Moonlight Temple: The Satyr

Diokles was getting even more uncomfortable. "I don't know what you're talking about, I gave you everything I owed you last-" "You ransacked our room," Alexios said, cutting him off. "Give us back our money and anything else you took,'' he said clenching his hands into fists. Diokles's eyes grew angry "shove off boy!" he said taking a step back "this doesn't concern you!" "That medallion is mine! I'm not asking for it back!" The thief took another step back and the fat man who had been standing quietly to the side took a step forward. "He's right you know," said Aphrodisia casually, while not taking her eyes off the larger man "you WILL turn out your pockets, this isn't up to debate."

Alexios noticed that her eyes were beginning to dilate again like a wolf ready for a fight. There was silence for a beat, then another, then Diokles spoke. "Pelagius, kill them both!" he yelled as he turned and ran into the forest. The fat man reached for the sword on his belt. Aphrodisia already had her out and charged at her opponent bringing her weapon down on him.

Pelagius was barely able to get his weapon out of its sheath and into a defensive position to catch the warrior woman's attack. Alexios didn't care, he was already sprinting after Diokles, who already had a few seconds' heads start. As he looked behind him he could see Aphrodisia driving the fat man back with blow after blow, the sound of metal on metal filling the air and fading away as Alexios ran further and further into the forest.

Alexios pursued him with relentless determination, everything else in the world seemed insubstantial; they were all things he could push past or dance around in his mad sprint to keep pace with the thief. He had become used to running but usually, he was the one being chased, either way, he had picked up a few tricks on how to move fast without getting caught in tree branches or rocks.

No matter how much he jumped, ducked, and evaded around the various implements of the dark forest Diokles always seemed to be a few feet out of his reach. Eventually, he stopped as he emerged into a clearing, the only reason why he paused was that the break in the trees and vegetation gave way to a cliff. Beneath it was an almost one hundred feet drop into a lowlands area.

Diokles turned around, desperation and fear were in his eyes, Alexios no longer needed to run, he had the man cornered as he marched towards him. "It's just some jewelry!" yelled Diokles searching in vain for a way out, "There's more priceless gold in the world out there! You don't need to go to war with me."

Alexios was beyond impatient at that point grabbing at Diokles's left arm that still held the medallion. He managed to grab the criminal's forearm and catch his right arm as it attempted to push him away. The scrawny man tried to pull away but Alexios gave him no quarter. The two struggled on the cliff, each trying to get the medallion away from the other.

Alexios wasn't sure when Diokles stumbled off the cliff but he remembered him suddenly feeling lighter like he was slipping away. As he fell Alexios somehow managed to grab the medallion out of his palm, he was reaching for his hand but that was the only thing he could grab, the rest of the thief plummeted off the cliff, his scream slowly fading as he fell further down eventually the young scribe was left in dead silence.

The young scribe remembered sitting there, trying to comprehend what had just happened. In his mind, he tried desperately to shift the blame of the circumstances away from him but the truth always came back to him. The thief was dead because of him.

****

Alexios walked back to the clearing, the events of the past few minutes replaying over and over in his head. As much as he still tried to dismiss what had happened he couldn't shake the disgust he felt over his actions, he had ended a man's life. Diokles was the lowest kind of scum but killing someone, anyone, felt profoundly wrong. Alexios was not a religious person but he felt uniquely damned by his actions.

As he stumbled back, half in a trance, his attention was caught by the sound of encroaching footsteps. Aphrodisia emerged from the trees clearly having won her fight. "Where is he? Did you get the medallion back?" She asked. Instantly she could sense that something was wrong but seeing the medallion in her partner's hand indicated that that was not the problem.

"What's wrong? Did you kill him?" Alexios just stared out into the distance like he was looking at something a thousand miles away. "I don't- I'm leaving, I don't want to talk about it." Not even trying to sound confident and sure of himself, the younger man turned to leave. "I took our bags to a cave not far from here, I can show you the way," she said.

She was not wrong, it didn't take them long to get to the cave. While there Alexios sat near the entrance, once again staring into nothingness. Aphrodisia tried to start a fire but couldn't bring herself to ignore the obvious distress her partner was in. Abandoning her attempt to put a spark to some dry branches she approached the younger scribe and put her hand on his shoulder.

"You did nothing wrong," she said, trying to be comforting. "He would have killed you and felt no remorse, you just did what you had to" Alexios nodded but continued to stare down at the medallion in his hands. She wasn't sure if he had even heard her.

That night she was in charge of the campsite, normally she would have Alexios start the fire and cook the food but she took it upon herself to take care of everything available.

Alexios ate nothing and barely responded to any questions or prompts she gave him. The silence was becoming oppressive in the small cave, the gray sky overhead made her feel like she was attending a funeral. She had never felt uncomfortable with silence till now. As the dim light darkened and night fell, the younger partner quietly crawled under his blanket and slept, or at least he pretended to.

Aphrodisia found herself unable to sleep, somewhere in her mind she tried to tell herself to ignore the situation unfolding, Alexios would overcome his internal struggle eventually. The rest of her could not turn her eyes away from the clear despair he was in.

She had to do something to lift his spirits and after sitting by the fire for a few hours an idea came to her. She got up and began to head back in the direction of the satyr's totem.

She knew little of satyr but what she did was that they couldn't help themselves when they saw a woman, and if this creature gave people guidance perhaps she could charm it into helping her find the answers that Alexios so desperately searched for.

****

Aphrodisia re-entered the clearing of the shrine, the stone obelisk still standing where it had been hours ago. The darkness and the moonlight gave the environment a different almost alien feel but she was no stranger to such a phenomenon. Everywhere looked different under the cover of darkness.

As she stood in front of the stone structure there was a rustling sound behind her. With a hand on her sword hilt, she spun around. Something fell out of the tree tops, like an overripe fruit. It landed only a few feet away from Aphrodisia. The figure was tall, taller even than Aphrodisia, standing t almost seven feet with purplish skin and long dark hair. On its head were two sets of horns, one that extended forward then up and one that curled backward around its ears. Its eyes were like that of a wolf or a jaguar, two yellow predatory, glowing orbs that hung in the darkness.

At first, Aphrodisia had thought that it wore a black waist cloth but a closer examination disproved that theory. Its legs were covered in a thick, fur-like layer of hair. Its knees bent inwards like the hind legs of a goat and ended in a pair of hoves.

Aphrodisia had never seen a satyr but she could assume that this is what she searched for. With a clop, the creature stepped forward. Instinctively the warrior woman drew her sword from its scabbard and placed it between the two. This didn't slow down the creature as it continued to slowly advance.

Her eyes were drawn to the rest of its body, it was lean but muscular. Its purple muscles looked like they were chiseled from rock. Every step causes its veins to pulse almost purposefully. Aphrodisia shook her head, she needed to focus.

But she found that too difficult. The creature was not human but had the face of a man, the face of a man who was determined and stoic. Its face betrayed no emotion. And its eyes. Its eyes were mesmerizing. She should have been terrified of the primal glow that they emitted but she found it impossible to look away.

She expected to feel intense fear, the same her ancestors felt when being hunted by large predatory cats but instead she felt a different primal sensation. Her knees felt weak for the first time since she was ten years old, her hands shaking for the first time in her life.

She tried to keep the sword pointed at the creature but it felt as heavy as a bolder and her arms felt like jelly. She didn't even realize she had dropped her sword, a cardinal sin for a warrior, till she heard it clatter to the floor. All the while she couldn't bring herself to break eye contact with the still advancing creature.

Now the satyr stood right in front of Aphrodisia. She was now understanding what primal urge had emerged from an almost instinctual level. Her whole body was ablaze with a thousand sensations, it was almost too much for her.

Without thinking she threw herself at the horned creature, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his chest. Everything about him, from his intoxicating scent to his warm body filled her with the animalistic urge to mate.

Unable to hold her own weight, Aphrodisia fell to her knees trailing kisses across his rock-hard chest and stomach. When she found herself below his stomach she came face to face with a penis of terrifying size. She audibly gasped at such an amazing specimen and how it could have been concealed beneath the satyr's thick and soft coat of fur.

Gripping the creature's mighty shaft with both hands, she forced as much of it as she could into her mouth, only generously able to engulf half of his manhood. The temporary gag Aphrodisia experienced did nothing to slow her down. She continued to massage and stroke the creature's thick log of meat while stimulating the head with her soft lips and tongue.

She feverishly relished every sensation she was being subjected to, from the taste of its seed slowly leaking out, to the feel of every vein and muscle on the satyr's monster cock. Without a second thought, she tore off her loincloth to fondle her sopping wet womanhood.

Suddenly a hand gripped her hair, just high enough to cause a sliver of exciting pain, and wrenched her away. Aphrodisia didn't realize how much she needed a breath until the penis was out of her mouth, she found herself gasping for air. Perhaps the satyr had stopped her for her own safety, any and all inhibitions she had been obliterated.

Two strong hands gripped her under her arms and lifted her like she was a child. She found herself now face to face with the handsome creature, she wanted to reach forward and kiss it but it was out of range and she couldn't move her arms in that position.

The creature brought her close to him, so much so that her large breasts were mashed up against his chest. He then began to lower her down till she felt the tip of his manhood brush against her thighs. Stretching her insides further than they had ever been, the satyr shoved his entire cock inside her.

Aphrodisia threw her head back and let out an almost inhuman scream of pain and joy. It wasted no time pumping her up and down its massive staff, each movement eliciting a gasping scream of pleasure from the warrior woman. Within seconds she had been brought to the most climactic orgasm that had ever ravaged her body, at the same time she could feel wave after wave of the creature's seed filling her with a waterfall-like intensity.

She was abruptly released, falling to the grassy floor with a wet thud. She could barely tell where she was, her mind was a thousand miles away and still trying to recover from the mighty orgasm she had just experienced.

The Satyr let her rest for a few seconds before flipping her on her face, grabbing her waist, and pulling it up. Once again it entered her without warning or preparation, this time was not as painful but just as pleasurable. With furious speed, it began pumping into her. The sound of its thighs slapping against her ass paired with her rhythmic gasps of ecstasy created a lewd chorus of sounds.

Aphrodisia gripped the dirt and grass in her fists as she felt another climax building. The satyr threw its head back and roared as an explosion of cum drenched his latest playmate. She fell face into the dirt, panting and exhausted but the creature wouldn't let her rest yet.

This continued throughout the night. Over and over again Aphrodisia would be ravaged and used by the seemingly insatiable creature. It was like dying, everything but her and the satyr seemed to melt away into irrelevance, and every orgasm seemed to blend.

She couldn't even remember how it finally ended, all she remembered was the creature walking away during what she had assumed to be a brief rest in its never-ending assault. "Wait," she said weakly. It turned to look at her, its face the same mask it had worn the whole time. "I-I need to know something" her throat was dry and the act of speaking was herculean for her.

Wordlessly the creature clopped up to her and pressed a single finger on her forehead. All the exhaustion melted away, and all the sensations she had felt along with the weight of her body were gone in an instant. She felt she was floating on a cloud.

She blinked and she was standing or floating, in a desert. She saw a massive stone structure built into the side of a mountain. Two hooded figures stood at its entrance, she couldn't hear the words but she could tell an argument was being had.

She blinked again. One of the hooded figures walked across the desert, the mountain building nowhere in sight. He wore a purple cloak and four others dressed in the same colors walked behind him. The leader looked to his left. There was a massive tower in the distance, the sun just above it making it look like a gigantic torch. Aphrodisia recognized that structure, it was called the tower of helios in the desert city of Nicopolis. She blinked again and now the five hooded figures were in a different terrain, with more grass, and less sand. She blinked again, only four hooded figures walked through a forest now, she recognized it as the forest near Snakemouth.

She blinked again and the figures were collecting rocks and stone, stacking them in piles. This was also near Snakemouth, the exact same place some of the ruins Alexios had been examining where. Blinking one last time she found herself back in the present, back in the dirt, aching and tired. The satyr looked down on her one last time and began to slowly walk into the forest, sweat glistening in the morning sun. "T-thank you," Aphrodisia muttered.

The creature stopped. Its head half turned, its glowing eye looking back at her almost mournfully. "Be careful what you seek," it said in a surprisingly soft voice. Despite her abject exhaustion, a stab of surprise ran through Aphrodisia. It had not uttered a single word nor a sound the entire night, this was the first indication it was capable of speech. With that, the satyr disappeared into the bushes of the forest, gone as if it had never been there.

Aphrodisia struggled to her feet, every muscle in her body demanded rest but she knew if she closed her eyes she would sleep for the rest of the day, and the knowledge she learned would be lost. Kept standing by nothing but two shaking feet and her iron will Aphrodisia began to head back to Alexios.

*****

Alexios woke to find himself alone, at first he considered the fact that his partner had abandoned him but quickly dismissed that as all her belongings were still in the cave. She was probably out hunting or doing some other activity that the scribe had no interest in or care for. As he got out of his bed he felt a presence behind him. Someone was walking up to the cave.

Outside he could see that Aphrodisia was stumbling down the path to the cave. He almost gasped when he saw the state she was in. Being stark naked was not his point of concern, she had no problem with nudity. His concern came from the fact that she was caked in dirt and looked completely deflated. She looked like she had been in a fight and lost badly.

Filled with a concern he didn't know he possessed, Alexios rushed out of the cave to his traveling partner. When she got close she collapsed onto him. She was not someone of lightweight and it took a lot of Alexios's strength not to fall over with her.

With great effort, he was able to lay her down on the ground and in his lap. "What happened to you?" he asked, his voice almost cracking with concern. "She opened her mouth and at first no sensible words wore spoken. As he strained his hearing he could make out what she was attempting to communicate.

"Your temple" She gasped ".Your temple is west-" there was a pause for her to catch her breath "is-is west of the city... of Nicopolis."

Alexios was filled with more questions than answers. "How do you know this?" He asked in a panicked voice. "Satyr... told me"

****

A short while later, Alexios was fetching some water in a bucket out of a nearby stream. Aphrodisia had a particular focus on her hygiene and when she woke from the almost dead-like slumber she was in she would need to wash off all the dirt she was covered in. As Alexios scooped more water into the wooden pail he could not help but ruminate on all that had happened in the past few hours.

It was almost overwhelming, not just his altercation with Diokles or the fact that for the first time in his journey he had a solid idea of where to go. What occupied his thoughts was the question of why Aphrodisia had gone to any effort to help his quest. If her answers were true, and Alexios dared to dream they were, he was on the right path. But why had she gone to such great lengths to help him?

He could ask her when she woke up but the only answer he could find confused him. Did she actually care for him?