Keyholder Demoness Bk. 02 Ch. 03

"Oh! This is awesome!" Faith exclaimed - her mouth full. "You're right! This jerky tastes a lot like beef! Charity, you have to try this!"

Charity slowly got off the rock she was sitting on and walked around the fire pit that Empusa had set up. Empusa tore off a piece of jerky and handed it to Charity. Empusa had pulled out two padded stools from the supplies on the cart, one of which she handed to Faith. She had apologized profusely to Charity who had to settle for a knobby rock which she rooted out of a nearby thicket.

"We haven't had any meat for over two weeks!" Faith was explaining to Empusa.

Charity sat down on her rock and examined the scraggly, dried up piece of old meat. The smell was not particularly appealing.

"It's good, Baby. Try it!"

Charity held her breath and grasped a bit between her teeth. It was tough and rubbery and it took a bit of work to tear off a small piece. She took a few chews and the taste slowly washed across her tongue. Immediately, Charity felt her stomach begin to churn. The jerky tasted like something that had been rotting in the sun - like a dead antelope after two days on hot asphalt.

Charity stood up frowning. She handed the remaining portion to Faith frantically wondering what she could do that would be least offensive to their new host, while allowing her to be rid of the offensive carrion in her mouth. Her decision was robbed from her when her stomach muscles lurched and the jerky and a fair amount of drool poured from her mouth. Charity coughed and spit a few times desperately trying to get rid of the taste.

"Sorry," Faith apologized to Empusa. "She can be dramatic sometimes."

"That's OK," Empusa said, smirking slightly. "I have some more fruit that she can eat."

"Sorry," Charity sputtered, still trying to find a way to get the taste out of her mouth.

"Why don't you help me feed the ponygirls, Dearie?" Empusa said.

Garnet and Hazel had been standing by the side of the cart. Empusa had locked fetters around Hazel's ankles connected by a short chain. Hobbling one of the ponygirls, effectively hobbled both since the two were connected by a four foot chain, the ends, of which, were embedded in each ponygirl's lower back.

Charity followed Empusa to the cart quietly spitting occasionally - still struggling with the vile taste permeating her tongue. When they approached, the ponygirls perked up and huddled in close. "They're ready to eat," Empusa explained.

She pulled out a stack of metal bowls and lined three up on the rail of the cart. Next she pulled out some plump berries and a bag of dry, sliced oat-like grains which she distributed in each bowl.

As she rewrapped the remaining stores, the two ponygirls stepped up to the cart and bent over the bowls. They used their tongues to lap at the food, rising up occasionally with fruit juice and oats sticking to their chins.

"Hopefully, this will be more to your liking, Dearie," Empusa said, gently tapping the third bowl. "You can give any that you don't finish to the girls. They will be more than happy to..." - Empusa paused for a second - "...clean your bowl." Then Empusa walked back over to the fire and sat back on her stool, immediately returning to her conversation with Faith.

Charity turned back to the cart and looked at the two ponygirls licking at their bowls. Their tongues must have been modified somewhat too - they were quite long.

At least the fruit smelled good. Charity began picking at the various bits of food in the bowl. It all tasted even better. Back over by the fire, Faith and Empusa were laughing loudly about something causing Charity to glance over. She turned back towards the cart to continue eating. Garnet and Hazel had finished their meals already. Now both were standing staring at Charity - watching her hand carefully as she reached into the bowl and brought another chunk of fruit up to her mouth. Both shifted on their feet a little - edging slightly closer to Charity. Their eyes were constantly shifting between Charity's mouth and the bowl of food.

"Alright!" Charity said. "For fuck's sake!"

She picked out two pieces of juicy fruit - one in each hand - and lifted them up to the ponygirls. Both smiled and stepped closer. Charity was just going to pop the fruit in their mouths, but the ponygirls extended their tongues and basically pulled the fruit from her fingers. They were not content to simply slurp the fruit up though, both began sucking on her fingers and running their tongues up and down her palms making Charity giggle quietly.

She spent the next five minutes hand feeding the ponygirls until all the food was gone.

"All gone," she said, holding up her empty hands. "All gone."

The ponygirls stared at her and her empty hands for a moment until Hazel bent over and began licking the juice and stray oats from Garnet's chin and cheeks. Soon Garnet was providing the same service for Hazel which precipitated what appeared to be a particularly sloppy, noisy makeout session between the two ponygirls.

"Ohh kay, then," Charity said quietly. She suddenly realized that there was something arousing about these two armless, but statuesque women engaged in such an intimate act. "Fuck! I'm horny..."

Charity turned to clean up the bowls. She was thinking about Hope. Hopefully, she was nearby watching. There was a rattle of chain behind her and suddenly Charity felt a tongue slide up her cheek and across her ear. Charity emitted a short squeaking sound. Garnet's tongue had tickled! She stepped to the side and bumped her head into Hazel's breast. The tall ponygirl had stepped around with her own tongue extended trying to lick Charity's face.

"Are you ok over there?" Empusa asked from her stool by the fire.

"I'm good," Charity said, still gently fending off the advances of Hazel and Garnet.

"Don't let the girls dominate you," Empusa said, and she turned back to the fire and her conversation with Faith.

<>--+-

As night fell, Empusa declared that she had a second sleeping pad. She suggested that Faith use the pad. Since she was smaller, Charity could share a large blanket that Empusa laid out for the ponygirls. For the past two weeks, Charity had been sleeping on piles of gathered leaves, so any trepidation she had about sleeping next to two tall, naked, muscular women was far outweighed by the comfort of a little extra padding.

As they all turned in for the night, Empusa strapped and buckled a particularly effective blindfold over Garnet's head. With the blindfold, Garnet was dependent on Hazel, who was hobbled by a short chain, to move about the camp. Empusa explained that she switched the hobbles and blindfold between the ponygirls each night.

"Of course, they have no desire to run off," Empusa said, "but, they may wander off on a whim or some noise in the night may spook them. It's also not unheard of that someone might like to steal them. They are magnificent beasts after all."

"There are thieves out here?" Charity asked, staring into the night. She was worried about Hope - alone out in the darkness.

"There are nature witches who dwell out in the wilderness," Empusa explained.

"Nature witches?!"

"Yes. They are fairly solitary and generally benign. Their power usually only encompasses healing wounds, agricultural concerns... things like that. Villages often actually benefit from their services, so we often consider them to be a blessing. On the other hand, though, they are not always predictable. Sometimes they can be mischievous or destructive," Empusa explained as she led the ponygirls to their blanket. "It seems nature witches tend to prefer to commune with women whose callings are more animalistic, like ponygirls. But, probably never with joined ponygirls like Hazel and Garnet."

Charity looked out into the darkness wondering if Hope was considered a nature witch. She definitely knew a lot about which plants to eat and which to avoid.

"I've had a sense today as we've traveled that perhaps there is a nature witch nearby," Empusa said. "But don't fret about it, dearie. They know who the queen is." She winked at Charity. "Just stay close to the camp."

Faith, meanwhile, was laying on the sleeping pad that Empusa had given her. She was rubbing her lower abdomen.

"Are you OK, Sissy?" Charity asked.

"Yeah, Babe," Faith responded. "My period is starting soon. We should have brought some ibuprofen when we jumped through the portal."

"Oh!" Charity responded. She hadn't had a period in almost half a year - ever since she started wearing the chastity belt. She realized that she hadn't even thought about having one, which...

"I've got something to help with that," Empusa said, and she went to the cart to dig around in one of the crates.

"Are you doing ok, Babe?" Faith asked quietly.

"I'm worried about Hope," Charity whispered.

"I heard a distant rattle of chain when I was filling the water bottles down by the river. She is keeping up with us. This is her home turf. She'll be fine," Faith whispered back.

Charity looked at the two ponygirls, who had settled down on the blanket next to each other. They seemed to be engrossed in one another. They were facing each other with their legs entwined. Despite the fact that Garnet was blindfolded, Charity noticed that they would both smile at the same time. Charity started to wonder if they were communicating somehow. If so, she wondered how complex their thoughts were. What were they saying to each other?

Charity lay down on her side with her back to the ponygirls. She heard a shifting of weight and then a quiet huffing of breath. It sounded like the ponygirls were laughing. Garnet pushed her foot out and slid it along the back of Charity's calf. Charity moved slightly away as though she thought the touch was inadvertent.

There was more huffing and quiet snickering. She also heard some smacking sounds like they were kissing. After Empusa smothered the fire, the night settled in around the camp. Charity lay as still as possible trying to fall asleep. The ponygirls were mostly quiet, but they had not settled yet. There was a soft sort of rhythmic shifting - an occasional quiet gasp of air. Somehow they were having sex.

Charity imagined one was grinding her crotch against the other's thigh. They were so close that she could feel the heat from their bodies. Charity wondered if she should get up and give them some privacy. But, it was pitch dark. What would she do? Where would she go? She decided to pretend she was asleep.

She started thinking about Hope again. Garnet let go a breathy grunt and Charity noticed that she was becoming really horny. Two beautiful, armless women were having sex right next to her. There was a heavy sigh and then the sound of heavy breathing. One of them had had an orgasm.

"Fuck!" Charity thought to herself. "Mute, half animal, armless women are able to have orgasms. But not me!"

Garnet rolled over with a light rattle of chain. Her breasts brushed Charity's back. Charity continued to lay as still as possible, pretending to be asleep. Garnet pressed her lips onto the top of Charity's head and gave her the lightest peck of a kiss. Then she settled back and lay still. Charity listened to Garnet's breathing slow down and become deeper wondering why she had kissed her.

It took a long time for Charity to fall asleep.

When Charity awoke again it was still pitch black in the forest. She was standing and there was a cool breeze blowing over her naked skin. Charity wrapped her arms around herself. Her shirt was gone. So were her pants.

"Faith?" she said quietly.

Where was the camp? She was standing alone, naked in the forest. She wanted to scream for Faith or for Hope, but she thought of the predators that Empusa had mentioned. She thought of the nature witches.

She tried to look around but clouds had rolled in and snuffed out the moon. She couldn't see anything. She reached out her hands blindly. She took a few steps and stopped. She had no idea which way she came from or which way to go back to the camp. "Faith? Hope?"

She decided she should sit down and wait for the sun to start to rise. As she was starting to feel around for a place to sit she noticed a dim light bouncing around some distance away. Charity immediately thought of will-o-wisps and other fantastic ghost stories from her childhood. She watched the light. It looked like a small ball of flickering flame.

She heard a voice calling. "Oh! Thank god!" It sounded like Faith. "Faith!" she called out. "Faith!"

The flame started moving toward her. "Charity?"

"Faith! I'm here," Charity started moving towards the light.

"Baby! What the fuck are you doing?" Faith said as she walked close enough for the torch light to illuminate the area around Charity. "Why did you run off... Where are your clothes?"

"I don't know," Charity cried and she hugged her sister. "I woke up and I was here and I couldn't see anything. I didn't know where the camp was."

"You can't go running off into the woods like this," Faith admonished her.

"No fucking shit, Faith! I was asleep!"

"I'm sorry, Babe. I was just worried," Faith said, holding Charity tight for a moment. "Let's get back to camp."

They stumbled through the woods for some time before they saw the light of a campfire. When they made it back to the camp, Empusa was using a long stick to drop something into the fire. The flames quickly began to consume the new fuel. Charity suddenly realized it was her asylum scrubs.

"Wait!" Charity said. "What are you doing? Those are the only clothes I have!"

"I found them over the ridge there," Empusa said, pointing out into the distance. "They were covered in urine from a men (tick) (click) olay hoya... Uh... it's a large predator - particularly odorous urination. They use it to mark prey."

"But they were the only clothes that I have!" Charity said.

"One whiff of those soiled pants and we could have every beast in the valley tracking us. This is the best option," Empusa explained. She poked the clothes a little deeper into the flames.

"What am I supposed to do?" Charity said. "Walk around naked?"

"Why not?" Empusa said. She turned and smiled at Charity. "This world is not like yours, dearie. Clothes are not required - even in the cities. Besides, those clothes were ill-fitting and mostly purposeless. They wouldn't even keep you warm in the winter. You only wore them due to your societally ingrained illusion that they provided some sense of modesty. That society does not live here."

Charity looked at Faith, who only shrugged. "The ponygirls are naked," she suggested.

Charity frowned. "Fine! Give me your clothes, then."

Faith was apparently in no mood to bicker with Charity this morning. "Don't leave your clothes all over the fucking woods in the middle of the night!" She picked up several empty jugs and stalked off down the hill towards the river.

<>--+-

The sun had finally arisen. Empusa was scrubbing the ponygirls' feet with a brush and water. After drying their feet she was lacing them into their walking boots.

"Sit up here," Empusa said, pointing to the edge of the cart.

Charity climbed up with her feet dangling in the air. Empusa set the bucket of water on the ground near Charity.

"I'm going to check your feet. Have you been barefoot the entire time you've been here?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing any shoes when we came through the portal," Charity explained as Empusa started scrubbing the dirt from her feet.

"You look like you are in pretty good shape. You have good calluses," Empusa said. "Did you often go barefoot before?"

"Not too much," Charity said. Empusa continued scrubbing and rinsing. "I wouldn't think that it would be the d... du... the job of a queen to wash a stranger's feet. Thank you, though. It feels good to be clean."

"My pleasure," Empusa said. "As queen, it is my calling to care for all the land and all its beasts."

Faith came jogging into the camp. "I got one!" She was holding up an arrow with a moderately sized fish skewered on it. Empusa had given her some basic lessons with a bow earlier. "Breakfast!"

Empusa helped Faith gut the fish and showed her how to cook it over the fire. Then she returned to the cart and pulled out the three metal bowls and filled them with fruit and grains. As Hazel and Garnet started slurping at their bowls, Charity realized that the third bowl was meant for her.

Empusa was walking back to the fire with two plates. She and Faith were apparently going to share the fish. There probably was only enough for two people. Charity looked at the bowl of fruit on the edge of the cart. She looked down at her naked flesh - at the designs embossed in the metal of her chastity belt. She looked at the naked ponygirls eating next to her. She looked at Faith sitting on a stool over by the fire talking excitedly about her fishing expedition with Empusa. Then she looked back at the bowl of fruit. It was very tasty fruit and the ponygirls were already starting to look at Charity's bowl even as they ate their own breakfasts. She figured that she better start eating it quickly. The other beasts might try to steal it from her.

<>--+-

The sun was high in the sky. After walking for hours along the lonely mountain road, Empusa had finally signaled for a rest break along a marsh-like lowland. While Empusa wiped down the ponygirls with a damp cloth, Faith and Charity found a log to sit on where they could quietly talk in private.

"Babe, we're going to find Blue and Dammasch. We'll get that belt off of you, OK?" Faith said, hugging Charity close and kissing the top of her head.

"I feel like I've already been de... de-mo... Fuck! Fuck! I can't think of the word... Fuck it! Am I going to be a ponygirl, Faith?"

"No, silly. You are far too short to be a ponygirl," Faith said smiling. "Maybe a Shetland ponygirl."

Charity pushed Faith. "Come on! That's not funny!"

"Sorry, Babe! I promise I will take care of you, OK?" Faith said. "Tell me what I have in my pocket."

Charity smiled, oddly finding pleasure that Faith was actively checking on Charity. "Um... You have a gun with four bullets, and a cell phone with a dead... A dead... It's a dead cell phone..."

"Why is it dead, Baby?" Faith asked, gently.

Suddenly, Empusa walked up with a knife and a large orange carrot-looking root. "You should each have a bite of this 'azena'. Come!"

Faith stood up and helped Charity to her feet as well. Empusa walked over to the cart where Hazel was busy licking Garnet's neck. Empusa washed the dirt off the root and cut five slim slices.

"This root is packed with magical and medicinal elements. It really boosts your energy. It keeps you from getting sick."

She put a piece in Garnet's mouth, then Hazel's, then her own. She handed the last two pieces to Faith. Faith handed a slice to Charity and they tossed the slice into their mouths. Charity started chewing. The texture was about the same as a water chestnut. Suddenly, the most awful taste blossomed across her tongue.

"Oh! Yuck!" Charity exclaimed. Faith seemed to be grimacing as well.

"Don't spit it out! Swallow!" Empusa said, laughing. She stuck tongue out and made a "blech" sound, as well. "It tastes awful, but it's really good for you."

Even the ponygirls' mouths were twisted in distress. They were starting to stamp their feet on the ground.

"See this plant?" Empusa said with a hand over her mouth. "It is deep green and has these zigzag-y leaves."

The area they were standing was overgrown with the plant Empusa was pointing at. She plucked a number of the leaves and shoved them in her mouth - quickly chewing. She grabbed some more and shoved them in Hazel and Garnet's mouths as well. Faith grabbed a few as well, chewing frantically, then nodding for Charity to do the same.

The moment Charity bit the first leaf a fresh tingling sensation spread over her tongue. For a moment it took her breath away and then she laughed. Her head was crystal clear. She could breathe easily. She felt great. Faith was laughing as well.