Crusade Gone Awry Ch. 11

This story is a work of fiction. Any connection to real events or people, past or present, is coincidental. All characters of this story are age 18 or older.

WARNING! This chapter contains: Anthro, fingering, teasing, virgin, orgasm-denial, massage, doggy, creampie, impregnation, oral, squirting, violence, blood, and copious amounts of cuddling. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

*

Talia sat on a rock for three...damn...days. She was miserable and starting to feel incredibly weak. Despite that, she couldn't leave, even if she wanted to. The crusader army marched into the den of the assassin weevils, underground monsters that can pierce through armor with their trunk-like mouths. Thanks to Renard, Talia noticed before they were attacked and fled. Unfortunately, she wasn't quite quick enough. Three of those underground monsters followed her until she took shelter on a large boulder. That was where she sat for days in the unforgiving sun and heat. She occasionally checked to see if they were there, throwing bits of rock at the sand. Each time their rostrums would emerge, stabbing at the air and trying to find her. They were waiting her out, and they were slowly winning.

The crusader captain sat on the rock for another miserable day. She was thirstier than she had ever been in her life. If she sweat any more, she was pretty sure she would die. The sun beat down on her, blazing away and heating her up. She reached up and wiped her forehead for the millionth time, feeling miserable. If she had listened to Renard in the first place she wouldn't be here. She could feel her head pound in terrible pain and her throat stab in dryness. She gazed out into the blazing desert. She let a thought enter her mind that she had flirted with the past few days. Maybe she should just walk off the rock. Maybe it would be quick. Those things clearly didn't have to drink. Maybe they could wait her out indefinitely. She had made a promise to Renard, but that was back when she was well-hydrated and was among an army. It wasn't as convenient now that she was nearing death. As she slowly began descending the boulder to step out onto the sand...movement caught her eye.

There was something out in the desert. Three black dots, at the edge of the haze. Talia froze, her adrenaline suddenly pumping. Were those people? Crusaders? Anything? She stood up and squinted her eyes. They appeared to be approaching her, getting clearer by the second. As the heat haze began to abate, her eyes widened.

They were pigmen, inching forward towards her armed with swords and axes. For a few brief moments, Talia felt a streak of fear, knowing how exhausted she was. Then an idea struck her. There were three pig monsters. There were also three weevils. If she could lure them close enough, her problem could be solved. The pigmen, however, seemed apprehensive. They were glancing at each other and walking slowly. They had seen she had noticed them. They couldn't figure out why she wasn't fleeing. Talia gulped with her dry throat and tried to think through her pounding headache. Pigmen weren't bright, but they weren't suicidal. She had to lure them closer, but how? She had two options. She could either grab her sword and pretend to stand her ground...or she could make this more enticing.

After a few moments of thinking, Talia began wobbling on her feet. She drunkenly stumbled around the boulder, her head lolling. The pigmen continued to eye her, trying to see what she was doing. The women then reached up to her shirt and pulled it off, leaving her bare-chested. This piqued the interest of the monster men.

"It's soooo hot!" Talia cried, collapsing on the rock. "Is someone out there? I think I'm seeing things!" She was pretending to be delirious. She had hoped that exposing her breasts was enough to get them to stop thinking and just charge after her. They glanced at each other one more time before turning to her and grinning. They began trotting forward, looking eager. Talia continued to be crazy. She rolled around on the rock, babbling and showing off her body. The pigmen got closer and closer, edging towards her faster and faster. They got so close she briefly worried that she had made a mistake, and they would reach the rock.

Then the sand in front of them exploded and three rostrums popped out. The pigmen squealed in terror, scrambling and falling over themselves. Not wasting a second, Talia pulled her shirt back on, grabbed her sword, and leapt over the opposite end of the boulder. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, fleeing into the desert. She only heard the squealing pigmen for a few seconds, and then silence. She could only hope that all three of those weevils were full. All she could do was move as fast as her legs could carry her, hoping that she had left that nightmare behind.

*

Talia couldn't be sure how long she had been running before she collapsed. When her senses returned, she found herself on her hands and knees, breathing and sweating. She gathered her thoughts for a moment, trying to think through her pain and thirst. She had gotten away from the boulder, but where did that get her? She had shed all her armor, and all she had was her sword. As she looked around, trying to find anything, she saw only hills of sand. Her dry throat gulped painfully. What could she do? She was incredibly weak, and if she didn't get something to drink soon, she would surely collapse and die. Should she backtrack towards the last oasis? That would take her near the assassin weevils. She would be right back where she started. Her other option was to try and follow Renard. He had a several day head start, but if she could find him, she was sure he would save her. He was her friend.

Talia got to her feet, her legs wobbling. She gazed up at the unforgiving sun, which continually cooked her with its unbearable heat. If she remembered, Renard said he was heading for the coast and went west. After gauging the position, she found west. She began lifting her feet and treading towards through the sand, heading in the general direction of her only friend.

*

Talia wasn't sure how long she had been walking. The sun was still overhead, cooking her. The sand dunes had gotten smaller, but still stretched in all directions. Abruptly, there was a noise echoing around her. It was a high-pitch yipping, and there was a lot of it. Talia climbed the highest dune around her and scanned the horizon. She froze when she spotted them.

Several dark spots, weaving and bobbing around, were circling in the distance. They were making a lot of noise, and as her eyes adjusted, she saw they had their noses in the air. As a slight breeze went by her, their loud noises increased. They had her scent. All of the dots began moving in her direction, fast.

Talia turned and began sprinting again. Her adrenaline was causing her heart to pound and her vision to narrow. All the same, in her weakened state and sand beneath her feet, she wasn't going as fast as she could. She continually glanced over her shoulder and saw nearly a dozen creatures hot on her tail. They were like dogs, but much bulkier. Their teeth were huge and serrated. They were covered in spots and had short tails. Worst of all, they were cackling, almost as if they were laughing at each other. They were much faster in the sand, and they were moving like a pack. As Talia rounded a dune, she spotted something that both disgusted and relieved her. There was a large outcropping of rocks. Some of them were very tall and large.

"You've got to be kidding me!" she shrieked as she sprinted towards them. The cackling dogs were closing in fast. It was going to be close. As she reached a particularly tall boulder, she heard growling behind her. Without thinking, she spun around and swung her sword. She sliced through one of the animals, which screamed and crumpled to the ground. All the others scattered briefly, trying not to be attacked. Talia whirled around and scrambled up the boulder, practically climbing a sheer rock face. Upon seeing she was still trying to escape, the other animals charged, jumping and snarling. Some of them even dug their claws in, partially climbing. Talia swung her sword like a madwoman, sending the cackling dogs falling backwards as they dodged it. They then began circling the boulder, making those laughing sounds and still trying to find a way up. Talia beat her sword against the rock, trying to make as much noise as she could.

"Get back! Back all of you!" she shrieked. "I swear to the goddess if any of you get up here, I will chop you to BITS!" She swung her weapon through the air, hoping they would get the point. Abruptly, the animals stopped moving. They lifted their ears and glanced around. Then, without a word, they all turned and ran away, leaving the injured one behind. Talia's blue eyes darted back and forth, completely bewildered.

"Yeah! Yeah...you better run!" she said, sounding confused. Still, a wave of relief washed over her. As she lined her sword up with her scabbard, she let out a sigh, feeling a weight coming off of her. Then she froze.

"They're not running from me..." she muttered. She slowly turned around, completely stiff.

Not too far away, was what appeared to be a cave. Now that it was quiet, she could hear a low rumbling noise coming from it. Out of the dark, a single slithering tentacle poked out. Oddly, it wasn't flesh. It appeared to be made of wood. More and more of these tentacles appeared from the cave, wrapping around the entrance and pulling something large with it. A massive green flower, perhaps twenty feet across, emerged. The petals spread to reveal a beak at the center, like an octopus. Two beady eyes, at the end of large stalks, peeked out. The wooden tentacles, attached to the base of the creature under the flower, pulled it into the light. The two eye antennae gazed out in different directions, looking for the source of the noise. It spotted Talia.

As Talia felt a chill go down her spine, a memory of hers swam to the top of her terrified mind. It was something Renard had told her about. He spoke of creatures, the snapping trees. These monsters were notorious for picking up people and snapping their bones apart. They had destroyed the last crusade and even threatened Tarbat before they were set on fire. The people of the desert thought them extinct. Talia could now argue they weren't.

The monster plant turned towards her and opened its beak. A bellowing roar echoed through the desert, low and menacing.

"Oh, hell...!" Talia cried. Far faster than she could have imagined, the monster surged forward. It's roots tore through the sand like it was swimming, and it moved at an inhuman pace. Particles flew everywhere as it barreled directly at her and slammed into the rock. Talia screamed as the force of the impact sent her tumbling backwards. Fortunately, she landed in the sand. She rolled to her feet and held her sword at the ready, like it would help. The monster's tentacle roots wrapped around the rock, and it pulled itself to the top. Its beak opened and it hissed at her. It was way bigger and stronger than her.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Talia shrieked. The monster launched itself forward at her. The crusader dove to one side, barely avoiding as an eruption of sand went in all directions. As she jumped to her feet, the plant stuck its eyes out and whirled around. The moment it saw her, it turned and began tearing after her again. Once again, the human was forced to jump to the side, hoping it wouldn't grab her. It didn't, and in fact, it kept going for quite a way before stopping and sticking its eyes out again. Talia stood up, trying to think quickly. The monster charged again, and yet again she jumped out of the way. As she got up, an idea struck her.

It kept blazing right past her. Why? It was fast, it could easily overrun her. Once it started running, it didn't stop. Those eyes at the end of the stalks, they didn't have any lids. When it ran, it kicked up a lot of sand. If its eyes were out then, it would get them covered. So, in order to run, it had to retract them! It was blind when it ran! Talia licked her dry lips with her equally dry tongue. She quickly gathered her surroundings as the monster prepared to charge again. It hit the big rock and didn't do any damage. What if it hit one that was lower? If it ended up upside-down then maybe...

The tree charged yet again. Talia leapt out of the way but got smacked by one of the tentacles. It only smarted, but the human took it as a sign that the thing was learning. It was trying to grab her as it ran by now. The crusader ran to a nearby rock, which was lower in the sand. She turned and stood her ground. Her legs wobbled and her body screamed in pain. This was her last shot. She doubted she could dodge again. The monster spotted her, hissed, and then scrambled towards her, throwing up a torrent of sand. Talia waited, and waited, and waited. She let it get so close that it looked as if it would crush her. Then she jumped, only backwards this time. She hopped over the rock and ducked. She heard a loud crack, and then an inhuman shriek. When the tree hit the rock, all of the force launched it up and over. The monster sailed over her head and tumbled into the sand, tentacles writhing in all directions.

Not wasting a moment, Talia ran forward, raised her sword high over her head, and sliced downward with all of the strength she had left. She caught one of the tentacles, and the monster screamed again. One of the other roots whipped around and slammed her across the chest, sending her flying backwards. She landed in the sand and scrambled up to her feet, gasping for breath. One of the monster's tentacles was lying in the sand, separate from the body and still wiggling. The stump from where it had originally been seeped a green sap, which was likely the monster's blood. The snapping tree fumbled around the sand, screaming in pain. Although Talia felt her stomach tighten in fear, the monster turned and ran away from her, fleeing into the desert. The further and further it got away, the more she relaxed. It wasn't willing to fight something that could hurt it, alone anyway.

Talia collapsed into the sand, gasping. As her adrenaline faded, a profound weakness swept over her. Her head pounded harder than ever before. She was close to passing out. She knew that if she did, she would never wake up. She slowly turned her head towards the tall rock she had originally climbed to escape the cackling dogs. Lying beside it was the carcass of the one she had sliced. Apparently, she had cut some of the arteries because it was still bleeding. Talia began shuffling towards it. Desperate times call for desperate measures. As she got over to the creature, she took her sword and cut the wound on its neck open further. More blood seeped out. She cupped her hands under the wound, allowing them to fill. She then brought it to her mouth and drank. It tasted terrible, but the slight sating of her thirst was heavenly. Talia emptied it of every single drop she could.

*

Talia put as much distance between herself and those rocks as she could and then passed out in the sand. When she awoke, the sun was still overhead, making her wonder if it would ever actually set. In reality, she likely had already slept through the night and morning. Covered in sand, and with increasing exhaustion, she got up and walked west. Blood, especially non-human blood, was a terrible alternative for water. It made her stomach hurt, but she continued on regardless. Her feet pounded on in the sand, and she continued to sweat, likely losing whatever moisture she got from the blood fast. The sand dunes slowly began to give way to dry grass, which gave her some hope, but didn't physically help her. Unless she found an oasis or a river, she was going to run out of time. Again, she couldn't be sure how long she had walked. She was pretty sure it had gotten dark again, and then light again. To be frank, she couldn't be sure how many times it did that. The ground beneath her feet grew harder, although it was still dusty. She could hear birds screeching above her head, but they were out of her reach. She just kept walking.

Her hypnotic daze was broken by something piercing her foot. She shrieked and stumbled backwards. She looked down and saw there was a small spear through the top. She drew her sword and attempted to hold it up. She found that she couldn't. It felt like it weighed a ton. She sloppily held it forward, shambling. A new creature was approaching her.

The thing was ugly. It was some sort of turtle, but it walked on two legs and had a somewhat human face. It had an extremely wide mouth that was similar to a beak. Its skin was green, it had a shell on its back, and crab-like claws for hands. Its face was incredibly wrinkled, with some of it sagging on the cheeks. The monster had a knife in its hands, having apparently already thrown its spear. It was making grunt-like noises. Talia tried to lift her sword again, but it wobbled weakly. The turtle monster opened its weirdly wide mouth and let out a chirp-like shriek. Moments later, shuffling from around rocks and tall grasses, more of them appeared. Talia soon found herself surrounded. She tried to step forward, but she only stumbled. Now her whole body felt like it weighed a ton, and the hideous turtles were closing in. No amount of adrenaline could summon any strength. She had none. She traveled so far and fought through so many monsters, and she was going to lose to the hideous turtle people. With the last of her strength, she lifted her sword over her head. If she couldn't swing her sword, she could let it drop. She prepared to charge forward to take at least one of them with her!

"Whoa, let's all calm down!"

Talia froze. She had to be hallucinating that voice. She felt two hands grab hers above her head, lowering her sword. She slowly turned her head. Her eyes saw the smiling face of a fox-man.

"Renard...?" she saw, incredibly weak.

"Indeed, my lady!" Renard cried. Then, as if first noticing what she looked like, his face fell. "Good grief, are you okay? You look like you're about to collapse!" Talia slowly lifted her trembling hand. She weakly poked him with a finger, testing if he was solid. Renard glanced up and down, bewildered. "What are you doing?"

"Are you real?" she croaked. Renard lifted his paws and wrapped them around her hand.

"I'm real," he said, grinning a little. "You need something drink, fast."

Without warning, Talia fell forward and wrapped her arms around Renard. The fox-man froze, mostly in shock.

"Uh...Talia?" he asked. The crusader then began to let out sobs, holding onto Renard as tightly as she could. She was too dry to let out any actual tears, but her face contorted to do so all the same. She buried her face into Renard's chest, trying to hide it. Renard managed to gather his wits and realized that Talia must have been through an ordeal. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and squeezed her.

"It's alright," he began. "You're safe now. You made it." No sooner had she said those words than Talia went limp, her upper body bending backwards. "Oh shit, she's out!" Talia's vision went black, and she finally felt waves of relief wash over her.

*

When Talia opened her eyes again, she was confused for several moments. She saw what appeared to be a thatched roof. Her dehydrated mind tried to figure out why she would be seeing that. Then she remembered. She tried to bolt upright, but instead a streak of pain went through her. She laid back down, holding her hand on her forehead. Her throat also felt like sand. She wasn't going to make it much longer

"Feeling bad?" Renard asked. Talia snapped her head around to see the fox-man entering the hut, carrying armfuls of what appeared to be large fruits. When he got close to her, he knelt down. Talia abruptly half-leapt, half-fell into him, sending the food all across the floor. She wrapped him in a tight hug. She ignored the pain this sharp movement brought her. For the moment, she was just glad to see him.