“An honor to meet you,” the fox said, in a deep, rich male voice. “Please excuse us if we wait to sit down. We never dine until we take on our nighttime forms. And if your mother was right, we will be requiring them tonight.”
“‘Nighttime forms’? What does that mean? And you’ll be requiring them, too? Is that…is that because of whoever melted my tires?”
“Ah, so you have come across the evil being your mother warned us of. I am relieved that you are all right, young Terra.” The fox walked up to her and put its front paws on her knee, seeming like it was trying to look right into her eyes. “You and the cat will take heed and stay indoors tonight. That is an order.”
“Hey! I don’t really like being ordered around all that much, Foxie. Especially by a creature I could totally take in a fight.”
The fox growled a little at that, but he lost the staring contest, being the first to look away. “I will post our two biggest warriors by the front door then. It is almost as important that we keep you in as it is that we keep him out.”
“Him? So the thing that ruined my tires is a ‘him’?”
“To the best of our knowledge, yes. That was all your mother knew—that he would have power over fire and that he would be male.”
“What else did she know about tonight?” Terra’s stomach growled loudly after she asked this question, her hunger drawing her away from her interest in an answer. It was just as well, because she didn’t get one, not one of the animals offering any kind of response to what she had asked.
“We will be changing soon enough,” said one of the squirrels in a quiet squeak of a voice.
“Yes, within the next thirty seconds, and please do excuse our nudity.”
“Your…nudity? Aren’t you already naked?” Terra was becoming curious as to what these “nighttime forms” would look like, but as the fox began to stand on its hind legs, and as its fur began to recede, she found that he, and the rest of the animals, were all turning into large humans. The fox became a muscular man with red, chin-length hair, and the two raccoons, Freddy and Lizzie, became a man and a woman of similar heights, both with rich-brown hair, although the man’s was shorter and had a bit more curl to it than the woman’s. He also had a few more wrinkles than she did, smile lines surrounding each of the brown eyes set in his round, forty-something face.
She watched as the rest of the animals changed, the two squirrels becoming short, redheaded female twins, the badger an amber-skinned man, the skunk a tall, statuesque woman. And then, after everyone else, Uther the stag changed. His antlers shrank a fair amount, but didn’t disappear completely as he grew taller, and taller, until he towered over Terra.
“Should we eat, then, Miz Terra?” asked Freddy. “By the by, it is a large pleasure to meet you in the—shall we say—flesh.” He began to laugh uproariously at his joke, tilting his head back as he did, and Terra frowned slightly as his whole body began to shake with his undeserved laughter. Instead, and as politely as she could, she suggested that they maybe go and clothe themselves so they could all eat. A second loud growl from her stomach made Freddy laugh again. Instead of teasing her, though, he and the other people went over to various closets around the bedroom area of the cabin, taking out clothes and getting dressed.
Once they were all fully clothed, they sat around the table and Lizzie served up the thick, red curry and pieces of the warm, fluffy bread, flecked with green herbs, which she’d taken out of the large oven. Then the nighttime-formed people all joined hands and bowed their heads, Woodbyne taking Terra’s left hand and Lizzie taking her right. She took their lead and bowed her head as well.
Surprisingly, Freddy was the one who spoke. “Our dearest father and our dearest mother, we thank you for givin’ us life, givin’ us breath, givin’ us fur, and givin’ us our nighttime forms. We thank you also for Terra, the one who is destined to stop him, and the one whom tonight we will protect. We ask that you ’elp us in our fight, and we thank you for givin’ us faith to do as we ’ave and to do as we will. Now, everyone, dig in!”
Terra opened her eyes, which had become a bit moist from Freddy’s words. It seemed he wasn’t all machismo and rude words after all.
Dinner was delicious. Terra had never had curry before, and while she found herself drinking glass after glass of water, she still finished her first bowl and then immediately asked for seconds. Luckily, Lizzie had made four pots of it, so there was more than enough to go around. The bear, or Nicolai, as it turned out he was called, ended up having fourths, but everyone else was content with two bowls, some only one. Woodbyne was the only person who didn’t eat, instead drinking a glass of some sort of green, swirling liquid that didn’t really look all that appealing. Especially not compared to the curry and the delicious, chewy bread.
She asked Woodbyne what her drink was, and the woman merely smiled and shook her head. Then Terra’s jaw dropped a little as the woman’s lovely, long hair began to float out behind her, rippling in some sort of invisible breeze. The young-looking woman lifted her hand to her left ear, the one that faced the front door, and seemed to be listening to something quite intently. “They say he will be here a little past midnight. We will ready our weapons while you visit your lover, Terra.”
“How did you know about that?” Her words came out much sharper than she intended them to, so she cleared her throat, then said, “Sorry. I mean, you all know so much about me, and I know pretty much nothing about any of you.”
“We are the forest.” Woodbyne’s voice was quiet but steady as she spoke. “We are all the leaves and trees, all the dirt and moss, and all the ones who call it home. We are all of it, and we will keep you safe.”
“I guess that kind of explains it. And I’m guessing that’s the best I’m going to get out of any of you guys.”
Freddy laughed, pointing his finger at her. “She’s a smart one, this li’ul gal. Jus’ like her mum, she is!”
“Thanks, Freddy. So, I suppose I’m not going to hear any more about this mum of mine, either?”
“No, ma’am, not hearin’ but you may be seein’ instead.”
“Whatever the fuck that means, you little bastard.”
“Hey, don’t you call me li’ul.” Everyone laughed at that, even Onyx, who had cute touches of thick, white cream on his face from his dinner. Terra glowered at Freddy for a few moments until she gave in and started laughing, too. He might have been a bastard, but he was damn likeable. Damn funny, too.
“So,” Lizzie asked once the laughter had died down, “’ow is it that you visit this girlfriend of yours, bein’ so far away from ’er?”
“It’s this thing called a doorway stone. You’ll see me using it as soon as I find an appropriate door.”
“Try the one in the very back of the cabin. You can use it the normal way later. That’s where the loo is.” Lizzie got up from the table and began taking the dishes to the sink. “Now, Freddy, you don’t ’ave to get to all of them tonight, but make sure the pots are soaked at the very least.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Freddy pecked her on the nose and ran his hand over her head, and she nuzzled him in return, looking more like her raccoon self than her human form as she did this.
Terra got up from the table and took her doorway stone with her, placing it in front of the door she’d been directed to, located in the very back of the cabin. She knew swimming right after a big meal wasn’t recommended, but she didn’t think the same could be said about sex, and she had other hungers that needed sating this night.
Chapter Fourteen
When Terra stepped into Athene’s bedroom, it was shockingly different from usual—almost entirely different. Pale-colored lanterns were hanging around the room, and they cast a sensual, red tint across every surface inside it. Instead of the queen-sized bed she was used to, a large, round platform stood in the room’s center, on top of which lay a flat, silk-covered mattress, the fabric a rich crimson color, and it looked like it would be incredibly soft to the touch. Next to it sat a
delicate lacquered table, and on top of that was a white, ceramic bowl full of black liquid (ink?) and a large Japanese paintbrush.
As her eyes adjusted to the light, Terra glanced around a little, looking for Athene. Then she felt two hands running up her sides. She jumped a little at the sudden touch, and a voice—Athene’s—said, “It’s okay, Terra. It’s me, your lover.” Her voice was soft and sweet, like honeyed liqueur, its smooth, rich sound flowing over Terra’s bare skin like the softest of silks.
Athene began to unbutton Terra’s vest, her hands brushing against her breasts every few moments. Next, she pulled Terra’s T-shirt over her head and then unhooked her bra, dropping each item on the floor beside their feet. Then Terra’s pants were added to the pile, along with her shoes. Last, her panties came off, and then she felt Athene press her own naked skin up against her bare back, Athene’s hard nipples and chest brushing against her skin as she cupped Terra’s breasts and pulled at her nipples.
“Fuck!” she growled only moments later. Athene had just pinched them in unison. But each pinch was more than welcome, and her limbs went soft as her nipples became hard. Athene continued to play with them in this rougher-than-usual way, pulling at them and rolling each one roughly between her thumbs and forefingers.
Athene’s lips were now on her back, kissing her softly—first a gentle kiss on her right shoulder blade, and next one on her left. “I have a surprise for you,” she told Terra in between kisses. She was silent for a moment. “But you have to be blindfolded. Are you willing?”
“Totally.” Terra’s answer came out like a soft sigh; she was already melting against Athene, the warmth from her body heating up parts of Terra’s own, parts desperately in need of some pressure, desperately in need of release. She almost asked Athene if she could get her off then and there, but she was rather curious about what would happen to her once she was blindfolded, so she held her tongue
“Good girl,” Athene said, sounding like she was smiling. She walked a few steps away from Terra, coming back a few moments later. “Bend down a little,” she told her, and Terra did so, sighing again as a silken, black blindfold was placed in front of her eyes and tied behind her head. “Follow me.” Athene took her hand, and she began to lead her forward, seemingly in the direction of the round bed. Was that where the “action” was to occur? And there the bed was, pressing against her thighs. Athene’s gentle hands guided her onto it, and she pulled Terra onto her back and slowly spread her legs apart. She felt Athene’s hand on her cunt then, and Athene’s thumb brushed lightly—far too lightly—against her clit. “Please, more pressure.” She had never been too proud to beg for pleasure, and now was obviously not the right moment to change her ways.
“I have something else in mind, sweetie. Sorry to disappoint you.” Athene’s hand moved away from her body, and Terra grunted out her disapproval at its removal. Especially the part of said hand that had been touching her clit. She was about to complain, but, “I need it for the paintbrush,” she heard Athene say. Well, this was likely to be at least a little bit interesting. She heard the quiet sound of liquid splashing against something; she guessed it was the sound of the paintbrush being dipped into the ink.
“You saw the ink, Terra?”
“Yes.”
“Just making sure. Good. I…I want to tell you something, now,” she said, and a drop of the ink fell in between Terra’s breasts. She gasped at its coldness, but moments later, it began to heat up, bit by bit, until she began to tremble from the warmth of it as it slowly flowed across her skin. And her trembling increased as she began to feel something else—the ink was making her skin tingle, tingle and pulse, and she felt the same sensation on her cunt and nipples, a sensation that went a far way past mere pleasure. “This isn’t just any ink.” Athene sounded proud of herself, and, Terra thought, she sure couldn’t blame her. “It’s special, and I made it just for you. It’s supposed to send heat to all the right parts of your body,” Athene said, and then the brush was gliding down the crevice between Terra’s breasts, her whole body shuddering for a few seconds as the ink heated up and the skin it touched began to tingle—her clit and cunt doing the same. “It’s going to send pleasure to all the right parts of you,” Athene said. Well, duh, Terra thought, and then she pretty much ceased to think, because now she was getting closer…yes, so much closer…to coming.
As the brush continued to glide down her body, over her bellybutton, past it and to where her mons pubis began, her cunt clenched, tightened, more and more, until the brush finally found its way to her clit. Once there, Athene teased her, circling the brush around her clit’s outer edges, circling it until she finally let the brush reach Terra’s most sensitive, most pleasure-inducing spot. Terra began to come in waves as it touched that spot, the brush steadily building pressure as she gasped, then moaned, then screamed, her body quaking and twitching and shaking as the orgasm bloomed and kept growing, still more…still more. She clenched the mattress’s soft sheet as the orgasm continued to control every single bit of her body, and pretty much all of her mind, and a hard splash of liquid flowed down her cunt’s lips, hitting every inch of the space in between them, drops of it even entering her, fucking her hole like a dildo might, filling her up until she screamed she couldn’t take any more.
A second later, her body grew completely dry, and she collapsed to the bed, still shaking and gasping as she came down from coming so hard. She was almost about to melt, her body was so relaxed, so very loose and calm.
“That was…” She took a deep breath. “Holy fucking hell, that was nice.”
“Lift up your head,” Athene said. She did, and Athene untied the blindfold and took it away from her face, and Terra gazed into her eyes. She felt an immense amount of love for Athene as she looked at her, love just as intense as her pleasure had been only moments ago. Love that could almost make her come again. Athene leaned down then and kissed her, just once, on the lips.
“Thank you,” Terra murmured when Athene pulled away from her, and she spent a little while longer gazing into her beautiful, blue-green eyes. “Thank you.”
They talked for a long while after that, and then Terra said she had to go. “You know how much I would love to stay here. I would love to stay here forever, just like this. But I have to go back to my cabin. I promise I’ll come back tomorrow, though.”
“Or perhaps I can come to you?”
“That sounds terrific. You can come to me…and with me, too, I hope.”
“And after I come to you, and before I come with you, how about I come on to you?”
They were laughing a little by now, but their laughter changed to sad silence as Terra stood up and got off the bed and started to put her clothes back on. “I wish I didn’t have to go.”
“Me, too. Me, too, Terra.”
But she left, after giving Athene a long kiss good-bye. She turned back once as she left and saw the room shimmering around Athene, whose lovely, sloping back was turned to the door Terra had just opened. Athene’s bedroom began to change then, back to how it usually looked, and Terra heard a quiet, sad sigh as she eased the door shut behind her, now back in the cabin once more. Back in the cabin and far away from Athene.
Chapter Fifteen
It was nine o’clock when Terra got back into the cabin, and as she looked through the room, she saw the forest people all drinking some sort of liquid from tall, silver glasses. “What are you all drinking?” she asked, walking over to where they were standing.
“It’s to help accentuate our power. A potion handed down from the ones who made us…a gift from our mother and father.” It was Woodbyne who told her this, turning her silver eyes toward Terra as she spoke. She didn’t look playful, and her eyes didn’t have the kindness they had contained hours before. Instead, her face was hard, and her gaze held nothing gentle, nothing peaceful. No, her eyes were cold, and though she smiled at Terra as she looked in her direction, the smile was tight-lipped, and it wasn’t exactly believable.
“’e may have friends, after all,” Freddy said, taking a long swallow from his glass after he spoke. “Friends or creatures and beings ’e’s gained power over. We’ll be needin’ all the ’elp we can get, yessir.”
“You still unwilling to stay inside?” Uther’s face was cold as well, and his antlers seemed to have grown a bit in size.
“No, I guess I’m okay in here. I have that wine to drink, and I’m guessing it’ll knock me out cold once I’ve downed the bottle. I’m not used to having more than a few glasses.”
“Oh, my dear, that wine doesn’t make ya drunk,” Lizzie said. “It might make ya wish ya were, though.”
One by one, they filed outside, and each of them picked up something near the door—all weapons, except for Woodbyne’s tall, gnarled staff, covered in pale-green moss and taller than she was. Her hair flowed out behind her, lighting up the area outside the door as she left the cabin and shut the door behind her.
“You nervous, Onyx?” Terra reached down and stroked his fur, and he pushed back against her hand, his body tight as could be.
“Oh, yes, Terra, very nervous.”
“Well, what do you say we get this party started right now?” She hoped the joke would lighten their mood a bit, but as she walked over to her bag and took out the wine, nothing about her mood was the slightest bit light. She wasn’t looking forward to seeing whatever this wine would show her. What if it was bad? What if something horrible was going to happen to her, perhaps even tonight?
She had to drink it, though, so she grabbed the wineglass from her spot at the table, untouched until now, and pulled the cork out of the bottle. She was surprised when the glass proved to be somewhat bottomless, as the whole bottle of wine seemed to fit into its cup. Terra raised it, watching the light from the ceiling’s hanging lamps turn the wine garnet red and the slightest bit translucent.
“Bottoms up, Onyx,” she said, and then she brought the glass to her mouth and began to drink. As it poured through her lips and down her throat, it burned a little, like it was stronger than most wines, more like vodka, or something even harder. The last drops flowed from the glass and into her mouth, and then she dropped it to the table, gasping a little as she fell into her chair.
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