Chapter 3: Marked
I brought my sword out to shield myself ducking low enough that the scarred Gore wouldn't hit me that hard. I squeezed my eyes shut.
I felt the larger Gore connect with my greatsword, feeling the scarred Gore's claw behind me knock into my back. I stumbled forward, but kept my footing. Above me, the two wyverns were snapping angrily at each other. The larger was rearing up, ready to shoot another large explosion of its frenzy virus.
I went to sheath, but I already knew I wasn't going to make it.
I felt teeth grab the back of my armour, sending me up and away from the resounding explosion. I fell quite ungracefully, crashing into the dirt and rock floor, dragging myself up as quickly as I could recover.
Had Scar just... saved me?
I rushed forward, trying to see through the fog of frenzy virus and debris. Scar had been hit with the attack, full on and he seemed to be suffering for it. One of his hardened feelers had broken and he was breathing hard.
Hopefully he'd take his time and recover. I had faced enough Gores now that fighting one on my own was do-able – especially without having to worry Scar getting in my way.
Shouldering off my pack I threw a few raw meats at the scarred gore, then began to run at the larger. He noticed right away, his virus flaring around him. As I charged into his cloud I felt my body weakening considerably. I couldn't slow down now though. He reared up, ready to slam down on top of me. I felt my heart pounding. The timing would be close. He teetered up on his hind legs. I dodged forwards, aiming for the space between his legs. I heard the slam of his body behind me as I muscled through the small gap and rolled up, angling myself back at him.
I unsheathed, holding my greatsword back for a large overhead swing. The Gores muscles twitched, and I begun to swing. As his head turned to face me, my greatsword slammed into its horns, breaking one. Taking a step forward as he recoiled, I used my momentum to swing my sword horizontally, catching his shoulder and head. He growled, baring his teeth. With a yell I let my body swing around for one final top-down strike.
My blade smashed down, breaking his second horn. He cried in pain and went tumbling backwards.
I painted hard, immediately sheathing my sword, getting ready to take advantage of the stunned gore.
"I'll set a bomb!"
My head whipped around.
"What the hell are you guys doing here?" I snapped, seeing an archer and the man from the village.
"We heard a report you'd gone on a mission. One with two Gores running around. Figured you could use some help!" Shane grinned.
The archer set her bomb and jumped away, readying her arrows.
"Shooting!" She called, right before Scar's long-range ball of frenzy virus hit her, sending her sprawling, her arrow scattered to the ground.
"The two of them are here?! Are you nuts!?"
"I was doing fine before you chumps got here!" I shouted, the situation getting ever more complicated. How was I going to explain that Scar was on my side? And to explain the hunters weren't going to hurt him?
"Go after the bigger one!" I shouted as Shane begun to run at Scar. "He's the biggest threat!"
I ran for the large gore as he jumped away from the untouched bomb.
Slowly we surrounded him, whittling down his health, though Scar kept jumping in, snapping at gore and hunter alike.
"Watch for the bomb!" I snapped, as the Shane swung his charge blade and the archer tried to dodge away. The large gore, having predicted the attack, had already jumped up and glided across the clearing towards me. I dodged away and came up in time to see the man had hit the bomb, the explosion sending them flying off their feet and into the bushes.
I was notified they had to be brought back to camp. It was then that our archer quit the quest, deciding it too hard to continue.
'Good, that means he'll probably quit too.' I thought, once again double teaming the large gore with Scar.
With a final swing overhead, the gore shuddered and collapsed, dead. I painted, wiping the sweat from my brow and begun to claim my carve form the creature when I felt panic and pain from the depths of my stomach.
I collapsed to my knees, snapping my head around to see the charge blade user had returned and had set a shock trap beneath Scar. He was now unleashing a terrible amount of phials on him, the bright green explosions sending new pain through my senses.
"Stop!" I shouted hoarsely.
"We've slain one, we should go back to camp!"
"This one will be easy to finish off. We can do it!"
"Do you want to lose all the zenny we've earned? If we need to use base camp once more, we get nothing. The mission is done already. Leave him for a different day!"
"Stop chickening out and learn to take some risks! I'll set a pitfall now, we'll be able to slay him no problem!"
He fled from Scar, who had to stop and take a breath, staring wearily from Shane to me.
The man knelt to place his second trap, Scar getting ready to charge.
I was sprinting in an instant, but I was still so far away. Scar was running straight for the trap!
The moment his claw landed he tumbled down, the panicked feeling taking over my stomach again. Shane slashed at Scar, leading with his charge blade. But now I was close.
He wound up his sword, switching into his axe midair. It sparked with the power of his phials as he prepared for a super. And I tackled him right before his axe connected. The phials exploded around us, sending the both of us flying with its shockwave.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" He struggled from the ground, his charge blade empty now.
I staggered to my feet, no way of turning back now.
"You're not going to slay this Gore." I told him, dirt and dust falling from my clothes. I grabbed the hilt of my greatsword. "Not without going through me."
I felt a tingle along the scar on my stomach. I could hear that Scar had also gotten out of the trap.
"Have you hit your head a few too many times!? Why are you defending a monster!?"
I didn't have an answer for him. I didn't know the answer myself, but I could feel my strength welling up inside me.
"You're fucking nuts! Do you hear me? Get out of the way right now. I'll finish this quest myself."
Scar coiled his muscles, low and ready to pounce. I was between the two of them.
"He'll kill you, you know! He's about to attack you right now!"
"No." I replied, matter of fact, "He'll kill you."
I took a few steps back, the closer I got to Scar, the stronger and more assured I felt. It felt like my very instincts were telling me to save him.
"These things aren't pets you know. It will kill you."
I laughed at him.
"You have no idea what they are. Neither do I. But... maybe they're not as monstrous as we think they are."
His face transformed into disgust.
"I'll kill that Gore and I'll bring you back to your goddamn senses hunter!"
He begun to charge at us, but before he could reach, I felt myself grabbed from the waist. My feet were yanked from the ground as I was brought higher and higher into the sky. I saw the hunter begin to shrink in the clearing until he was nothing but a spec in the dirt. Then I was flying.
Nestled between his two back claws, I felt nothing but the warm skin of his paws, his claws circled around my ribs like a cage.
I watched, amazed at the Steppe revealed itself below. It was even better than flying in a hot air balloon. I felt free.
All too soon it ended, Scar descending to a small alcove in a discreet mountain among many.
Though he carried me gently, he let me go too early and I landed rather hard, my feet and legs stinging from the impact.
Exhausted he begun to drag himself into his cave, his furry wings dragging behind him like a cape.
I followed after him, seeing him collapse with a groan and curl up on a crude nest made of large branches and softened with some leaves pressed down continuously with his weight.
I unbuckled my weapon, taking my pack and preparing a few things. Drenching the meat again with my mega potions I took one myself and began to munch on some herbs. I brought the meat over to Scar, holding it up to his nose to smell.
He snatched them from my hand quickly, nearly taking a few of my fingers off. Tearing into it, he cracked the bones between his teeth sucking out the marrow.
As he ate I found a seat on a rock, sitting half facing the wyvern and half away, thinking about how I was going to get back to the village. I also had to think of what to do about that troublesome hunter that kept following me around... Shane.
'I have no idea where I am first of all. And second, what am I going to do when I go back to town? Maybe I can pass it off like I didn't want him to steal my kill? The archer wasn't there so it would be his word against mine. I could claim he was trying to slander my name as a hunter because he's jealous I was doing more damage during the fighting perhaps...'
I flinched, suddenly bathed in a cloud of frenzy virus. While preoccupied with my thoughts, Scar had skulked over to me. I could feel puffs of air as he sniffed at me, the frenzy cloud getting thicker. He growled. I could feel disquiet in my gut as the deep noise shook me to my core. I looked for my weapon, feeling foolish to have taken it off. Why had I left my sword? I panicked. Even though there was some kind of odd connection, it was no excuse to be in the presence of a dangerous monster without a weapon!
I stood, crouching to dodge away, but as if he could sense my intent, his jaws grabbed my body. Terror bloomed in my stomach as my body's reaction was to freeze. I willed myself to force his jaws open and remove myself, but I could feel the rows of his sharp pointed teeth on the verge of pressing through my skin.
"Scar, let me go. This isn't funny." I felt my heart beating a mile a minute as I looked down into his large throat, as if it were threatening me.
"After all this, I don't want to be eaten." I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling his spittle oozing over my arms and legs.
I looked desperately for my sword again, but it was still so far.
Spitting me into his nest, my body began to shake. Fear occupied my mind as anger filled my stomach. My scar throbbed and frenzy virus exploded around me.
Scar leaned in close again, sniffing me. He pressed his nose straight to me, dragging the thick, gooey wyvern saliva all over me.
I felt suddenly wrong and different. I didn't smell right. I didn't smell like him.
With another deep growl, his flared his wings, my vision completely flooded by the purple-black cloud. The only thing I could manage to see was Scar, and something that had grown to a large size on his lower half.
I was pushed onto my belly by his snout, and I immediately sprang to all fours, crawling in the direction of my sword. Today wouldn't be the day I die.
Black arms as big as wooden poles landed in front of me, caging my lower torso under his. I felt his tail circle around my foot, and something else press beneath my faulds.
I tried to pull my foot free, but his tail wrapped tighter and pulled back. I bug my fingers into the branches to stop, but in the end it only made a mess of my palms, blood and pain pulsing throughout. I flinched as his tail circled, uncomfortably tight around my ankle.
I could feel the chilled saliva begin to warm up and soak into the shorts I wore beneath my armour. Both my heat and the heat from the hard thing between my legs became hot when pressed together.
I felt Scar push forward, the long appendage pushing my faulds up, folding them backwards to rest on my back and stomach.
He pulled back, pressing harder against me as he slid forward. I shivered, feeling the ridges tease me through my shorts. It pressed the wetness against me, easily soaking through my underwear as well. I breathed heavily my stomach feeling warm.
Scar's body pressed down onto mine, pushing my chest against the ground, while his thrusting kept my hips pressed high. I glanced back between my legs seeing a dark rod rubbing against me, a purple, translucent liquid smeared along my shorts and thighs. I didn't know anymore if the wetness I felt on my lower half was saliva, Scar's or my own. I panted, the patient and rhythmic thrusting keeping the hot feeling my stomach and between my legs at a constant plateau.
I felt his feelers circle my face, lifting my chin up. I gasped, my mouth drawing in the clouds of frenzy virus. It was hot and tickled my throat as I felt it slither down to meet the pulsing in my stomach. I began to feel alert to the things around me. The branches of the nest, the rocks, my sword. I knew where they were without having to see them.
His feelers explored my face, stroking my cheeks, exploring my nose and slipping into my mouth. They stroked my tongue, taking the time to search all the nooks and crannies.
I could hear my own mewling, the plateau driving me crazy. I shifted my hips, pressing my thighs together. I felt moisture squeeze from my shorts and begin to drip down my legs. I felt a shock of pleasure that didn't seem entirely my own as the he rubbed even harder.
I thrust my hips back against his. Feeling the pleasure at last begin to build. I panted, sucking in the frenzy virus at an alarming rate. As it trickled down my throat and into my stomach it warmed, filling my belly with fire. My body was going to melt, but I couldn't stop myself. I rocked my hips on his erect member wanting it to slide inside of me instead of on my thighs. If I pulled down my shorts would he slide in? How would it feel to have that big, imposing weapon inside of me?
I moaned, arching my back. I could hear the wet sounds we made as I humped him shamelessly, like I was nothing more than an animal following its base instincts.
My crescendo of cries echoed in the empty cave. With a strangled gasp my body convulsed, tightening my thighs around the thick, black cock. I collapsed to the ground, my body helpless as it shivered in orgasm.
A fierce growl sounded behind me. I flipped myself over, met with a thick wash of purple-tinged cum.
My body jerked, a secondary orgasm hitting me. I had never felt one like this before. My hips bucked as my muscles tightened and squeezed as I continued to be glazed in his cock juice. I cried out, unable to control myself, my mouth opening up. His semen began to wash inside but I found I didn't care. I wanted to be covered in it, to have it inside me, to fill me up completely.
Even as the gore finished and curled up, satisfied, the compulsion pulled through my limbs. I let myself fall into the puddle of his pleasure, rolling in it, like a pig in mud. I cupped my hands, drawing it around and over me, drowning myself in it. In the back of my head I knew this wasn't normal, but I couldn't stop myself until I had finished smearing it over myself completely.
I sat, exhausted, my clothes soaked through, the mixture beginning to take on a foul odour.
I hazarded a glance at Scar. Though he was in a sleeping pose, his feelers were still alert. I saw the corners of his mouth turned upwards, like he was pleased with himself.
A sudden pit of dread came over me, but even that was pushed away, overwhelmed by... something.
I sat still, waiting until Scar had fallen asleep before removing myself from the soiled section of his nest. I shivered, for a different reason this time, as a weight came off my mind and the cool air caressed my sticky skin. I descended from Scar's perch, my footing more and more precarious as the sun slipped away, leaving me in twilight.
I made good time, but the village was still far away. I would have to make camp for the night.
I made a makeshift shelter, and used my spit to cook my remaining raw meat. Eating them, I covered myself with what warmth I had or I could find and settled into my bed after cleaning what I could off of my clothes and my person.
I lay awake for a long time, thinking. My head finally felt clear. I knew what happened in the cave wasn't right. Nothing about it was right, but why had I acted like that? As I drifted off, my mind was still troubled and I slept fitfully.
—
"Hunter - present your hands. You are under arrest."
"Arrest? What the hell for?"
"Conspiring with monsters, threat of another hunter, harm to another hunter, protecting a contracted monster. For these you will stand trial before the council on the first of the 8th day cycle at noon."
"Are you kidding me?" I felt my breath catch in my throat.
"Please surrender your weapon."
One of the two guards approached me. I stepped away instinctively. He frowned, him and his partner's hands coming to their weapons.
"I ask that you come peacefully." He said through gritted teeth and a guarded glare.
We stood at stalemate as I thought what would be for the best. Could I run and live on my own? Travel to a far off land and find a new village there? Or should I stand trial in the hopes I'd be proven innocent. That bastard had squealed, but I never hurt him, I'd never even threatened him. I wondered if I could pass it off as if I was trying to protect him.
"Look, the monster lover has decided to come back." That bastard Shane from earlier stepped out from the blacksmith's sporting a new set of Gore Magala armour.
"You! What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull?!" I snapped, still conscious of the guards as they begin to take small steps closer to me.
"A hunter like you has no place here. You don't even deserve to be called a hunter, protecting a gore like that. Cuff the crazy one already guards, before she sacrifices you to her little wyvern friends."
"I was trying to prevent you from being killed dumbass!" I yelled loudly for everyone gathering to hear.
I would reclaim my place in town and make this fool look like the idiot he was.
"I was trying to save your life and you left me for dead! Put me on trial if you like." Unstrapping my greatsword I turned it around, handle towards the guards.
"Please take care of it. I'll be needing it for more monsters as soon as my innocence is proven." The crowd around me began to murmur, looks of disapproval directed towards Shane.
After the guards took my sword I surrendered my hands to be bound. They came forward, relieved they wouldn't have to fight a hunter and tied a rope around my hands quickly.
As I walked away I felt a tingle in my stomach. I closed my eyes at the sudden vertigo, feeling a bloodlust leak through my limbs.
"Quickly. Let's hurry up and get this over with." I mumbled, trying to push the sudden emotions away. I staggered against a guard, my hands balled into fists.
"Are... you okay?" One of them asked.
"I... feel dizzy." I said, my head feeling hazy again. Blood. I just wanted to taste... blood.
I felt a stone hit the back of my head.
"Monster fucker."
All the rage coiled in my belly lashed out like a cobra. I felt like an insignificant life form was about to die at my hands. And it felt good.
I twisted elegantly out from between the two guards, grabbing the short sword from one of their hips. I ran at the charge blade user, his cocky grin transforming into panic as I sprinted at him.
"Someone stop her!" He yelled, fumbling for his own weapon. He wouldn't have time though, not with a weapon that big.
"You're a fighter aren't you? Why don't you do it?" A cool mocking tone twisted my words in ways I had never heard before. "A flimsy piece of shit hunter like you deserves to have his insides ripped out and eaten in front of him!" I snarled, feeling my mouth salivate. It felt like there was blood in my mouth and it tasted delicious. I felt the slaver drip down my face as I swung the short sword swiftly at him. He dodged the first, but the second glanced his shoulder. I saw blood and grinned madly. Twisting the short sword, next I would pierce his heart.
An explosion of yellow surrounded us and we collapsed to the ground. My body wouldn't do what I wanted it to, the sword laying useless at my side. On the ground I saw a bow gun user, a paralysis bomb no doubt the culprit.
"I'll fucking kill you!" As the crowd of worried villagers and hunters alike gathered the guards begun to drag me up and away.
"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
In the back of my mind, I knew this wasn't going to help with the trial.
My stomach blazed.
