Taking Flight

Those of you who enjoy gender feels with your smut will hopefully like this one! As will folks who like turning into hot dragon girls because, really, who doesn't? This one has dysphoria and some denial, so fair warning if you don't like that kind of content!

***

One rarely saw Thralls this far outside the Manawastes. Dez watched another one of the warped creatures clamber over a fallen log. They had once been human. Their clothes hung in rags off their limbs, their sexual organs and characteristics engorged and on display at all times. Often they eschewed the traditional assignment of parts, and many could be seen with dripping cocks and pendulous breasts. Others were flat and leaked from their clenching, needy slits. They moved with a singular intensity to obey their Master, who kept them at the height of sexual excitement as a measure of control. Not quite human, not quite beast. They would do anything for a single orgasm, something that they could never achieve on their own.

It's no wonder that the local village had taken a contract out. Seeing that thing on your morning walk was enough to give your nightmares an unneeded flavour. Dez had his fair share of bad dreams, but it came with the territory. Hunters were solitary people of considerable skill. What they lacked in social graces, they made up for in sheer capacity for violence. He came from a long line of Hunters. His father, and his father, and so on and so forth. It was what he'd been raised in, bred into practically. And he was good at it.

Dez figured he had everything he might need to complete the job. Enough arrows for his bow to take down two dozen (with a few extra to spare). If they got in close enough, he had his sword. The scarlet pommel was really a ruby chipped from the eye of a golem he had slain on his Proving nearly three years before. Hidden from view while in its scabbard, the steel dao inside was carved with runes in magical scripts to bless it in his combat with magical creatures. So long as the number of creatures didn't grow exponentially from the ones he'd seen so far, it set him up for an easy payday. Or at least, one he wouldn't need to risk life and limb for.

His basilisk leather shoes muffled his footsteps with the thoughtless ease of years of practice. Why were these creatures out here in the first place? He only knew a little about them, just what he could find in his dog-eared copy of the Jaegernomicon. Once converted, they lived underground in vast, labyrinthine hives, serving a master with some measure of psychic power. They stole from nearby settlements, and they had a nasty habit of kidnapping and converting those who tried to fight them. But as far as he had heard, there were no such burrows out here. Nothing large enough to bring the purging fires of the kingdom's Basilica Infernus, at least. The mystery made him wary. In his line of business, unanswered questions got people killed.

The creature traipsed through the woods in myopic pursuit of some unsaid goal. This one had a hefty dick that waggled with its motions, looking just a few moments from popping off at any given time. Its nimble motions made quick work of the dense woods. Dez had to quicken his step to keep pace. Noise meant an increased chance of being caught, but if he didn't speed up, he'd lose sight, and his bounty.

The thick trunks and roots parted for a large rock face. The Thrall climbed up on holds and notches cut into its surface before disappearing into a cave mouth. Dez waited a while before following. This could be his chance! Trapped in a confined space, the six-armed fiend would be no match for hunter steel.

He climbed in silence, or as close enough to it. Getting caught with his hands on the rock face rather than on his weapons was a great way to get killed. Before he completed the ascent, he peeked over the lip to make sure it wasn't an ambush. Confident that it wasn't, he hefted himself up and withdrew his bow back from around his shoulder. The familiar grip of the leather and wood, the tension in the string, it all gave him the confidence he needed to move into the cave.

The light of the sun depleted with every step Dez took. He saw no sign of the beast, but the sound of chittering echoed off the walls told him it was inside.

The floor gave way, and he fell.

He fell.

He fell for a long time in the dark, only the occasional streak of fire shining through like meteors in the night told him he was still moving. There was no roar of air, no air resistance forcing his limbs apart. He was sure that death would greet him at some point. Nobody could fall this long and live. He braced himself to meet whatever lay in store for him on the other side.

Ropes covered in some kind of tacky fluid arrested his fall. Rather than snap from the force of the impact, they stretched while retaining their shape. Just when he thought they might give out, they snapped back with incredible elasticity. He was tossed up once more, landing again with much less momentum. He caught one of the ropes and dug his fingers in to keep from bouncing further.

"Is it someone new?" asked a voice. It had a hissing rasp, echoing off far walls in a way to make it impossible to find its source. Glowing crystals embedded in sheer stone walls revealed that he'd fallen into a cavern of artificial nature. Arched pillars in varied states of collapse surrounded him on all sides. The crystal's light made the ropes around him glitter. Like...

His heart stopped. He wasn't lying in ropes or cords. It was a web.

Four pairs of spindly limbs entered view. Atop it, the shape of a humanoid from the waist up. Like some corrupted parody of a centaur. Chitinous plates covered its arachnid body, stopping when they reached its human half. That part was smooth, violet in colour, and disturbingly appealing to the eye. Large hips turned to a slim waist, then back out again in a generous chest. Her hair, snow-white, spilled down her shoulders carelessly. She only had two eyes, thankfully, but those had red irises, pupils oriented like those of a cat, and a sclera that was pitch black. A penis like organ dangled from her lower carapace, drooling a clear fluid. The word 'ovipositor' arose unbidden to Dez's mind.

A lesser man would have panicked. But not a Hunter. He yanked himself free of the sticky threads and, balancing precariously, leapt onto one of the ledges from which the web had been spun. His bow was out and trained on the spider woman a moment later.

"Back you beast!" he called, drawing an arrow, "My contract was for your minion, but I'll make much more with your head!"

A condescending laugh was his reply. But to his horror, it hadn't come from the spider-woman. The source was behind him. He swivelled to face that way in time to see a bestial woman, easily eight feet tall. Skin of charcoal pocked with black fur around her arms, legs, and along a pair of pointed ears protruding from the top of her head. She bared a mouthful of pointed teeth. Between her legs sat a bulging canid cock and a furry pair of testicles. In some ways, she resembled a wolf. In others, a gorgeous woman. But above all, she looked like a dangerous threat.

"Your minions," the giant woman said with a coarse accent Dez couldn't place, "Appear to have brought another morsel to our home, Cyra."

"They always follow the Thralls. Humans are easier to lure than flies," the spider girl replied. Cyra, if that was her name, descended from her perch and onto the web. Dez moved to keep the distance between the pair, backing up into uncertain territory. Broken tile crunched under his feet. There had been a beautiful mosaic on the floor, once. Now it just accentuated each perilous step into the shadows.

He had to start striking soon. Judging by the speed with which the spider woman moved, and just guessing the power of someone as large as the wolf girl, he'd have problems taking down both at the same time.

The crunch of tile turned to wet schlorping as he padded back into some kind of pool. He paused his progress to check his feet. Whatever fluid had collected around his ankles was green. Viscous and sticky, he lifted his legs up to free himself. Its hold only grew more constrictive. He swept at it instinctually with his bow, which became caught in the morass and sucked from his hand.

"What in the name of the Gods is this?" he asked.

The slime slid up his body, moving as if it had a mind of its own. He reached for his sword, but his arms were soon coated in the goop before he could withdraw it from its scabbard. It spread out across his body until every part of him below his neck was buried. Then it seeped into his clothes.

"Gotcha!" declared a third voice. This one came from all around him; the slime vibrating like a voice box in time with the speech. A second blob pushed upward from the main puddle, taking the form of a young woman. She looked like a human as seen through blurry vision, and was made entirely out of that same green colour. He'd heard of intelligent slime creatures, but he'd never encountered ones that were cute!

"Nice work Zee," Cyra commended. The two monster women closed in to examine their latest catch, the spider taking the time to pick up his bow. She turned it over in her hands. "A Hunter? And here I thought it was just an amateur from the village."

"Let me get my sword and I'll show you how much of an amateur I am!" he seethed, straining against the encasement. The more he fought against the slime, however, the more it poured into his clothes and slid along his skin.

The wolf girl sniffed around him, slime parting around her heavy footsteps as she circled. "Weak. I smell fear, rage. He'd make a poor meal. Cyra can have him for another Thrall."

"Thank you, Briggitte. Now, let's see if there's any information we can use." The spider opened her eyes wide. Dez felt a burning power pour from those black orbs. It slid into his mind like sharp blades into butter. It didn't hurt, but he could feel his very self being pulled apart and examined.

A memory flashed. His induction ceremony into the Hunter's Lodge of his father. Of forcing a smile when he received the bow that marked his station. Of a profound emptiness that came from achieving someone else's dream.

Cyra nodded understanding. Had she seen that memory as well? "A Hunter alright. From a long line of Hunters...hmm, this is interesting. He doesn't want to be a Hunter."

"That's ridiculous!" he said on reflex, trying to shake her loose from his brain, "Whatever powers you have must be faulty. I make good money from killing beasts like you!"

She tsked, waggling her index finger, "One does not hide from the Queen of Spiders. I can flay your mind, if I choose. But...what's this?

More memory flashes. His sixth birthday, asking why he hadn't gotten a dress like he'd asked for. Crying in his bedroom when he was nine when he could no longer play with female friends. Watching with disgust as the exercises he was forced to perform slowly altered his body into the pinnacle of athleticism.

More memories threatened to pour forth. Cyra had to shut down the flow to keep from overwhelming them both in repressed trauma. Dez let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding and gasped for air.

"You're Crossborn, aren't you?" she asked.

The term was one of much fear and derision in his life. His family and friends had always looked down on the idea of a person who felt they were born in the wrong body, like they were aberrations. And since he didn't want to be an aberration, he couldn't have been Crossborn.

"She's one of us!" the slime girl declared, giving him a gentle squeeze from all around.

"I'm...I'm not a 'she'!" he insisted, struggling to break free once more. The goo refused to budge. What was worse for him was that the rubbing and jostling was making certain parts of his body stiffen. He stifled a whimper.

Cyra glided over, a hand on her chin. Dez felt the probe of her mental power again, gentler this time. "I was expecting this one to be another Thrall. Grist for the mill. But there's a hint of power there. Hidden, however. Buried under years of restraint."

"Get out of my head!" He squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on blocking her power. He wasn't entirely successful, but she pulled back from her incursions to just his surface thoughts.

Briggitte huffed. "Wasting time. We can find out easily enough. Give them the Shard."

"Yay! I know where I left it, hang on!" Zee said. The slime slipped off of him, hurrying with a mix of sliding and walking motions off into the darkness. He collapsed. Fragments of cracked tile bit into his palms. The pain helped him get his centre back.

"What...what is happening? Who are you creatures?" he said through heaving breaths.

Cyra held out her hand to help him up. Dez took it.

"I suppose we look like creatures to you," she began. With another thought, the glowing crystals around her increased in illumination, revealing the entire cave. "At one time, we were all human. Abyss, we all believed ourselves to be male at one point or another. I was a ruin diver, one of those sods who went into dungeons and tombs after they were cleared by adventurer types to scavenge them for magical detritus and the like. I discovered this alcove, this redoubt. The markings on the wall imply that this is some Elvish construct, but it's older than anything I've ever seen from their Empire. What I've translated called this the Temple of Change."

"You were human?" he asked, looking down at her many legs, "What happened to you?"

The slimegirl returned, holding a glimmering silver crystal. Cyra pointed to it. "That. I thought it was some kind of scrying stone, but it's much more. The single most powerful icon of transformation I know of. We call it the Shard. Its power reads your soul and extrapolates it into a new form."

"And your soul is that of a spider? That doesn't say anything good about you."

Cyra smiled. "Perhaps. But spiders are also crafty, they're patient, and they can trap prey with their clever machinations. Briggitte is strong, loyal, and determined, if a little blunt. And Zee is...Zee."

"Hey!"

"Just kidding. Zee is a sweetheart. On top of that, nothing can crush her spirit. The crystal gave us these forms, and they can do the same for you. But only if you want it."

"And why would I want that?"

Cyra's smile waned. "I've seen your mind. All that pain. Deep, familiar pain. Aren't you tired of trying to be something you're not?"

Dez wanted to bite back with a rejoinder, but couldn't find the words. She'd seen his heart of hearts. All those little doubts and fears he'd tried to hide from even himself. But what would it make him if he accepted that truth? What would he be if he turned his back on everything he'd been raised as.

"You'd be You," the spider replied, answering the unsaid question.

Zee held out the crystal.

"Would it be permanent?" Dez asked.

Cyra shrugged. "As far as I know. But none of us have wanted to turn back. And you wouldn't be alone. You'd have us."

He hesitated. "I don't want to hurt other people. The Thralls...I don't think I can be a part of that."

"The Thralls love being this way! Every moment's like an orgasm for them! And we always let them go after a few years. Consider it an extended, unpaid apprenticeship!" Zee explained, still smiling.

"And without them, our plan couldn't go forward," Briggitte added.

Cyra shook her head. "That's for later. After the Shard had changed you, we will ask if you want to join us. If you don't, you can go free. You can even return to your old life, if you haven't changed too much for humans to accept you. The question is: are you strong enough to see who you really are?"

He was free now. His sword still sat at his side. Dez could make a break for it, hope to find a way out of this cave. There was a chance he could return to his old life and world as it had been before he'd fallen into the spider's web and had his thoughts probed. But...was that really living? Assembled in the pattern of his forebearers like a cog in a generational machine? Turning his back on this chance would be closing a door on living any other life.

Dez reached out. In that moment, he rejected what he had been, and started the journey toward what she would become.

Dezzy touched the crystal.

Every nerve ending screamed at once and she was in the ground again in an instant. The flesh underneath her skin writhed like it was alive. Muscles expanded, bones cracked and shifted. Her leathers peeled apart as her body grew outward, the split pieces of clothing falling around her like shards of egg from a newborn. Her belt snapped, sending her scabbard and sword clattering to the ground. Sharp protrusions split her boots, making them open like a flower before sliding off. Lifting herself to all fours, she watched with a mixture of excitement and terror as her skin thickened into a grey hide. Her body hair retracted, leaving every inch of her skin below her nose smooth.

While the change to her flesh took most of her attention, she couldn't ignore what was happening to her chest. Where there had been flat muscle, two mounds formed and grew with each pounding heartbeat. Condensed puberty made her want to weep. She'd wanted breasts for so long, and now...now she had more than she knew what to do with!

Dezzy squeezed them, almost to make sure they were real. Her skin, growing thick enough to blunt spear thrusts, was still sensitive to the touch. She tweaked one of her fat nipples until her toes curled, which didn't take long. Her breath caught, and as she gasped she breathed in with new, powerful lungs. Her exhalations were hot, like she'd eaten a spicy dish but without the burning around her mouth. The more she played with herself, the hotter her breath became.

A tingle between her legs caught her attention. She'd forgotten her cock! It seemed so sad, dangling between her thighs without anything to do. A silent question posed itself. With a toothy grin, she answered it. Dezzy stroked it, each pump forced thin squirts of fluid from her tip. The organ hardened, but pulled back slowly into her body. She was stroking her dick away!

"Mmm~" Her chest rumbled. Though the noise she made was loud, her voice's pitch was feminine. She felt like singing. No attention was paid to the others in the chamber watching her transformation. Why should she care what others saw? This was her body, and it was gorgeous!

Her last orgasm with a cock was explosive. Spurts of watery seed splashed the ground beneath her, making her squeal with delight. There wasn't enough cock to stroke anymore. She diddled the bump until it concealed itself underneath a hood, heralding the growth of an entirely new sex. Her fingers drifted lower to find a sopping wet opening, hot and needy, had replaced it. Her fingers plunged deep, exploring herself even as the changes continued.

She splayed her thickening thighs apart to better play with herself. The skin around her spine painlessly split open and new flesh, sensitive to the tingle of the air, pushed outward from two places. A pointed tendril slithered out from her hips, growing and lengthening over time until it was almost as long as her leg. A jolt shot through her, and suddenly she had control of the appendage. She brought it into view: a tail! She had her own tail!

The second part of her spine to experience growth was her upper back. Splaying outward, the nodules on her shoulder blades turned into half a dozen phalanges connected by membranous tissue. Dezzy tentatively waggled them. Wings! Glorious, leathery wings like one might find of a bat, or...

The idea clicked. She smiled, her face contorting as a small muzzle took shape and warped her jaw to conform to it. She was becoming a creature of power. An entity of pure grace, but capable of causing fear in all the hearts of man. She raised her head upward and breathed out harshly. Unconscious muscles opened nodules at her throat, and a gout of fire poured out from her mouth.