A Monster Life Ch. 100-102

***

They were close to the boarded up entrance in the main mine tunnel when Syminar halted and held her torch back against the wall to lessen its light. 'I hear voices.' she whispered.

Kilmin listened and caught the faint sounds in the distant dark. 'Can you find the way in the dark?'

Syminar understood what he had in mind, wedged the torch into a crack in the ground for later retrieval if needed, took his hand, and led him carefully through the pitch black dark.

Flickering light up ahead in the tunnel and louder voices had them stop and listen to what was happening. 'I'm quite sure there's a way out there.' said a dwarf. 'That also explains how those minotaurs surprised us.'

'Fresh tracks on the ground.' said another dwarf. 'They came through here for sure.'

'Any returning?' asked a third dwarf.

'Doesn't look like it.'

'Good. We'll follow this way until the exit, then collapse the ceiling where we can to prevent them from using it again.'

Creaking and cracks from wood told Syminar and Kilmin the dwarves went through the boarded up entrance, and they returned to the place where they left the torch. It was there that Syminar dared to speak up again. 'This is bad. We're trapped in here with those dwarves.'

Kilmin sat down and leaned against the wall. 'We'll have to look at the options we have. You know the layout of the whole mine?'

Syminar sat down opposite of him. 'Pretty much. I haven't been much in the old sections, but I think I still remember those well.'

'Good. That's one advantage we have. There are no other ways in or out, correct?'

She nodded.

'That would mean the dwarves would have to create one. I doubt they planned to stay trapped in the mine for a long time.'

'True.'

'Attacking them ourselves isn't an option when we have no escape route, so I'm thinking we stay out of sight until they make their way outside, and then see if we can escape that way.'

'We'll need food and water to survive.'

'They probably have plenty of supplies to pull this thing off. With a little luck, we can steal what we need without them noticing.'

Syminar stretched her legs and chuckled once. 'I hope so, otherwise they'll discover us by the sound of our growling stomachs.'

***

Silent and dark as a shadow, the figure slipped through the small streets of the Mawan capital in the night, hiding from the Tosk patrols enforcing the curfew, until it arrived in an alley at a cellar door, and knocked softly on it. The door opened and closed quickly to let the visitor in, and once inside, Valla pulled back her hood and let out a sigh to release her tension. 'They arrested the barrel maker for hiding weapons.'

Her two friends sitting at a table glanced at each other while she sat down. 'We're running low on people who can create arms.' said Feln while she rotated her cup between her fingers. 'The only smith left is under constant observation.'

'We don't know what the situation is outside of the city.' said Cwaln, the big, black feline who kept his eyes on the door in case Tosk soldiers would try to enter. 'There could still be enough people arming themselves.'

Valla poured herself a cup of water and took a sip. 'Whatever the case may be, we need to organise before we can make a move against the Tosk. We need to know what capabilities and fighting force we can muster, and we need someone capable to lead the effort to take back our country.'

Feln leaned closer. 'Ailt might have something. She said she'd bring someone who could help us.'

Valla looked in wonder at her. 'Who?'

Feln shrugged. 'I don't know.'

Cwaln reacted before the soft knocking came from the door. He'd seen the shadow disturbing the light coming through the crack at the side of the door. It was wide enough for him to take a peek outside and see the one outside wore no sword at their side. He opened the door to Ailt. She gestured at the hooded person behind her. 'I brought a guest.'

Cwaln beckoned them both inside and closed the door after a quick peek outside. The guest pulled back his hood, and Valla recognised the grey furred male. 'You're one of the king's advisors.'

Flinn gave her a nod. 'Indeed, miss Valla. My name is Flinn.'

Ailt offered him a seat at the table, and Feln poured them a drink. 'What's happening at the castle?'

Flinn looked gravely at his cup. 'Everyone is either dead or imprisoned, apart from the lower staff. I only escaped capture so far because I was already on my way to exit the city, but couldn't because Tosk troops had already closed off the roads at the minor gate at the back. Friends hid me when they searched all the houses.' His fingers trembled lightly at the memory of hiding in a space under the floor while soldiers walked right above him. 'The king asked me to contact those who remain of the royal family, although there's only one person directly in line to the throne and I need to find him first.'

'Who would that be?' asked Ailt. 'I thought everyone of the royal family died?'

Flinn shook his head. 'Caylais hasn't been found yet.'

The others stared at one another, realising they had nearly forgotten about the youngest son. 'Of course.' said Valla. 'We haven't heard anything about him since he left a few years ago, but there's a good chance he's still out there.'

Flinn took a drink. 'The king entrusted me to deliver his instructions to the highest ranked member of the family that I could find, but leaving the city is the first problem.'

Valla put her hand on his arm. 'We will smuggle you outside the city, one way or another.' she said, and a little hopeful smile appeared on his face.

***

The Tosk guards at the rear gate of the city stood at the closed gate when two Mawan arrived half a day later, leading two silny and a few kechek along the road. The grey furred one stayed with the animals while the black one with white around his eyes and ears stepped up to the gate. The taller of the guards looked him over, then at the other. 'Who are you and what business do you have here?'

'I am Xalum.' said the Mawan, and gestured behind him. 'He's Gelf, and we have another delivery of mounts for the castle.' He tilted his head. 'Is that a Tosk uniform you're wearing?'

The guard sniggered. 'You noticed, eh?'

Xalum looked back at Gelf for a moment. 'Gelf, there's Tosk here at the gate.'

Gelf huffed. 'Don't tell me we lost our way.' he said, and coughed once.

The guard grinned. 'You're not lost, but this is Tosk territory now.'

Xalum looked at him in surprise. 'Wait, really? What happened?'

'You mean you haven't heard?' asked the other guard.

Xalum shook his head and gestured behind him. 'We were out hunting for these guys.'

The first guard leaned on his halberd. 'Your king was responsible for the murder of ours, so we enacted swift justice.'

Xalum gazed in shock at him. 'I'd never imagined he'd do such a thing.'

The guard shrugged. 'It was a shock to us all, so now we're staying here until we've rounded up all the people involved in this treacherous deed.'

Xalum nodded. 'Of course.' he said, and glanced once more back at Gelf, who sneezed hard. 'We never involved ourselves with the royals, but now I'm not sure what to do with the animals. They were already paid for, but is there still an interest in taking them up to the castle?'

'Wait here.' said the guard, and disappeared into the guard house across from the gate.

He returned a little later and gestured for the other guard to lift the gate. 'We have a need to replace the mounts we lost, so take these to the castle stables.'

Xalum gave him a nod. 'We'll do.' he said, and led the animals with Gelf onto the main road towards the castle after the guards checked them for weapons.

The stable head greeted them while the Tosk guards at the castle approached them. 'Good to see you two.' he said, and looked back at the guards. 'They deliver new mounts for us when we need them.'

The captain of the guards ordered another search of the two. 'No problem as long as they bring nothing more than these animals.'

Gelf coughed into his sleeve and sat down on a low stack of grain sacks while he held up his hand to the guard walking up to him. 'Sorry.' he coughed again. 'I need to sit for a moment.'

The guard looked back at the captain, who gave him a nod to wait. Gelf took a deep, raspy breath, then coughed more. When he fell forward, Xalum rushed towards him. 'Gelf!' He touched his friend's ear, then turned to the guard. 'His ear is hot. Call a healer.'

The captain sent for a healer, who came while Gelf drank some water brought by a stable hand after Xalum helped him sit again. The healer examined his eyes and mouth, and stepped back. 'Black throat.' he said. 'You can't stay here.'

'Black throat?' asked the captain. 'Are you sure?'

The healer frowned. 'Everyone who was close to him has to be isolated to prevent the plague from spreading. It doesn't kill everyone who's infected, but it has to be contained before it spreads around the city and takes it toll.' He turned to Xalum. 'You have to leave the city at once.'

Xalum gave him a quick nod. 'We understand.' he said, and pulled Gelf's hood over his head.

The captain pointed at two of his men. 'You two, escort them out of the city, then return here with any of the guards and other people who were close to them at the gate, without coming close to anyone else.'

Xalum helped the coughing Gelf on his feet. 'We didn't meet anyone on the street, so it's only the guards.'

The captain gave him a nod, and Xalum and Gelf walked slowly down the road with the two guards at a little distance behind them.

Near the end of the street, Gelf heaved and clamped his hand in front of his mouth, and Xalum helped him quickly into a narrow alley where he stepped behind a few stacked barrels. The guards glanced at each other with disgust at the loud hurling. 'Don't die right here, old man!' said one.

When Gelf returned from behind the stack, he held up his grey hand. 'I can continue.' he rasped, and coughed once more.

The escorts were glad to arrive at the gate, and quickly explained the situation while Gelf's coughs seemed to come from deep within his hood. The gate captain order his men to quickly let the two men through, and grumbled at the chance of being infected with a possible lethal plague. 'Don't ever let me see you here again!' he said to their backs as they went down the road.

Xalum looked back towards the city when they rounded a shallow bend in the road farther away. 'We're out of sight.'

Flinn pulled back his hood. 'Finally.' he coughed, pulled a flask from his pocket, and drank the potion in it. 'I feel like I wouldn't have any throat left if I had to keep coughing much longer.'

Xalum pat him on the back. 'Yeah, combining Sneeze Leaf with charcoal powder is very effective, but no one will stop you from leaving when they think you have the plague.'

Flinn cleared his throat carefully, feeling the relief brought on by the potion already. 'I can't thank you enough for helping me.'

'Don't worry. We all want the Tosk out of here, especially that vile Yaros and his utter lies.' He spat out the name. 'Come, we still have some distance to walk before we can supply you with what you need to find the young prince.'

***

Ulric took a deep breath of the warmer air when the party exited the crack in the mountain wall that led to Vihremaa. 'It's good to breathe deep again without my lungs collapsing from the freezing cold.'

Iphigenia halted her capri and stretched her legs and arms. 'Yes, and to feel a comfortable warm breeze against my skin.' A sly curl formed at the corner of her mouth as she looked at him. 'Although I'm looking forward to something else caressing my skin.'

He growled softly at her in his usual hunger for her. 'Let's find a good place where we won't have to worry about being ambushed for a while then.'

The party stopped later in the day in the forest where a layer of rock protruded from the ground and a layer of accumulated dirt and plants covering it formed a shallow cave. It was deep enough to accommodate everyone and the capri comfortably, and camp was set up quickly. A nearby stream flowing down a long bank of dark stones provided slightly warm water, thanks to the afternoon sun heating up the stones, and soon enough everyone had the same idea of taking a long soak in it before dark.

Ulric lay back in total relaxation along with most of the girls, Susi, and Trixy, when Tipper and Yingshien arrived last. Yingshien waded into a shallow part while Tipper removed her tunic and britches, then looked at Ulric while he rinsed Susi. 'No peeking.'

He blinked. 'What?'

She gestured for him to look away. 'I don't want your perverted gaze tainting me.'

Iphigenia laughed. 'Our hardy dwarf girl is shy in the buff in front of a man.'

Tipper looked away with a flustered red on her cheeks. 'I just don't want to be leered at, and he's not a man but a beast.'

Iphigenia sniggered and growled playfully at Ulric. 'He's a beast all right, but only when you want him to be.' She grinned at Tipper. 'He can be a big, fluffy puppy if you prefer that.'

Ulric let out a laugh and poked her in her side. 'Don't tease, naughty little one.' He shifted position and turned his back towards Tipper, and continued rinsing Susi. 'I won't look when a lady doesn't want to.'

'You did look at me, darling.' said Elzbieta.

He chuckled. 'That was a honest accident. I would never have gone in if I knew you were there.'

She smiled and ran her fingers through his neck fur. 'You're lucky I know now and forgive you.'

'And there's that time you walked into Kaui in her room.' said Iphigenia.

Kaui blushed. 'But that was really my fault, not Master's when he thought I was in danger.'

Tipper removed her underwear. 'So you're telling me there's a good chance he will walk into me naked because he's accident prone? You really think that'll make me feel more assured?'

Valdys sniggered as she looked at the plump redhead. 'You can be assured that he will appreciate the sight.'

Tipper rolled her eyes, stepped into the welcoming water, and sat down where the surface reached up to her shoulders. 'As if. Dwarf women aren't exactly sought after for their arousing figures. Even by most of our men.'

'That's their loss if they only look at the surface.' said Ulric, and sat back while Susi lay her head on his chest. 'Each of you girls is different, but I think all of you are beautiful as you are.'

Tipper's cheeks turned redder. 'Are you trying to seduce all of us now?'

Ulric raised his eyebrows and pricked up his ears. 'What? No. I'm just saying.'

Iphigenia laughed with Valdys while his other girls giggled, even Rachael and Handil. Susi gave him a lick on his muzzle. 'Susi is happy to hear daddy finds her beautiful. Susi thinks daddy is the best.'

He chuckled and stroked her head. 'Thank you, honey.'

Yingshien blew air out of her nose and rippled the water surface. 'It doesn't matter what anyone says. Only a real dragon could stand by my side.'

Trixy crawled into the side of Ulric's neck and nuzzled his cheek, and Valdys giggled. 'While Trixy will happily settle for a weird bloodwolf.'

He stroked her cheek while she nestled deeper into his thick neck fur. 'I'm gifted with great animal magnetism.'

Iphigenia rested her head against his shoulder. 'Right now you're gifted as a pillow.' she said and closed her eyes. 'I could almost stay forever in this place.'

Ulric closed his eyes as well. 'Maybe not forever, but for a while most certainly.'

The others followed their example, and listened to the birds singing and the soft breeze stirring the leaves in the trees, while an occasional insect buzzed as it flew by, and the soothing warmth and sounds put them one by one to sleep.

102 - Fur Care

Ulric sneezed loud when a beetle landed on his nose, yawned, and blinked while the girls woke up alongside him. He looked up at the sky and estimated they had slept about a sixteenth period. 'I guess we really needed that after all that terrible cold.'

Iphigenia stroked his ear. 'Shouldn't be a surprise, Wolfie.'

Rachael stretched, and Handil giggled when her lover's stomach grumbled. 'I suggest we do something about the long time lack of a warm meal situation.'

Tipper stood up half asleep, and stretched. 'I feel like I turned into a large prune from all this time in the water.'

Valdys giggled. 'I think our wolf is already hungry enough without you tempting him more.'

Tipper's mind needed a moment to process the remark, then realised she stood in full view of Ulric. 'Ah! Don't look!' she said as she spun around and stepped out of the water.

Iphigenia laughed. 'This time it wasn't him.'

Tipper covered her front with her tunic. 'His perverted accidents are contagious then. I'm not going near him from now on.'

Elzbieta looked inquisitively at Ulric. 'She might be onto something there, darling.'

He chuckled. 'I think I don't have enough luck left for things like this to happen again.'

***

After a long and satisfyingly hot meal and drinks, Iphigenia ran her fingers through Ulric's thick fur and noticed some of it came loose. 'Wolfie, looks like you're already shedding your extra fur.'

He stroked his arm and looked at the roll of fur in his paw. 'Time to brush it all out.'

Caylais stroked her arm as her fur had grown thicker as well while they were in the freezing cold. 'Same here. This never happened before when I travelled through cold areas.'

Iphigenia ran her fingers through Caylais's soft fur. 'Maybe it's a side effect from the bond with Wolfie. An added protection to keep you safe from the cold.' She reached into her pack and pulled out two brushes. 'It's a hairy job, but someone has to do it.'

They returned to the stream to make use of the water while there was still some light, and to avoid spreading clumps of fur all over the camp. Iphigenia held up the brushes. 'You do Cay's back while I do yours, Wolfie.' she said and smiled at Caylais. 'Strip, girl.'

Caylais blushed while Ulric undid the knot of the string tying the back of her dress, and her fluffy tail quivered at his paws sliding slowly down her hips and thighs as he lowered her dress. She stepped out of it, and he draped it over small boulder. Iphigenia moved in front of him. 'I can't let Cay be the only one to catch your eye, can I?'

Ulric chuckled, kissed her, and loosened the front of her dress. 'Dressed or not, you girls grace my eyes with your loveliness all the time.'

She smiled and her heart beat faster while his warm and soft paws slid from her hips up along her sides, and lifted her dress up over her head.

Ulric thoroughly savoured the close view of the feline's enticing behind and graceful tail, and the smooth curves of the young rogue's breasts while slowly and deeply inhaling their scents, and knew he'd do anything to see them and his other girls happy for as long as they live. Iphigenia moved Caylais towards a long rock near the stream, and bent over as she pushed her gently to sit down on one end. Exposing her pussy in full view, Ulric knew her well enough to know it was no coincidence, and growled softly in hunger again.

She giggled as she playfully stuck the tip of her tongue out to him, and pushed him to straddle the rock behind Caylais, then straddled it behind him. Tingles ran down Caylais's back when Ulric ran his fingers first against the direction of the fur between her shoulders, then pulled the brush gently through it.

Ulric enjoyed her soft hums and going through her fur. Although she had mainly transformed during the sleep after they became intimate the first time, he not only noticed for certain now that the fur on her head had grown longer and her tail fluffier, but also that her breasts had subtly increased in size. "An after effect caused by hormone changes?" he thought. "One more grow spurt of the female transformation." He smiled as he dismissed further thoughts about it. She didn't need to change more after that first time, when her happiness at fulfilling her dream was enough to assure she'd had joined the other girls in his heart. The slight press of Iphigenia's thighs against his hips and her gentle fingers going through the fur on his back brought more relaxation to his mind, and he let it drift in the pleasure of his task and the presence of the both of them.