Toofy Ch. 16

The other banner was strange. Han felt that it was familiar to him somehow, but he couldn't place it. It showed a cross within a loveheart, stamped beneath a neko's paw.

On the other side of that battlefield, were the humans. They were pouring into the underground city, and into the fight, led by a certain blonde-haired youth who looked to be Lord Castelle the Younger. He fought beneath the Castelle banner, at least.

The humans, breaking into the underground city, were fleeing from another army who was above the ground level. This other army was shambling, monstrous, and very clearly undead of some kind.

Draug, if Han had to make a guess of it. Bestial, but still retaining enough of their former selves to wield weapons and muster some small level of coordination.

The undead were controlled by an elf, and a man. The elf wore a crown of gold, and was sitting on a hilltop. Possibly a reference to the Golden Mountain, the subjugated empire of the elves.

The man was green-eyed, and his chest was torn open. He was in the process of pulling out his own heart, whilst shadows gathered behind him. Han didn't want to guess what that symbol represented.

The entire scene, however, was just the detailing at the bottom. Above it, at almost life-sized scale, was the scene of a coronation.

A neko woman with red eyes was on one knee, receiving the crown of the emperor. She had multiple overlapping shadows, but not all of them were cat shaped.

She was flanked by several strange individuals.

One, Han would have said was Lord Sai. The face was certainly the man's, right down to the scars. Except the eyes were a bright and vibrant blue, almost grey, and not the green he actually had.

Beside the man was a salamander, but the species wasn't one that Han recognised. Some of the scales were red, and some of them were black, instead of being one or the other. The tip of her tail was missing, however.

Two more humans stood close by. He recognised one of them immediately. It was impossible not to, having recently seen her nearly die. It was the neko's handmaiden... Arina. The woman held a scythe, the blade broader than her shoulders.

The other human, he didn't recognise at all. This one was far younger. Barely an adult, at a guess. She held a mage's staff, which was in itself an oddity. Few mages could afford to purchase or create something of such enormous difficulty, even if it came with a promise of power.

One of the neko's other companions was a figure that he recognised, which chilled him to the bone. Eratigan the Undying. That's why the banner was familiar, in the underground city. Her eyes.

The final companion was an elf, wearing a silver crown. She, he didn't recognise. The depiction was large and detailed enough he vaguely recognised her as being possibly a member of the royal family of the Golden Mountain.

The last figure was the one placing the crown onto the neko's head, and made him just feel confused. They were a kitsune. A fox. This particular one had nine tails, representing perfection. Yet, Han had never heard of any neko and kitsune meeting without the fur flying.

Behind the coronation scene, perhaps sourced from the neko, was a large and imposing shadow. Four horns protruding from the head, and two tails rising up. A demon of some kind.

He shivered as he considered it, and then the age of the picture. It is difficult to date a wax image, but it was cracked and faded. Several years, at the least. "Did you ever see her draw any of these?"

Esmerelda swallowed nervously, "Yes, m'lord... But... Never the whole. Only ever a single page. I thought it was artistic nonsense. But, the picture actually... Made sense. I never realised. Didn't see that it was part of a whole."

"That may have been intentional. She hid this. And Lady Efina found out about it, and hid it as well." He said slowly, "Try and be specific. When was the earliest you saw one of these items being drawn?"

She crouched and pointed at part of the underground city, "This one. I recall that she was drawing it at a dinner party. The red, it came from one of the candlesticks. Efina was incensed. Bloodied Twenty Four's lip, and stomped on her tail to break it."

"When." He said, unmoved by yet another story of the priestess' cruelty towards the cat.

Esmerelda swallowed, "Twelve years ago. The party was on the Feast of the Silver Eggshells. A celebration the temple held a year after the death of Irrlichdan was confirmed."

Han tried to keep his face still and emotionless.

If the elf's timing was correct, and he had not a single reason to doubt it, then Lady Twenty Four had created this artwork, years before half of the people in it were of the age depicted.

This was a prophecy, a vision.

He rubbed his chin and crouched, considering it. "Elf... You and she had a rivalry of sorts, did you not?"

"Everyone did, at one time or another." She replied stiffly, "Meerakeilian was the uncontested ruler of us girls, until the cat made her retreat into herself and her art. I tried to take over at one point, but Elia made me regret trying. M'lord."

He ignored the politics, "Did Lady Twenty Four ever brag about something that... Just sounded... Unlike something she should say, as a temple acolyte?"

"All the time, sir." Esmerelda chuckled nervously, "It was... Perhaps treasonous. But she'd been saying it since she was a kitten, so none of us really paid it any attention. Turned a blind eye. But it was less bragging, and more... She didn't bring it up, often. Just said it as fact, and treated it as fact."

"I am not here to punish you, elf." He stated, "Lady Efina is already dying in a prison cell. Let the sin be hers. Speak."

"Twenty Four always claimed she would one day become the empress. And not just of the empire, but the entire world." Esmerelda said quickly, nervously.

Han nodded slowly.

It wasn't something he hadn't heard, and it was right there in the artwork in front of him. The neko, that he suspected of political assassination, was looking towards a takeover.

However, this changed things.

"Did she... Ever know things, that she shouldn't?" He asked slowly, "I'm not asking did she find out secrets. I am sure you have managed to find secrets from the other acolytes. I'm talking about things that nobody should know. Secrets shared with no one at all."

Esmerelda swallowed nervously, "Maybe. Sometimes she'd... Talk about things that hadn't happened yet. Not by long, a day or two. And she was vague enough that I was never certain if it was just coincidence. M'lord."

"Shit." He swore and pushed himself up slowly, "She's a prophetess. The phantom... That has to be her patron."

"That's a demon, isn't it?" She said, fearfully. "They were... Banished, along with the betrayer gods. They were practically demigods, too. But they were sent beyond the divine gate, trapped in the everlasting void."

Han nodded grimly, "That's the mythos."

He had met a demon, once. The mythic race of creatures that had sided with the wrong divines in the war of the gods, and been completely wiped out for that sin.

Menes had managed to briefly drag a demon beyond the gate, proving their existence. Stolen the blood of the creature, as one of the ingredients he had used in creating his supersoldiers for the emperor.

Twisting Sai and Tyre, Westcolm, the emperor himself... All of that magic had only been possible because of the blood of a demon.

Han had never been so terrified, as when he had met that beast.

He began to gather up the artwork, "Speak of what you have seen here, wench, and I will have you tortured. Not to death. You will be forgotten in a cell, for the rest of your life. The rats eating your toes as fungus grows in your privates."

"Yes, m'lord." She said with appropriate deference.

---

Khild walked alongside Sai, chuckling to herself as the soldiers muttered to each other about him and her. Some of them clearly gossiping that she was a screamer, and not knowing about his fox.

Was she his fox?

Sai saw the delegation from the orks just outside the camp, and called over one of his subcommanders. "Move the horses back. They'll panic from the smell if this turns into an attack."

"Yessir."

Khild frowned, "You seem certain, master, that my old master is going to try and kill."

"He'd be an idiot not to test me." Sai replied, "I am a Son of Menes. A twisting of ork magic. However, more than that, I am an exiled Slag. Attacking me is the law. Hammerhand may use either excuse. But he would be stupid not to test us. The orks have all the advantages."

She nodded sadly, "If battle is rejoined, it would only be time before all here fell."

"Exactly." He agreed, and then reached over and squeezed her hand, "But, I think my father mostly wants to see the Thunderstep I am so famous for. I have no intention of showing it to him... But that will depend on Tammy actually stepping in."

Khild chuckled, "That one wants your cubs. She will do what it takes to defend you."

"The fox is erratic, and mostly seems to like me because she hates my mistress. I wouldn't count on it."

The ork stopped him, turning him to face her, "Master... You seem not to know, so punish me if I have overstepped... A fox may leave her mate for a time, travel freely... But they mate for life. Always returning to the same. You are mated."

He felt his stomach twist into knots, "They mate for life?"

"One partner." Khild nodded slowly, "One alone. They do not form family. Travel freely... But mating season, they always return to the same."

"Oh, fuck. Fuck me with a pike." He cursed, regretting it all.

He might have succeeded in getting the upper hand he needed on the kitsune, to bring her to bear when he needed to. But in doing so he had definitely sinned against Toofy.

Khild smiled at him, "You did not know, master."

"Thanks." He said tiredly, "Anyways... Let's go meet my father. Try not to get in his way when he tries to kill me. I very much doubt Tammy will even try and protect you."

The ork chuckled, "That is truth."

Sai was joined by the previous commander of the camp. A rundown subcommander who looked like he hadn't slept in a decade. A distant cousin of a titled noble, he wasn't technically either a peasant or a noble.

"Subcommander Erich." Sai nodded to the man, "You gave the men my warning?"

"Yessir. They will refrain from reacting." The man nodded, and looked out nervously, "The chieftain, and the warlock. Are you certain about this, sir? If they attack us... We could win this, just by -"

"The emperor himself failed to kill Hammerhand. Don't go believing this rabid mob ever could." Sai warned him.

"You ever fight him, sir?"

He shook his head, "Not to date. Lord Westcolm was the last warrior I know of to survive engaging him in battle. The man finds it too unpleasant to speak of."

"Is it true you fought a neko bucktooth, sir? That would go a long way to improving morale."

Sai nodded grimly, "Several, in fact. I can point out the scars, if it would make you more comfortable. But, if I must answer your unspoken question, I have killed three of those formidable warlocks, alone. Many more with Tyre by my side."

Khild grunted in surprise, "I did not know my master was so accomplished. His children will be worthy of orkflesh."

"You better not be pregnant. Got enough problems on my plate." He muttered.

A small group of ten warriors flanked the three of them, as they headed out through the gates.

The chieftain raised a hand in peaceful greeting, "Frak'no nak nora, lak, tan Reich."

"He greets you. Calls himself chieftain." Khild translated, falling into her role with only a slight hint of disgust with the deceit.

He bowed his head, "I am Lord Sai, of the House of Sai, chosen representative and ambassador of Emperor Kaden VI, God-King of Mankind, and the Immortal of the Menes."

"Sai, dak na Sai. Mektoa, Immortalis." Khild roughly translated. Only Kaden would have earned the creation of a new curse word in orkish, the bastard.

Hammerhand chuckled, and spoke with a voice like gravel in a mortar, "We speak human, Lord Sai. The translator is unnecessary. Unless you are returning her, I suggest she returns to the camp."

It was a double implication.

First, to check that Sai had actually bedded her, and taken ownership of Khild. Which his adoptive father probably found infinitely amusing, considering what had opened the rift between them.

Second, that Khild should be protected. She was being offered a kindness, because Hammerhand was about to attack and it was going to big, loud, and violent. Bystanders would die.

Sai gave her a nod.

Khild's top lip lifted, and she went to growl at the insult of him shielding her from the thrill of a fight. However, before she made the noise, she saw his eyes momentarily light up.

He saw her throat bob nervously, and the ork grudgingly went on her way.

The chieftain glanced at the warlock in annoyance. Apparently not having known that Sai would receive any advance warning of an attack.

He winced, knowing what was coming next.

Sai casually shoved Erich out of the way as the chieftain attacked. Hammerhand was getting sick of sharing authority, and wanted to use his son as a weapon to remove the thorn in his side.

The orkish chieftain spun, rippling muscle and mass aiming a fist towards Sai.

There was an awe-inspiring flash as Tammy appeared. Golden light glowing as it surrounded her. Tiny yellow flakes of metal drifting through the air as the impulse to fight back was quelled by a forcibly imposed feeling of peace.

The chieftain was frozen, midswing, staring at her in wonder.

Then, Tammy spoke and ruined the illusion. "If anybo'y be pissin' on Sai, it done gonna be ma."

The dark-skinned ork shook off the effect of her arrival and let loose a ground-shaking bellow of rage as he pushed himself into a berserk state.

The fox's tails splayed out, revealing all nine, and she patted the ork on the head.

He squealed as he died.

She turned to Sai with a playful grin, "Noaw, you done be owing ma a fuck. Don' get dead 'fore."

She disappeared as rapidly as she had appeared.

The red-skinned ork leaned on his staff, shaken to the core. "That, boy, was... Unexpected."

"That is certainly one way to describe her." Sai replied more calmly than he felt, "Now, can I assume that this incident brings to a close whatever petty overtures you wished to make? We have a peace treaty to arrange, which will be quite draining."

"It... Wasn't an overture, boy. I intended that you die." He growled, "With that one at your beck and call, however, the odds are stacked against me. Khild, you, and that thing. I could actually lose."

Sai frowned, "You weren't looking for a demonstration."

"You are tainted, boy." The ork growled, "A piece of Menes' accursed soul is inside yours. Burrowing away. Keeping the motherless traitor alive. Giving him a chance to return. That's what you are. A vessel, for his return."

Sai nodded slowly, "Huh. I suppose that... Might be possible. Well, that's quite disturbing."

---

Every precaution was taken, after her torturers had turned up... Apparently the goddess hadn't killed them. Instead, they still breathed, but there was no mind to be found. No way to wake them.

Empty shells.

So, Efina found herself bound hand and foot, blindfolded and sitting within a magical seal. Four guards surrounding her, changed out at regular intervals.

She counted the time off to the next changing of the guard with their steady and practised breaths. Their footsteps told her that they were trained as true royal guards.

Men trained to deal with magic, and to act with extreme prejudice and little hesitancy. However, only men. There were no women among those that currently guarded her.

That oversight was about to be her opportunity for escape.

The goddess may have stolen her womanhood from her, but she still possessed her magic, her hatred, and her looks, and that was more than enough for her to twist reality to her purpose.

The count was right. The new guards were just beyond the doorway. The old were in tired anticipation of being able to leave their hyper-vigilant task behind. They were distracted, expecting something from one direction, and not another.

She breathed out slowly, knowing that a black fog was emerging from her lips and falling to the ground.

She gave a small smile as she felt the tiniest of cracks open in the seal around her. She heard the breathing of one guard change, captured by her charm before he could notice the seal.

She whispered into his ear, claiming his soul without moving an inch, or speaking aloud, "Kill the others, and I will be yours."

The royal guards are brutal, and efficient. Acting without hesitancy, even when the orders they feel compelled to follow made little sense.

Efina blinked as the man removed her blindfold, "My love."

She reached up to the man touching his cheek ever so gently, before she took his head in both her hands and shoved her thumbs through his eyes. She bit his tongue as he went to scream, tearing it free.

The priestess stood up, and her shackles fell away as the runes on them crackled and sparked.

She limped weakly over to one of the walls, grasping the stonework briefly before wrapping it around her and disappearing.

The door opened, and the new guards entered.

"What the fuck!?" One yelled, "Sound the... The..."

The smoke filled their lungs, and they forgot what they were worried about. Forgot everything, except the desire to bed Efina, who they no longer thought was in the room.

The guard turned to one of the others, throwing them against the wall, "What have you done with her? Where have you taken her!?"

Choosing only men, and only men who desired women, was a foolish mistake when attempting to guard the head priestess of a temple where women trained in all the desires of the flesh.

---

Toofy had ended up borrowing a bright blue balaclava from the frightened little Orli, before she and Tyre had returned to her room to find her Saia. The succubus already writhing from being ignored for so long, in such a vulnerable position.

She had the knitted hood turned down so that it only covered the lower half of her mouth, blocking some of Tyre's scent, with Orli's newly-made womanly smell, but it meant she wouldn't get to suck on Saia's tail.

Saia had tied herself to the bed, both wrists bound together and to the headboard by a red silk. One of her ankles was tied to the side of the bed, but the other leg was free.

The succubus struggled to lean up as the two of them entered, red eyes flashing in excitement as she saw them. "Oh, this looks dangerous. The two of you, talking and in agreement."

Toofy pounced, snagging Saia's tail from where it was flicking. She purred and nuzzled at the sensitive end, before grabbing the moving tip firmly between thumb and forefinger. Squeezing it as she rubbed a little circle.

Tyre followed through with Toofy's plan, saying nothing as he dropped his pants and approached the succubus. His face diving into her coal-black snatch without a single word.

Her red eyes widened at the dual assault to her senses, and the succubus pulled weakly at her restraints as her muscles tensed up.

Toofy let out a tiny growl, telling the human to stop with the foreplay, and move on to the next step.

Saia would appreciate the lack of gentleness.

He sat up, and then lined himself up onto her opening. The succubus' eyes glittering as she practically drooled in anticipation of being taken like this.

He thrust roughly into her.

In a human, not taking the time to warm up would do nothing but hurt. In a succugirl, it was practically a guarantee that she would meet her orgasm before the invasion was complete.