The Light on Wizard's Hill

She stared into the distance as the light receded, her hand raised to block it. The trees stopped whipping, and the grass settled back as the swirling clouds slowed and then dissipated.

He glanced over at her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "That was — did you see that light?"

He nodded. "The old wizard tower."

She swished her tail, and then slowly pivoted in place to face it. "I thought that place was abandoned."

He shrugged. "I did too. Maybe not? Trolls could be camping there."

She nodded in reply, brushing the dust off the top half of her outfit, a black-and-brown leather shirt with gold inlays. She glanced up at him. "I don't think we've met properly."

"No, we haven't," he said.

"I'm — " She paused. It was on her lips. She was sure it was. "I'm Mariette." That's right. That was her name. Why was that difficult?

"Garan," he replied slowly, as if he were testing each syllable to ensure it was correct.

"Hello, Garan, pleased to meet you," said Mariette. "I'm part of the — I'm from the village — I'm officially the — " She glanced to the left, down the hill, pointing. "I'm under orders to check this place out. We've had reports of — people going missing up here."

Garan nodded in reply. "We got similar reports back in — King's Seat. I'm part of the second division of — " He paused. He knew his codes. This was his job. "Anyway, the king sent me. The Magery detected something strange here, and they wanted to send someone they trusted to check it out." He crossed his arms and stomped a hoof officially.

"Well, sounds like we should pair up," she said. "We're both investigating the same thing."

He nodded, and took a few steps toward her. If he wasn't on official business, she'd have been exactly his type: A pretty girl, slender, with wavy yellow hair down to her shoulders, and searing green eyes. Maybe a little small in the bust, but she had a pretty face, and damned if that golden equine butt of hers wasn't the most impressive he'd ever seen. He really wished the centaur girl would stop swishing her dark tail: It was doing far too good a job of distracting him.

"So what do you know about what's going on here?" he said, lowering his pike to rest its hilt in the dirt.

"These megaliths are centuries old," she said, waving around at the giant rocks surrounding the top of the hill. "Built by the Old Mages a thousand years ago at a place that was supposed to be magically powerful. But after the Great War, it's just a ruin. Children come up here from the village to play. But a few weeks ago, J — J — " She paused. What was his name? "Anyway, a guy came up here and disappeared. His girlfriend came up looking for him, and she disappeared too. We've had — four — people? — from the village go missing up here, so I — was sent here to — investigate."

Mariette walked forward, tail held high, and to his chagrin he got a good view of what was underneath. That was going to make it a lot harder to focus.

"I didn't find anything, though," she said, waving at the megaliths. "This place is just as dull as it always was. It's just a ruin. And then — " She paused, wincing. Then what had happened? "Then you were here, and then there was — at the wizard's tower — a light? — "

She stood still, confused, and then brushed it aside. "Anyway, that's about it," she said. "What do you know?" She turned back around.

"We got — reports that the place was magically active," said Garan. He picked up his pike and walked toward her, his hooves thudding hard in the dark earth. "I didn't think much of it, but that — what was it? — that light, at the wizard's tower. You said it was abandoned, yes?" He glanced over at the tower on the far side of the valley, and it too looked like a ruin, with holes in the roof and crumbling stonework.

"It was. I'm starting to think trolls may have moved in there, though."

"Well, we'll — rout them," he replied, stomping his pike into the dirt again. "Trolls aren't much of a threat."

She nodded, twitching her large ears.

The clouds split overhead, with a shaft of sunlight falling on them and warming the both of them. Mariette smiled: If nothing else, it was a good day to be outside, and the soldier boy in front of her wasn't too shabby to look at. Short-cropped black hair, a dark brown coat, and that long, smooth, well-kept tail. He was easily a full head taller than her, too, which didn't hurt. If she wasn't on duty, he was exactly the sort of boy she'd happily pick up at a — a tavern —? yes, that was the word — and take back to her home, and let him give her a good solid railing.

Railing? In a — bed? She blinked, confused. No, that wasn't right. She was a centaur, of course, and it was far more comfortable to do it like the horses did. Maybe in a stables, for a bit of modesty, but honestly, if no-one was around, a field or a forest was just as good.

Mariette glanced up at the sun. It was still warm. She tugged at her sleeve.

She looked over at him. He looked too warm in his uniform too. "You don't mind if I —?" She tugged at her sleeve again.

He shrugged. "Why would I?"

She began to loosen the leather shirt. It wasn't very comfortable in this heat. Why had she put this thing on? Someone wanted her to.

Garan looped around, surveying the area, and noticed something lying in the grass. He leaned over and picked it up. "Huh," he said. "Strip of cloth? Brown? It's pretty shredded."

He turned around, holding it up for her, just as she finished slipping off the leather shirt. Bare, she stretched comfortably in the sunlight. That was a lot better.

She glanced at the cloth. It looked familiar. "Huh. I could swear I've seen that before," she said. She trotted over, her small pert breasts bouncing, and stopped in front of him, taking the cloth. "It was — I think it's part of — maybe someone's — pants?" She stared at it in wonderment.

Garan shook his head. "I don't get it," he said.

"What, why it's here, or why — pants?" she said.

"The latter," he said. "Seems like an odd thing. Maybe a clue."

She nodded, and put the strip of cloth in her —

"What's the matter?" he said.

She simply held the cloth at her waist. "I — I could swear I had something for putting things in," she said. "I guess maybe I don't. You'll have to carry it."

He took the cloth back from her, and stashed it into one of the pockets in his vest.

He slipped off the vest and dropped it on the ground. "You're right about how warm it is out here."

"Isn't it, though? Love being outside on a day like this. Warms you from head to tail. I can't imagine being indoors when it's this nice out."

"I'll say. There was this one time I was on a mission to — and then we — and I — well, anyway, I'd far rather be outside too."

She grinned. "You sure it's not just because there's a pretty girl here? I swear you sold — soldi — you boys are all the same when it comes to pick-up lines."

He grinned back. "Oh, it's definitely because of the pretty girl."

She flushed a little, but let it fade. She was a professional, after all. "Well, maybe after I'm done work, we can spend some time outside together. There's a great place in the vil — vil — that's near here that sells the best beer in the region. I'd love to grab a drink with you and then go for a good solid gallop."

"Sounds like a date," he said.

She turned pink, smiled, and then started forward. "Anyway, what we know for sure is that everyone who came up here didn't come back. I think they went up through the megaliths, and kept going. There are hoofprints going north. They might have brought horses with them."

"Are you sure none of them were centaurs?" he said, following her.

She paused. The word was strange and foreign. "I suppose they could have been," she said, pondering it. "But I don't think that the people in — the people who live down there — I think they're all humans," she said. She stared at the last word, watching it float away toward the houses. It seemed right that those were human houses. Centaurs didn't live there.

He stretched, lifting the white cotton shirt off his shoulders and tossing it aside. The weather was too warm for that.

"Wow, I have to say, nice work on the pecs and abs," she said, glancing back at him.

He raised an arm. "You like it?"

"You take care of yourself. Not every boy I've been with did." She grinned again and flirted at him with her tail.

"In my line of work, you have to," he replied. "So you think they went this way?"

She nodded. "Look at the tracks. They all went north. Lots of hoofprints. The — small people that come up here don't bring horses. It must have been them."

"But why would they walk the horses up and then ride them down?" said Garan, frowning.

"Beats me," she replied. "I've seen some pretty strange things. This one time, I was — well, anyway, and he was — and then they were both — ." She paused. The memories were jumbly and unfocused. She could've sworn she was telling a story about exactly this just a week ago.

"Well, anyway, I think our answers lie that way," she said, pointing in the distance northward. "I don't think they're here. I doubt the trolls at the wizard's tower have anything to do with it. I'll send a few of our — of my — some other people will take care of that, so we can focus on this."

"Right," he said. "Well, no time like the present. You want to follow the tracks down?"

"Yeah, let's at least see where the tracks go," she said.

She started forward, skittering down the slope, looping from side to side to avoid having her hooves slide too far in the loose dirt and rocks. He wasn't far behind, following the same path. She looked back over her shoulder at him at one point, grinning.

They came to a halt at the bottom of the hill. A dirt path wandered aimlessly northward along the edge of the forest, and there were definite half-moon tracks embedded in its soft mud.

She glanced back at him. She was on duty, but a little harmless flirting? He was a rather impressive specimen of a man-horse. There was no reason she couldn't warm him up for later, after they went back to — and had bee — beer — something to drink. She lifted her tail, swishing it back and forth, and then winked her vulva at him.

That's right, boy, you know exactly what that means. She grinned, watching him turn a little pink, and then turned around as if nothing had happened.

"They definitely came this way," she said.

"Uh huh," he mumbled.

She glanced under him, and was happy to see her action had worked. He was hanging out, and she had no intention of letting him sheathe that nice dark prick again, unless, of course, it was sheathed inside her. She hadn't had a boy in what seemed like forever, and a good solid railing might be exactly what she needed.

After work, of course.

She turned back around, leaning down and inspecting the road. "I don't know how far north they went, but I think we have some answer to the mystery," she said. "But what we don't know is why they all went this way in the first place."

"What did they have in common?" he said.

"Nothing," she insisted, standing back upright and pumping a fist. "He was just an ordinary — and she was just an ordinary — and the others weren't related to them at all either. They all lived in the same — in our — in their — well, you know what I mean. But they had nothing else in common."

He nodded, watching her rear more than her face. "So then we should —?"

"I don't know," she said. "I feel like I need to report what we know, and then call it a day."

"All right. What's the fastest way back?" he said, glancing up at the hill. "I don't think we can go back that way."

She turned back toward him, glancing from side to side. "A few miles that way, make a right, and follow the road," she said. "This hill's part of a long ridge of hills, and we're not going around it until we reach the Taran River."

He looked up toward the sun, which was already at the edge of one of the hills. "I think we're better off camping down here for the night," he said. "This whole area still has a problem with wargs. I'd rather have a well-defended campfire than be caught halfway up the road at sunset." He stomped his pike in the dirt: It was a sharp, high-quality weapon, one he carried with pride, one that he'd carried into the war in — that one place — and he wasn't about to give it up to a warg.

"Agreed," she said. "The wargs aren't bad here, but they're still out there, and I really don't feel like — going all the way back to — there. I'll gather firewood. You can set up the rocks. It's not the first time I've slept out under the stars, and it probably won't be the last."

She waved, disappearing into a nearby thicket, and he watched her hindquarters vanish behind her. She was an amazing creature: If he had to pick a girl, she was definitely the kind he'd choose. Smart and sexy were a great combination — and a tail like that was to die for.

* * *

Garan's pike served well in unearthing enough nearby rocks to make a decent ring for a campfire, and by the time the centaur had rolled them into place, Mariette had returned with a large bundle of wood on her back. They set about building a proper bonfire inside the ring of stones, and with a few strikes from the heel of his pike, Garan had no problem lighting it.

They stood side-by-side in front of it, warming their hands and watching the flames dance as the sky turned an unruly dark orange and then settled into a chilly blue.

"So, Garan, do you have a girl?" said Mariette.

He coughed. "No, not for a while now. I was seeing this one — and she was — well, anyway, she was crazy and manipulative. Had a great — " He blinked. Her rear was tiny. Why was that even notable? "She wasn't — Anyway, no, I'm by myself right now."

"Ah, I sympathize," she said. She elbowed him. "I'd get you a dri — sounds like you could use some beer. It's a shame we don't have any out here."

"Yeah," he said.

"Well, I'm single too. My last — guy — ugh, what a pile of awful. I don't want to remember him. I haven't done well in the 'guy' category."

"Really? A pretty girl like you?"

"They all say I'm too focused on work. And I am. I have a — I have — there are people to protect. That's what my — uni — " She trailed off. There was clothing that she used to wear, wasn't there? It was important, part of her job. But why would a centaur wear clothes? Clothes just got in the way. She shrugged off the confusing notion. "Anyway, it hasn't led to much over the years."

"I spent a lot of time in the wars," he replied. "I know how you feel. Duty, and honor, but all you really want at the end of the day is a nice little h — is a — a place to call your own, and a pretty centauress to live there with you."

Centauress — that was a weird word. She let it float over the fire, watching it dance through the air in her imagination. But was it really any weirder than 'human?' No, it was a lot of letters, but it wasn't really that strange a concept. There was nothing strange at all about the sturdy horse-boy beside her.

She took a tentative step forward, circling around the far side of the bonfire, her tail raised to show off her assets. He'd better be looking. She paused, and then swung her hindquarters around and away from him.

"I think I'm going to turn in," she said. "I'm hungry, but since we don't have anything to eat, there's no point in staying up to cook it, and the fastest way to get to dinner is to get to tomorrow first."

He paused. Somewhere, he dimly remembered something about salted meat, or crackers, in some kind of bag. Never mind. That wasn't important. It wasn't here now, anyway. "Right." He inched around the other side of the fire, and lay his lower half down in the warm grass.

"Have a good night, Garan," she said sweetly, and blew him a kiss.

He was quite glad that the fire was between them when he popped out of his sheath and turned bright red at the same time.

* * *

Garan awoke in the middle of the night. The moon was high overhead, and the fire had burned down a little, but was still flickering orange.

He had awakened not because of the female hindquarters wiggling on the ground beside him, but because at the other end, her hands were wrapped around his stiff shaft, and she was trying very hard to get her mouth around it too.

"Mariette!" he said.

She looked up, her face red and her eyes narrow slits. "Hi," she said.

"What are you doing?" he said.

"Having a little fun," she replied, giving his shaft a squeeze. "This guy's pretty impressive. You should let him out to play more often."

He coughed. "I, uh — "

She waggled an eyebrow. "Unless you want me to stop?"

Garan swallowed hard. "I didn't say that."

She leaned back down, wrapping her arms around his prick and squeezing it to her chest. "Okay, I'll admit it, I've been wanting a piece of you ever since we met. I'm not saying I want forever. But I hope you'd be open to having a fun evening."

He gingerly ran a hand over her hindquarters to the croup of her tail, and she shivered. "I won't say no," he said.

"Mmm, definitely do that again," she said.

"This?" he said, gently rubbing her tail.

"Oh yeah," she cooed, and leaned down to lick his shaft. It was huge, larger than her arm, and dark brown except for some mottled pink areas near the end. She kissed each pink spot, glancing up in between to see his reaction, and then suckled gently on the flared tip. He tensed, grabbing her tail, and she tensed in response, unexpectedly biting a little.

"Ow!" he said.

"Sorry!"

"Careful. That's sensitive."

She gently ran her breasts along the sides of his shaft. It was far too big for them to go all the way around, but she loved feeling its warmth against her. She'd never really been much for playing with penises before, but she was sure his was somehow so much better than any of the other boys had been. They all seemed to be distant fuzzy memories, while he was here, real, so much larger than life, sweating, and a little musky right where his prick met his sheath. She licked at the side of the sheath, toying at it with her tongue as his flare rubbed against her belly-button.

"Okay, okay, stop!" he choked. "I don't want to come yet!"

She sat up, smiling. "I don't want you to either," she said. She gave his prick a squeeze. "I want every last drop from this to be put where it belongs."

He grinned back at her. "And where's that?"

"All the way up my vagina, of course," she said, lifting her tail.

She waggled it back and forth a few times. "Go on. Get me warmed up. If you want a piece of me, you'd better earn it."

He reached down with both hands, grabbing her tail with one, and running the other down, over her ring-shaped anus, and over the long, dark slit that shimmered in the firelight. She leaned back, cooing, and gave his prick a squeeze with her right hand while her left started to work her breast. He slipped a sturdy, calloused finger inside, and she gasped. And then another and another and another pried her open until at last all four fingers were sliding into her up to his thumb.

"Holy souls of — of — " She gasped. Fireworks danced in front of her eyes. She couldn't even figure out how to curse properly.

"Is it good?"

"D — don't stop," she mumbled.

He grinned, and began to scoop his fingers inside her, while his thumb circled over the pink knot of flesh that formed her clitoris.

"Mother — goddamn — fu — fu — fa-huck," she stammered. "Oh, gods, gods, yes, don't stop — fuck me — fuck me — fuuuck —!" Her hand tightened down on her nipple and every muscle in her body suddenly tensed as lightning bolts shot from her pussy into her tailbone and all the way up her spine to her brain. She shook, grasping at anything she could hold onto, her hooves digging into the dirt as the orgasm washed over her and through her, her big, round, muscled ass thrusting against his hand while her tail swished madly out of control.