Sufferance Ch. 08

My eyes made out three individual four-legged and shaggy creatures, unfamiliar to me yet enough to cause a surge of success to fill me as I recognized the tackle of domestication very much like our lizard mounts. The animal was stocky, straight-legged, cloven-hoofed, and thick-furred, smelling of something that did not eat much flesh. The neck was long like a lizard's but donned with a stiff brush of hair trimmed to stand straight up; its tail was cropped and wagged anxiously back and forth across its dung-portal.

In candlelight I thought it might have been white in color, and the diminutive size made it suitable for the shorter dwarf race as mounts, though it was not lacking in muscle to carry such weight. My sitting astride one would see me a bit long, my legs in particular, but I would be a much lighter burden compared to an armored Duergar.

My head still hurt but I was calm enough thinking that I could actually guide one of these creatures, and the image of Panagan running headlong after Jael, thinking me still completely out of the hunt with an injured leg, spurred me into crawling out of the tunnel and moving carefully down the rocks toward where the mounts drank their water.

"Ihnkrow, ihnkrow," I murmured softly, and two of the mounts looked up with perked, tufted ears. Their eyes were on the sides of their heads, deep black and capable of making out movement most of the way around them—except perhaps right in front of them. Two small black horns jutted straight up from between their ears.

"Ishton yekh," I kept saying, seeing that it kept them calm as I approached. "Ihnkrow."

One of them snorted and started to back up against its lead, making the other two nervous as well—it was either my scent or that of the blood—but I made one final reach to snag the end of a lead and hold on tightly, preventing one from simply moving away a few paces with the other two, keeping the same space between us until I tired of following it.

"Nice try," I grinned, barely balancing on one foot as I pulled at the lead, drawing the beast of burden closer.

I didn't like the scent much; it was earthy and far too musky, and the coat was oily and reminded me of the male Duergar's—of Kain's—wiry, white beard. However, I had little choice as this was quite obviously my ride home, and the only way I might make Panagan's victory a little harder to achieve.

I unhooked the lead from the bridle and hobbled to get myself in position to grasp the knob on the hard leather saddle. I could practically have bent myself belly-down over the animal's without jumping, so I felt fortunate that I suffered only about half as much pain lifting my damaged leg over as I would have with a lizard. The hairy beast shifted and side-stepped as I lay my body along its back, gathering the reins and trying to ignore how much my leg was paining me.

This creature couldn't climb walls the way the lizards could, I knew, though they did have extraordinary balance for their rocky environment. Nonetheless, I'd have to stick to more established, somewhat level pathways, which only increased my chances of running into company. I didn't like it, but it was my best option still.

"Hyah," I said, tugging my beast in the direction of my City before kicking its side with one good leg. "Hyishta!"

The furry mount whiffled through those wide nostrils in response, responding to my confident guidance, and started a sturdy trot, carrying me quickly along the ground with cloven hooves not nearly as noisy as I had expected them to be. Even with my bad leg, my ability to cling to its back allowed greater dexterity over boulders and gutters, and despite its smell I had to admit the mount was incredibly useful traveling quickly over uneven stone. I loosened the reins a bit, giving it more of its head, and our speed picked up though I kept it to a sustainable level.

It would not take long to overtake Panagan and Jael on foot, provided they left enough sign. Then we'd have some real fun.

*****

I traveled closer toward the deep earth pulse of my birthplace, and like the time before, I knew time passed but didn't know how much as my body was sorely tested.

Eventually after I had gotten the hang of guiding the dwarven mount, I had stopped briefly to remove the Feldeu with some great difficulty while still atop my ride. Nevermind the awkward balance and my injuries, it had hurt much more coming out of my body than it ever had, having never been satisfied. I was glad to tie it securely to my belt and let my birth canal slowly shrink back to its normal size.

My endurance was flagging just as I sluggishly realized so was my prey—it was a long way and we were all tiring. I doubted many previous Red Sisters hunting a recruit had needed to follow their target all the way from the starting point of an initiate's test.

Jael had run into something, I thought, as I passed a bloated, scaly body now poisoning a pool of water, covered with short sword wounds and not four marks old. A little Drow blood had been spilled, and I also found Panagan's bootprints outlined in a splash of the black blood as well. I saw it definitely was not her fullest stride, and I continued on my mount without stopping to rest.

I was catching up, and the furry body beneath me had shown extraordinary endurance, so long as I kept the pace steady. It had been when I pushed too hard, or too irregularly, that the animal seemed confused and would fail to obey directions. Maybe we could keep it at the cloister after I returned. No sense slaughtering the thing when it had been so well-trained.

I recognized the point where I had stopped before, going off the known path and finding that alternate water-way to avoid the sentries. We were close. I had to catch Panagan, if not Jael, before the sentries met them. And I would, because I truly had the element of surprise.

Or I would have, if Panagan hadn't stopped to sight-see for some silly reason. I unexpectedly came upon her after rounding a bend, still a good distance from the checkpoint.

Oh well, I still enjoyed her initial expression of plain, open-mouthed disbelief.

I drew my crossbow-pistol and shot at her before kicking the beast forward with a scratching of pointed hooves against deep earth. The bolt missed her—I was far too tired and in too much pain to have made such a quick shot an accurate one—but she yelled and ducked, rolling as if expecting to be trampled, and that suited me just fine.

I yanked back on the reins to stop right next to her and dropped off to the ground on top of her, landing my good knee in the big muscle of her thigh.

Such a satisfying scream. It was worth the bone-jarring agony of willingly falling off my mount.

New energy fueled by my desire for revenge poured through me, and I found that I could rise partway over her. I drew back my fist to punch Panagan hard in the face, stunning her as I lost my balance and fell forward, my chest smooshing her face and partially suffocating her. I felt her hands grasping for anything on my belt and I rolled just enough to jab my knuckles against her throat.

"Tell you what?" I gasped. "Forget Jael... I thrust, you swallow."

She glared at me as she struggled to do simply that: swallow. She winced in pain and coughed several times. I scanned her belt for a healing potion, recognized one bottle, and went for it.

It was a hard struggle; perhaps I shouldn't have taken the time to taunt her. We grappled over the bottle for a while before a particularly painful fall on some rocks brought the potion down too hard and the glass shattered in our hands. Enough spilled into the palm of my glove, I thought, that I quickly brought it to my mouth and strained it by pressing the warming liquid to the roof of my mouth. I spat back out a few tiny shards of glass with one still stuck in my inner cheek.

"Crazy slut!" she snarled hoarsely.

I laughed. It had worked. The swelling in my leg was reducing at a rapid pace and my head was quickly clearing of its fatigue and its dull ache. I'd be able to stand in another thirty seconds. I flicked at the remaining piece of glass with my tongue as the cut healed and spit it out at her face; I saw it glint harmlessly off her cheek.

"Fuck you, Sirana." She licked at her own glove, clearly needing the extra pep after the long tracking and hunting.

"Take down your pants. I'll oblige."

Panagan struggled harder, this time trying to get away from me. I tried to hold her but couldn't stand quite yet when she escaped and went straight for my mount. I watched her put too much energy into hopping onto the short animal and she nearly went over the other side. I began laughing hysterically.

"Shut up!" she bellowed as she scrambled to right herself.

Her voice right next to the tufted ears scared the nervous creature and Panagan nearly fell off again when the furry beast side-stepped several paces before rising up on its hind legs, kicking outward and making a bleating wail of distress. She jerked too hard on the reins, trying to force the animal to obey her, and it spun nearly in a circle before bucking its hind legs up and out, neatly throwing the Red Sister off before bounding several strides away from the two scuffling Drow.

"Not as easy as it looks," I said gleefully, continuing to rock on the floor and laugh at her as my leg finished healing.

Panagan shook her head to clear it and gave me a murderous look. We were both still on the ground, barely able to catch our breaths.

"We both fucked up this hunt, you know," I said.

"Don't waste your breath," she replied with a snarl. "I don't want to hear whatever self-justified piece of trash would spill from y—"

"Red Sisters commonly leave each other to die on a mission, then?" I asked.

Her moment of silence was encouraging. Perhaps Qivni hadn't been lying or setting me up.

"Wasn't this hunt a mission?" I pressed.

"You interfered," she accused. "It isn't a true hunt. You should have let her die!"

"Yet you told her to run," I rebutted. "You tracked her the entire way. You always intended to catch her. And with me gone, you could claim a valid hunt. You must want to stay above Moria pretty bad."

"And you...what dung have you been pulling from nowhere? By Lolth's soggy snatch, what is that thing?" she gestured to my short furry beast now nibbling on some moss and sipping at seeping stone. "Where the fuck are you getting your knowledge?"

I replied with a wide grin. "I'm very lucky."

We lay there staring each other down for many long moments; only when I'd given my Sister enough time to consider the fact that we would both be giving our reports at the same time—that I'd be giving one at all—that I repeated: "You weren't supposed to leave me unable to walk, Panagan, and especially by your own action. Qivni won't be pleased."

"I didn't actually *break* your knee, you would have made it back eventually," was her reply, but she was looking unhappy. "Qivni would have looked the other way. She doesn't like you anyway."

"And Rausery?" I tested.

Ah, there was the source of worry now. I jumped on it.

"Tell you what. Rausery doesn't need to know about my little injury if—"

"She'll still be able to tell Jael was healed, Sirana," Panagan sneered. "You can't hide that. It would have been so much easier if you'd just stayed out there for a while. I could have handled it and we'd have all gotten what we wanted. Well, except you, but you were the one who wanted to trade your last potion for the recruit's life, so you reap what you sow."

"So I'll take the heat for that and you still capture Jael and present her to Rausery," I replied, leaning forward with more intensity. "I will say I twisted my ankle after we went our separate ways and found the creature in trying to get back. That's close enough."

My rival stared hard at me, silent for a few moments. "I don't see anything that you get out of that."

"That's because I haven't said yet." I let me eyes trail down slowly before going back up. "I hunted you, and I caught you, quite fairly. I want you to bend over. I want you to take down your leathers and let me mount you. After I've cum, you can go after Jael, get her, get the reward and be above Moria again. And I won't report to Rausery about your treachery."

Panagan's eyes had widened significantly. "When did you get a...." She didn't say the name.

"Not your concern. Jael's getting closer to the sentries, Panagan, you don't have much time," I reminded her. "I'll keep you here until some other Red Sister stumbles on her. You know they're watching. You'll lose your chance and I'll tell exactly what happened after I finished off the last Duergar in that tunnel you refused even to enter."

Her face flushed with tension in the dark; she didn't like her position. She wouldn't like her future position, either. I smiled.

"You want something else, you're after something else!" she insisted.

"True, but it doesn't concern you. All I want of yours right now is your tight hole."

Well, I wanted that, and her belief that she could best me. I wanted that stripped from her mind, even if officially she was still ranked above me.

She could never best me alone, and I wanted her never to forget it.

"Candle's burning," I said, staring at her. "Come on, Panagan...you'll get to see me punished over healing Jael regardless. You'll not be outed on your indiscretion, not while it matters, anyway. You know how time makes all sins seem less important, particularly when they result in failure anyway. Your ploy failed, I caught up with you, so I get to fuck you—but you don't have to take Rausery's punishment for it."

Panagan pursed her mouth and I watched her weigh giving me what I asked versus the tangible goal very near to hand. I had a good feeling which one would win. She'd been focused on this hunt for far longer than I had been and knew what she wanted out of it so badly. She could have it—provided she accepted it was at my tolerance.

I could almost read her comforting herself: it wasn't as if she wouldn't get another chance to dominate me sometime.

True—except that she wasn't one to think far enough ahead to make it intimidating for me. She had lost twice; I could never be intimidated by her again. She'd realize that at some point.

Panagan nodded at last. "Alright, but if you go back on your word, I'll tell Qivni you didn't really kill the Duergar and she escaped."

"We'd both pay for that one, not just me," I grinned, "and I brought proof anyway." I indicated the white furry mount wandering around grazing nearby. "Don't forget, I have a lot more knowledge than you about that. Just take it that I have more benefit in *not* getting into a 'she said' battle with you over this, Panagan. Bend over for me, take my Feldeu, then take Jael, and I stay silent. We go from there."

At last she agreed, still as bewildered at my bargain as I have been with some of D'Shea's orders. She knew she was missing a large part of the puzzle but could do little else but trust that what I wanted most wasn't petty revenge against her.

Well...except I did. That was why we were walking somewhere with more obstruction, less likely to be observed as she gave me what I wanted. It was petty revenge, just not my ultimate goal.

"Belly down, over that," I said, indicating a nice boulder about the perfect height. We were behind several more columns and stalagmites, well off the beaten path.

Panagan showed she was still a lower-ranking Sister with how readily she could undo her belt and open her leathers. She knew she was going to get fucked and was even showing just the slightest tremor of anticipation. I noted that she did not have a Feldeu on her at all when she removed her cloak and wondered just what she planned to do when she caught Jael....

Next she nudged down her pants to just below her buttocks and leaned over, presenting her backside to me as she rested her abdomen on the boulder, but she kept her belt grasped firmly in one hand and rather far from me as she braced herself.

She looked over her shoulder, watching me remove Gaelan's Feldeu from my belt and begin donning it. "Be quick. I have to have a real chance to catch her or our deal's off."

That was no threat to me. I was going to face a reckoning regardless, but I was going to mount her before it happened.

"I trust you don't want me to be *too* quick," I crooned, reaching to smooth my gloved fingers over her netherlips and sliding up to circle her pucker. I poked briefly at the dry hole and she grunted softly in protest.

"Yes, that's what I thought."

She didn't reply as I tugged her pants farther down, exposing more of her legs, first to her knees and then I decided to go all the way to the tops of her boots, running my gloves over her calves and the backs of her knees. She looked incredibly vulnerable.

"Then again, you didn't give me much time to adjust, did you?" I said, and she tensed.

"Just fuck me and be done with it," she said, tinged with bitterness.

"Your cunt or your back portal?"

"I know you want to do the same to me that I did to you, so do it," she said. "I can take it."

"Mm-hm." That pretty much decided it for me right there.

I leaned down quickly and parted her buttocks, beginning to rim her with my tongue, flicking and stabbing at her as she clenched tight in surprise; she barely gulped down a vocal cry. I was insistent with my tongue, starting to stroke the Feldeu as it began to ache but kept lavishing attention on her rectal bud. Only once it had relaxed and started opening to me in little pulses did I leave it and force her legs wider, tasting her fragrant lips. They were wetted already and most of it not by my mouth.

"Reach back and hold yourself open," I commanded in a low tone, just to test her. I was very happy to see her obey, even happier to watch her arch her back a little.

"Well-trained, just like all of us," I commented. "Just takes a strong hand to get the juices flowing."

Her breathing was a little ragged with her ribs and belly pressed to the rock, but she looked over her shoulder at me again, keeping her hands gripping her rear. "Hurry. You can force it up my netherhole if that's what you want, alright?"

I didn't buy her resigned acceptance the second time; perhaps the brutal reaming that she'd done to me was only what she knew, or what she liked. "Does Qivni do that?"

"What?"

"You heard me. Does Qivni do that to you?" I bent my legs slightly and leaned closer, preparing to fit my phallus between her legs. I nudged at her sex but didn't penetrate.

"Uh..." Panagan sounded distracted, but answered cautiously. "Sometimes."

"Why?"

"Because I displeased her somehow."

"Easy to do, from what I remember."

"She's...particular."

I smoothly inserted the Feldeu into Panagan's snatch, much hotter, I'd bet, than it had been just a little while ago as we wrestled on the stone ground. She gasped and I felt her body tighten around me, almost sucking at me; I groaned.

"That's it, sweetcake. Oh, after all those crude humpings you gave me, Panagan, I didn't imagine your sex would be so soft and welcoming." I started stroking inside her; she was wet, and getting wetter. "I think you're better practiced at being the receiver than the giver. So when Qivni would force it up you, did it start to feel good after a time?"

She emitted a soft growl; both annoyed and aroused. She still held on to her buttocks and kept herself open for me so I could watch myself sink into her and pull back out again. I reached beneath to start playing with her mound and she jumped, surprised, perhaps expecting pain. She relaxed some when I merely tickled her clitoris casually.

"It's no mystery, Panagan, you can tell me," I cooed, still enjoying the way she clutched at my phallus. "Jaunda often rides my netherhole roughly... it turns to pleasure after enough strokes. Is it the same for you?"