Tooth and Claw, Part 25


You look right into Fallhazel's eyes. Her breath is coming quicker in the wake of the ferocious combat. She can see the Lust in your eyes. And she looks back at you unafraid, freely allowing you to see her own desire.

You walk right up to her, placing your hand on her hip. Then you run it up the side of her gloriously naked body, to which she offers no resistance at all. But then you pull you hand away, looking at the blackened, oily blood that now smears your palm after stroking her body.

"We should both probably get washed off before we go any farther," you remark wryly. "I don't even want to think about what manner of pollution Melca might have laced into their fluids."

Fallhazel considers your words. Then she nods. "My magic should be more than enough to cleanse any ill effects from such minions," she says. "Still, I suppose there is wisdom in not taking undue risk. And... I do not desire any trace of her with me, while we do this thing. Come. I know of a place."

She shapeshifts into a majestic eagle and takes to the air. With a flap of your own wings you follow her, leaving your summoned tentacle monsters behind with orders to watch the bodies of the Thorn Beasts. The two of you shoot up through the canopy, soaring high into the darkening sky together. Then you loop back around into a dive, racing just above the treetops, even as dusk turns to night around you. The forest blurs past beneath as you skim over it, with the occasional taller tree forcing you and Fallhazel to weave around it.

It isn't long before the sun sets completely, leaving the endless sea of treetops illuminated only by the moon. The druid takes the lead, guiding you unerringly despite the lack of obvious landmarks. You fly in comfortable silence, until Fallhazel dives below the canopy again. You follow behind her... and immediately see what she had in mind.

The first thing that strikes you is the beauty of the place. It is a secluded pool, fed by a gentle stream that tumbles over a small rise, forming a tiny waterfall that is barely twice your height. The water is clean and pure, and in the moonlight the entire place takes on a ghostly, ethereal quality.

You don't say anything. It feels as though even a single word would be out of place. As though even a single word could break some fragile enchantment that imbues the pool with its sense of wonder. Fallhazel shifts back in her dryad form as she lands. Tall. Muscular. Primal. Her golden eyes fix on you, giving you a long look that makes it obvious that she knows what is about to happen. And that she does not have even the slightest compunction about it.

Then she turns and walks into the pool, moving with a confident, swaying saunter that emphasizes her delectable ass. You strip out of your clothes and follow behind her. The two of you slip into the waters, which only come up to just below your knees. The druid continues to walk until she's standing under the small waterfall, letting it pour over her, flattening her long, mossy hair tight against her body. She cranes her head back, closing her eyes as the cold stream washes over her face, trickling down her every perfect curve.

You approach her from behind, joining her beneath the downpour. You can feel the embrace of Nature washing away the sweat and ichor, leaving you clean and purified. Reaching around her, you knead both your hands into Fallhazel's large breasts, drawing a soft moan from her. You press your body tight against her, letting her feel your erect cock rub between those asscheeks, giving her a foretaste of what's to come. Just how deeply she's about to be filled.

But not just yet.

At first, you keep up the pretense of washing each other. You let your hands run up and down her body, your strong fingers exploring every inch of her as you rub and caress. Eventually she turns in your arms, wordlessly returning the favor, feeling you up as well. Once that happens, it isn't long before the two of you are kissing passionately. Your bodies press together as the spray falls over you, the burning heat of each other's bodies making the chill of the water barely even noticeable.

You kiss and embrace and feel each other up, lost in the timeless moment that this secluded, otherworldly place inhabits. Even you aren't sure how much time passes, choosing to immerse yourself in the feeling of her skin against yours. Your length is now rubbing up and down between her legs as you kiss, pressed between the two of you, so close to the full union that you both know is coming.

But even still you drag it out, letting the desire build toward its crescendo as you each drink in the intoxicating sensations.

In the end, it's Fallhazel who can no longer withstand the wait. You can feel the desperation mounting as she shoves you down to your knees, lining your tongue up with her soaking snatch. You go along with it, biding your time, extending out your demonic tongue and giving her a long, tortuously-pleasurable lick.

Fallhazel shudders, her body clenching around you at just that simple, brief contact. One of her hands grabs onto your horn, while the other digs tight into your black hair, and she hangs on for dear life, grinding you deeper. You oblige, picking up the pace of your assault, using all your skills as you service her most sensitive place.

Soon she's crying out, her erotic noises audible even over the water falling about you. Her legs are trembling, and she has to fight to keep her balance. But she only presses you tighter, even as your attentions wreck her composure, keeping her right on the edge. She's actively bucking against you now, lost in the carnal Pleasure that you are teaching her body.

On and on you stretch out the wonderful torment. Until finally, you allow her over the edge. She screams out her release to the skies, arching her back. Her convulsing muscles grind your face even tighter between her legs, until she finally crests the peak of her orgasm and her limp body slumps backward into the water, gasping for breath.

Then, before she can gather her wits, you go on the offensive.

You crawl forward, climbing up over her half-submerged body as it sits there, trembling. She's still recovering from the first experience when she feels your cock press against her entrance. Her eyes widen as she realizes the sheer heights of ecstasy you're about to give her, even as she's still reeling from the previous orgasm.

She refuses to allow herself any hesitation, however. Instead, she smirks up at you with a look of deliberate challenge. You don't back down, thrusting deep into her. Nor do you stop there. The movement of your hips pounds furiously into her, as her hot channel clamps down hard. You fuck her with savage intensity, and she responds in equal measure, both of your bodies moving in rhythm with the ancient, carnal dance.

Fallhazel wraps her legs around you, pulling you even deeper as you rut her with animalistic fervor. In that moment you lose track of everything else except her strong, yielding body as she takes your cock, panting and moaning with the raw need you've inflamed in her.

Not that she lets you have it all your way, of course. It isn't long before the grip of her legs around you tightens... and with a splash she flips you over, pushing you down so she can straddle and ride you. She impales herself on your cock, slamming herself down over and over again, crying out with ever-increasing passion as she loses control, as her movements become more and more frantic.

You let her continue on top like that for a while... before flipping her over again and retaking the initiative yourself, fucking her even harder. The two of you switch off position after position, your bodies straining to give each other more and more pleasure. The pace of the sex increases until it reaches fever pitch, your two bodies becoming one in that outpouring of unbridled passion.

By the end Fallhazel is sitting in your lap, her arms wrapped tight around you, bouncing up and down with everything she has, utterly lost in the moment. Her fingernails dig into your back as she fight instinctively for better purchase, trying to drive your member as deep as she possibly can. It's rough. It's wild. It's joyous. And you do everything in your power to reciprocate.

Eventually, though, you can tell that Fallhazel is nearing the end of her rope. And so, after gauging the absolute best moment... you slam her down with particular force and ejaculate inside her.

This sets off an orgasm so overwhelming that for a moment you fear that she'll crush you with how tight she clenches. The only reason that she doesn't scream is that she has no more breath left... but operating on pure, blind instinct she bites down onto your neck as she shudders around you, her teeth leaving a hickey for a moment until your regeneration wipes it away.

For a while you just sit there in the waters of the pool, gently stroking her back as she weathers wave after wave of aftershocks from her supernaturally-powerful orgasm. Her muscular body is still convulsing, still wrapped tight around you, refusing to let go.

It's quite some time before she's coherent enough to pull back a little, looking you in the eye as she catches her breath. She opens her mouth... but uncharacteristically, she's at a loss for words. How does one respond to an experience like that?

You just grin at her. "I think this counts as finding common ground, no?" you say. "The act of creating life. What could be more necessary for Nature to flourish?"

Fallhazel laughs. It's a small, short laugh. One you can feel against your chest, as she continues to embrace you, leaning on you for support. "Then what will you do now, my demon?" the druid asks, her face inches from yours, her voice sultry. "How will you strike next, now that you have my full support in your endeavors?"

You ponder her question for a moment. "First, we'll need to get back to Juri," you say. "And also... I wish to show my deep gratitude to the Old Mothers for their assistance."

For the first time in all of this, that remark causes the druid to hesitate, if only for a moment. If there's one thing that could still give her pause, it's worry over what the dryads who raised her might think of her decision, and trying to explain it to them.

Luckily, you have a simple plan. One that should quickly get past any such worry or awkwardness.

Once Fallhazel has recovered enough to move, you exit the pool. Then you recover your clothes from the edge of he water... though you make sure to "accidentally" knock your shoes in. Cursing quietly, you carry the sodden footwear back in your hands, leaving your feet bare.

After you get dressed otherwise, the two of you fly back the way you came. You stop by the site of the battle, taking a moment to collect your summons. Fallhazel also takes the opportunity to burn the bodies of the Thorn Beasts, summoning up a flame with her magic. Not an unnatural green flame of poison and destruction, like the old Witch Queen used against the forest. No, this is a flame of purification and renewal. The flame of a forest fire that clears away the old growth to make way for the new.

You do convince her to let you keep one of the bodies, however, and to use her magic to prevent it from decaying. Ordinarily, you wouldn't have been able to do anything with it. But with these more intelligent tentacle monsters you managed to summon, you may be able to have one of them carry the corpse back to Kovora, where it could be studied to search for weaknesses in the creatures.

After all, while this may be the limit of what her mortal servants could support... you're hoping to eventually face the goddess herself. If she does actually incarnate, then along with all the other dangers she poses, you could very likely end up facing an immense horde of her Divine Beasts. One that makes this group you killed here look tiny.

Hopefully, your own army will be strong enough by that point to take on whatever she throws at you.

With that taken care of, you continue on to the Heart of the Forest. It's still night when you return to the mystical glade that serves as both the origin and the spiritual center of the entire area. You see that Juri has curled up to sleep just inside the tree ring, close to where one of the elderly dryads sits, practically ensconced in her own trunk.

This time, the ancient tree spirits are awake, and turn as one to look at you. "Fallhazel..." one of them says, looking relieved. "Is it done, child? Have you dealt with the incursion of Melca's beasts?"

"I have," answers Fallhazel, shuffling in place a little. Standing before her mother figures, she actually seems uncertain of her new course. Or at least uncertain of whether she can bring herself to tell them or not. "This... demon was useful in the fight as well. The beasts were very powerful. I might have taken some slight injury, had it not been for his help. I... I think he could be a worthy ally to the Forest."

"Oho..." says another one of the Old Mothers, while all of them give you amused looks. "Is that so?"

"It is only fair," you say. "You've given us so much aid already. You helped us understand why Melca is so determined to harm Juri. We'd still be in the dark if not for you. But now..." You pause, looking over to where the child sleeps for a moment. "Now we can take more effective measures to keep her safe."

Then you step forward to the center of the ring of trees. Standing—in your bare feet—at the place where their roots converge and fuse most tightly. And as you speak, you start to exude your supernatural aphrodisiac from your skin, letting it seep into the dryads' trees through that pathway. Subtly at first. Just enough to stoke their long-dormant desires, as you weave your expert temptation around them.

"So as a sign of our goodwill and our desire for an alliance... I wish to offer you a gift," you say. "I can empower you. I can help the Great Forest stand stronger together against threats like the ones we so recently faced. I can restore to you the vitality of your youth, and grant you new abilities as well. I can help you ensure that no one—not Thorn Beasts, nor agents of Melca, nor greedy loggers from Nelin—will be able to harm the Great Forest with the impunity they have displayed so many times in the past."

The dryads are watching you intently now, and you can detect a faint flush in their faces. "Imagine it..." you urge them, using all your charisma to paint a tantalizing picture in their mind's eye. "Imagine yourselves, once more be able to race upon the hills and dart between the trees unhindered! Once more able to help Fallhazel once again, as she so tirelessly protects the Forest against those that would do it harm! Once more able to feel that freedom... that Pleasure... as you dance beneath the moonlight."

You increase the flow of aphrodisiac, causing them to squirm a bit with desire as you erode their inhibitions even more. "So to our allies, I offer a blessing by the power of the Second Circle," you say. You hold out your hand, letting the glow of the Corruptive Boon radiate from your palm. "A blessing of life. A blessing of youth. A blessing of Lust. A blessing of fecundity."

You can see the desire in their eyes, as you steadily wear down any doubts they might have. And really, it's not as though they could fight or flee, even if they wanted to. This is just a matter of time. Waiting until they allow themselves to admit to what they feel in their innermost souls. Until they admit to the Desire you want so badly to share with them.

But even so... despite everything brought to bear on them... they all turn first to Fallhazel.

"Do you trust him, child?" asks one of them.

"Will this be the best for the Forest?" asks a second.

"And is this the path you wish to follow?" asks a third.

Fallhazel licks her lips, looking like someone standing on the edge of a precipice. Then... she nods once. And the die is cast. "I... I believe that this is the path for us," she says. "I believe... no, I know that this is the way forward. Please, mothers. Trust him."

She can't fully explain everything. Not yet. She can't risk telling them what she learned about her true nature, nor can she put into words what sex with you felt like. But in the end, it doesn't matter. More than anything else, getting Fallhazel so firmly onto your side made this temptation practically a foregone conclusion.

And with the druid's plea, the last remnant of resistance that was holding out against your allure crumbles.

The frail Old Mothers look you right in the eye, before speaking in unison. "Very well..." they all say. "Then we shall trust our child. We accept. Show us this new path that we will walk together."

And with that, your Corruptive Boon takes hold.

Demonic energy erupts from your palm, reaching out to engulf each of the dryads. From there, it flows through them into the trees that they're enmeshed with. Their heads snap back, their eyes going wide, as the power rages back and forth across the glade, infusing their forms and altering them. Nor is it merely their humanoid forms that are changed. The trees themselves—which had been equally gnarled and hunched—now start to straighten out with loud creaking noises. The marks of age fall away, as before your very eyes their trunks reach skyward once again. Soon they are standing tall and proud, the very picture of health.

What happens to their humanoid forms, however, is even more dramatic. Their wizened, hunched forms also stand up, freeing themselves from where they had been sitting and resting for who knew how long.

You allow the dryads a great deal of control over the age to which the Corruptive Boon returns them. And the results are surprisingly varied. Everything from a mature, matronly figure to a willowy slip of a girl that would seem only in her later teens if she were a human. And everything in between. They all feel their vitality return to them... and they feel the Lust wash over them. Stronger now than it ever was at any point in their previous lives.

They slump back against their trees, eyes unfocused from the rush of sensations that they have not experienced in so long. And you decide to strike while the iron is hot. Discarding your clothes and walking up to the youngest-looking one, you hook your fingers under her pert little ass, and hoist her lightweight body up into the air to pin her against her own tree. She looks up at you from within your grasp, her eyes wide with awe and wonder, offering no trace of resistance as she sinuously wraps her slight body around you.

And then you thrust into her.

As soon as you do, she comes completely undone. And not just her. All of the Old Mothers orgasm together in unison, as your cock fills this one's oh-so-tight snatch. Many voices, united in a single scream of ecstasy that echoes out through the dense forest.

You'd noticed hints before... but seeing this proves it beyond any doubt. The way their trees have grown together over so many countless centuries... it has formed a spiritual connection between them as well. All these dryads can feel what any of them feels.

The one in your arms looks shakily up at you as she tries to pull herself together. She knows exactly how helpless she is. And she does not care one bit. You can feel her heartbeat fluttering rapidly against your chest. You can feel the hot channel of her inner walls squeezing down hard. She does her very best to accommodate your girth... but in the end she knows that you are in control. And that you will determine how this goes for her.

You give her a few more moments to try to regain some semblance of her composure. Then you start to fuck her in earnest. Behind you, you can hear the other dryads crying out, thrashing and convulsing with each thrust you make. Soon they're grabbing each other, pulling each other into frantic embraces to increase the sensation even more, as you fuck all of them at once. Glancing back over your shoulder, you see that three of them have even latched onto Fallhazel, pulling her down to join them, all their bodies rubbing together as they abandon all rationality in the heat of that beautiful moment.

How long has it been since they tasted any degree of sexual pleasure? It horrifies you to even consider it. But at the very least, they seem intent on making up for lost time. And the demonic power of your Boon allows them to do so beyond any normal limits. You fuck the dryad you're holding with furious intensity, and her tight body seems to be coming with practically every thrust. Which is in turn passed on to all the others. Soon her eyes are rolling back in her head, as she clings to you for dear life, wordlessly begging for more.

You oblige, increasing the tempo even faster. Then, right at the very height of passion, you release into her, filling her womb with your demonic seed. Your dryad shrieks—a shriek echoed by all the others—and every one of them arches their backs with ecstasy in the middle of their own orgies, every muscle going taut.

Then they all slump bonelessly to the ground, consciousness abandoning them.

Pulling the smallest dryad off your cock, you drop her limp body onto one of the piles of the other sleeping dryads. The only response is a few soft moans, and a slight—unconscious—shifting to better mold themselves against the new arrival. You draw in a deep, satisfied breath, closing your eyes and allowing yourself to soak in the Lust that now utterly permeates the air. Then you turn back to Fallhazel, intending to check on how she is taking this.

But before you can do so... you feel a now-familiar sense of wrongness swell up in your soul.

Immediately you hurl yourself away from the glade, in an attempt to put as much distance as possible between you and the insensate dryads. Fortunately—perhaps as a result of what the succubi did to hurt the Incubus King—you're able to contain the surge of power for longer than usual, allowing you to get even further away as you run for all that you're worth.

Even so, you cannot resist it entirely. But you do manage to get away from the glade and into the deeper woods. Then, once again, an immense vortex of demonic power rages to life about you, howling up into the sky to pierce the clouds above, tearing at the nearby trees and reducing the closest of them to splinters while carving a huge crater into the ground even as it lights up the entire sky.

You sink to your knees, gasping for breath as you hold up your right hand to look at it, already knowing what you will see there. A new rune, now alight with crimson energy.

ᚡ ᛤ ᚡ ᛥ

Clenching your fist, you slump back into a sitting position, staring up at the sky, the stars now visible through the hole you've torn in both the canopy and the cloud cover.

Even if Lady Alicia hadn't figured out exactly where you were... she doubtless knows now.