Call of Duty

"What is the matter with you?!"

"Elise," she fox-girl said. "My name is Elise."

"How nice for you," the wolftaur sneered. "Keep your hands to yourself."

The vixen craned her neck, trying to move her face closer to the knight's, who recoiled. "I wanna thank yeh," Elise insisted.

"You just did, now quit this at once. I don't know if your delirious or just crazy like the rest of the villagers, but you should be quiet and go back to bed."

"Come wit me?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

Elise struggled and grabbed the front of her modest peasant dress, tearing it open. A wooden button bounced off Komiere's chest. The younger furkin had a generous bosom that didn't seem to need much help with the bursting process. They now hung out in the open, the hard, pink nipples tickling tantalizingly at the wolftaur's furry stomach.

"Keep me warm?" the she-fox pleaded again. "Yeh saved more than my life tonight. If I can'ah give yeh somethin' in return, I'll nevah live it down."

The vixen's breath was hot on Komiere's neck. Her acute nose could detect the musk of the girl's awakening arousal. She felt her own heartbeat quicken. It had been so long since the wolftaur experienced such advances; her resolve wavered.

"We--I can't. It's not proper..."

"Do tha knights keep yeh from enjoyin' yerself?" she asked, pushing against the wolftaur's slackening grip. "Yeh didn' swear an oath o' celibacy, didja now?"

"Why? Why like this?" Komiere demanded, trying to give herself an excuse to reject the alluring young lass.

For the first time since she awoke, the she-fox halted in her advances. It was the not the sadness in her green eyes that surprised Komiere, but the strange look of one who expects the inevitable. "The Mountain Beast, it doesn' just kill 'er eats us. Rumor says it...has it's way wit its victims, yeh know? Takes 'em in an evil appetite."

The knight swallowed hard, recalling her education in dark monsters. "No beast does that," she concluded.

Elise laid her head on Komiere's chest, calmed by the strong beat and steady whisper of breath from within. "It keeps me up at nights, fearin' tha Beast'll snatch me away. It'll split me in two, easy enough. I wanna enjoy one night while I still can, yeh know?"

The vixen's pointed snout lowered, kissing and nuzzling between the Komiere's breasts. The older furkin clenched her long jaw and pushed her away. "The find some willing farm boy," she snapped. "I can't be bothered with this."

"A bother now, am I?" the fox-girl shot back. "Maybe yeh shoulda left me tied up then, eh? Let tha Beast come fer me as bait. Then yeh could kill it an' be done with two bothers!"

"Hold your tongue, wench!" the wolftaur growled. The smaller furkin simply didn't have the strength to resist as Komiere forcibly led her back to the straw bed. "You don't have the right to get testy with me!"

The vixen jerked back suddenly, pulling the wolftaur off balance. She landed atop the young girl in a cloud of straw, pinning her to the bed with her greater mass. Glaring up at her with angry emerald eyes, the she-fox squirmed pleasantly beneath Komiere's forehips, struggling half-heartedly. The knight felt a heat rise in her, a reminder of the desire she had long stifled. It burned in her middle now and refused to be squelched.

Komiere roughly pressed her lips to the fox-girl's with a grim desperation. Elise responded by slipping her tongue into the kiss, enticing the older furkin into a moist dance. Her small hands slipped out of the wolftaur's grip and ran over her silvery fur, massaging the tight muscles beneath them. She was pushed away again as Komiere established dominance, holding the farm girl's hands over her head to ravish her without interruption.

Elise begged to be released, but the knight did not relent. Her free hand tore at the peasant dress and exposed more of the vixen to Komiere's exploring lips. She suckled hungrily on the stiff nipples, playful nips making the younger furkin moan delightedly. Elise's legs wrapped around the wolftaur's torso so she could grind against her stomach, a bushy brown tail tickling Komiere's underbelly.

A strong hand came down, pushing the she-fox's hourglass form into the bed. "You must learn your place, wench," Komiere growled, this time her voice heavy with lust.

She slipped further down, out of the younger furkin's grasp. Settling back on her hindquarters, her hands grabbed Elise about the knees and hauled them up over her shoulders. The vixen's embarrassed shriek cut through the sound of the pounding rain as Komiere assaulted her womanhood. A long tongue wormed its way into the virgin folds, caressing them with heat and encouraging the girl's juices to flow freely. The sweet taste of her arousal filled the wolftaur's mouth and sated her years-long thirst for sex.

The she-fox's back arched and her hands pushed against the wolftaur's angular face, grabbing at her ears. She never would have expected the sensations that now overcame her, filling her and threatening to explode. Fingers and toes itched with the need to touch something, anything. Elise pawed at her heavy breasts, squeezing the furry globes and tweaking the red hot nipples that capped them. The stiff nubs and swollen areola gave way under her pinching, twisting, and pulling. Stabs of pleasure pierced her with every motion.

Between the vixen's legs, Komiere ceased her ministrations. Elise gradually began to notice the emptiness left behind as the wolftaur's tongue was withdrawn. She whimpered and thrust her hips at the older furkin. The knight lifted the farm girl and rolled her onto her stomach. She slid a hand under the vixen's bushy tail and teased her two sensitive holes, stroking and prodding.

"Are you enjoying this, Elise?" the knight asked. "Is it everything you hoped for?"

"Everythin' an' moooore!" the fox-girl groaned. "Oh, please don' stop!"

"Do you wish for me to continue?" Elise gave a vigorous nod, her voluptuous body writhing futilely while pinned to the bed. "Then you must do as I command, wench. If you satisfy me, then I may see fit to allow you release."

"Anything!" her sexual captive gasped.

Komiere rose and positioned her lupine hindquarters over the vixen's head. Her own womanhood, aroused by the feeling of control, dripped with juice. Elise's tongue stretched to reach the droplets of cream that splattered on her cheek. The wolftaur sat, nearly suffocating the girl-fox with her ample rear end. "Start licking, wench."

Elise tried to push away and get some air, but she couldn't contend with the older furkin's strength. The musky aroma of Komiere's sex filled her nostrils and made her feel lightheaded. With nothing else left to do, she wrapped her arms around the hindquarters atop her, digging her muzzle into the sodden fur. She licked as well as she was able and attempted to duplicate the wolftaur's technique. It had a sour flavor and the abundance of cream ran into the she-fox's eyes.

Komiere crossed her arms under her modest bust, savoring the feeling of power that resurfaced from her memories. Her lifemate had been most receptive to her sexual quirks and eagerly dove into his duties. Though this simple farm girl's efforts were barely noticeable, it did raise nostalgia of a more promiscuous time, which was more than enough to wet her proverbial breeches. The wolftaur ground her hindquarters into the vixen's face and smiled toothily.

She yelped.

Elise had nipped at the swollen nether lips that smothered her. Anger flashed in Komiere's eyes and her long jaw tightened. Reaching down beneath her, she dug her strong fingers into the she-fox's womanhood and squeezed the spongy flesh pitilessly. A muffled cry reverberated through the narrow muzzle pressed into her crotch. "Mind your teeth, wench!" the knight barked.

Sufficiently mollified, the whimpering fox-girl continued her efforts with a gentler touch. She slipped her thin fingers into the lupine sex, not pushing too hard or fast so as not to prompt another violent rebuff. The fear–if not the pain--abated slightly as Komiere sighed and rose her haunches a bit.

Elise couldn't see with the juices coating her facial fur, so she had to operated by touch. The lupine depths were far more expansive than a bipedal furkin's birth canal. Though she'd never copulated with another person, the farm girl once took her own virginity with the wooden handle of a trowel, so she was somewhat familiar with how much could fit. As it was, she had no idea where to start in order to satisfy the deep, muscular folds.

Her tongue proceeded around the inner lips, finding another small orifice. It tightened at her touch and the wolftaur's sour cream trickled from it, coating Elise's tongue. The flavor made her gag and she moved on. The fox-girl's fingers met a stiff nub. Stroking her broad tongue across it, her savior--her captor--shuddered in response. Elise wrapped her lips around the thorn of Komiere's womanly flower and suckled on it like a nipple, occasionally flicking at the tip

The knight arched her back, almost jack-knifing, and groaned in ecstasy. She reached behind herself and clenched her ass, then pressed a pair of furry digits into the ring of her anus. They pumped furiously, trying to hurry along the orgasm she felt rising. Perhaps this farm girl wasn't a total waste after all.

Having been suppressed for years, Komiere finally came. Her prized strength drained from her in a flood of orgasmic cream. Elise began to choke on the sourness as it filled her mouth and nostrils, unable to escape from beneath the wolftaur. The knight eventually stood shakily, less sure of footing but determined not to show any weakness. The last of her womanly juices dribble out, splattering the vixen's back as she rolled over, coughing up the vile-tasting stuff.

Komiere came around and settled onto the bed of straw next to the sobbing young she-fox. "You did very well, Elise," she said in her most comforting tone, running her strong fingers through the farm girl's disheveled grayish brown fur. "Are you ready for the finale?"

"No more," the vixen cried. "I can'ah take it."

The wolftaur licked her own cream off the younger furkin's face and drew her into a gentle kiss. "I swore I'd satisfy you in return, my dear," she replied after breaking away. "A knight always honors her word."

Sliding a hand down the fox-girl's belly, it came again to the mound of her pubis. The spot was still raw from its abuse and Elise winced involuntarily. Komiere nuzzled her under the chin while her fingers penetrated the furry nether lips, which were still moist with arousal despite the girl's apprehension. The vixen tried to squirm away, but the knight drew her onto her chest, face up, so she could hold the exhausted girl steady with her forelegs. With her free hand, Komiere guided Elise's tired hands to her heaving bosom, encouraging the she-fox to fondle herself.

The knight whispered instructions to take a deep breath, then clamped her hand down on the poor girl's throat. Emerald eyes rolled back into Elise's head and she tried to grasp, fearing she would suffocate, not for the first time that night. Seconds seemed like minutes and she became acutely aware of Komiere's every touch. The furry fingers that massaged her tender womanhood felt surreally pleasurable, filling her, tickling every fold. Two pinched her clitoris and a third rubbed it fiercely. Spots began to fill the vixen's vision.

There was an explosion of relief as the grip on her throat relaxed and she simultaneously reached her climax. Elise couldn't make a sound as she gasped for breath, but that sudden rush of sweet air served to only enhance the pleasure which overpowered her brain.

Her first orgasm was as violent as her first round of intercourse. The vixen's limbs flailed, barely restrained by the strong knight, while a pressurized stream of female ejaculate arced from between her legs, soiling the straw bed and tattered blankets. After the initial gush, it lessened to a trickle across the wolftaur's underbelly, mixing with her own sour cream smeared over the silver fur.

Komiere laid back, admiring the distance with which Elise came, comparing it to the memory of the arc her lifemate's seed had taken. They would then cuddle up and fall asleep, glued together by their mutual fluids. Something told her the vixen would not handle it as well, but she would learn. The knight decided to take the farm girl with her back to Aukanna Keep once this mission was over.

Stroking Elise's fur soothingly and humming an off-key lullaby, Komiere let a satisfied fatigue take her into slumber.

======

A flash of lightning penetrated Komiere's heavy eyelids, instantly awakening and blinding her at once. Thunder rolled above the village, trapped by the valley walls and resonating over and over, causing the ground to tremble. The knight tried to rise and found herself unbalanced.

Looking out the window, she could not tell if dawn had yet come. It was impossible to tell, what with the tumultuous weather. The grim sky had a ruddy glow and the rain seemed to have been replaced by a dark ash. What Komiere first took to be thunder may have indeed been the rumbling of a distant volcano. But the lightning was real enough; a bolt struck the villager's crude dias, illuminating it for a second before a chunk of the wooden scaffold was vaporized.

Komiere attempted to stand again and felt herself weighed down. Elise's arms were locked around her waist in a death grip. "N-no more, no more..." she mumbled, perhaps misinterpreting the mayhem around her. A sharp slap from the wolftaur nearly took Elise's head off, but her big green eyes cleared all the same. "It's come!"

"Then unhand me, wench!" Komiere shoved the vixen away and bounded across the room to her armor. Steel plates and leather straps were not designed to be fast or easy to don, but the knight hurried as best she could, stuffing in her padded tunic and throwing on the skirt of mail.

"Don't go!" cried the she-fox hoarsely. "Yeh can'ah fight tha Mountain Beast yehself!"

"I can and I must," replied the knight, buckling on her sword belt. " 'Tis my duty."

The carnage that greeted Komiere upon exiting the tiny shack took her breath away. She had seen battle before, but this was a slaughter. A massive shape barreled through the village, flattening the humble structures and sending their occupants flying. The screams of those unfortunates who remained in the Beast's path painted a horrifying picture before the knight's eyes.

The twilight-like gloom and occasional flashes of lightning played havoc with her vision, but Komiere could make out four legs and a pair of massive wings. She notched an arrow and let fly at the monstrous shape. To her surprise, it wheeled around and nimbly dodged the missile, glaring at her with two glowing points and a bloody corpse in its jaws.

She could see it straight on now and the knight realized that she was not equipped to handle this. The ferocious Mountain Beast before her was perhaps thrice again as large as the wolftaur and covered in copper-hued feathers. Brilliant blue eyes reflected the barest glimmer, set behind a fierce beak shaped like a battle ax. Its forelimbs were scaled and clawed like a typical raptor's, but the creature was clearly quadrupedal and the rear half was built more along the lines of a feline, complete with a swishing tufted tail.

Komiere raised her shield in a shaking grip, a shield which bore an image that mirrored the beast before her.

Rising upon its muscular hind legs, the Mountain Beast threw its victim away and crowd to the stormy sky, a sound like rending metal. It shook the wolftaur from her revere and years of training took over. The beast's feathered wings spread wide and beat down powerfully, raising its huge body off the ground. Komiere tossed down her shield and grabbed a handful of arrows. She set them all against her bowstring in a bristling line, tracking her target as it climbed.

The creature paused in its ascent and dipped its head, perhaps sighting its next victim. This pause was all the knight required. She released her handful of missiles and they streaked through the smoldering air. Another ear-piercing shriek echoed across the valley as Komiere's arrows found their mark. One could be seen falling past the beast, but the other three protruded from its broad right shoulder, just below the wing.

Whatever pain it felt, the beast could not summon up the strength to soar higher into the clouds. Komiere raced through the ashen mud in order to keep it in sight, watching the creature head for its mountain lair. She left the village and its terrified inhabitants behind.

======

Komiere panted, struggling through the craggy foothills leading to the mountain. She had expended quite a bit of stamina during her initial arrival at the village and subsequent bedroom antics with Elise. Her own proclivity for quick action was coming back to bite her on the tail.

This so-called 'Mountain Beast' was no ordinary dark monster, of which there were many in the Unclaimed Northlands. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized she was woefully under-prepared for this battle.

Among the legends and histories of Lenoa, some few mystical beings held great power, but were long thought to have disappeared from the mainland. While Elder Dragons once lorded over all that could be seen, they were eventually wiped out by war, leaving behind only their lesser breeds and relatively civilized wyrmkin. Sphinxes were more common on the southern continents in the first place, but a particularly famous sage of their kind disappeared for parts unknown a lifetime ago. And the death of the last known Manticore was well documented; it was slain as a spectacle in the Inkatti arena.

While those beings demanded respect–and sometimes fear–none had quite the reputation of the Griffons. The half-eagle, half-lion creatures were intelligent and noble, symbols of virtue. So revered were they by the Aukanna Knights that they even appeared on the heraldic crest. There were still tales of a mated pair in the Kingdom of Ghala, which the Knights had petitioned to view many times and were refused at every turn by the isolationist policy of the monarchy.

Komiere was positive that's what saw in the village; a Griffon. The grand beast's murderous rampage was then all the more confounding. How could this mad behavioral twist occur? To face such a powerful being raised an anxiety in the knight the likes of which she'd never felt in her decades long career.

Even so, the wolftaur's four paws carried her ever further up the sharp, volcanic stone of the mountain. Her target was forced to fly low in retreat and Komiere managed to spot where its lair was dug into the cliffs. Otherwise, she never would have noticed it amid the deep shadows and plumes of ash.

As she grew near, she began to see some distinctly manufactured features that were certainly not part of the natural terrain. The path became straighter and the foundations of crumbling pillars could be discerned. The knight even paused in her trek upon spotting the remains of a fallen statue, the familiar lines and curves of armor evident despite centuries of weathering.

Finally, she came upon the entrance of the Griffon's lair and found it was no craggy chamber, but the graceful architecture of a ruined temple. Narrow arches and flying buttresses in the gothic manner created an angular, uninviting foyer. The black, reflective obsidian from which this ancient temple was chipped were steaming hot. No doubt there was a vein of magma running behind the glassy walls.

Komiere picked her way carefully into the ruins, using the crumbling decorations of old saints and forgotten heroes as cover. The deeper she penetrated, the more she saw the remains of the Griffon's meals. Skeletons were strewn about, some relatively fresh while others were little more than piles of dust; men, women, and beasts alike. More than a few had curiously crushed pelvises.