Deathstalker

'Mamono' Kenneth repeated in his thoughts. It was as he had suspected, the woman was not human.

"Then you will not heed my warning?" she said in an even, emotionless tone.

Amad laughed loudly at the question. "It matters not, for you see I am wise to your idle threats demon. I am not the same as when you last took advantage of my naivety. You see I realized something. You may be called 'assassins of the desert' and 'deathstalker' but those are nothing but myths, part of a front, a bluff you keep to get your way. You are just like so many other mamono, you'll never kill a man, your instincts won't allow it. Now I wish to see that sculpted face of yours that has flooded my dreams of late prostate itself before me!"

Kenneth could only watch in shock as Amad's attempt to tear her cloak off was stopped cold, the back of the woman's cloak billowing up as something large rose inside it, the tip striking out from the side of her neck.

The movement had been so fast that Amad hadn't been able to draw his left hand back in time. It now bore a large cut, the cause of which could be seen still ready to strike from where it rested on the woman's shoulder. At first glance Kenneth had thought it was a snake of some kind but it was clearly not. There were no scales, instead the body seemed to be made up of thick, articulated segments which continued on into the darkness under her cloak. And its head was unlike any snake head he had seen. There were no eyes or mouth, instead it was a strange, rounded bulb that narrowed and curved into a wickedly pointed tip. This was what had cut Amad, his blood could still be seen on it.

"Only men I choose may touch me," the monster woman stated coldly, the strange appendage she had struck Amad with slowly snaking back under her cloak while she brought up one dainty hand to smoothly loose the ties that bound her shroud about her body.

"You really think you are worthy of me?"

She opened the top of her cloak, the hood sliding off of her head to reveal a beautiful face decorated by a semi-transparent veil, and dark skin of a gorgeous chocolate brown. Locks of light green hair spilled over her shoulders as the cloak slid further off, soon revealing an eye-popping pair of breasts barely contained by straps of purple cloth.

"You really think you can handleME?!"

The back of her cloak billowed up much more strongly this time as the whole shroud was thrown off her by the strange appendage from earlier, revealing her full form.

"If so, then look upon me, you filthy excuses for men."

And what a sight she was. She had not been standing on something, nor had she been dragging anything behind her. In actuality it was all the rest of her body. For below the sultry curves of her hips and upper thighs, clothed in the same tattered purple cloth as her breasts, stood the body of what appeared to be a human-sized scorpion. The strange appendage was her tail, the tip now raised high and at the ready. Her odd height could now be accounted for, as her six legs, each jointed into three segments and ending in a sharp point, were stretched high and erect, making her appearance all the more imposing. Lastly, from the underside of her tattered sarong, from each side of where a normal scorpion's head would have been, emerged a final pair of limbs, the equivalents of a scorpion's palps, the third segments modified into grasping pincers that were snapping together with menacing speed and force.

"Look upon me, and know your place!"

Kenneth knew in an instant what she was, for she could be nothing else. A girtablilu. These mamono were as infamous as they were enigmatic. Rare and reclusive, even other desert mamono rarely interacted with them, as they usually lived well away from settlements and towns in the desert. Their fierce reputation ensured that few attempted to seek them out.

Much of what was said of them seemed as much myth as fact, but what was clear was that they shared the fierce personalities so common in the arachne family, and additionally they possessed the fastest-acting and most powerful paralyzing poison known among mamono.

And, he had to admit, this one at least was drop-dead gorgeous.

Amad's bravado wavered at the girtablilu's imposing display, but he soon continued in a boastful, confident tone. "Y-you dare insult us! Look at what you are! I know your kind!" He smirked, "You are a lustful whore at your core, and provided you behave yourself I and my men are willing to let you sate your desires in us," he added, a perverse gleam in his eye. "Why if it weren't for that hideous lower body of yours you could well be the fairest maiden in the desert. I'd imagine you can be quite the beast in bed..."

"I hate arrogant men."

"What?!" the bandit roared.

"If I desired you I would have paralyzed you instead of only cutting you with my stinger," she said dismissively. "Your presumptions have blinded you Amad, as would be expected of a man as foolish as you."

Amad wiped at the blood that had pooled from his nose, the cloth he had used soaked in it and now being squeezed in his bleeding hand. "You will regret those words! Take her men!"

She shut her eyes, her voice still dismissive as the bandits surrounded her, their swords drawn. "Your imaginings are all you will ever have of me."

"Hack her to pieces!"

The six men attacked in a coordinated manner, two stepping back and pulling out throwing daggers which they launched to cover the other men as they charged together. It didn't matter though as the scorpion women proceeded to deflect the thrown daggers with ease, her tail intercepting both with lightning fast strikes. Some of the bandits struck at her jointed legs but found them to be just as well armored and indeed she was able to move them as if they were swords of her own. Her pincers further blocked attempts to strike at her humanoid portion, quick snaps of them snapping the metal blades off thanks to their incredible strength. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"My turn."

Having rebuffed their attacks the girtablilu became a blur of movement. A sweep of her tail knocked three men to the ground before she leaped over the heads of the ones in front of her and proceeded to kick and jab at them with her sharp-edged legs, knocking away any swords raised in defense before clubbing and slicing at the men with her pincers. Stunned and bleeding, the six men were falling to the ground around her within seconds.

Kenneth was so impressed with the display that he almost missed his captors having loosened their grips on him as they wavered over whether to help their comrades, hang onto their prisoner, or flee. Kenneth chose for them, slipping free before bashing their heads against each other. He then delivered a flurry of kicks and punches to one and then the other in quick succession as they stumbled back in a daze.

Satisfied they were down for the moment, he turned back to the scorpion woman to find her taking a leap straight at Amad. The bandit leader aimed to impale her humanoid torso as he thrust his blade with all his might, only to have her pincers grab the sword and wrench it from his hands in mid-jump, the weapon being flung to the side to stab itself into a nearby skeletal tree. Landing in a crouch right in front of him, she gave Amad no time to react before tackling him to the ground, pinning his hands with her claws and pulling a dagger of her own from within her sarong.

Her breasts jiggling slightly as she lowered her upper body over him, Amad might have been aroused by her were it not for the blade point she had pressing against the skin of his neck.

"To be a ruler, you need to have a future. As for me, I have no mercy left for the likes of you save for the same swift death I grant my prey."

With her dagger now raised high over his head Amad roared in futile fury, his final act of defiance silenced as she plunged the blade through his skull and deep into his brain.

An eerie stillness descended on the area as the monster woman calmly wiped the blade of her weapon clean with a bit of Amad's cloak. She then turned to address the recovering bandits as they watched, frozen with fear.

"You humans use terms like 'never' and 'always' far too often. Mamono don't kill the men we take as mates, but that doesn't mean we won't defend ourselves. Now your master is dead. Unless you desire to share his fate you will take your wounded and never return here."

With a silence born of fear the men obeyed, rapidly gathering up the unconscious sniper and limping away with all the speed they could muster, leaving their slain leader and two dead companions to the desert scavengers.

'Guess I won't be collecting that bounty...' Kenneth mused solemnly, not willing to take money for a job that someone else had done for him. 'Not that I can complain. I thought I was finished until she showed up.' A part of him considered making a run for it before the girtablilu decided he was a bandit that didn't follow her order. But then again it was only fair to thank her.

"Uh, hi there," he greeted with a hint of awkwardness, finding it hard not to be intimidated as her steely gaze acknowledged him. "T-That was pretty impressive how you handled yourself there. Thanks by the way for the help."

"What makes you think I did it for you, human?" she asked coldly, now looking away dismissively.

Kenneth tried to find his nerve again, he could face death without flinching but this exotic woman was something else. "Uh, I don't- I mean... it doesn't matter right? Whether you did it for me or not I'm glad you showed up."

Now she glanced at him. "A reasonable answer. You handled yourself quite impressively as well, considering your obvious inexperience in this environment."

"You were watching me fight?" Kenneth asked, incredulous as he put his gauntlets back on and went to retrieve his pack.

"I do not enter any dangerous situation without observing it first," she stated simply, continuing to look at him out of the corner of her eye. "It is my way."

"Yeah, I get it, that's pretty wise of you," Kenneth replied. "But you don't need to worry about me going after you. I may work as a mercenary, but I got nothing against mamono," he assured her. 'Especially one as hot as this...' he added in his thoughts. "I don't do any work I don't believe in, that's my way."

"I suppose I should repay your gesture of trust with one of my own..." she stated in a stoic yet sincere manner. She proceeded to slowly remove the veil from her face, revealing kissably moist lips. Kenneth swallowed at the sight.

"My name is Chanda," she stated.

"Chanda..." he repeated, then diverted his gaze as he caught himself staring. He pretended to cough. "Ahem, that's a- that's a nice name. I'm Kenneth, Kenneth Peregrine."

"Well then, shall I call you mercenary Peregrine?" she asked, cocking her head slightly, "Or perhaps bounty hunter Peregrine?"

"Oh, you can just call me Ken or Kenneth if you like. No need for formalities among friends right?" he said with a smile.

"Friends?" she repeated. "You are presuming again."

"Sorry," Kenneth rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "but, I mean, I'd like us to be friends. Can't have too many, right?"

Kenneth thought he saw her powerful gaze soften for a moment. "Many friends... are a luxury most of my kind cannot afford. We often do not get along well with other mamono, or even our own kind. I have lived alone all my adult life, and I will admit... it is... lonely at times."

"Well I'll be going back home before too long but if you'd like me to keep you company for a bit before that I'd be happy to," Kenneth remarked in a pleased manner. For all their infamy the girtablilu weren't turning out to be so bad after all.

"Is that so?"

He didn't even have time to ponder the sudden predatory gleam in her eyes as her tail struck forward from over and behind her. The stinger jabbed into his chest with so much force it knocked him to the ground and held him there, stunned. As he tried to make sense of what just happened he could feel the stinger moving uncomfortably against his undershirt of chainmail, probing it as if curious, as her own face seemed to be.

"As I expected, this is high quality armor. It is so flexible, yet my stinger can find no chinks large enough to penetrate. Course, I can always stab other places..."

Now Kenneth's reflexes were on overdrive, and it was just enough for him to roll away in time to avoid another strike aimed at his left arm. The stinger struck the hard ground of the rocky land, cracking and piercing it, then tore free a second later, sending a cloud dust and debris flying.

"Wha- why did you do that?!" Kenneth demanded, holding his gauntlet-clad hands up defensively.

"I was quite curious to see how your armor would hold up."

"Well now you know so why are you still- ah!" her tail struck at him again, his right arm narrowing evading the stinger's sharp tip, which he noticed was now leaking a purplish liquid.

"I must admit," she stated in a tone so casual that it all but belied the hungry look she now wore, "I have... not been completely... honest... with you."

In a panic at her sudden change in demeanor, and having never fought an opponent like this before, Kenneth stumbled and fell on his back. "What do you think you're trying t-!" he was cut off as he was forced to roll away from yes another agile stab from her tail.

"Obvious, isn't it?" she asked, the look in her eyes seemingplayfulof all things rather than malicious. "I wish..." she slowly licked her lips and a heated look of lust accompanied her increasingly husky voice, "to pierce that handsome, virile body of yours and pump itfullof my venom."

"All right, I agree that is obvious," he replied warily. "So how about telling me why?"

Her amused smile remained unchanged. "It will be more fun to have you realize that yourself."

He held up his hands again, entreating that she pause her pursuit. "Wait... you said you weren't honest before. Does that mean, you did save me on purpose?"

She cocked her head and put a hand to her cheek to support it, looking rather bored with his questions. "Yes, although I would have driven those bandits off regardless, you are the reason I hurried over. You see I've waited quite a while for suitable man to show up." She began to advance on him again.

Kenneth meanwhile kept backing up. "Suitable? Then you- you came here to mate with me, to make me your husband?!"

"Both, actually," she remarked without hesitation.

Kenneth laughed a bit, the kind of laugh you give when you are really uncomfortable with something. "Look, if you wanted to fool around I'm all for it. I mean you are hot and I owe you for saving me, but can't we just leave the stinger and the lifelong commitment out of it?"

"Silly boy..." The confidence in her tone rose as she backed him up against a vertical wall of rock and sandy earth. "You can't expect me to hold back to that degree. It would betorturous, like asking a man not to cum."

Kenneth had to admit it was a strong point. "I can sympathize, but still..."

She reached out and stroked his cheek affectionately with one finger. "Just trust me, you'll learn to love my sting. As for commitment, once you've been with me no human woman will ever satisfy you again. In fact, I doubt you'll have any interest in leaving once you experience what I have to offer. Are you not tempted?" she asked in a soft, sultry tone.

"Tempted..." he repeated, sounding unsure. "Yeah, actually I am," he discretely dug his fingers into the crumbling rock behind him until he had a handful of grit, "but all the same I think I'll keep my freedom!"

At that moment he made good use of his practice at throwing powdered weapons, this time hurling a handful of sand at the girtablilu's face. She hissed as she clutched her face in pain, and Kenneth took the opportunity to run, narrowly evading her tail as it struck where he had just been and then continued to lash out wildly. He headed into the maze of trails created by the rocky, eroding ground, turning at random until he was completely lost in the passages. Still, at least he had eluded the mamono.

"Sorry Chanda," he sighed to himself. "It's not like I dislike the idea of being with you, but I can't just be nailed down in one place like that so easily. No mamono has been able to catch me yet and I don't see why that needs to change any time soon. Now, I just got to find my way out of here..."

------

Back at the ambush site Chanda had just finished cleansing her eyes with water from one of the containers the bandits had dropped while fleeing. But rather than anger her expression was one of heated excitement. Her tail was twitching with desire like never before. Her lips curled into a predatory grin. "I'd hoped you wouldn't be that easy to catch bounty boy... now I simply must have you. You're definitely the kind of man I've been waiting for."

She suddenly moaned and swung her throbbing tail forward so that she could hold and caress it. "Mmm... I want to thrust it inside himso badI can hardly stand it!"

Forcefully calming herself she closed her eyes and concentrated, searching for the unique vibrations she had already learned to associate with Kenneth walking. Before long she had discerned his current direction and distance. She opened her eyes and smirked.

Now the hunt could continue.

------

'Damn it... how many bad ideas can I have in a week?' Kenneth wondered to himself. Escaping into the maze of eroded stone and cracked earth wasn't turning out as he had hoped. Forward progress was slow on the craggy ground, and he had no idea which way to go. Plus it was heading into late evening, he only had a couple hours of daylight left at best, and once night fell his chances of finding a way out would be even worse.

He forced himself to not panic. After all he hadn't been wandering around for long yet. It just seemed like he wasn't getting anywhere. He considered retracing his steps, but if that girtablilu was still after him then he'd be likely to run right into her. Then again, there wasn't much room to maneuver where he was, a fairly narrow path with high rocky walls. If she caught up to him here then he'd be at a real disadvantage.

The decision to go forward or back ended up not mattering, however, as his sixth sense suddenly flared up and he ducked just in time to avoid a strike from his venomous admirer's stinger.

"You are good," she remarked, sounding impressed.

Kenneth stared up at her in shock. How'd she manage to get so close without him seeing or hearing her? It would seem girtablilu were just as stealthy as rumored. Further, Chanda was not inconvenienced by the location. Currently she was above him clinging with ease to one vertical wall of the path with her four jointed legs.

"You don't give up, do you?" he panted, stumbling back on the uneven ground.

"Not when it comes to a prize like you, bounty boy," she stated with a lustful smirk.

'Great, she's already given me a pet name!' Kenneth turned back and ran as well as he could with the terrain as it was, only to feel himself thoroughly humbled as Chanda caught up to him in seconds. With grace and near-silence she leaped and scuttled from one rock wall to the next before leaping down in front of him in her characteristic crouch, ready to pounce.

With a flick of his wrists Kenneth brought his gauntlet blades out and stood his ground. "I don't want to hurt you..." he stated, his normal confidence gone. This woman was clearly his superior in basically every way, be it stealth, speed, agility or strength.

"Neither do I..." she breathed, giving him yet another beguiling look, leaning forward and swaying her upper body from one side to another, looking for a opening while being sultry as possible, "...much."