by Stephan Knox
She remembered that part, her first-time masturbating. There had been more pain than pleasure those first few times.
Aari moved her hands where they needed to be, sliding between his thighs, cupping up his scrotum in one palm and massaged gently, as she placed her other hand around the base of his throbbing shaft. Her hands continued to move over him from one tender spot to another until finally his approaching orgasm was balanced between pain and pleasure. Then she reached alongside his body and slipped her hand under his back to connect with his sym.
The first eruption shared between the man and Symbiotai exploded. Thick white ropes of seed shot out over his hand and across his chest. A cry erupted from his lungs, his body twisted and arched until the quake had completed its journey then released him, leaving him limp and panting.
Aari ran her fingers through the white deposits, smearing much of it over his skin playfully and inhaled the briny, masculine scent. It stirred something inside her. And while he settled back with his eyes closed, she got an instant naughty thought and quickly scooped up some of the spunk, and brought it to her tongue, allowing herself the pleasure of tasting him.
Salty and earthy at first. It was strange and heady, and as she licked more of it into her mouth, she found the tangy aftertaste created by the Symbiotai. Her face turned a hot red under her grin when she noticed Tannin was watching her, and she quickly glanced away when it occurred to her that he knew she’d liked it.
Except it wasn’t over. Tannin’s release didn’t deliver him over to spent relaxation, instead his muscles drew up tight into painful knots and had him grunting with post-coital spasms shortly after. The orgasmic experience was too soon after the transformation.
Aari urged him to roll to his stomach and immediately she began to massage his Symbiotai to relax. Starting low on his back around his tailbone and worked her way up the spine like she had done the previous nights.
Tannin and his Symbiotai eventually began to relax, not taking nearly as long as it had before during the growing transformation. Which verified for them the change had been completed; now they, both man and sym, just needed some time to adjust and allow the bruised tissue to heal.
Tannin still gasped, but it was soft, relaxed pleasure that he expressed with each long slide of her hands down his body.
“By Destiny, your hands feel so good—” he groaned, “—once the pain stops that is,” he added, settling down with a sleepy smile peeking out at her.
After the not so pleasant orgasm and the back rub to ease it, he was ready for a long afternoon of sleep. He stirred under her hands, grabbing her wrists, and pulled her down over him, bringing one arm over his shoulder the other around his side. Essentially pinning her against his back by trapping her in a playful reverse mockup of how he had slept coveting her, when he had fished her out of the river and slept wrapped around her to keep her warm—
“Give me a kiss before we go to sleep,” he murmured, already drifting to sleep.
“Sleep?” She tugged back on him, but he didn’t release his grip on her wrists. “But its midday.”
“A short rest. Just so long as you kiss me.”
Aari leaned in and kissed his cheek. It really was the best she could do since he was on his stomach and had her arms locked around him. But when he smiled from behind sleepy eyes, she figured he got what he was looking for.
At that moment, something eased deep inside her, this new playful side of him she was seeing, not everything with Tannin had to be sexual, and what was sexual didn’t always have to be a permanent union for her.
She dropped her head down on his shoulder blade, his sym purring in her ear like before, and she drifted off into a light sleep in the speckled sunlight of the aftnoon. And for that brief spot of time, it was just the two of them in her little girl’s fancy where there was no room for wars— or soldiers— or Them.
FORGOTTEN DWELLERS OF AMOOZ MEANTS PARKS
It had been nearly a full turn of the moon’s cycle since they’d seen civilization.
After Tannin had survived the growth spurt of his sym, he wanted desperately to pick up on his original intentions and track the supply convoy.
They set out on foot, but they encountered visitors on their first day. It was bound to happen eventually. Their trek so far had been too quiet. A run of luck that was sure to run out soon.
The wooded trail was dotted with abandoned buildings of stone work and brick. Small two or three-room structures that might have been used as homes long ago. Most now eroded down to just a few outer walls. Not even a roof remained for many of them, making them little use for shelter or little good to anything more than the moss that clung to their stone or the wild brambles that overtook its interiors.
Tannin drew in a scent that mingled in the air alerting him that the ruins were also good hiding spots for someone who wanted to jump out on an unsuspecting traveler. Even foolish ones willing to risk ambushing such a titan beast as himself, who happened to be traveling by. Didn’t matter much they tried to hide, Tannin’s keen senses caught their undeniable stench of loathing intent right away. Strange how a man’s emotions or intentions created a shift in their body odor. Especially when the body was lacking in proper hygiene to start. It just made them stand out over and above.
Next to getting used to the collision of sounds when he first took in his Symbiotai, smell was probably the next challenging sensory for him to come to terms with. Bathing, for some people, wasn’t a priority in their routine. It was a form of malodorous stink, a person just never really wanted to get close and personal with on a normal human’s smelling standards. But to suffer it from a heightened olfactory sense wasn’t anything Tannin wished on himself. Still, he’d learned that those odoriferous smells came with warnings like a red flag. And then there was Aari who made every bit of it worthwhile. Having her in his arms where he could bury his nose into her hair while they slept was a comfort he’d never imagined existed, but he certainly liked it. He would certainly miss it when it was time to part. Even now, as he picked up on what seemed to be four or five men, he could distinguish her scent from theirs like a cool breeze cutting through thick smog.
Tannin opened up his other senses, listening for foot falls, to gauge their pace. One of them had a limp or a bad habit of just dragging their feet when they walked. They were barely slogging along even as he and Aari passed where they were sitting back on the ready, but what they were waiting on was any guess on him. But as Aari started to fall behind, their followers started to draw in closer. Either they were interested in the small walking bundle of unidentifiable human behind him or they were just after easy pickings, grab from the smallest and run. Tannin had other plans for them, but he’d wait until they made their move.
They came upon an odd structural archway. Its overhead sign long since white washed of its color and title from rain and sun, but it must have been the entranceway to something at some point. And still their shadow stalkers kept too many paces behind them. Too long to be successful at their task. First rule of thievery: move stealthily and act quickly, less you lose your stealth.
It was near irritating just waiting for them to make their move and it put him on edge. He paused, dropping the packs to the ground to rest his shoulders, stooping down to fish through one.
He’d kept it but had forgotten to return it to her all this time. Now seemed as good a time as any to re-arm her with her little blade. He found it and smirked recalling the day she’d cut him. The glassy stone edge would never likely see the day it would land a fatal blow, but it did what she needed it to do, buy time. “Aari,” he called her to catch up. Even still feeling a bit exhausted after his Symbiotai’s growth spurt, he was able to travel at a faster pace than she could. If only her sym had gifted her with longer legs, he amused himself.
Aari caught up, coming up to rest beside him, taking advantage of the respite to just stop, and help herself to the water skin from his hip. Tannin stood, stepping behind her, and
pulled the hood from her head and brushed her braided hair aside.
“Hey.” Aari twisted, “What are you doing?”
“Shhh— just returning something that belongs to you,” he whispered, as he took her by the shoulder to turn her back around. He ran his finger down the spine of her neck playfully and caught the shiver in her shoulders.
“That tickles.” She ducked away and rolled her shoulders overcome with the chill.
Tannin grinned. More to himself than anything, she’d just scowl at him if she saw how he’d enjoyed that. But he got back on task and carefully tucked the crescent shaped blade into the small pocket of skin. Her fingers back tracking, feeling the returned weapon, made an adjustment then nodded a silent thanks to him.
“We have company.” He leaned down pretending to kiss the back of her neck. “There will be as many as five of them so be ready.”
“Ready?”
“I’m tired of waiting for them to make their move. So, it’s time to draw them out.” He stepped away, leaving the packs where they were then drawing the baldric that held his oversized sword from his back. The spadone blade was so long its bearer had no choice but to wear it on their back. For if saddled on their hip, the blade would drag on the ground. It also took two hands to wield it.
Tannin placed his feet at shoulder width, settled back so his feet were evenly planted, leaving his knees easy as he positioned the sword out in front of him with only a slight angle upward, “FIRST MAN TO GET PAST MY SWORD GETS TO KEEP HER!”
Aari snapped around with a startled look, but it didn’t last long when she drew her side arm and pointed it directly at him. “You already know well and good you have the disadvantage,” she warned him. It was too cute. But the ones he had hoped to draw out retreated instead.
He straightened, lowering the sword, closing his eyes and listened carefully, definitely five, and they were not taking their time to clear out. Even Aari heard them and whirled around, redirecting her aim towards the crush of dry leaves moving away to put distance between them. She fired off a warning shot just to be sure, the pulse catching an overhead tree limb some two furloughs away, sending it to the ground with a thunk. Those leaving got the message and their pace quickened.
Tannin glanced around, looking into the dense forest mix of winter dormant trees and needle pines. But there was nothing else moving out there that may have given leave of a greater threat.
A little disappointed, Tannin sheathed his sword, and went to gather their packs.
“You’d dare use me as bait?” Aari wasn’t so quick to holster her gun.
“No, but they were after either you or the packs and I wasn’t up for trailing them along any farther. I only wanted them to think they might have a chance to reach them.”
“And what would you have done?”
“Taken their heads off.”
“Over a couple of packs that are already barren of supplies?”
“Not the packs, but over you, yes.” That seemed to settle the concern for her and she dropped her pistol back to its holster on her thigh, grabbed one of the packs, and started up again. Venturing farther into the collection of strange skeletal structures.
She probably should have felt some level of indignation. Despite how he worded it, Tannin did make her the bait. Yet, saying as much that he would kill to keep her held some weight she could not dispel. Oh, she tried, but failed at the defiant act. No one had ever killed for her— defended her. Like it or not, she would have to give him a credit or two for it.
She tried to hear like he did, straining to hear beyond the crunch of brown leaves under her feet. The woods all around them made so much drenn noise though, it was impossible to figure out what was threat and what was just a squirrel. And there were lots of those, all high up on the tree branches, squallering down at them. Something snapped and clattered, off to her left. She searched towards the sound seemingly coming from behind a bizarre round structure roughly twenty yards away. Stranger still were the white creatures frozen in their last effort to leap flee, only to be skewered from back to belly by a gilded post and set into the floor of the round display. Who would do such things to these animals and what made them harden like so? She wanted to get closer to take a better look but a quick glance to Tannin and his ever pursuit to push on without any stalling ort side tracking changed her mind. And she picked up her pace as best as she could, shooting one last look over her shoulder to the carousel of dead animals.
A heavy hand dropped on her shoulder, causing her to jump.
“I’m coming,” she protested.
“I want you to walk ahead of me.”
“Why?”
“So, I don’t lose you.”
“Okay.” She went on ahead as he took a concernable glance around. “What strange place is this Tannin?”
She spotted movement out the corner of her eye and reached for her pistol, turning on her heels only to see a whitetail deer bouncing off, vanishing behind another equally strange structural thing. Eight, long bent tentacle-like arms of rusted steel, stretched out in all directions from a central globe with eyes. Each appendage held out in various angles. Like a monster that would likely come to life, snatch any trespassers up, and fling them through the air. The whole scene made her nervous. If that hadn’t been enough to unnerve her, a low-lying evening fog that starting to creep in, obscuring everything else, did.
She glanced back at Tannin, now keeping behind her. He too seemed a little tense. “You picking up on anything?”
“Just a couple of skunks.” He wrinkled his nose and winked at her.
“Oh. Is that what that is?” she commented having only smelled a trace amount of rancid odor.
“Be glad you don’t have my gift right now.”
She screwed up her face and moved forward again, feeling a little better. But the oddity of the ruins around them wasn’t helping any. Ghostly images of exuberant happy faces peeked out from behind layers of grime or webs of roots and vines. It was creepy. But in the fog ahead something huge loomed. It was hard to see, but as they drew closer, every hair that didn’t even exist on her body seemed to be standing up on end the way her skin pricked with fear.
The beast spiraled around, its spine higher than most buildings. She couldn’t help slowing her steps, not sure she wanted to venture too close like a fool. She’d done enough of those moves in her life time.
She strained her eyes following the great body that seemed to be heading towards her. Something big waited low to the ground but was far taller than Tannin. She slowed further but continued to creep forward, until the first bits of features broke through the grey haze. Until she came face to face with the beast. A mouth so big, it could swallow them both up in a single gulp and teeth that hung from its jaws almost as tall as she. “Shay moshter,” the name gasped from her lips and she dreaded it the moment she spoke them because right then, as if the beast had heard her, the veil of fog lifted and sure enough— the monsterly beast was right there within striking distance.
Aari bolted, turning and running back from where they came.
“Aari!” Tannin called out to her.
She felt his hand catch her parka, but panic ensued; she twisted and kicked, knocking herself free from his grip, and took off in a dead run.
“Aari! Stop running!” His voice drawing distant.
Tannin watched as she disappeared behind one of the few solid building structures then turned back to the strange spiral of metal. Its large head rested on the ground with its mouth open ready to eat them was enough to scare most anyone. The sign over its head that read –Flying Dragon- was almost funny. And he had to wonder which was funnier: Aari running away or that the people of the old-world actually thought they could climb up on the false beast and it would fly.
His nose twitched as the scent of skunk grew stronger and he— no, wait— there was something else hiding under the smell— humans and horses. Drenn.
Just then Aari cried out
in the distance. Followed by the cursing shout of another. Tannin bolting in a fast lunging stride, dropping their packs in the same motion and ran for her. He drew his sword from his back, rounded the corner of the faded black building, to find just ahead, two young men trying to run Aari down. Tannin stretched his legs out, willing a burst of speed within him. A wave of surging heat pulsed out from his spine, spilling down into his muscles and the ache that should have been there from the exertion vanished and Tannin felt his body grow lighter and his legs moved faster.
He caught up to the first, dropped his blade for a low swing, then arced upward. His blade coming right up the youngster’s side, cleaving deep into his ribs and out his chest cavity. Tannin vaulted over the boy just as he doubled over with an anguished cry, and kept going, his momentum unsetting his sword from its first victim. He pushed onward in a full run for the next. He caught up with him, just as he’d managed to snatch Aari by her hair and managed to yank her back clean off her feet, sending her slamming down on her back.
Tannin stepped in, lunging over Aari and with another upward sweep of his spadone, the youngster’s arm came off.
The boy cried out but lashed out all the same. Tannin countered the boy’s staggered attempt of defense with a dagger, twisted around just as the short-hammered shiv, meant for his mid-section, missed. Tannin brought his arms around, using the weight of the sword to carry the force of the momentum. It followed his swing through, bringing his blade clear around, at just shoulder height, that in the following click sent the boy’s head from its body.
Tannin didn’t wait, his attention out there, while reaching down and catching Aari by some unknown part of her body and hefting her up to her feet. He tucked her behind him and stepped for the woods, one hand keeping the sword out before him, while the other kept her close. He glanced back to the first boy face down in the dirt now stained in his own blood.