The Grotto

She tried to wrench her right leg free, but it was still encased securely, and the fire in her hand had burnt out. In desperation she reached with her left hand for the little stiletto hidden just under the outer layer of her gambeson, which, thanks be to the gods, the creature had missed. In a flash it was out and arcing underhand toward the shell around her leg. But the creature had somewhat recovered and caught her around the elbow mid-strike. She put all her free weight into it, but fresh tentacles poured in from every side. They caught her around her free limbs and torso and dragged her kicking and biting back onto the trunk.

This time the tentacles bound her arms together firmly behind her back, forearm to forearm. She felt the root tendrils wrapping themselves back around her left calf, where they hardened into a fresh carapace. The great eye, red and swollen, was looking off to the side, tearing up and blinking continually. But as soon as she was trapped firmly back in place, the injured portion began to shimmer like rippling, ruby-colored wine. The shimmering cleared within seconds, leaving behind no sign of the injury she'd just inflicted. The eye turned to face her directly.

"Stay away from my pussy you fucking asshole," she hissed bitterly through bared teeth, flexing her powerful muscles futilely against her bonds. The creature regarded her with its eye cocked quizzically. It considered her for a while before turning to the wall, where other eyes popped open from within knotted trunks and bulbous stalks. A throng of eyes looked to the leader, which glanced occasionally from one to another, like a king conferring with his council. After a few minutes, the lesser eyes closed and the greater one turned to her. It nodded.

A pair of tentacles abruptly ripped open the upper portion of her gambeson, stretching the uppermost leather straps and tearing them off their backing. Her sizable bust flopped free of her armor, though she noted with disgust the tentacles had left her strapped up high enough to provide support and enhance her cleavage. She sneered but elected to hold her peace as the creature resumed caressing her tits.

The thick vines now binding her thighs briefly released her, only to rip her undergarments in half from front to back and roll the remains down her thighs. Quickly they rebound her, pulling her now fully exposed vulva into direct contact with the trunk. It was warm and firm, but slightly yielding, rather like an erect cock. Her clit sat directly atop a broad vessel that pulsed rapidly. Good. The thing must have a heart somewhere. She wondered if that would be able to regenerate.

A new appendage slithered out of the trunk directly under her perineum, stimulating her with its rough surface as it squirmed forward. It wormed its way between her labia but made no effort to penetrate as it advanced to reach her clit. Looking straight down through her cleavage, she could see a bifurcated tip on an inhumanly long, broad red tongue curled back on itself. The twin tips started flicking lightly but rapidly up and down, pleasuring her nub with galling effectiveness.

Delicate offshoots of the tentacles on her chest lightly flicked and pinched her nipples, just the way she liked. The way, in fact, that she and some of the other so-inclined girl squires used to do to each other in their quarters. Could it have pulled that detail from her memory? The arm binding was also suspicious. She normally loved being held helplessly in place, a predilection she'd first noticed during wrestling training. Being held down by the prettier boy squires, or even that dickbag Alessio, had rarely failed to make her wet. Having her arms now pinned gently but firmly behind her back was not helping her keep a lid on things.

The creature brought her gradually back up to a high pitch working on her clit and nipples. At least she wasn't getting too very close to the edge. She even mostly succeeded at holding still.

From the middle of the floor a quintet of intertwined trunks rose into the ceiling behind the great eye. The trunks fused and broadened, taking on a black, glossy appearance similar to the carapaces around her legs. The resulting structure was reflective, almost as good as a mirror. Asshole monster. Bianca saw herself trussed up, her gambeson pulled apart and used as a corset, her lovely breasts pushed up with nipples obscenely erect, her face flushed with pleasure and, she hadn't noticed before, her mouth hanging open. She saw the red tongue, coated in her juices, going to work on her exposed pussy. She also was not holding quite as still as she had believed.

The tentacles binding her abdomen and arms forced her to bend over further and arch her back. In the mirror she could see a big, knobby branch separate from the trunk, falling out of her view before hitting her with a warm, wet smack between her ass cheeks. She tried to turn to look, but her shoulders were too restricted to allow a good look. The appendage slowly retracted, grazing her ass continually with its knobs, until the broad, cock-like head came to rest just over her back door.

"Hey! No!" she shouted. "No!, Not there either, you fucker!" But this time the eye ignored her. She struggled, but not with the same ferocity as before. Less was at stake here. Mostly her pride. Anal technically didn't break the oath, for receivers anyway. Hell, neighbor boy had rather enjoyably fucked her ass once back in the day (albeit with a smooth, human-sized penis). This was before the gods had accepted her, so clearly not a disqualification.

The whole tentacle redirected itself to press directly against her. There was too much friction even with its slimy consistency. It reached around briefly and lubed its sides with some of the copious fluid coating her stupid, overly-excitable pussy. Looking down, she could see that the knobs were actually suckers, like the one it had grown to suck her clit earlier. The whole appendage looked halfway between an octopus tentacle and an enormous parody of a human cock.

The tentacle returned to its place and pressed its head painfully against her tight asshole. She clenched as hard as she could, but this paradoxically seemed to ease its passage. It popped through, driving deep inside her.

Sharp pain burst into her mind. In intensity it was certainly nothing to compare to the many true pains she had experienced as a paladin. But to feel it in such an intimate place made it somehow so much worse, bringing tears to her eyes for the first time that day, for the first time in years.

"Ow!" she cried out, like a civilian, like some peasant housewife, like some girl. "You're hurting me."

She closed her eyes, trying to hide from the shame of showing weakness in front of this fucking thing. The tentacle pulled out, bringing a fresh round of pain. She glared through blurry eyes at the great eye, biting the insides of her cheeks to hold back further tears. Very gradually the sharp pain subsided, leaving a dull, burning ache in her asshole.

The other tentacles never missed a beat in their play, and even this pain and humiliation hadn't fully killed her arousal. With the pain mostly gone, her body started getting more worked up again. The tears and the urge to cry dried up, replaced by bitter anger.

With great annoyance, she felt a twinge of pleasure at the border of her body. A tiny tendril was pushing against her asshole, running smoothly in a circle around her tight hole. The pressure overwrote what was left of the pain. She felt a second slender tendril, about the size of a pinky finger, soft and ever-so-slightly knobbed, push up against her as the first continued its circuit. Having learned nothing the first time, she clenched and accidentally facilitated its entry. The knobs felt lovely popping through one by one. With that spark of pleasure, she involuntarily tightened, stimulating the tendril inside her to swell slightly.

The tentacle began rhythmically massaging her from the inside, producing a mild but surprisingly pleasant sensation located vaguely behind her pussy. At the entrance, the orbiting tendril pushed into her and continued its revolutions around the main tentacle, stretching her out little by little. This tender manipulation filled her ring with a dull pleasure that nicely complemented the straightforward sweetness radiating from her clit. Gods dammit, now even this was turning her on.

She started tightening again, but this time out of pleasure. The tendril bloomed in response, giving off branches to continue massaging her from the inside as the central tentacle cautiously and slowly began to fuck her. With each thrust it inched forward, bit by bit. Almost imperceptibly, it expanded its girth, this time giving her plenty of time to accommodate. The little knobs grew back out into suction cups, which felt amazing going in and out of her. Little jolts of pleasure sparked each time one slid through her tight entryway.

The humming returned. The broad base of the red tongue, now vibrating, advanced to her clit. Her engorged nub was poking out from under the hood, offering just enough surface for the twin tips to swirl around it continuously. Distracted, she allowed her anus to relax and admitted the creature's rigid appendage much further inside her.

The unexpected rush of suckers stimulating her asshole pushed her closer to the edge, and she started grinding against the rough, vibrating tongue. She started thrusting her hips to increase friction from the tongue, but this movement forced the thick tentacle to push alternately into and out of her ass. The combination proved self-sustaining. She tried to reach out to steady herself, and the tactile reminder of her helpless state of bondage pushed her even further. The overwhelming waves of pleasure radiating from her pussy allowed her to push her shame and humiliation fully into the background and enjoy fucking herself onto this huge piece of meat.

The carapaces around Bianca's legs released her and the tentacles forced her down and forward to rest her belly on the trunk, her tits hanging off to each side. The vines around her thighs pulled her ass in the air, and the sucker-covered tentacle in her ass started fucking her in earnest. For a moment she lost the vibration against her clit, but then it was back as the tongue repositioned.

She gripped the side of the trunk with shaking knees, pushing her ass up to swallow more of the hard cock reaming her out. She glanced in the mirror and saw herself face down, her disheveled braid slick with sweat, her tongue all but hanging out of her mouth, eagerly taking this thing up her ass. She tightened against it, drinking in the intensified feeling, and fell over the edge.

Pussy juice squirted onto the trunk as Bianca started spasming, sending the tentacle up her ass into a frenzy. It pistoned in and out of her, each great thrust rubbing dozens of suckers against her perineum and spasming asshole. Her whole body trembled as she came, she wasn't sure how many times. Each time she started falling the vibrating tongue up against her clit and the rough assfucking brought her right back up.

Finally the now-huge tentacle jerked and spasmed once, then twice, and then buried itself inside her. Hot cum shot out, spilling deep in her belly. The tentacles surrounding her shivered and, one by one, they too began to unload, spraying her beautiful face, lacing her fat tits, her back, and her shapely ass with ropes of hot, sticky cum.

Her body relaxed, and she distractedly enjoyed the prolonged aftershocks and the feeling of the knobbed tentacle slowly withdrawing from inside her. The tongue continued to lap gently at her pussy, avoiding her now over-sensitized clit. The vibration was gone, but the humming continued, even intensified. She suddenly felt very sleepy. Black and yellow stars like honeybees again swarmed in from her peripheral vision, and she slipped into a blissful slumber.

⁂

Bianca awoke at the side of the pool. She scrambled to her feet and looked about, but nothing could be seen or heard beyond the buzzing of bees and croaking of frogs. She touched her face, her exposed breasts, and her thighs. Everything was clean. Her greaves and gambeson were still in place, and the rest of her armor lay in a pile beside her. Her swords and her sack were there, and also something new. A ruby-red stone, the size and shape of an egg. The reward the priestess had told her to expect after the offering, though perhaps with a few important details glossed over.

She momentarily wondered whether the encounter with the creature had really occurred physically, or whether the beast had done it all in her head. The exquisite soreness in her asshole when she knelt to gather her belongings immediately disabused her of this notion. Her undergarments were ruined, but she was able to cover her private parts with her bandeau with her hose fastened over it. She strapped her armor back on as fast as she could and set off limping back up the path to the grassy overhang. Once she reached the pathway between the boulders, she turned back briefly.

"Someday I'll be back," she said quietly. "And I'm going to kill you."

⁂

Eufemia was waiting, seated on a stump, when Bianca stumbled back into the gnoll camp. "Oh my gods, are you ok?" her friend asked, rushing to her side. "You've been gone for hours, we've been worried sick!" she said, stroking her friend's bruised face.

"I'm alright," Bianca said. "There was a creature there at the shrine. It... attacked me," she sighed, stumbling over to the stump. "I thought it was going to kill me." She eased herself down, wincing as her weight redistributed and brought forth fresh pain in her poor, abused asshole. "I got what we came for," she said, smiling weakly as she withdrew the ruby egg from a belt pouch.

"That's wonderful," Eufemia said tenderly, kneeling beside her, "but are you really alright? One of the men-at-arms knows some basic healing magic I think. Alessio went to fetch some village virgins to find you, but he can heal you when he gets back." Eufemia's words tripped over each other and tears welled up in her eyes seeing her friend bruised, battered, and in pain. "What happened? How did you escape? I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

"No, Effie, that's alright," Bianca responded, "Probably for the best. I don't think it would have made a difference." She burst into tears. Eufemia rose to embrace her, pulling her face to her chest. "I'm sorry, Effie, I don't know what's wrong with me," she said hollowly struggling to regain her composure. "I thought I was going to die there, all alone."

"It's alright, you're here now," Eufemia said pulling back and looking her directly in the eyes. "You're safe," she said, "and you're a damned hero. You saved all these people, everyone in the valley. From the gnolls. From the drought. We couldn't have done it without you."

Bianca smiled briefly through her tears, but cast her eyes down and stared at the ground. Eufemia sat down on the ground beside her, holding her hand and watching her carefully. They were there together for a short while, the silence occasionally broken by quiet sobs as tears continued to stream down Bianca's face. She looked down into Eufemia's eyes.

"Put me to sleep, Effie?" she asked. "I don't want anyone else to see me like this." Eufemia studied her friend's face. She started to object but thought better of it and nodded. "Rest," she said, "you've earned it." She traced a purple circle in the air and sent Bianca off into a blessedly dreamless sleep.

⁂

The valley people were elated, but neither of the knights was in any mood for celebration. Alessio had been greatly troubled at the news of the shrine guardian and had been brooding off by himself ever since hearing the sanitized version of Bianca's tale. Eufemia had attempted to beg off for her friend from attending the ceremony, but Bianca had insisted.

The paladin watched with a blank expression, Eufemia hovering nearby, while the priestess conducted her sacrifice before the whole gathered community. At the climax, she offered up the ruby egg to the fire, conducted by Asa with a stream of smoke to the earth mother. No sooner had the last ashes of the egg lifted glowing into the air than a first crack of thunder was heard in the distance. All around them, euphoric peasants cheered, embracing each other with tears of joy and relief wetting their faces. Bianca pushed through a throng and escaped her well-meaning friend in the hubbub, and pulled the priestess aside.

"May the great mother grant you long life, Lady Knight," the priestess said reverently, slightly bowing her graying head.

"And you as well, Mother," came the reply as Bianca knelt before her with bowed head.

"Come, please stand up Lady," the priestess objected, grasping Bianca's hand and making her stand. "I may be your elder and a servant of the goddess, but It is I who owes you reverence. It is a great thing you have done for us."

Bianca burned with shame within, but she managed to thank the priestess gracefully. The priestess asked after her family, her prayers and offerings, her health, the progress of her learning, and affairs in the great city. At last, having in this was shown due respect to the paladin, she allowed the conversation to lull, to give her a chance to say whatever had really brought her over.

"I have a question, Mother, about the earth mother's shrine. You said when we first arrived that only a woman pure of heart should enter there. What did that mean?"

The priestess looked at her in surprise. "Oh, that's what my predecessor always said. Lovely woman." She stroked her chin. "To tell the truth, I always thought that part was a joke."

"A joke?"

"Well Mother Altaluna, Goddess grant her rest, was a wonderful teacher and shepherdess, and a very open and loving person. Very open," she added deliberately. "And very loving."

"I see."

"To so, so many people."

"Yes, I see."

The priestess sighed wistfully, "She was a very good woman though, all things considered. Tell me dear, what made you ask?"

"... Nothing else ever... happens when you perform the ritual at the grotto?"

"Why no, I'm not sure what you mean. I perform the ritual just as I showed you, just as you yourself must have done since the Mother accepted your offering. The flame burns out, and there the egg is, in the ashes."

"I see..." Bianca said, turning her head aside to hide a mortified blush.

"Did something happen to you, dear?" the priestess inquired.

"No, nothing... It's not important."