A Happy Ending
The Clydesdale feels the static electricity in the air as it prickles along his fur. "This temple has a protector!" he thinks to himself as a lightning bolt flashes through the air. With the early warning thanks to the static, the mage easily deflects the attack, sending it right back at the caster.
Up ahead, the bolt strikes the caster and knocks the cloaked figure against the far wall. A startled scream fills the colonnade of the overgrown temple of a long-forgotten deity. And before the attacker can stand back up, Liam races down the row of columns, wheeling around with his stave spinning. It lands right next to the assailant's neck and pins the character down.
The eyes of the attacker stare up at the chocolate-brown horse with a long white mane and bushes of white hair circling his wrists and ankles. Liam watches them look over his body and trace the red painted pattern on his chest. "Do you yield?" he barks to the one on the ground. Slowly, the unknown one nods. Satisfied but with a blue energy forming around his right hand, the horse steps back, pulling his stave from the clothing.
The attacker cautiously rises to his or her feet. With a deliberate movement, a hand grabs a portion of the fabric surrounding the face and muzzle. Liam's eyes widen as the cloth drops to the floor and he stares at another equine. "You stand victorious over me, master," says the feminine voice. Without another word, the mare drops to her knees before him and bows her head. "I am yours to do with as you please, master."
"Stand up," he commands. She rises and he walks around her. The robe she wears hides her figure. He returns to her front and she unties the robe, shrugging her shoulders and letting the cloak fall from her. The mare wears a tight leather bodice that shows off her curves and plenty of eye-catching cleavage. A leather skirt hangs down from her waist to her knees. Leather bracers cover her forearms. A short sword lies strapped across the small of her back. Her long tan hair cascades down her back as she unties it from the bun that kept it out of the way. Her cream-colored fur shows no sign of imperfection in its coloration. Violet eyes watch him as he sizes her up.
"Do I please you, master?"
Liam snorts, "Why do you call me that?"
Her eyes drop, "I failed in my duty and that means I now belong to you. Whether I live or die is your choice, master."
"I have no reason to kill you. But I have my own duty to attend to." He walks past her and heads towards the entrance of the main sanctuary.
"There is no gold or silver here, master," she calls after him before grabbing her robe and following.
"That isn't the treasure I came here for. I'm after the library." The double doors barring his entrance easily swing open as he pushes against them. The mare steps to his side. She looks up at him despite both being equines. His race came from the north, broad-shouldered and stronger than the other species of horses. Hers claims speed and agility over strength. Yet she holds the strength of all her kind. "Are you the only defender of this place?"
"Yes, master. And another will take my place with my failure."
Natural light pours in from square openings high on the walls. Mirrors placed at the proper locations scatter the light throughout the cathedral-like room. Candelabras rest against the columns in the room. A large statue of a vixen sits on the dais in the far end of the room. In one hand of the statue rests symbols of fertility while scrolls rest in the other. "Knowledge and growth. Interesting combination."
"She represents the knowledge of the natural world. Each year the world grows and renews itself. Her followers believed in tending the world and promoting a harmonious relationship between the fertile ground and our use of it."
"No wonder the religion died out. The more aggressive zealots would see this one as weak." He steps into the room and marches straight to the giant idol. The mare follows.
"Fertility rights were very popular among her followers."
Liam laughs, "Hmm, a vixen and sex... that doesn't help the stereotype at all, now does it?" Even the mare laughs. "What is your name?"
"Jupiter, master."
"I like it." The stallion looks over at a group of candles sitting at the foot of the statue. "Now where are you," he mumbles to himself. He steps to the candles and watches the flames dance. "Ah!" and he moves to the left foot of the vixen. His hand slides over the stone until he finds the catch.
Jupiter watches as the entire left leg rises from the floor, revealing the entrance beneath it. Liam steps down into the blackness below. The mare moves in behind her master. "Master!" she yelps as the foot closes above them. Light explodes from a point at the tip of Liam's staff. The embarrassed mare grins sheepishly as the stud chuckles.
The sound of their hooves clip-clopping along the smooth stone echoes through the empty corridor as they wander. Both marvel at the unblemished craftsmanship of the stone. A shimmering door of some clear substance crosses their path and opens silently with the slightest touch of their hands. "How interesting!" Liam wonders out loud.
The door opens up into an extravagant bedroom. Staggered along the walls rest crystals, glowing brightly. A large bed rests on the far side of the room. Several settees sit around a table with multiple place settings. A boudoir spans over a third of the left wall. Frescos cover the empty portions of the walls, all depicting a vixen in various activities.
"This isn't what I was looking for."
The two step further into the room and that's when they both notice the vixen resting quite comfortably on the bed. Slowly, she pulls a grape from the bunch sitting in a small bowl and pops it into her mouth. Jupiter quickly spins around the room. "I have watched this temple for most of my life! How did you get in here?"
Liam places a hand on her forearm. "She doesn't have to come and go the way we do."
The vixen smiles, "Very observant, magi." She snickers, "And you came looking for a collection of dry and dusty parchment!" She rolls to her back and stretches her arms above her head. The gossamer robe she wears falls open, revealing nothing as the robe itself hides nothing. "Instead you find a goddess!"
The horse whispers over his shoulder, "We must leave, now!"
The pair back away from the scene only to watch the vixen wave a hand in the air. The sound of a slamming door comes from behind them. "Oh my. You are being so rude!" Another twist of her hand and Liam rises into the air. He gives a quick command word and he drops back to the floor. The vixen chuckles. "Oh this is too delicious!" She rolls off the bed and quickly walks to the horses. Liam gives another word and the vixen stumbles and stops, unable to move forward. She grins, "You won't stop me. You know it. So give in now while I still want to play."
The male's grip on the mare's arm tightens and he chants a third spell. The room spins and the pair disappear, reappearing in the middle of the sanctuary. An angered howl fills the temple. "I suggest we leave this place, Jupiter." The two race towards the open doors as the ground shakes. The doors swing closed as they reach the threshold.
"Mortals are so easily temperamental!" comes the vixen's voice. They quickly turn and watch as the statue shimmers and sparkles for a moment before animating. The statue sighs, "I guess this means you don't want to experience pleasure the likes of which mortal minds cannot fathom. Pity. I expected the male to be quite the lover."
Jupiter flings her right arm up and sends a large lightning bolt against the statue. The vixen rocks back on her feet but doesn't fall. Liam sends a spray of ice across the room, coating the floor with a slick layer of frozen water. Now the statue falls as its balance fades. The impact of stone on stone shatters the rock giant. Liam wheels around and brings his staff against the doors while the vixen plots her next move.
The quiet of the forested area around the temple disappears as the double doors explode outwards. The two horses scramble forth from the temple and charge down the outside paths. Back within the temple, the vixen pulls herself out of the rubble and calmly steps to the splintered doors. Her chest fills with air as she takes a deep breath before exhaling sharply, blowing a hurricane-force wind after the two mortals.
Liam and Jupiter reach the edge of the temple grounds and bolt heedlessly into the thick forest undergrowth. "We can't stop, Jupiter." The more agile mare begins leaping against the trees, bouncing her way over the thicket the stallion pushes through. He mutters another incantation and the thicket moves away, forming a wall of thorns behind them. Just in time as the wind beats against the trees. The forest bends and waves beneath the onslaught yet fails to collapse or expel the two targets.
The equines finally stop to catch their breath in a small clearing over two miles away from the temple. "Any chance she will follow us?"
"Depends on how mad she is at us. It isn't a good thing to have an irritated goddess after you."
"No it isn't." Both jump and turn. The vixen, now wearing a chain-mail bikini, stands in the center of the clearing. Liam grabs a totem from his belt and a circle of blue light forms on the ground. "You are so not nice!" she hisses as she walks up to the edge of the circle. "All I wanted was some pleasure and you're denying me!"
Liam snorts, "And your please means our death."
The vixen shrugs, "But think of the smile on your faces! Such pleasure would be worth it."
"Oh get over yourself!" he replies. "It's bad enough deities think they can do whatever they want but forcing mortals to do things against freewill is horrible."
She rolls her eyes, "Give me a break, magi. Living forever is a perk only if I can do what I want."
"Fine. Here, hold this." He turns to the mare and hands her his staff. She takes it with a questioning look on her face. Liam turns back and holds up a red dagger, the blade a light pinkish red with a deep dark red on the hilt. The vixen's eyes widen. "I see you recognize the blade."
Her eyes never leave it, "You wouldn't!"
"You wouldn't be the first I've given this blade to." And before she can move, his arm flashes towards her. The blue circle disappears as his arm breaks through the barrier. Blood erupts from the wound forming across her abdomen.
She stands frozen as her fingers touch her stomach then rise to her eyes. She looks at the crimson elixir coating her fingertips. "I only wanted some fun," she whispers before dropping to her knees. "I wanted to live forever," she whimpers as she feels the mortal sting of death.
"Come, Jupiter. Looks like I gained knowledge here after all." The mare follows behind her master as the vixen slumps over.