Fox, Satyr, Dragon Pt. 02

Author's Note: Here's the second and final part! As promised, there's more sex in this one. Hopefully it's enough for you beautiful, horny bastards. There's even buttstuff in this part!

Also, for the sake of Mother Dra, please don't do buttstuff in real life without proper prep. This is a work of fiction and sex acts in works of fiction aren't always realistic.

Chapter 14: Cracks

Branigan and Seymour watched as the girls conducted a final check of their supplies. The golems were waiting in their own boat. "Try not to be too jealous. You get to sleep on an actual bed."

"I'd take a cramped tent with the girls over a warm bed by myself. Ten times out of ten."

Seymour looked down at his friend and sighed, putting a hand on Branigan's shoulder. "It isn't worth the risk."

"I know." Branigan's sigh was heavier and he roughly scratched the back of his head. "I'm alright, Seymour. Don't worry."

"Impossible not to worry when you're involved." Seymour said dryly. "Rat bastard."

Branigan chuckled. "Moving on to a different topic. How do you think Sasha and Natalia will handle things?"

"If we run into a monster or a beast? They'll be fine." Seymour said. "Having to put up with the smell of the bug spray, campfire cooked food, and 'roughin it' in general... Should be a sight to see. I'll be sure to tell you when we get back. You'll appreciate the laughs."

"You're not gonna let them use their magic are you?" Branigan laughed loudly. When Jack turned to see why, he just waved at her.

"Nope. Neil requested it." Seymour shook his head. "Many of our students are overly reliant on their abilities. Jack is the rare exception."

"I saw a couple using levitation spells to feed each other." Branigan said. "Where's the romance in that?"

Seymour raised an eyebrow. "I recall a certain Arthur Branigan Stone getting caught on the rafters of the boy's dormitory with his then boyfriend. Seventh year, if I remember correctly."

"Start of the eighth. And our flesh was still doing the fun part."

"Fair enough."

"What a fun memory." Branigan smiled fondly. "I wonder how he's doing."

"Curse breaking in the Pharo Islands. So he's either doing well or very, very, bad." Seymour headed towards the boats. "Looks like they're ready to go."

"Your boats will be attacked by the more bold denizens of the lake." Branigan said after hugging all of them. "Even if you've got Seymour with you."

"We've got a plan for it." Natalia nodded.

"Yeah we do!" Jack grinned wide and slid her sword out of its sheath, the hiss of metal on leather briefly cutting the air.

"Carl still around, Seymour?" Branigan asked. "It's approaching sunset."

"Of course he's around." Seymour got into the boat and picked up the longsword he had left while talking to Branigan. He placed the flat of the blade on a shoulder while helping Natalia and Sasha into the boat. Jack jumped in, grinning at her girlfriends' protests.

"Who's Carl?" Sasha asked.

"A Diamond Beak Kraken. He's especially active just before winter." Seymour said. "Not to worry. I'm bringing Vulcan here since the sun is starting to go down." Seymour sat at the stern, stuck his sword into the water off starboard, and activated his fein. The whole blade ignited and caused steam to rise. The glow of the flames could be seen, illuminating the dock supports and the dark depths they rose from. "Not fond of light and absolutely hates fire."

"We've got a Diamond Beak Kraken in the lake?!" Natalia exclaimed. "Since when?"

"Since forever. They're a protected species, hence the secrecy." Seymour said. "You will not be letting others know of Carl's existence."

"How'd Bran know?" Sasha asked.

"I went skinny dipping at midnight on a dare. Past the boundary." Branigan smiled. "At the start of my eighth year. Carl copped a feel."

"Past it?!" Natalia gasped. "And you survived?!"

"What? Like it's hard?" Branigan raised an eyebrow. "You three are doing it today."

"We have Coach." Sasha said.

"Only cuz you needed Neil to agree to this."

"Let's not encourage our students to break the rules, Branigan." Seymour interrupted smoothly before Jack could speak. She had been about to tell him to leave. He could feel it after years of being her Coach. "You're faculty now. You have responsibilities."

Branigan shrugged noncommittally.

"Alright then." Natalia said. "Then we'll have to handle the merfolk alone. Can't risk Coach taking his sword out of the water." She looked at Sasha and Jack. "Plan B."

"Is it bad that I don't want this ride to be smooth?" Jack was standing at the bow, restlessly waving her sword.

"Yes." Natalia said. "Jack, we told you to spar extra today so you won't be punchy."

"I did!" Jack said. "Can't help it."

"What happened to drawing iron with steel, Jack?" Branigan asked, turning back from waving at Anette who was rushing towards them. "And wait a second. Anette is almost here. Seems she wants to say goodbye."

Jack grinned wide. It was almost a snarl. "I'm all thrash and chomp when it comes to creatures, Bran."

Sasha frowned, craning her neck to watch Anette approach. "Mom already said goodbye when we dropped by her office."

They all joined Sasha in watching Anette. When the Potions Master arrived, she nodded quickly to those on the boat before turning to Branigan. "Missing student, Bran. We need you to search the library. I've already got golems searching but it's an all hands on deck situation."

Branigan frowned. "Who?"

"Lucas Rice." Anette sighed, glancing at Natalia. "Any chance you know anything, dear?"

"No." Natalia's eyebrows curled together and she frowned. "How long has he been missing?"

"Absent all day. His boyfriend Glen said they had an early dinner yesterday since Lucas wanted to get some studying done. He wasn't seen at the library or anywhere else."

"Shit." Branigan pursed his lips. "Alright let's go. Bye, you four. Come back safe."

"Wait, we can't just go!" Natalia exclaimed. "We can help."

"He's likely just drunk in town or something, Nat." Branigan said.

"You said all hands, Professor." Natalia said.

Anette shook her head. "Students aren't hands in this situation."

"Fine but Coach is!"

Seymour nodded. "She has a point there."

"You can't go to the mountains without Seymour with you." Branigan said. "You're not cancelling this over Lucas."

Natalia narrowed her eyes at him. "You can't say things like that."

"I can and will when a person is known to put other students in danger." Branigan said. "We'll find him. Hell I'll even have him tied up and waiting for you right on this dock for when you get back. How about that?"

"Bran!"

"Nat!" Sasha gripped Natalia's wrist. "They'll take care of it. Let's go."

Natalia relented and sat down, pointedly facing her back to Branigan. The librarian ignored it. He looked at Seymour. "Bring them back safe, Seymour. Please."

"Will do." Seymour nodded at Branigan and Anette. "I hope for Lucas's sake that you're not the one to find him."

Branigan shrugged at that. "Let's get started, Anette."

Anette nodded before blowing Sasha a kiss and smiling at Jack. She turned and began speed walking back to the school with Branigan close behind her.

Seymour started the engine and the boat took off, with the golems doing the same a moment later. After they made some distance from the docks, Seymour fed Vulcan more magic. The sword's brightness increased and more steam rose from the water. "What did Lucas do to Branigan?"

"Nothing. He's just my ex." Natalia said.

"An ex who likes to follow us and harass me and Natalia." Sasha said over Natalia's protests. "He'd go after Jack too if he wasn't a little bitch."

"And Natalia won't let any of us tell the Headmaster." Jack added. "Lucas can stay missing for all we care."

"Hm." Seymour grunted.

"What, Coach?" Jack asked.

"There was something about Lucas that I never liked. Never had a reason for it so I'd ignore it." Seymour said. "Good to have a reason now."

"He's not a bad person." Natalia said, not believing her own words as she said them.

"He's a shitstain." Sasha proclaimed.

"He's not....Ahhhg!" Natalia's protest turned into a strangled scream as she recoiled back against Seymour. They crossed the boundary just moments ago. The first of the lake's creatures had arrived to give greeting.

"HAHAHAHA!" Jack laughed as she swatted aside, with her sword, a harpoon that had been thrown by a merman. The creature's mouth spread wide, revealing two rows of yellow, dagger-sharp teeth, and he keened before submerging. "More merbastards are going to come. Natalia, time for your plan! As far as illusions, a copy of our boat and us should be enough. Don't worry about imitating the steam Vulcan is making. Keep it simple. The fuckers are dumb as rocks."

"Okay." Natalia shut her eyes to make it easier to visualize the image before bringing it out into the world. Jack at the front with her sword. Sasha right behind Jack with one hand gripping the boat and the other with a flask filled with green liquid. Natalia next to Seymour by the stern. The first illusion sputtered out of existence a second after she cast it. She cursed and tried again, begging her fein to cooperate. Nothing at all this time. Panic began settling in as the merfolk came in increased numbers.

"Calm, Natalia." Seymour said softly. "All is well. Focus only on your magic. It will work."

"Please, please..." Natalia begged herself.

Her prayer was heard and a near perfect illusion was cast. It was doubtful the merfolk would notice that Jack's left arm was missing or that Seymour occasionally flickered in and out of transparency. The new merfolk that had arrived began attacking the illusion. Seymour threw up a minor defense ward around their own boat to help Jack against the ones still attacking them. It was all he could manage while powering Vulcan at the same time.

The golems were doing just fine against their assailants, the harpoons bouncing off their hardened forms like rubber balls off a brick wall.

Sasha drank the enhancement potion she had prepared. She felt her abilities get augmented immediately and began firing off spells to either deflect or destroy the harpoons being thrown their way. She'd be exhausted once the potion wore off but they'd make it to the mountains by then.

"Fuck." Jack had to twist to avoid a harpoon and it embedded into the floor of the boat. She kicked it off with a curse and was glad to see that it hadn't pierced through. "Sorry, Sasha. We can't save it like your mom asked. Throw the kelpie bait!"

Sasha grunted incomprehensibly and pulled out a flask of kelpie blood from the pack she had clenched between her thighs. The kelpies and merfolk that lived in the lake were the two most intelligent species inhabiting the waters. This of course meant the two hated each other. Sasha tossed the flask as far from their boat as they could. It landed with a splash and the area around it bubbled and turned maroon as the cork dissolved in the water. There was a brief respite as the merfolk noticed the kelpie blood.

"Good throw, babe." Jack said, panting softly. "Nat you can give up on the illusion when the kelpies arrive. Join us in directly keeping us safe."

Jack finished speaking and, as if on cue, a swarm of kelpies appeared and cut through the water towards the waiting merfolk. Their heads and upper halves were like horses, their mouths filled with blunt teeth that could chew through bone like grass. Instead of fur, the kelpies had leathery skin. They lacked front legs and their hindquarters tapered into a barbed tail with shimmering fins.

"Well that was easy." Natalia said as the merfolk and kelpies began attacking each other and ignored the humans and golems entirely.

"And boring." Jack lowered her sword but didn't sit down. "Coach. You see how some of the merfolk and kelpies were already injured? And their attacks seem weaker."

"Yes." Seymour nodded. "Very strange."

"Not that strange right?" Sasha asked. "Kelpies and merfolk fight all the time."

"Yes. But they've been at a standstill lately." Seymour said. "Professor Yil has been studying them. He'll want to know about this."

"Mom told me to save the flasks if we could." Sasha said, looking at the remaining flask of kelpie blood in her pack. "But I think we should use the second one on the way back. It's just safer that way."

"We'll be coming back during the day. Less dangerous since you won't be relying on me keeping Carl away." Seymour said. "Neil wanted you girls to get some experience. I'd say you earned a safe trip back."

"Your grandpa really trusts us, Sash." Jack said.

"It's well placed, isn't it?" Sasha smiled. "We're doing great so far."

They arrived at the shore and docked. Trees came almost up to the shore, stopping just within the gravel beach of the cove they were docked in. A single, shadowed path ahead of them led up into the mountains. Natalia stretched her legs before beginning to take the packs out of their boat. "This is the dock you wanted, right Sasha?"

"Yep!" Sasha nodded. "It's closest to a frequently used campsite and the campsite itself is surrounded by a bunch of different herbs and plants, not just the one I'm looking for."

"Well then, ladies." Seymour kept Vulcan lit and held out in front of him, brightening the area immensely. "Let's begin."

***

"His parents have been informed and they are on their way." Neil said, sitting at the remaining seat at Anette's desk and taking the wine glass from Branigan's hand. "Thank you, son."

"And I've filed the report." Anette said, rubbing at her forehead and sipping her wine.

"What are Lucas's parents like?" Branigan drank his water. "Should we be prepared for threats to our credentials and so on?"

"No. They were remarkably understanding." Neil took a long draft. "Lucas was a flight risk when he first arrived at Foxcastle. Went missing three times his first year trying to return home. Evidently he didn't get it out of his system."

"You think he's trying to get home?" Branigan asked. "No way an eighth year is homesick."

Neil shook his head. "I don't know what he's trying to do."

"It's impossible to understand you children." Anette muttered. "Do you not think of your parents? What could possibly be so important that he just fucks off with no warning?!"

Branigan drank his water. As a child that had frequently troubled his parents, any attempt at answering could possibly result in bloodshed.

"Now now, my dear." Neil said. "Lucas is likely fine."

"Of course he's fine! They always are!" Anette said. "It's the parents that are left traumatized with worry."

Branigan noticed that her supply closet wasn't shut properly and wondered if he should bring it up or not. Neil proved to be just as observant and more brave. "Anette, your closet is open."

Anette walked to her closet with a grumble and stepped inside to give everything a check, just in case. All was in order save for a spot on a low shelf. She cursed and left the closet, slamming it shut then locking it. She noted the raised eyebrows of the two men as she sat down and finished her wine before answering. "I told Sasha to only take two of the kelpie blood flasks. She's taken all four! If she comes back having used all of them I'm making her work off her debt."

"No need for that, Anette." Neil said. "The school can afford to replace them. Easily. Though they are expensive."

"It's the principle of the matter!" Anette snapped. "I told her two and she took four."

While Anette set off into more muttering, Neil leaned over to Branigan and whispered. "How many glasses has she had?"

"She just finished her third."

"Let's make it her last-"

"What are you two whispering about?!" Anette tried to drink again and then glared at the glass for being empty.

"Neil was just asking if you've had anything to eat yet. I'm about to grab us some food so-"

"I haven't." Anette grabbed the bottle waiting at the edge of her desk and filled her glass halfway. Then completely. "Go and get me some food, Bran."

"Yes, ma'am." Branigan stood. "What would you like?"

"Surprise me." Anette said. "We'll see if you can do something to make me happy for once."

Branigan winced, then left without a word. Once he was gone, Neil shook his head at his drunk daughter. "Was that necessary?"

"Yes. A hundred times yes."

"Branigan learned his lesson, Anette. No need to give lashings to a reformed man."

"No he hasn't!" Anette snapped. "He's still keen on acting on his own ideas of right and wrong. If it were up to him, he'd abandon the search for Lucas. I'm not a fan of the boy either but I refuse to abandon any student of mine."

"We're in agreement on Branigan's morality. Mostly." Neil said, deciding to inquire later as to why Anette didn't like Lucas. "He wants Lucas found. As much as you and me."

Anette snorted.

"He does, Anette." Neil pressed. "He has volunteered to search the Castle Depths on the infinitesimal chance Lucas found his way down there. That's where he's going after dinner."

Anette sobered up, partially, at the mention of the Castle Depths. "You're letting him?"

"Not alone. I will be going as well." Neil said. "For Branigan. I don't believe Lucas is down there. There's no reason for anyone to go down there anymore."

"It seems I owe Branigan an apology."

"It would seem so, yes."

"I will come too."

"For Branigan?"

Anette could only nod. After a moment, she asked. "Will it be fine? There's Hellward down there."

Neil nodded. "Hasn't been replaced in years. Wouldn't even work on an infant imp."

Later that evening, after they had all eaten in Anette's office, they left for the Castle Depths. The magically veiled entryway was located in a shadowed corner of an unused hallway in a perpetually 'under-renovation' portion of the castle.

"You never told us how you got past the locking wards." Neil said as Branigan opened the simple wooden door. "Back then."

"This school's security isn't as flawless as advertised." Branigan stepped through and held the door open for the others. The smell of sulfur was pervasive, singeing their nostrils immediately. In an unpleasant combination, the scent of fish assaulted them as well from the Hellward scattered throughout the Castle Depths. The herbs were long expired but their smell remained. "Not if you're clever enough."

The three descended the stone steps with Branigan in the lead, Anette second, and Neil last. He kept a hand on the cool, dry metal railing on the wall and threw up an orb of light to guide them. "I suppose you won't be enlightening us on those weaknesses, Bran?"

"You've fixed most of the ones I exploited during my time here." Branigan said. "I haven't bothered to look for new ones since I have full access. You'll have to ask Lucas."

"I doubt he'll tell us." Anette muttered. Her stomach grew tighter with every inch forward and she was regretting all the wine she had drunk. None of its stress-relieving capabilities were working and instead she only had the lowered mental faculties.

The librarian nodded in agreement and stopped a few feet from the final step. They were in a wide, roughly rectangular cavern. The walls to their left and right were outfitted with cells, their rusted metal doors wide open. At the end, the cavern opened out to a larger one. The three made their way there after checking each cell. This second cavern had a higher ceiling with stalactites clinging to it and stalagmites rising like giants from the bumpy floor.

Branigan paused in the middle and looked at one of the stalagmites. It was broken in the front, giving the impression that it was leaning forward. The breaklines were jagged, as though someone had taken a hammer to the stalagmite. Except for a section near the top that looked to be a circular hole with its bottom half missing.