coming of age was brutal. Luna and I cried ourselves to sleep many nights because of how painful it was. But we got used to it. We learned to live with it.”
“It’s not easy being a monster,” Clover admitted. “Our lust never goes away, it’s like a tormenting shadow we’re forced to live with.”
“But we do live with it,” Doku reminded Triska with a gentle smile. “We learn to accept and move past it to the best of our ability. We learn to live, to laugh, and hopefully to love.”
“Even you, Doku?” Triska asked her. “You feel that urge within you right now?”
“All the time,” the harpy gently replied. “Triska, I’m no different from the rest of these girls. There’s a hunger within me that unfortunately can never be fully quelled. Having a mate does help, but this feeling will never go away.”
“Some of us are just better at hiding it than others,” Specca reasoned with a shrug. “We may look at peace to you, Triska, but inside the war never ceases.”
“I never realized it was so hard on you,” Triska softly said. “I didn’t know until I felt it myself. Holy shit. How do you all stand it? How do you all get used to something like that?”
“It’s the only way we know how to live,” Alyssa answered with a shrug. “It’s the only way we can live.”
“What are you all talking about?” Cindy asked. “I’m confused.”
“We’re talking about how we monsters are always hungry,” Doku said with a kind smile at Triska. “Sort of like how you are, Cindy. It’s a hunger that never leaves us. Triska’s worried about us because of it.”
“Oh,” Cindy said looking over to Triska. “It’s not so bad, Triska. I don’t mind being hungry all the time.”
“All the time…” Triska breathed out. “You poor girl.”
“No, it’s okay,” Cindy insisted with a caring smile. “I don’t care if I’m hungry. I’m more happy now than I am hungry. I’m way more happy, and that’s all I care about.”
“You are?”
“Daniel makes me happier than anything ever did,” Cindy explained as she looked down to Snapper with a gentle smile. “When I’m around him I feel safe and comfy. So much that I don’t even notice being hungry. It’s like I’m not hungry when I’m with him. I’m just happy. Actually… I haven’t thought about eating all day. I guess being around you girls makes me just as happy too.”
“Well said,” Specca agreed with a nod. “The same goes for us. We have Daniel, we have true love in our lives, and we have each other. Having that makes the hunger we feel go away. Not entirely, it’s still there, but w
e don’t notice it as much. We’re only focusing on the good in our lives, Triska. On Daniel. On you. On our family.”
“So don’t go crying over us,” Clover teased holding a hand to Triska’s cheek. “We’re just fine. We’re surviving, and thanks to Dan we’re doing it without having to rape anyone. We’re alright, Triska.”
“Like I would cry over you, Clover,” Triska quipped knocking her hand away. Clover gave a mocking sneer before the cambion moved forward and hugged her, surprising the elf along with the other girls. “I’m just sorry you have to always deal with that unbearable feeling. I didn’t know you girls were fighting on the inside all this time, I thought you beat your inner nature.”
Clover smirked and held the girl before glancing over to see the others watching them with gentle smiles.
“We’ll never beat our nature, Triska,” Clover admitted. She then pulled Triska back and winked at her. “But we’ll never lose to it either. We can’t, not if we want to keep Dan in our lives. And I think I speak on behalf of all of us when I say we’d gladly go through anything to be with him.”
“I don’t care how hungry I get,” Cindy declared holding a hand up. “I’m always going to be a good girl for Daniel.”
“I agree,” Alyssa added. “I’m a better witch now because of him.”
“We’re all better for having met him,” Falla corrected.
Triska nodded as she looked around at her co-mates. She felt a newfound level of respect for the monsters who had been fighting their inner nature all this time, even now when they had Daniel as their mate, and were able to suppress it so well.
“You’re all stronger than I thought,” she admitted with a small giggle.
“Aw, aren’t you the sweet talker,” Clover cooed before pulling the girl into a kiss. Triska jumped in surprise while the others giggled at the sight, seeing Clover holding the cambion close for a moment before backing up with a sultry smile on her face.
“Clover…” Triska breathed out.
“What? Having co-mates helps dealing with this hunger we have,” Clover coyly replied. “It’s not like you haven’t eaten a monster yourself, right?”
Triska smiled amusedly at that while the girls laughed together. Clover slowly licked her lips with a twitch of the eyebrow, watching as Triska returned a challenging smile at her before they both quickly turned to the archway. The girls looked over to see Star, Daniel, and Squeak standing there, the three having remorseful expressions that caused the enjoyment the others had been building to quickly disappear.
“Daniel?” Triska worried.
“We’re here,” Daniel softly said, his tone confirming what the girls were fearing to find outside. Everyone looked to each other in silence before slowly following him out, the cheer they had been sharing now being replaced by dread of what awaited them.
Outside the ride Astreal and Apoch were sitting atop the carriage together, the twins gazing ahead at something while Lucky was chewing on some tall grass near him. The sisters then watched as Daniel led all his girls out the doors, all of them showing distress at seeing the same thing before them.
“Oh god, no,” Specca breathed out.
“This is Ruhelia?” Luna nervously asked.
“Or what’s left of it,” Falla mourned.
“This… this is terrible,” Doku whimpered.
Triska stepped forward from the group, herself and Kitten seeing from the hilltop the carriage now rested on a large crater that filled a vast landscape. Not a single house or building could be seen anywhere, not even rubble or a road remained, just a scarred hole in the world where the centaur kingdom once stood.
“This is Ruhelia?” she asked looking back.
“This is where Ruhelia once was,” Apoch answered as the twins hopped down.
“There is no longer a Ruhelia in Eden,” Astreal said shaking her head.
“This is what you saw before?” Clover asked Cindy.
“No, this isn’t what I saw,” Cindy answered with a puzzled expression. “There wasn’t a big hole there last time. There were lots of burning buildings, but not a big hole. This is worse than it was before.”
“Really? Because it seems pretty bad as it is,” Alyssa commented.
Star and Squeak remained silent while staring at the giant scar in the land, both seeming stunned that this was all that remained of the centaurs’ home.
“This is horrible,” Luna whimpered. “Kroanette’s going to be so upset when she sees this.”
“How long before she gets here?” Falla asked the group.
“Ms. Kroanette should be arriving from that direction,” Apoch said pointing with her staff behind them. On the other side of the knoll where their carriage rested a long stretch of a valley was seen with tall pines growing in a thick cluster on either side.
“Given a centaur’s speed she should likely be arriving here in a matter of hours,” Astreal guessed.
“What are we going to do?” Specca worried. “The minute she sees what remains of her home she’s going to be completely devastated. She’ll be crushed.”
“I think we’re all feeling the pain quite well,” Doku mentioned as she averted her gaze from the terrible sight. “Those poor centaurs.”
“Who did this?” Clover demanded at the witch sisters while pointing to the crater. “Do you have any idea what monsters are responsible for this?”
“A large group of unsavory wretches are responsible,” Apoch answered. “How many there are exactly or where they came from we’re not certain of yet.”
“They’ve been causing quite a lot of trouble in our land lately,” Astreal continued. “This isn’t the only place that’s been turned into a graveyard because of them.”
Luna began crying while Falla held her, the sisters looking down with closed eyes while the others lamented over the lost kingdom. Even Doku started breaking into tears as the thought of all the lost lives in this tragedy struck at her heart. Star turned her gaze away as the sight of another fallen province was bringing up painful memories. Triska shook her head with a hand over her mouth then turned to Daniel as he was looking over the vast ruins of what would have once been a wonderful sight had they arrived sooner.
“Daniel, what do we do now?” Triska asked. “Kroanette just lost her home, her family. We lost another race to speak to about your beliefs. What do we do?”
Daniel held a hand over his face while steadying his breath, knowing he had an entire family also wondering that same question. After a while to think about their options he turned to face the girls and put the sight of the fallen kingdom behind him.
“We wait for Kroanette to get here. She’s going to be hurting so much, there’s no avoiding it. When she gets here she’ll need her family more than ever. We’ll help her get through this the best we can, we’ll be here for her when she needs us. After we get her settled down as much as she can be we’ll plan our next move. Right now… this is all we can do.”
“If we may make a suggestion,” Astreal mentioned as the twins began walking away. “You should leave this place as soon as you are able to.”
“There’s nobody else here to speak to about peace, Mr. Daniel,” Apoch reasoned. “Only dangerous monsters remain in these parts, ones you won’t be able to sway with your words.”
“We just might have to,” Daniel agreed. “Thank you both for bringing us here. We really do appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” the sisters said while twirling their staves around at their sides. “Do your best to stay alive, Mr. Daniel. We hope to see you again.”
The twins clanked their staves overhead with a bright flash erupting, the group shielding their eyes as the sisters’ spell engulfed them in light before slowly fading to reveal they were gone. The group looked to one another with troubled frowns then to Daniel as he glanced back at the ruined landscape, all of them dreading something more than the thought of dangerous monsters lurking nearby.
“Kroanette,” he softly said. “I’m sorry for what you�
�re going to find here. I truly am.”
*****
Riding through the underground railway a swiftly moving train made its way along the tracks with screeching wheels rolling steadily atop the rails. At the front of the ride ant girls continued working the levers to keep the ride speeding towards its destination. Sitting in the car behind them Mika and a group of monsters were remaining silent as streaks of light passed by from adjoining tunnels and hanging lanterns on the corridor walls. Only the ant girls in the front squeaked as they did so in rhythm to their lifting and pushing of the pivoting beams, the rest thinking about their task at hand and also the horrible events that had recently occurred.
“Maria,” Mika finally spoke up with, gaining the other girls’ attention as she kept her unfocused gaze down on the floor. “That was your sister’s name, wasn’t it?”
“You remembered that,” Hollia softly said.
“She was eleven years old,” Mika recalled. “Two years younger than Max is. And I’m sure just as special to you as my brother is to me.”
Hollia watched her curiously as the hunter trembled with a shaky whimper.
“If I were to lose him… the pain I would feel would be too much to bear. I’ve already lost my parents and my sisters… he’s all I have left. He’s my whole world, he always has been. I fight to keep him safe, I fight to keep him with me, I fight because I…”
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