Tooth and Claw, Part 19


"I cannot hand Juri over," you repeat, refusing to back down, even in the face of the ancient druid's pressure. "But... if you really need her to go to the Heart of the Forest... I would be willing to take her there myself. Alongside you."

The druid frowns, not happy with your insolence. But before she can object, you keep talking. "It gives you everything you want, Fallhazel. It gives you everything you've been trying to get all this time. You know I'm telling the truth. Don't throw this chance away, just because I need to make sure she's safe."

Then you give her a grin. "Besides, this way you can keep an eye on me. Who knows what I could get up to if you weren't watching? And you did say that you could put me in my place any time you wanted. So clearly, you have nothing to fear from me coming along..."

The druid's lip twists, and she regards you for a few more seconds. Her glare is fierce. But she is also tempted by the chance to keep you close, even if she's trying to hide that fact. She hesitates, fighting her internal struggle. But when you show no sign whatsoever of backing down, she eventually gives you a curt nod. "Very well. Then let us return. There is no time to waste."

She turns, shifting into an immense gryphon and taking to the sky with a single beat of her huge wings. You run after her, reaching the treeline just in time to see the druid land right in the center of the clear-cut area, right between all three camps. Only then does she resume her more humanoid form.

The dryads and their attendant animals soon emerge from the trees, approaching deferentially. The loggers are more wary, but they approach respectfully as well. Lord Edrach, by contrast, keeps up his attempt at bluster while he and his men go to meet with the new arrival.

"Are you this 'Witch of the Wood', then?" he demands. "Your minions have been making the most outrageous accusations! When the Empress hears about how I have been detained in my—"

But Fallhazel just cuts him off. She turns toward her dryads, affording the man about as much attention as one might give a maggot. "Leave this place," she tells Elysandria. "Fell monsters have entered the forest, and they will soon pass through this area. The beasts are tracking one person in particular... but their bloodlust could distract them from their course if they notice you. You must all retreat out of sight of these camps."

"And now you presume to give me orders?" says Edrach, still trying to get her to pay attention to him. "Do you really expect me to simply jump to your command, out of fear of some beasts?"

At this, Fallhazel finally does turn, giving him an uninterested look. "I expect nothing at all of you," she tells him bluntly. "If you do choose to stay, your deaths would be a simpler solution to the issue you have created than anything I expect your Empress might concoct. But we are 'allies' for the moment. And I understand that this much consideration is expected."

With that, the druid pays him no more heed, leaving him to splutter as he attempts to find a retort. Elysandria, on the other hand, accepts the warning immediately. "Of course, Fallhazel," she says, reverence in her voice. "We will depart immediately. But... what about these trespassers who cut into our forest? What if they take advantage of this to try to escape?"

"Beggin' your pardon, miss dryad, ma'am..." one of the loggers speaks up from behind Ragath, his tone apologetic. "But... we ain't gonna run anywhere. We got nowhere to go. Me an' some of the boys have been... uh... talking to the two dryad ladies we have in our camp. The way things are looking... the only way any of us get out of this is alive by throwing in with you. Helping you expose his lordship's plans, any way we can. And whatever punishment you think we deserve after it's all over... well... it's gotta be better than what he had in mind for us."

There's a chorus of assent from the other loggers. Ragath looks back at his men, shocked by their willingness to simply and unconditionally surrender to the forest like this.

Of course, given how your corruption of his camp played out, Ragath is probably one of the few remaining men in his camp who hasn't been sexually dominated by their "prisoners" yet. He can't understand why his men would be so willing to submit to the dryads' punishment. But if he knew the kind of "punishment" they've already been enjoying at the hands of Rhysadaria and her friend... it might make a bit more sense to him.

Thanks to your generous gifts, the Forest has more or less won the day already. At least as far as the loggers are concerned.

Even if he doesn't have the full picture, you can see suspicion creep into Ragath's expression. He can sense that something is off. Still, it's not as if his men are wrong. They really don't have much other choice. And Ragath is smart enough to see that. Even if he isn't as straight-up eager to surrender as the men that the dryads have been fucking into submission.

Her message conveyed, Fallhazel wastes little time on further pleasantries, abruptly returning to the air in gryphon form. You jog back toward your own tent, and see Verika and Juri come to meet you. You quickly explain the danger to them. You also explain to Juri how you're going to take her somewhere safe. Somewhere the monsters won't be able to hurt her. Somewhere she might be able to find some answers about the strange power that she has kept safe all this time.

The young orc girl swallows. "I'll try..." she says bravely, in a small voice. "But... you remember what happened last time I tried to show someone, right? With the dryads, I mean. How it started to work, then suddenly... stopped?"

She hesitates, then leans in close to you, confiding a secret barely above a whisper. "I... haven't been able to do it at all since then. I don't understand why! I recite everything exactly like I always did! It just... doesn't work. It doesn't respond anymore. Like I can't... touch what I was touching before."

"Don't worry about it," you say reassuringly. "When we get there, you can just show us as much as you can. Let us worry about figuring out the rest. And either way, the most important thing right now is to get you someplace safe."

It's then that Verika speaks up. "Tal..." she says, worried. "If these monsters really are following the trail we took to get here... then it'll take them right past my village. Most of them should be safe inside the barrier, but... if anyone is out hunting..."

You nod. "Good thinking. I'll send them a quick message, so they have a warning too."

Sitting down into a meditative position, you hurriedly enter the Dreamwalking state. There's no time to wait for any of the elves in the village to fall asleep... but you do have your new Synergy that can summon a willing participant to the dream. Of the elves who are likely to listen, you briefly consider Relis or Syvel. But you ultimately decide to follow up on your theological discussion with the village priestess.

You adjust your dreamscape to match the streets of her village, then send out your call. There's no reply for the first few moments... but then she accepts your summons, appearing in your dream wearing the full robes of one of Havti's clerics. She flushes under your gaze.

"Hello, sir demon..." she says. Interestingly, her tone is noticeably more submissive than it was when you departed her village. "I... I was not expecting to speak to you again so soon. And through such a method!"

You smile, placing a hand on her arm, which causes her to tremble almost imperceptibly. Then—continuing your previous tactics of temptation with this woman—you once again inject soulful concern into your tone.

"Something urgent has come up," you say. "Extraordinarily dangerous monsters will soon be passing close to you. I just wanted to make sure that you didn't have anyone outside the village barrier that might encounter them unawares."

The priestess's eyes widen. Then she shows you a small, relieved smile at your display of kindness. "Relis was right," she said. "You are a caring person."

Then she bows her head in thought. "There... aren't any hunting parties going out today," she says. "But I think some of the rangers were going to do a patrol later this afternoon. I'll warn everyone to stay within the village until we're sure the threat is over."

"Fallhazel said they would be at my current location by nightfall, so they should have long since left your vicinity by then," you say. Then, after a pause, you grin at her. "So... You've been talking to Relis about me, have you?"

The holy woman blushes, fidgeting in place. "You told me I should listen to what she had to say..." she protests, not meeting your eyes. "I just... wanted to learn more about you. I wanted to know the truth."

Of course, knowing Relis—and knowing how tempted this priestess already was when you left her—you can guess what sorts of scandalous things would have happened between the two women while they were "talking". It handily explains why the priestess is even more swayed now than she was when last you saw her. Your corrupted elves have been busy indeed, eagerly spreading the bliss that they've discovered to their friends.

"And what truths have you been learning, hmmm?" you ask, taking a step closer. The priestess opens her mouth to reply... but she can't find any words. She keeps trying to look away. But you take her gently but firmly by the chin, pulling her trembling gaze back to look at you.

"Please, holy mother..." you whisper into her ear, in a quiet, amused voice that is nevertheless roiling with passion and carnal desire. "Show Havti's compassion to this lost sinner. Teach me of the goddess's love."

Then you kiss her. A searing kiss that makes her legs buckle beneath her, as she moans into you. You pin her against the nearest building to support her weight, even as she grips onto your horns to try and pull you closer as the kiss intensifies even more. Soon you slide a hand into the neckline of her vestments, groping her breast and kneading it. She does not resist.

Eventually, you rip the cleric vestments away from her, hoisting her up as she wraps her legs around you. Still pinning her against the wall, you impale her on your cock. She wails in rapturous delight, throwing her head back as you lick up her neck, her body shuddering with each thrust as she falls deeper into temptation. Your souls cling to each other in the dream, as you rail her with greater and greater ferocity... until finally you allow yourself to release inside her.

An inhuman torrent of your seed fills her, and she orgasms violently, her eyes rolling back in her head. You let her finish cumming, then gently lower her to the ground. She's still largely insensate, her legs splayed wide, with semen leaking from between them, naked except for the sacred headpiece of her priestess vestments, which now sits violently askew on her.

You'd have liked to have done more with her. And you do regret that it was so simple and rushed. But you just don't have time to really drag this out the way you would have preferred to. Still, you were at least able to accept the surrender that she had clearly been aching to finally offer you, helping along the corruption of her village just that much more. At this point? It should be ripe for the plucking.

Shaking the priestess's shoulder, you pull her back from her temporary stupor. "Remember," you say, as her eyes focus on you. "Make sure no one leaves the village until tomorrow."

She nods, and you dispel the dream. As you look up in the material world, you see Fallhazel, Juri and Verika all standing around you. "Are you ready to depart?" Fallhazel asks, upon seeing your eyes open.

"Yes, I'm ready," you say. "My horse is already loaded with everything Juri and I should need."

Fallhazel glances over at the remaining horse that survived the initial attack from Melca's assassins. Her lip twists. "It will slow us down..." she says, after evaluating the mount's quality for a moment.

As horses go, you would have said it was quite a good one, but compared to the incredible caliber of beasts that Fallhazel can become, you suppose a purely mundane steed would have difficulty measuring up. The question is, do you stick with your horse or suggest something else?

Using the slower horse might result in a delay before you arrive at the Heart of the Forest and the answers it contains. That could have affects on how the events play out with your various pursuers. It might also stretch things out to the point where you could fit in another Dreamwalking excursion with Fallhazel before that point. Either to tempt her, or to dig into the secrets that may be prompting her behavior toward Juri.

Alternatively, you could try to talk Fallhazel into letting you and Juri ride her. This would get you to the Heart of the Forest with the best possible speed. And—if you chose to—it might allow you to tempt her even more on the journey if you used your aphrodisiac on the ride. Or you could forgo the more overt attempts, and focus on some other point of conversation or trust-building.