Zari's Tale ~ Part II: Found
Rising. Strong arms and a steady heartbeat. Darkness.
* * *
Zari awoke to a dream. Sie was wrapped in a cloud, downy and soft, almost weightless. And more gloriously, sie was warm! Warm for the first time in days! The caracal sighed blissfully and rolled over . . . and fell.
For a wild moment, the feline panicked, fearing that landing on all fours would not save hir from falling such a great height, but sie hit the ground only a split second later.
Rationality returned. Of course sie had not been sleeping in a cloud; that was silly. But that begged the question, where was sie?
The first thing that Zari noticed was the gloom of her current location. Sie seemed to be in a cave and illumination came from a crackling fire. Hir eyes were slow to adjust, but sie could clearly hear movement from across the chamber. A keen blade slicing through . . . something; cracking and chipping; the distinct scrap of a stiff-bristled brush.
The caracal could also smell blood. Sie tensed, awaiting any sign of danger, but hir limbs trembled unresponsively and sie cursed hir own feebleness.
Finally, focus came. This cave was not a wholly natural formation. While irregular in shape, some of the walls were clearly laid and mortared by a deliberate hand. Meanwhile, one entire side of the chamber seemed to be a sheer cliff face through which ran veins of quartz. Light from the fire roaring within a hearth glittered faintly in the translucent mineral.
The floor that Zari crouched upon had been worn even and smooth, nary a speck of grime to be seen. Spread out before hir was the mottled pelt of some unknown creature. With silky smooth fur and such voluminous size, it made for a kingly bedding. Whomever dwelt in this place enjoyed a simple yet comfortable life.
The brushing stopped. Zari raised hir head as much as sie was able. Across the chamber, the four-armed giant sat with his back to hir. He turned; dark eyes shone under a sloping brow. Held in his hands were a variety of bloodied tools and the half-scalped skull with an ax-like beak.
Zari would have vomited if there was anything in hir stomach. The giant apparently kept trophies. Was he saving hir for next? The feline feared sie didn't have enough strength to escape. Sie had hoped for a less gruesome end.
The giant rose, keeping an eye on hir cowering form as he walked around the chamber. Hooves clicked dully on the smooth stone floor and his four pillar-like arms swung awkwardly. He reached inside the hearth and pulled a ladle from some unseen cauldron, scooping something fluid into a wooden bowl. But rather than approach Zari directly, he set the dish down at the opposite end of the pelt bed and returned to his grim task in the far corner.
The smell wafting to hir small pink nose was earthy and rich. After a moment of half-hearted deliberation, Zari decided sie would rather eat than starve any further, based on some misguided principle of caution.
The sheer amount of effort it took to cross the bedding was embarrassing, to say the least. Once a dancer of preeminent grace, sie was now reduced to crawling with little more skill than a newborn kitten.
Zari peered down into the bowl of mystery stew. The greasy broth steamed delightfully, containing tuberous roots and chunks of red meat that sie could not readily identify. The feline hoped it, like the skull, belonged to the ax-beaked predators, and not something more . . . intelligent.
Truthfully, sie cared little anymore. Hunger roared back with a vengeance and sie fell upon the meal with a ravenous appetite.
Zari had inhaled half of the wooden bowl's contents before the fire hit hir. Hir tongue burned and hir throat tightened; sie gagged.
Broad hands gathered the feline up and tilted hir head back. A leather bota was lifted to hir leaps and sie drank the proffered drink, finding it contained a buttery-tasting milk, thick as cream. The fire was put out, leaving behind a tingling numbness in hir mouth.
"Sorry," the giant said. "Fire root. Should have--warned you."
The giant spoke haltingly in the manner of someone whom had little use for words. Though his voice was soft, it resonated like the groaning of earth in its deepest places, and the vibrations tickled Zari's sensitive ears.
His was an imposing presence. Sie could see now that he was an ovine of some variety, though far greater in size than any sie had yet met. Sunken eyes were round and kind, mirroring the ruddy hue of the hearth fire, and great curling horns framed his tapered face.
"Eat," he insisted. "Get warm."
Though hesitant to touch the fierce stew again, Zari could not afford to turn down a hot meal. It went down easier this time and the caracal could feel the heat radiating through hir limbs. Sie stretched, feeling invigorated. And a little frisky. A cool breeze on the feline's nether regions tipped hir off to the erection that had grown of its own volition.
Sie saw it. He saw it. Sie saw him seeing it. He saw hir seeing him see it.
Velius turned away and Zari dove under the furry covers, mortified.
"Sorry," the giant ram repeated, abashed. "Should have--warned you."
* * *
Zari knew immediately that he was gone when sie awoke, cold. The hearth was smoldering, impotent and empty of flame. Rising stiffly, the caracal found hir tattered cloak and wrapped it around hirself, before setting out to explore the earthen den for hir missing host.
Sie took the first egress sie found out of the central chamber; a winding, natural passage. There was quartz in these rough walls as well. It glittered under hir touch and sie eventually realized that was because there was more light ahead. The path descended, becoming damp.
Coming out into a massive cavern, Zari could hear the faint trickling of water. Some dim illumination was provided by candles upon a low stone table, only a few of which still burned. Curious to explore hir surroundings further, sie began lighting the rest and their flickering radiance spread, revealing a sight that sie would not soon forget.
All around the cavern were skulls. Shelves cut into the stone by centuries of erosion now served to support rows of skulls. A number of the macabre ornaments had been impaled upon stalagmites about the cavern. All were of creatures unknown to Zari; some vaguely familiar in shape while others were so contorted and misshapen that looking upon its former owner in the flesh would have surely driven one mad.
Sie even recognized the ax-beaked skull that hir giant host had been cleaning previously. A pool at the back of the cavern reflected ripples of eerie light, painting ugly expressions over the stark white bone. It scorned hir, blaming hir for the indignity it has been forced to suffer after death. The caracal stumbled back, overwhelmed by the nightmarish display.
"Monsters," a soft voice rumbled.
Given a fright, Zari took a misstep. Hands that could crush hir skull scooped the feline up with uncommon gentleness. The four-armed ram cradled Zari, regarding hir with a curious eye. Sie hated feeling this vulnerable, but his chest was so warm . . .
Zari buried hir face in his wool. "Take me away from here," sie begged, voice muffled.
The giant complied with a snort, leaving the cavern of death behind and returning hir to the living chamber, where the fire in the hearth had been reignited. The ovine lowered Zari to the bedding with care and sie pulled the fuzzy pelt under hir chin. Unable to sleep, fearing a recurrence of that horrible vision, sie simply watched hir host go about his usual business.
He hung his great cloak upon an antler rack, revealing the four broad-bladed swords secured by a rope belt. The ram unhooked these one at a time, making sure each was clean and without blemish before setting it down and moving onto the next. Torso bare, he wore only a heavy wrap about his waist.
Zari could make out the scars of recent battles that parted the fur of his body and arms. Realizing that sie knew nothing about this silent giant, it took her a moment to work up the nerve.
"I never got around to thanking you," the feline began. "So . . . thank you."
Zari cringed. Hir voice sounded small and weak and sie almost hoped the he hadn't heard hir. There was something about his presence that made words seem inadequate.
Pausing only slightly in activities that were hidden from hir by his bulk, the giant tilted his horned head and snorted, giving the barest of nods. Clumsily, sie barreled on.
"I am Zari--Zari Lightfoot, some call me. Please, tell me your name?"
The ram stopped again. After a pause, "Velius," he said. The giant repeated it softly, more to himself, as if so unfamiliar with the term that he had almost forgotten it.
"And how does one come to have a cave full of skulls, Sir Velius?"
At last, the giant ram turned away from his unseen task and faced Zari. Whether he was amused or annoyed by hir address, sie could not tell.
"Take them--from monsters," he explained in his halting fashion. "They come from--hmm--deep in mountain. Too many--very dangerous--so I hunt. Keep skulls--one from each kind." Velius snorted, seeming quite pleased with himself. "Many kinds."
Zari nestled down deeper in the fur bedding. "Yes, there are."
* * *
Though not wanting for lack of exercise over the course of hir arduous trek, Zari had pushed hir lithe dancer's body well beyond its natural limits. Recuperation consisted of more sleeping and eating than sie had ever done in hir life.
Fortunately, the caracal was not alone anymore and had come to know hir giant benefactor a bit better. Though Velius rarely uttered more than a few words at a time, sie had gleaned other tidbits about him. The ram was a mouflon -- purebred, he insisted -- and he originally hailed from a small settlement across the tumultuous waters of Norten Oceana.
As a lamb, he earned the moniker 'Ironhorn' when he charged a bully and missed, inadvertently splitting the stone foundations of the town mead hall. He laughed openly at the recollection, a deep booming sound that set the feline's heart aflutter.
Velius shared with hir a number of useful skills, knitting and sewing especially, and in this he proved to be a more patient teacher than Zari's harried mother. The caracal found that the farther sie got from home, the sharper the pangs of recollection became. Sie swallowed those memories, the happy and sad alike, tucking them away. There could be no going back now.
And so the following weeks were spent in a facsimile of rural domestication; the sort of life that Zari had been eager to leave behind in hir own youth.
The four-armed ovine often left Zari to hir own devices in the stony domicile. Sie spent the time making new clothes for hirself, though sie was fast becoming acclimated to the wintery climate. And when Velius returned home, sometimes not for several days, Zari repaid his generosity by helping to treat his wounds.
The ovine warrior always bore a few souvenirs of his victories and Velius was grateful for hir aid in tending wounds that were in places his own thickly hewed limbs could not reach. The body under his coarse wool was hard and chiseled, as if from the very same stone around them. Zari soon found hirself coming to relish this close contact.
"What do you think?" sie asked him one day, quite suddenly.
The caracal was at last able to wear the fruits of hir labor; a homespun dress that was comfortable and functional, though perhaps not the most attractive. Zari, however, felt more beautiful in it than any of those saucy costumes sie used to wear. Sie modeled it for Velius, twirling across the chamber.
The ram chuckled and clapped, tickled by hir childlike glee.
Zari's heart began to pound. The feline could feel an itch in hir feet that rose and spread to the very tips of hir tail, fingers, and ears. That old rush filled hir once again, making hir head light.
"No-no," sie interrupted. "Like this." Hir hands came together in a brisk staccato and Velius eventually caught on, miming the tempo. For the first time in months, Zari began to dance.
It began with a quick step, hir padded feet striking the worn stone floor in precise time. Sie whipped the dress about hir legs in counterpoint, showing only the barest glimpses of those supple limbs, renewed in vigor. The caracal's wild mane bobbed around an uplifted face like veils.
Zari's eyes closed. The stone walls fell away. There was only hir and the rhythm. Sie was a flower swaying in the breeze. The earth kissing the sky. A bird . . .
Hir step faltered and hir chest grew tight. This was Alila's favorite dance.
Zari's legs gave way and sie collapsed, wracked with grief. Hir dearest friend was a world away, surely still suffering under a tyrannical master. The caracal's reasons for fleeing alone seemed flimsy now, content as sie was in this warm den of earth. Sie wept.
That night was the longest of any in Zari's entire life. Body quivering, tears soaking hir furry cheeks, the feline sobbed so hard that sie could barely breathe. Velius -- whom normally preferred the solitude of his cloak and a corner by the fire -- stayed with hir all night. His mighty arms encircled hir, a bower of muscle, a shield against the guilt and despair. Hir racing heart slowed to match the steady cadence that thumped within his broad chest.
Eventually, Zari's sobs eased and gave way to deep breaths and finally, slumber.
* * *
The smell of wild flowers tickled hir nose. Zari didn't want to wake up, but sie could not resist looking for the source of the sweet fragrance that seemed so foreign in this place of musk and charcoal.
A bouquet of lush greenery and tiny white flowers. Sie instantly recognized the star-shaped petals. It was razor ivy, but in this case, the thorns had been stripped.
Although the sight summoned unpleasant memories, Zari knew it had been left as a present of consolation and sie appreciated the gesture. Picking it up, sie found it was bound together by an even more touching gift: a comb. The half-moon shape was carved from polished nacre that shimmered in the hearth fire's radiance. Alas, hir mane was knotted into hopeless clumps from the long period of neglect.
"How--do you feel?" came the rumbling query.
Zari regarded the ovine giant. Velius was stirring a cauldron of his fiery stew at the hearth. He seemed unable to meet hir gaze for long, sunken eyes bouncing nervously between the two demands on his attention.
"Awful," the feline answered honestly. "But not as bad as last night, thank you--and for the gift as well. I'll make better use of it later," sie promised, settling it behind one ear. Velius snorted and nodded. A tiny smile graced hir lips.
Zari took up the bouquet, methodically picking out tendrils and weaving them into a wreath. When Velius came over to offer hir a bowl, sie reached up and slipped the ring of wound ivy around the ram's heavy brow, tying it behind his head. Hir hands lingered, tracing the arc of his horns.
Sie could feel the hot breath on hir cheeks quickening. His ears flicked nervously, matching the look from the dark eyes that took in the sight of hir feline face, so close.
"Eat," Velius said, putting the stew in hir hands and pulling away. "Get warm. Will--need it."
* * *
Sie was going outside! Just the thought of it made Zari dance with anticipation. While the caracal had come to be quite comfortable in Velius's cave-like home, sie didn't realize until now just how much sie longed to see the sky.
The giant ram made sure to swaddle his house mate in furs, fussing about in the way an overprotective father might. Finally, Zari lightly slapped his nose in mock-impatience.
"This is fine, let's go already!" sie reproached, enjoying the startled look on his ovine face.
He led hir into a passage sie had never noticed before, because that corner of the chamber was always in perpetual shadow. Zari stayed close to hir guide's broad, cloaked back in navigating the many twists and turns. More than once, sie felt something crunch under hir paws, and realized that this convoluted foyer to Velius's home was likely a defense against intruders.
Suddenly, sie was awash in light. Zari screwed up hir eyes and it was several painful seconds before sie could discern anything.
The outside world came into focus by layers; Velius's massive form was the anchor around which sprouted black underbrush, barren of foliage in the winter. The clear azure sky opened up to hir and snow-blanketed plains sloped down from hir feet, making the feline feel as though sie stood at the top of the world. Sie breathed deeply of the fresh, sweet air.
Zari looked back, seeing that Velius's domicile was set into a rocky crag. The giant beckoned to his charge and led hir around the side of it, where black brush gave way to healthy green fir trees.
Though the forest grew increasingly dense, Velius seemed to have little trouble navigating his bulk through it, doing so with almost supernatural quietness. Zari, by comparison, stumbled clumsily in his wake, unused to the rough terrain. Whether the local wildlife was staying clear of their path or Velius had already killed everything in the area, sie did not know, but got the distinct impression that they were alone in these woods.
With the canopy now blocking out the sun, Zari had no way of measuring the amount of time that passed as sie trailed hir ovine guide. At last, they came upon a cliff face that rose up suddenly out of the forest floor. Velius indicated that they should begin climbing, but the caracal waved off his offer to carry hir.
Sie confidently put one paw in front of the other and scaled the cliff, but soon found hirself awash in greenery. Trees grew right up to the cliff face and sie put more effort into bullying past needled branches than actually climbing.
Velius wasted little time in his own ascent. Zari yowled in surprise as his second pair of hands scooped hir up and he continued on unimpeded.
At his expert pace, they soon brook through the canopy and swung up the precipice edge, revealing a fairy tale sight: upon a terrace set in the cliffs was a volcanic hot spring, where a balmy atmosphere pushed back the snow.
"Found this--cleared out monsters," Velius explained.
Zari dropped out of his hands and walked around the enormous, steaming pools. A full bath was a luxury, even in the larger cities like Vafoso. Sie could barely contain hir delight and eagerly shed hir many bundled layers.
"Oh, it's amazing!" sie gaped, running hir fingers over the surface.
"Careful," the giant ram advised, perfectly straight of face, but with a twinkle in his vermilion eyes. "It's hot."
The feline stuck hir tongue out at him and slid into the natural pool of mineral water. Its temperature was perfect; hot, but just shy of being too hot. Standing on the irregular bottom, the waterline came up under hir bosom. Sie dove below the surface, then lazily floated atop it, allowing hirself to be carried by the thermal currents. Sie purred.
Through narrowed green eyes, Zari watched Velius disrobe and carefully wrap his swords in the gray traveling cloak.
In only the firelight of his den, Sie'd never had the opportunity to get a good look at the ovine's coloration and found it intriguing: his wool was cornflower blue, fading to flaxen at muzzle and forelimbs. Ringlets that were almost black fell about his four shoulders like moss and -- when the ram unbelted his wrap -- sie saw that it was likewise as dark between his legs.
Velius caught hir gaze and sank quickly into the water, suddenly bashful under the caracal's scrutiny. Sie blew contemplative bubbles.
The feline swam to a rock rising from the center of the spring and hoisted hirself upon it, enjoying the shiver generated by the cooler air on hir sodden, persimmon-hued coat. Hir nipples were erect and tingling, sensitive to the slightest breeze. Pressing hir legs together, sie watched how the water ran down hir creamy underbelly to submerge hir own masculine parts in a small puddle.
Zari retrieved the comb from behind hir ear and began tending to hir mane. The notoriously wild locks had finally been tamed by a dunk in the hot mineral bath. Sie hummed an old, comforting tune, savoring the feel of polished nacre tines running through hir fur.
The ram's eyes were glued to hir, sie knew. It felt good, having an audience again.
Impulsiveness took over. Zari secured hir mane at the nape and dove back into the spring. Sie swam right up to the ram and, placing hir padded hands on his broad chest, rose to face him, nose to nose.
Velius rumbled, "Zari--"
"Shhh," the feline interrupted. Sie fingered his dark ringlets. His own hands hovered around hir lithe form, hesitant to touch. "I must be blessed, coming to know two such extraordinary people," sie mused.
The caracal and mouflon came together as one, lips meeting passionately.
Velius was clumsy, inexperienced, so it was Zari's turn to guide him. Sie broke the contact, then lead him into small, firm kisses that grew longer and deeper. Hir tongue flickered into his mouth, coaxing him to reciprocate. He became bolder, diving in to taste the spice of hir breath.
Pulling on the ram's ears to make him groan aloud, Zari sucked hard on his long tongue. Sie nipped at it with the barest of pressure and the thick muscle squirmed pleasantly in hir mouth, before sie consented to release him. A string of saliva connected their lips and sie licked his chin, slurping up the drool.
Velius had a bit of a wild look, seeing this small feline with new eyes. He took deep, gasping breaths to collect himself, giving the caracal on his chest quite a ride. Zari purred and teased him with a peck on the nose.
He leaned in, kissing and nuzzling hir on the cheek and under the chin, down neck and across collarbones. Coming to hir breasts, he lapped at the swollen nipples and sucked on them, one, then the other.
Sie arched hir back, spurring him on down hir belly, and the ram's many hands supported hir. Calloused fingers closed around hir trunk, thumbs roughly kneading Zari's breasts while his tongue explored hir navel. The other pair had hir about the hips, caressing firm buttocks and pinching the tender base of hir tail.
The mound of Zari's sheath bumped him under the chin. Sie was riding his shoulders now, knees on either side of his head and hands grasping the ridged horns. He nuzzled the furry sheath and hir sack bounced on puckering lips. The caracal's member emerged, stiff and gleaming.
Whether or not Velius had ever taken such a thing in his mouth before, he no longer showed any trepidation. He practically inhaled it, taking Zari's full -- if modest -- length between his long jaws with ease. Clamping down at the hilt, he suckled as a lamb might on his mother's teat. But the way Velius's tongue also slithered around hir throbbing erection would raise the eyebrow of any ewe.
Zari was bent over the ovine's head, relishing sensations that sie'd never experienced before. Hir hips began to rock, attempting to thrust, but Velius held fast. His mouth opened and his tongue snaked out, cupping the feline's balls and drawing them in as well, but he did not stop there.
The nimble tip juggled hir sack on its way to find the swollen pink lips of Zari's feminine slit. He managed to part the outer labia and drink of both hir sexes at once, tickling the inner folds and even the hard little nub of hir clitoris. Driven deeper into Velius's mouth, sie met the back of his throat. He swallowed, giving the barbed head a little squeeze.
The dual assault was too much for hir to take and Zari came.
Sie had never climaxed in both ways at the same time before. It felt like being drained, like hir very soul was escaping hir body. Limbs locked up and became numb. There was only the tide going out. Velius drank Zari's seed without surprise or complaint, but had some difficulty also catching the womanly juice that ran down hir thighs and his chin.
The vine wreath that had still been tied around the mouflon's head broke, falling into the spring. Small, white, star-shaped flowers scattered over the surface and floated away, disappearing into the steam.
Having lost all sense of warmth, the caracal shivered violently. Velius gently disentangled hir from his horns and let the exhausted feline slide down his muscular torso and back into the steaming spring water. It was Zari's turn to gasp and sie lay there for a while, letting sensation return one padded digit at a time.
Zari reached up and caressed the ram's cheek lovingly. "That was . . . incredible. I've never . . . Ha-ha!" sie laughed, giddy with pleasure. "Thank you, I . . . I'm so sorry, Velius."
Velius bowed his head, nuzzling hir cheek encouragingly.
"I'm sorry," Zari repeated. "It's not fair to you. I left behind she whom I thought was my one great love and I will never forget her." Hir chest tightened at the merest thought of Alila. "Maybe someday, I can tell you about her, but for now, it still hurts too much."
The feline sat up and turned, straddling hir ovine lover's lap. Sie saw acceptance in his dark eyes, though little understanding. Zari wiped her face, not trusting the pool to hide the glisten of tears.
"I didn't think my heart would have room enough for a second great love, but here you are. If you are but patient with me, I will give you everything I can spare."
Sie kissed Velius again, melting into his embrace. They sat that way for a long while, sharing every breath and heartbeat, until the winter sun began its descent.
When Zari looked up again, it was snowing. Each brilliant flake glittered pink in the twilight. One landed on hir nose and it was Velius's turn to take a lick. He persisted, tickling hir face and sie giggled, leaning back on his legs to get away.
Something twitched under Zari's bottom, but sie didn't need three guesses as to the source of the rapidly swelling mound upon which sie sat.
"You poor dear," sie cooed, reaching under the surface to fondle the bulge of hir lover's woolen sheath. "Here I'm being selfish while you needed relief. Let's take care of that straight away, shall we?"
It was too dark to see under the water, but Zari didn't need sight to know hir way around an erection. The end of Velius's manhood breached the surface and sie ran hir hands around the head that was squashed like a mushroom's cap. The rest of his member followed suit, springing to full mast.
Like the rest of him, the meaty appendage was thick and firm. Its girth was equal to that of Zari's own thigh and was half-again as long, with a flawless alabaster complexion. It could have been mistaken for a sculpture, save for the incredible heat and occasional tremor of desire.
"Zari--you don't--have to," the ram said, though he couldn't hide the tone of guarded disappointment.
"It's okay," sie said reassuringly. "I want to. I want this."
Zari massaged the broad head in hir padded hands, methodically working around the crown and down the entire length to the throbbing base. Hir own pouch came to rest on his much larger one as sie sidled up to the enormous member, hugging it to hir belly. The head came all the way up to nestle between the feline's breasts. Sie squeezed them together, polishing the squashed cap with hir furry globes and teasing the sensitive frenulum with stiff nipples.
Velius's hips bucked, nearly throwing hir off. Zari grinned, anchored by hir grip on his solid manhood. Sie licked and nibbled around the lid, lapping at the beads of pre-cum as they appeared. Hir ministrations made the mighty ram shudder and moan; he was completely under hir power.
Sie could wrap hir lips around the squashed head, but fitting it into hir mouth was a greater challenge. Zari's sharp little teeth grazed the white flesh as sie engulfed as much of it as possible. The feline's tongue ran around the cap and tickled his slit, while hir hands continued their massaging. Sie ground hir own returning erection into the base of his larger member.
Velius tensed and Zari felt the pressure building between hir tightly pressed thighs. Sie released him from hir mouth with a wet pop, removing hir hands as well, ceasing all stimulation. The ram snorted and groaned in frustration, but the caracal had something even better planned.
Planting hir feet on his hips and one hand on his chest, sie stood out of the water and climbed atop the white pillar of flesh, using hir free hand to guide the squashed head to hir feminine slit.
It seemed like a fool's errand at first, expecting the ovine member to penetrate hir petite womanhood. Sie parted the labia with hir fingers and rode the spongy mass, coating it with hir juices. Zari nearly came again, just from how it rubbed hir clit. Velius offered his help, holding himself steady with two hands while the other pair settled on the feline's hips.
They pushed together, him entering hir ever so slowly. Finally, the head was in and Zari settled on the throbbing column somewhat easier. Sie had never been stretched so much and with each tentative rock of hir hips, Velius's member slid in deeper, inch by inch. Sie had taken barely half of his length when the squashed head met the entrance to hir womb, halting their progress.
Zari grabbed Velius by the horns to draw him into a kiss and began riding in earnest. Sie loosened with every stroke until he was driving fully into hir; head swelling against the lips of hir womanhood before it powered through hir deepest folds. When he hit the muscular ring of hir cervix at full speed, it felt akin to a drum, beaten upon. Zari quickly came to enjoy the rhythmic thump, but hir legs were too weak to keep up the pace.
Velius scooped hir up and pitched forward onto hands and knees, his second pair of arms cradling the caracal to his hard body. With only hir head and shoulders above water, Zari clung to his neck, surrounded by delectable warmth inside and out.
The ram's tempo increased to a maddening level, telling hir that he was close to climax, but sie couldn't wait for him. Zari came again, spilling hir seed in the hot spring. If hir womanhood had been able to tighten around him anymore, it certainly didn't slow him down. He grunted with each thrust. He was nearly crushing hir against his body.
At first, sie felt a trickle of heat, like pouring off melted wax from a spent candle. Zari realized that hir lover was only just starting to come as the flow of his cream increased until it was like the ram was pumping into a mud hole. The once pristine spring water around them grew cloudy from his excess. One final thrust brought him to the depths and Velius unleashed a spray so hot and forceful that Zari feared it would pierce hir like a spear.
His bleat of climax was long and loud, echoing off the cliffs and over the forest. His seed was pumped directly into the caracal's womb, overflowing. Sie had never felt so full in hir life.
Mighty arms trembling, Velius sat back on his haunches and the lovers hugged wearily. The sun had completed its descent and they sat now in the darkness, twinkling stars bearing witness to their cooling passion. The ram gave a small tilt of his head and Zari nodded agreement; it was time to go.
He lifted the feline out of the water first, his softening member sliding free with a squelch. As he set hir down on the rocks, sie covered hirself with hir hands, not out of modesty, but to try and keep the evidence of his love inside hir. Velius followed hir out and wrapped his cloak around them both to dry off.
This memory -- this heat -- would stay with Zari forever.
* * *
There came a time when the couple needed supplies that they just couldn't make themselves, so when Velius began gearing up for the several-day trek into the nearest settlement of Oras, Zari insisted on going with him and wouldn't accept no for an answer. As much as sie could not stand the idea of being away from hir new lover for even a moment, the caracal was just as interested in hearing news from civilization.
The journey itself was mostly uneventful. The first thaw had come, providing some relief from the cold before winter struck the Unclaimed Northlands in full force, so fields of snow had given way to hard-packed mire. Velius entertained his feline charge with instruction in survivalist lore, revealing hitherto unknown sources of foraging, tips for navigating difficult terrain, and which wildlife sie should avoid or could safely approach.
They followed a silt-rich river that slithered out of the mountains without deviation and sie soon found out why, as Oras itself spanned the river's muddy delta. Even from a distance, Zari could see the filth that seemed to coat every squatting structure.
Velius stopped well outside the city walls, a grim expression on his tapered ovine face. He pressed something into hir hands: it was a knife wrapped up in a belted leather sheath.
"Good knife--stays sharp. Hope you--won't need it."
Zari drew the knife, finding that it was all made from a single piece of the same nacreous material that hir comb was carved from. The iridescent blade was razor sharp and a tightly wrapped leather thong provided the necessary grip. Sie obediently belted it on.
"So do I."
No one stopped them at the gates of the town, which hung open. Inside, Oras was just as ugly as the caracal had suspected. It had everything one would expect of a frontier town, except for children, and Zari agreed with the sentiment that this was no place to raise young. Most everything was constructed of rotting wood, uniformly streaked with mud and overgrown by weeds. Streams of muck flowed through the streets and those citizens who drifted along with it were a dour lot.
Disheartened but not dissuaded, Zari left Velius to the task of dealing with traders and set out to explore this sorry excuse for civilization. Wherever there were women, there was gossip, and Zari had no trouble uncovering Oras's history.
Back when the river was overflowing with gold and other precious minerals, Oras had been a base camp for panhandlers and miners who were bold enough to follow the river north to its source in the Liushikan Mountains. As with all things, time brought ruin; the wealth ran dry and the monsters became too numerous. It was now a city that travelers were eager to leave behind, occupied by stubborn fishermen and a seedier element of people who sought a place to disappear.
There was little in the way of news from the south, however, and Zari was ready to abandon hir investigations when sie detected the faint groan of a musical bellows. Sie tracked the distinctive sound to a pub that seemed unusually raucous for this sullen little town. At two stories in height, it was one of the taller structures in Oras.
A dissonant melody played by clearly untrained folk bards could barely be heard over the hooting and hollering that came from within. Curious, Zari slipped inside. Most of the town's male population seemed to be present and there was an unpleasant atmosphere of drunken debauchery. They were all facing the bar, so Zari kept to the perimeter, angling for a look hirself.
Between the shifting bodies of ale-sodden patrons, sie caught a glimmer of silver. Pressing closer still, Zari saw the one thing sie least expected: Alila.
There could be no mistaking those slender avian legs, adorned with bangles and moving with such grace. She was dressed in little more than a moth-eaten poncho, much to the delight of the townsmen that gawked up at hir. A leather hood had been buckled around Alila's head; she was dancing blind.
Zari growled deep in hir throat, knowing that bastard Rasz-Kadir was near. Sie found him at the end of the bar, looking quite out of place in his opulent robes as he conducted some hushed business with the barkeep. A rope wound from his fist to the collar of the avian's hood, which he occasionally gave a sharp tug when she strayed too far.
The caracal was still concealed under hir own cloak; Rasz was occupied and couldn't have seen hir. Sie had little chance of rescuing Alila from he and this crowd, instead opting to seek Velius's aid.
But before Zari could enact any plan, long boney fingers grasped hir arms painfully. Hir nose wrinkled at the unpleasant body odor of the gaunt hyena that pressed his face to hirs.
" 'Ello, poppet!" he leered, licking black lips and yellow fangs. He sniffed hir hungrily, eliciting a shiver of disgust from the caracal. His breath made hir whiskers curl. "Now wot's a pretty lil' thing like you doin' in a grungy ol' dive like this?"
Zari struck the hyena's chin with back of hir head, stunning him, but not for long enough. Sie didn't get more than a step away before his grasp tightened. He drew a kukri knife, patting hir cheek with its pitted blade.
"Don' bother answerin' me, luv. Tell it to the boss man there." The hyena-man shoved Zari past startled patrons and sie hit the bar counter hard, knocking the wind out of hir. " 'Oi, Kadir! This mean I get the purse, yeah?"
Zari and Rasz's eyes met. He goggled at the caracal, surprise momentarily overriding the fury that had surely driven him to seek hir this far north. A hush fell over the assemblage and the music was snuffed. Above the cornered feline, Alila had stopped dancing and stood with cocked head, clearly in a daze.
Ignoring hir former employer, Zari turned to the avian. "Alila, it's me! I'm going to get you out of h--"
Rasz had hir by the throat in an instant.
"Almost couldn't believe my eyes," he hissed, pressing Zari into the bar. His free hand groped hir roughly and by the time sie thought to go for hir knife, the furious horse-man had already found it. "This one of my brother's? Liked it better than the one you murdered him with, did you?"
It was driven into the wooden bar top.
"Worth more than his life," Zari sneered. Rasz's bejeweled hand struck hir across the face. "What did you do to Alila?" Another slap.
"The same as I'm going to do to you. All worn out like she is, she's not much use to me anymore. You couldn't have shown your face at a better time, Zari Lightfoot."
"Agreed. I'll make sure to get a matched set this time!"
Hir bared claws raked the horse-man's long face. He replied in kind, striking the caracal with such force that sie fell to the floor.
"You little slut! Try something like that again and the birdie dies now!"
Rasz pointed up. A balcony ran the perimeter of the large common room. On the other side of a chandelier made from a ship's wheel, Zari saw two more hyena-men step out of the shadows.
A tall, muscular one leapt down to the first floor, cackling as he drove the frightened townsfolk outside with swinging fists and snapping jaws. The second, whom remained at his perch, was shorter and stockier. At the snap of Rasz's fingers, this one coolly trained his crossbow on Alila.
"Your heroics have failed. Submit to me and I may see fit to let her live while you repay your blood debt to my family."
Zari trembled, not with fear, but rage. He was right -- it was over. Was sie still so weak?
CRASH!
Everyone turned to the sound. The tallest hyena-man had been lifted bodily and thrown into the wooden chandelier. Howling as the candles singed his fur, he struggled momentarily and then the whole thing came down into the middle of the common room.
The massive shape of a bristling Velius filled the tavern's door frame.
"Don't just stand there gawking!" Rasz shouted to the bowman. "Kill him!"
The stocky hyena hastily changed his aim and fired at the cloaked ovine. Velius had no time to react at such short range and the crossbow bolt pierced deeply into his shoulder. More annoyed than anything, he drew one of his broad-bladed swords and threw it. The bowman dove for cover as the hefty weapon made kindling of the balcony.
Rasz sputtered furiously and Zari used this as a distraction. Hir claws dug ruthlessly into his groin, making the horse-man collapse in blinding pain, and sie was pleased to come away with a handful of his blood.
Zari retrieved hir knife and pulled the still-dazed Alila down from the bar. They made a break for the exit, but the first hyena-man was on them, quick as a whip. He cackled, flashing his own knives -- and was promptly kicked across the tavern common room by Velius's cloven hoof.
"Run!" he bellowed.
The tallest hyena recovered from his entanglement and pounced on the ram. They traded blows and he went, snarling, for the ovine's throat, but Velius's many hands gave him the advantage. He restrained the hyena and delivered a bone-crunching headbutt. Another crossbow bolt whizzed by and Velius drew his other swords.
Zari and Alila made it outside. Not trusting to find refuge in this decrepit town, the caracal practically dragged hir avian companion beyond the city gates. But Alila was too weak to go far. They stopped to rest among the brush outside Oras's wooden palisade.
"I'm so sorry, Alila," sobbed Zari. "I did this to you."
Frustrated and blinking through hir tears, sie fumbled with the leather hood's buckles. The avian's feathered hands settled over Zari's with a calming touch.
"I don't blame you," Alila said, her voice thick with a drug-induced stupor. "It's so nice just to hear your voice again--Oh!" The bird-girl cocked her head, distracted. "Can you hear it? It's never been so clear before. How lovely . . ."
The hood's buckles finally came undone and it fell away. Zari's hands clapped over hir mouth in horror. The delicate feathers of Alila's face were ruffled and caked with long-dried blood. Her eyes had been put out.
"Bitch kept staring me down," coughed Rasz-Kadir.
Zari spun. The horse-man had caught up to them, leaving a trail of blood in his muddy wake. Though looking about ready to collapse, his eyes were bulging and the hand that held his brother's scimitar did not falter.
"What you did must have put some spine in her as well. But she forgot one important fact," he bragged, waving the curved sword back and forth. "She doesn't need eyes to dance!"
Rasz lunged, forcing the two dancers apart. Zari slashed at the horse-man with hir knife, but he easily parried the novice stroke and disarmed hir. He grabbed hir by the mane, pulling savagely. The caracal yowled, refusing to submit, and clawed his arm. He recoiled and sie slipped away.
Feline and equine faced each other down. He wielded both blades, but had not the energy to chase hir down. Zari spied a pearlescent sheen in the mud between Rasz's hooves -- hir comb had fallen out in the struggle.
Sie moved first. The horse-man swung at hir, but Zari nimbly avoided the deadly blades. Sie scooped up hir comb and danced around Rasz with ease, wrapping hir arms around his neck and pressing the comb to an unprotected jugular.
"Say hello to your brother for me," Zari hissed.
Sharp nacre tines pierced the horse-man's flesh with agonizing slowness. He thrashed helplessly, too weak to throw off the caracal. Eyes rolled back into his head and bloody spittle frothed from his snarling mouth. At last, all motion ceased. The Kadir clan was no more.
Velius came upon the gory scene shortly thereafter. Zari was curled up in Alila's lap. Whom comforted the other was impossible to tell.
"Oh, Velius," the feline said dully, shock setting in. "This is Alila."
"Velius? What a curious name," the avian mumbled dreamily. "I'm very pleased to meet you. Pardon the imposition, sir, but I would very much like to be nearer the sky and I don't think either of us will be walking quite far just now."
The ram traded a confused look with his lover. Zari shrugged, not understanding the request. Velius bent over and lifted them both, apparently no worse for the wounds he sustained in the tavern brawl.
"Bluff--outside town--not far," the four-armed giant said.
"What happened to the hyenas?" Zari asked.
Velius responded with a snort of derision. "Ran--cowards."
"Seems you found your mountain, Zari," Alila sighed, resting her head in the crook of Velius's shoulder.
Zari flushed, but was saved from having to reply by the wind that now shrieked around them. The ram's swift gait had soon brought them up a bluff that rose just beyond the walls of Oras, overlooking the dirty burg and the gulf which shared its name. Ominous storm clouds were blowing in from the east.
Alila directed the ovine to set her down. She stumbled to the precipice, eliciting a strangled cry from Zari.
"Yes, it's loud here--so close," she confirmed with rising hope.
"What are you doing, Alila? Come away from there before you fall," the caracal pleaded.
"Look, Zari!" The avian threw off her tattered poncho and spread her wings. They were gloriously full, black feathers shining with accents of sapphire and jade. "Rasz was so angry, he kept forgetting to clip my feathers. I can finally go home!"
"Home?" Zari echoed, uncomprehending.
"I love you. Remember that."
And the bird-girl dove off the cliff.
Zari wailed, clawing hir way to the precipice, but all sie saw below were iron gray waves dashing themselves on the rocks. Then a loud flapping drew hir attention to the sky, but caught only a dark speck disappearing into the clouds.
A single black feather wafted down on the stormy breeze. Zari caught it, admiring the band of shimmering blue. Sie turned to face Velius, a silent sentinel upon the bluff.
"Us too. Let's go home."