Heroes Fall

Alexa froze in fear. She knew that name. Ronin was one of the best, and most feared, bounty hunters out there. If he'd been hired to find her then someone had a lot of money to spend and wanted nothing less than complete success. Now she looked at him in wide-eyed horror. "Are... are you here to take me back to Sephant?" she asked in a small voice, fearing the answer. "Or... worse... Kirgon?"

"As far as King Sephant is concerned, you're still enslaved to Lord Kirgon." Ronin replied. "Kirgon wants me to bring you back to him if I found you before he did, but I only take one contract at a time. No, I was hired by your parents first to find out what happened to you and, if I could, bring you back to them."

"My... my parents?" Alexa gasped in shock. Then her face burned with embarrassment. What would they think of her; a fallen Paladine, a failed warrior, a sex slave for soldiers, a breeding womb for demons, a mother who allowed her baby to be abducted, and now a common whore? She couldn't go back home. She was a disgrace. Now she was shaking her head with tears in her eyes. "I can't," she whispered, hanging her head in shame. "The baby..." she sobbed. "MY baby... is out there. We have to find him!"

Ronin stood, his eyes seemed to survey the room as he idly pocketed his gold coin. His eyes fell on the open door to the baby's hideaway. "Who took him?'

"A blue and gold demon named Margas," she said with renewed determination. "He only has a three-day head start. We could-"

"Stop." Ronin held up a hand. "If he's got three days on you, he's gone. Even if he didn't take one of their infernal portals, they move really fucking fast. Without knowing where his sanctum is at, assuming if he stayed in this plane of existence, there's no way for me to find him right away."

"But you can find him, can't you?" Alexa pressed.

"It will take a lot of time and a lot of resources," he admitted. "And use of my own labs and libraries that I maintain back home. So right now there is no use for me, or you for that matter, to go running around halfcocked when we don't even know where to start."

"We have to do something!"

"I'm not God, you know, quite the opposite," Ronin countered, his voice raising to a point that Alexa looked down with shame. If even half the rumors were true about him, he was not a man to be trifled with. Some said that he was older than living memory. Some said he was descended from the gods. The one thing that everyone agreed on, however, was his ability to complete a contract no matter what.

Alexa sighed inwardly. Whether she liked it or not, the baby demon she helped bring into the world was gone and she'd be going home to face her parents. Such a thing shouldn't worry her, but she was a noblewoman of twenty-one years. She was a noble in her own right even if she was sullied. Facing her parents should be easy compared to everything that she's been through. She stood up and instantly regretted it. Her legs gave out and she started to fall. Ronin was up and by her side in a flash. He ducked under her arm as she swooned, easily catching her and guiding her back to the bed.

Ronin eased her down laying her on her back, and then joined her on the bed after kicking his boots off. She half expected him to strip naked and take her right then and there since he did pay for her for the day, but instead he sat at her feet and started rubbing her legs, starting with her ankles and working her way up. Alexa moaned as the tension was worked from her muscles. They felt like they'd been tensed for days, and probably had been while she was under the effect of that demon's spell. "Oooohhhh.. that feels good," she sighed as Ronin massaged her. "How long was I... uhm... like that?" she asked, referring to the ghosts.

"According to the keeper downstairs, three days," Ronin said, switching from her left leg to the right after finishing with her thigh. "The Three Fucking Phantasms spell can be fun in short bursts for women, but it really shouldn't go longer than a day. That demon who was your last client must've pumped a lot of power into it to keep you busy."

"He didn't want me following him so he could get away with the baby," she said in a huff.

"No name for it yet?" Ronin quirked an eyebrow as he worked his way past her calf up to her thigh again. Then he looked up as if searching for a thought and then came up with it. "Ah, that's right, people don't name infants anymore until they've survived for a year. Talk about an old practice that came back in force."

"Just how old are you?" Alexa asked, looking up at him quizzically. "You seem to know a lot about different subjects."

Ronin harrumphed with amusement and tapped her on her hip. "Turn over, I'll get your back next," he said, dodging the question. Once she was in position, Ronin placed his hands on her shapely round ass and began to rub and knead it, making Alexa moan again with pleasure. She also felt herself go wet under his touch. She'd never had a man give her this much attention before and she couldn't even remember the last time she'd been rubbed down like this. "I've been around," Ronin was saying, working out the kinks of her ass before moving up to her lower back. "I read a lot when I am on the road, I ask questions, I observe, and so I pick up things here and there."

"You're avoiding the question." she said, looking back over her shoulder at him.

"Meh," She saw him shrug indifferently. "Let's just say old enough to have seen humanity at the height and fall of their dominance of this planet," he said, his eyes going distant.

"How about when you are back home?" she asked, moaning again as he moved slowly up her spine, releasing more tension and getting her back to pop along the way. "Do you do more studying when you're there... wherever there is?"

"I dabble and I experiment in various fields of study. I never know from one day to the next who I might be hired to track down and/or kill. So it pays to study extensively," Ronin said. Now he was rubbing her shoulders and neck, rolling his thumbs around the back of her neck and then deeply kneading her shoulders.

"MMmmmmm... learn this from your books as well?" she moaned, writhing on the bed with need now. "It feels heavenly."

"No, this is only learned from extensive practice... one that I indulge in as often as possible in the company of beautiful women," he chuckled softly, moving his hands down to her sides and catching the soft swells of her breasts in the process. Then his hands were down along her waist before coming back up onto her back where he started all over again.

Alexa moaned as Ronin worked all of her stress, tension, and worries away. For a moment, under his touch, she forgot about everything. All of the pain, worry, stress, anxiety, and sorrow that she'd been experiencing over the past year... even before she'd been captured and enslaved. Then she shifted and turned onto her back to look up at him. "Are you going to take me now? I mean... you did pay for me after all."

"I figured that I'd let you recover first," Ronin quipped with a smile. "Your body has been through a lot in the past few days and if you're up to it, I'll have you home tomorrow to see your parents."

"How?" She blinked in surprise. "Capital City is at least three to four months on horseback."

"I have access to one of the demonic portal networks," Ronin smiled. "I've mapped them out during the nights when I was on your trail. I can have you back home in a day."

Alexa spread her legs for him, kicking one leg around so that he was between her thighs. "I can't think of anyone I'd like to have as my last client then." She sat up and grabbed the bottom of his shirt, lifting it up and over his head to bare his muscular torso. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her body to his, and kissed him full on the lips. Part of her wanted to do it for the thrill of sleeping with the infamous bounty hunter and part of her wanted to do it just to keep her mind off of everything else. Ronin wrapped his arms around her, pulled her up into his lap more, and reciprocated the kiss.

Then he laid her back on the bed and undid his trousers enough to take his already hard cock out. He entered her within a moment and Alexa arched her back and sighed as she felt his manhood penetrate deep inside of her. His cock was bigger than that of a normal human's and it felt good inside of her. He cupped her head with his hand, laid his forehead down against hers, and looked deep into her eyes as he pumped his hips into hers. Alexa, out of habit and training, looked right back at him, whimpering with lust and need as she felt his cock rampage in and out of her pussy. She wrapped her legs up around his waist and lifted her hips to meet his thrusts.

Alexa bore down onto his cock and dug her heels into his back, goading him on as she felt herself get closer and closer to orgasm. She looked helplessly up at him as his steely gaze seemed to bore into her soul. When she felt his seed then shoot into her, she let out a pained, but wonderful "unnnnngh," as she climaxed right along with him. It was an orgasm that started off small but built up in intensity as Ronin continued fucking her while in the middle of pumping his cum deep into her body. Soon she just wrapped her arms around him, pulled him down to her, and screamed in ecstasy as they rode out their orgasm together.

When Ronin rolled next to her, wrapping his arms around her as he drifted off for a nap, Alexa hummed with pleasure. She then felt a tightness in her belly. Reaching down, she rubbed her mound and then gasped when she saw the glowing sigil appear above her womb.

Ronin had impregnated her.

***

CHAPTER 8:

Alexa was off of her horse, running to meet her parents with arms wide open and tears in her eyes, leaving Ronin behind. "Mother! Father!" she cried out as she rushed to the front steps of her family's estate and into their loving embrace.

"Thank the gods, you're home!" Tobyn sobbed with joy, holding her close along with Yvette.

They all held each other, crying and blubbering as they reveled in the moment, not paying attention to Ronin who was now walking up. He coughed politely into his fist to get their attention. "As joyful as this reunion is for you all, I have to make it brief as I have business to attend to," he said. "Thus, when one contract ends, another begins," he intoned as if quoting an axiom.

"Yes, yes," Tobyn said, waving his hand dismissively. "You may leave now that our daughter has been returned to us. You have our gratitude."

Ronin walked up behind Alexa, snapping an iron collar around her neck and putting a heavy, iron lock on in that only he had the key for. The effect on Alexa was immediate as she screamed with horror and dismay, dropping to her knees and clawing at the circlet of metal that represented her servitude. Ignoring her tirade, Ronin then attached a leash to it and pulled her back to her feet and towards him. "I am sorry to cut this short, but we have a lot of ground to cover for this contract," he said apologetically.

"Ronin!" Alexa exclaimed, pulling back against her collar and leash. "NO! What are you doing? WHY? Let go of me! I'm home now! Your contract is over!"

"Yes," he conceded. "Unfortunately for you, you are my next contract as well. I'm to bring you back to Lord Kirgon now." He tugged on her leash again. "Now let's go."

"Back to that demon!" Alexa screamed, now struggling frantically. "NO! I WON'T GO BACK TO HIM!" She was desperate now. "You can't take me back to him!"

"You can't do this!" Tobyn protested.

"You work for us!" Yvette screeched incredulously.

"And that ended the moment I brought her home," Ronin explained evenly, nonplussed by the outbursts. "I told you that you wouldn't like the results of my investigation and that has revealed that she is the rightful property of Lord Kirgon under the sanction of King Sephant who now owns this land. He reached down to pull down the front of Alexa's trousers to reveal her glowing fertility brand that the demon lord had put on her. "She still wears his mark."

"It might be HIS mark but it's YOUR baby growing inside of me now!" Alexa was hysterical now. "It just shows when I am with child, not just HIS child, Ronin! You take me back and you'll be enslaving your own baby!"

"Do something, Tobyn!" Yvette yelled at her husband, frantically tugging at his arm to jar him into action.

"What?" Tobyn asked, shrugging in panic with what was happening. "What can we do against him?"

Ronin smiled. "Nothing, and it's good that you realize that."

"We'll pay you more money!" Tobyn blurted out. "We'll give you our lands, our titles, everything! Just don't take her back to that monster who has defiled her."

"I never take more than one contract at a time," Ronin said. Now he yanked on Alexa's leash, forcing her to his side and glaring at her. "Now... let's go."

Alexa's lip was trembling as emotions rolled over her ranging from hurt and betrayal to just how unfair the world was to her. "When we made love... that..." she choaked back a sob even as she fell into step with him on the way back to his horse. "That meant nothing to you?"

"You said it yourself; I was a client," Ronin shrugged indifferently. "All business, wasn't it, to get my gold?"

"NO!" Alexa spun in place, out of his grip, to face him despite the fact that he was still holding onto her leash. She planted her feet, squared her shoulders, and glared at him with her fists balling up. "I will NOT go back to him! Do you hear me? I will fucking drop you if you try to take me back to him!"

Ronin closed his eyes and sighed with resignation. "Don't do it," he warned her, fixing her with a steady gaze. "I really, REALLY, do not like to hit women."

"Oh, but you got no problem collering and enslaving them, do you, you piece of shit!" Alexa thundered, her old fire coming back. This was just one man, alone, on her home turf and not some false king who had a demonic pact. She could take him. Her hands shot up to his neck to grab him at the same time she brought up her knee towards his groin.

Ronin was already moving, ducking down and sidestepping to the left so fast that he made her look slow. His hands came up at the same time, dropping her leash and slapping her hands away. He then followed up by smacking the back of her right shoulder as they moved by each other. Alexa stumbled forward and tried to kick backwards at him. He slapped that away as well but Alexa used the momentum to spin around and flip another kick at him with her other leg. Noticing that Ronin wasn't going to commit to battle with her, Alexa charged him, jumping at him at the last moment to take him down with a savage double kick to the chest. She was up first, straddling his midsection, and striking at his head with rapid blows. "I," (hit) "Will," (hit) "Not," (hit) "Go" (hit) "BACK!" (hit)

But Ronin had his fists up and his forearms protecting his head against her ineffectual, roundhouse punches. He bobbed and weaved his upper torso left and right to roll with every wild punch she made. Then he shoved upwards, striking both of his palms against her collar bone before grabbing her right arm with his right hand and pulling it across so that her upper body twisted. At the same time, he kicked his left leg up and over her neck, bringing it down in a choke hold that she'd never seen before. "Grrrk!" she gagged as she struggled to breathe, now trying to pry his knotted body off of hers so that she could breathe. "Heeeeeeelp..." she wheezed as her vision started to go black.

"Just relax," Ronin said as calmly as if he were ordering dinner. "It'll be over soon... or you can just surrender now and save us both the trouble."

"Nooooo..." Alexa gasped, now slapping her free left arm around impotently. She felt his calf and thigh flex to tighten around her neck despite her collar and then everything went black.

*

The moment Alexa went limp, Ronin released his hold on her from an ancient martial art from days long since passed. She rolled to her back, flopping flat out on the ground, her body already sucking in air into her oxygen deprived lungs. He got up and dusted his cloak and trousers off, fixing Alexa's parents with a hard stare, silently daring them to do something. When they didn't move, as he expected of them, he drew his knife and systematically started stripping and cutting Alexa's clothes off of her body until she was a naked slave with a collar once again.

"You're a monster!" Lady Yvette spat at him. "How could you do this?"

"Easy," Ronin said, not looking up as he worked. He then took out a length of rope, binding Alexa's wrist together in front of her before looping the rope between her wrists to cinch it closed and restrain her further. "I was paid to do it." He looked up at them. "I might not take multiple contracts at once, but I do line them up so that when one contract ends, another one begins."

"Can't you just make an exception, just this once?" Tobyn implored him. "Please? For our sake?"

"No, because it is bad for business," Ronin grunted as he stood and tossed Alexa's now sleeping form over his shoulder. "Once word goes out that you've gone soft, people begin to disobey you and then it's nothing but work, work, work all the time."

"You mock our pain, you bastard!" Yvette screamed at him.

"Life is pain, highness," Ronin smirked. "Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something." With that, he turned on his heel and left with his prize, draping Alexa over the front of his horse's saddle before getting on the horse himself and riding off.

*

When Alexa finally woke up with a start, she tried to get up but found that her leash had been staked to the ground right next to her head so that she couldn't do so. She looked at the stake just to the right of her head and then down her body. Ronin had taken off her clothes and tied her hands together in front of him. She then saw him sitting next to her as he tended to a campfire as night had fallen. He noticed her moving and looked over at her. "Hungry?" he asked and that's when she saw that he was making dinner. When she didn't answer, he held up a waterskin. "Thirsty?"

"You are a strange man," she glared up at him. "You fuck me one night and abduct me the next. And now you're just sitting here offering me dinner as if nothing has changed between us?"

"Nothing has changed between us," Ronin said as he took slabs of meat out of the frying pan, proceeding to cut them with a knife he kept in his boot. "I am a bounty hunter, and you are the target of a contract. I told you back in that village I found you in that Lord Kirgon hired me to bring you back."

"You said you didn't take that contract!"

"I said that I wasn't currently on that contract, two different things, dearie, try and keep up," Ronin corrected her.

"For all of your power and abilities, why don't you go out there and do some good for a change rather than living your life for gold?" Alexa snarled. "Someone like you should be a beacon for change, not a symbol of corruption!"

Ronin smirked. "Tried that, once, it didn't take." He smiled ruefully as he stared back into the fire, a distant look coming to his eyes. "There was once a time when I was young and idealistic like yourself. I tried to change the world and for a moment I succeeded. But then..." he shook his head slowly, "people are people, no matter what race they're from. You get good ones and bad ones. You get the highs and the lows and there's nothing anyone, not even me, can do about it." He looked back at her. "Sephant wasn't wrong, you know, in bringing his crusade against your people. Feudalism is a stupid system where people are noble by birth. He just brought about the system again in that might makes right and you don't have to be consigned to the caste that you're born into. That's why he won."