The Fourth Guard
The wind whipped around Hati as she struggled through the snow, her paws were sinking hard into the snow as she hauled against the sled and leaned into the wind. It was hard, she could barely get in a good breath as she kept walking forward in a stiff legged gait that made it hard to keep going. The snow was nearly to her chest and against her parka, but she couldn't stand up, two legs didn't give her any traction. That's what she needed right now, traction, she had to get past the storm or find her way out of the storm. She kept her ears down flat against her head and ducked it down, feeling some of the piled snow dropping down to the ground as she made another lunge forward. She shouldn't have volunteered for this, she never should have stood up when the outpost had asked for someone to help, but she had.
The Fourth Guard held the northern most post outside of the Empire, she had specifically asked to be posted there the moment she had gotten her sword and earned her shield. It was a good post, a solid post, one that would guarantee a promotion. It was heavily sought after by those who didn't have any family that would help promote them in the ranks because they dealt with the worst of the worst. They were the first line in the winter, they were the only thing that held open the trade routes that would allow food to pass through. They were the ones called upon as specialized scouts, cavalry, everything they learned at the Fourth Post would be taken on the better things. All of the best generals and captains came from the Fourth that's where she wanted to go.
Hati would never move up in the ranks as she was. A Pomeranian, one of the smallest canine breed in the world and she could only look forward to a life spent in the pikes and barely able to do that. If she were lucky, she would be taken as a page to one of the officers and sent to fetch and carry, but that was if she were lucky. Her only hope was in making sure that she rose up through the ranks and got her name out there. She could learn strategies here, she could learn how to order men and command them, she just had to get through. That's why she had stood up in line when they needed to get food to the scouts that had been holed up. They needed a canine, one with a thick coat that could be harnessed into the sled. They had even had the gall to look at a few of the huskies before her, but she had forced her hand.
It was traditionally a role of the bigger breeds, huskies, malamutes, eskimo dogs, but none of them wanted to volunteer and risk their lives. The snow storm that had come up was near blizzard like weather and it was a slim chance of getting through it intact. She didn't care, frostbite might take an ear or her tail, but she didn't have to have them, what she needed was to make a name for herself. She had to stand out as someone worth knowing and promoting. She refused to back down, she was tenacious enough that she didn't care at their disapproval or attempts at assign other people to her for help. They had even tried to tell her that she wasn't large enough to pull the sled and had tried to insist that an over muscled malamute come with her. As if she needed a guard to help her with her duty!
_My fur is just as thick as theirs is, why should I sit behind?_She growled to herself and lunged forward again, step by step pushing the snow in front of her.
The sled glided over the snow easily enough, but it was hard to see through the snow that blasted in her face and covered her dark coat in a thick layer of snow. She was forced to stop often to look at her compass to make sure of her path. The scouts were in the mountains, they would need food desperately. The storm would drive any meat to ground, they had nothing in the way of grains or fruits or vegetables. They would die or starve without it, but she was going to help them and when she returned they would know her name. She concentrated on that knowledge as she lunged forward again and felt the leather starting to strain against her chest and sides; the harness was almost bruising her as she started to haul it up the hill.
One step. Two step. She concentrated on her goal, a fir tree that she could haul the sled against and rest briefly while she checked out her position. That was the only way she kept going now, she had to make a goal and meet it before going on again. If she had smaller goals she could concentrate ont hem instead of the long miles that were spreading out in front of her. She needed to rest, her muscles were aching so badly, it made her haunches tremble in place as she flattened her ears to her head. Another step forward, another lunge against the harness as the wind hit her harder, nearly blinding her.
"This way! Come here!" A voice echoed towards her as she staggered another few steps forward. "You're going to lose it!"
Hati froze and flattened her ears against her head while her tongue lolled out from the corner of her jaws, her chest heaved up and down as she tried to get in a good breath. No one should be here, it was the middle of nowhere and the storm should have sent any sane creature back to their den.
"I'm Hati Macall of the Fourth!" She cried back, her voice rasping. Someone must have come out to meet her, she wasn't that far from the mountains. She looked around through the blowing snow, the sky was darkening, it was getting late. "Hello?"
There was no answer, none, even as she strained to see past the tree and the outlines of the distant stand of pines. No one was there, no movement, nothing at all. The wind blew up harder and made her flatten her ears back. She had been hearing things, she was so tired. It must have been the wind and her own desire to finally reach her destination. She fluffed up her fur higher, trying to trap the heat against her body as she dropped her head again and started up. The snow was almost burning her paws as she started to creep forward again, the leather strained against her harder. Her harness was so heavy feeling, it hadn't been this heavy when she had started out.
Just one more lunge and she could brace the sled against the tree, she'd be able to rest, then she could pull out the heavy furs and bundle up. She'd get her strength back. Step by step she started again, wading through the snow. As she lunged forward again one of the leather straps attached to her harness suddenly loosen and snapped backwards. All the weight of the sled pulled against her right side, yanking hard enough that she yelped out in shock. It was too much, it wasn't even, the sled started to slide behind her as she shrilled out in panic.
"HOLD ON!" A voice erupted out of the darkness while she twisted around and tried to grab the loosened strap.
"HELP!" The sled suddenly started to tumble downwards, pulling and dragging the leather around it as she struggled.
Snow, snow everywhere, it was flooding around her as she scrabbled to grab something. She clutched her claws against the ground, anything to stop the downfall that swept her beneath the snows. She went down, falling and twisting, the leather wrapped around her as the sled fell down the hill and pulled her back with him. The cold spilled down her parka as she shrieked out in panic. The last thing she saw was a flash of blue before she was slammed into something hard that took her breath away. She was going to die, she was going to die here.
"Hold on! Just hold on!" A voice called out in her ear, it was a roar that consumed her into the darkness.
~ ~ * ~ ~
Hati woke up in bits and pieces, the sound of a deep rumble was spilling through her body and the warmth was pressed around her. She was being consumed by it, burned by it, as it found the last trickle of cold through her body and wrapped around her. For a moment she shifted and struggled against the heat, it was almost burning her even as she craved it. She kicked out into something soft and warm against her back, hitting hard until something grunted in reaction and some of the darkness faded away. Where was she? She should have died. She should have been cast into the darkness, she remembered the darkness and ice, the cold and fear as the sled dragged her down into the snow. She couldn't escape it, it had taken her, she was dead?
She woke several times, the rumble of the voice, the warmth that flowed over her kept her sleepy, she needed to sleep. She fell to dreams that were followed with the sweetest song she had ever heard, a wordless sound that wrapped around her protectively and kept her close. It clung to her and soothed away her nightmares. This time, there was no soothing song, only the soft sound of a rumble that made her think of thunder far off in the distance. Had she passed over into the Netherworld? Was she being judged to be gifted with her heaven or hell?
"mm...dead?" She blinked her eyes rapidly as she tried to look around. Something blue was wrapped around her, tucked against her side. It was glowing and casting light against her.
"Not hardly.. stop kicking.." A voice rumbled above her while she tried to wriggle away from the sweep of the glowing tail tip.
Slowly the light spilled around her as something pulled away from her and lifted from her body. She blinked owlishly as she stared into the flickering light of a fire that had been banked not far away from her. The weight shifted against her back and she realized that she was tucked back against another body, a far larger body than her own. She sat up slowly, wincing a bit as she felt slightly sore, her back hurt and felt bruised. She had fallen on something hard, she remembered that, it had crashed against her back. The sled?
She turned around slowly and let out a short squeaking cry as suddenly she stared right into the eyes of a large blue raptorial face. A large blue beak was facing her, almost touching her cheek, set in the midst of a large feathered face crowned with a glowing blue crest. The creature's sapphire eyes were fixated on her as she realized that she was resting against him. His entire body had been curled around her, a large body, one that was big enough that she was nearly consumed against by his warmth. The forelegs were tucked almost against her shoulders. A monster! It was a monster from the north! With a high pitched cry she backed away, stumbling backwards a few feet before yelping out in pain as it racked through her lower back and stabbed upwards towards her head.
"Calm down. Just calm down.." The creature reached out with one large foreclaw and wrapped around her. "You can't leave me."
"St-stop! Don't eat me!" She squirmed as he pulled her back against his chest, the heat spread along her as she struggled.
"Please..." The monster rumbled. "I don't want to eat you, but you can't leave me... Shhh... shh.." He soothed and shifted her against him tightly. "My name is Avalerion, I'm a gryphon. You were in the snow.."
"Please.." She trailed off and then yelped out as she glanced down at his paw. She was naked! Entirely naked, he'd stripped her out of her clothing entirely, the only thing left to her was her dark blue harness from the sled. "Where are my clothes?!"
"Listen to me..." Avalerion curled himself forward, twisting around until she was lost in his feathers and fur both. "You had a fall in the snow, I saw the sled go down and you with it. I barely got to you in time, but I managed to grab you."
"Why are my clothes off? Please, sir, I don't care what you are, let me go." She flushed hotly, she wanted her clothes back, she wanted away from him. "I have a mission. I'll find you better food!"
The stories of the north were thick with tales of monsters and strange beasts, creatures that were things from legend that would kill and slaughter anyone that got in their paths. The Fourth guarded against them, that's what they did. The beasts were the ones that could stop an entire caravan, that could wipe out villages until there was no hint that they had ever been there. She trembled as his hind quarters curled up tighter and she felt a rush of claustrophobia while a wing dropped down, forming a prison of his body with her nude one.
"You can't.." Avalerion tilted his head down towards her, his eyes softening. "Listen to me, I tried to warn you. That strap was going to go, you had to stop. I was hoping you'd listen, but I knew if you saw me that you'd panic. I so hoped that you wouldn't panic. I'm sorry."
"It's alright." Hati licked her nose rapidly, a tremor ran down her back as she tried to pull away again, but he remained holding her tight. "Thank you, f-for saving me. I need to go now, please?"
"You can't. I'm so so sorry.." The gryphon leaned down and pushed his beak against her cheek. "I warned you, I truly did, but I was too late. You fell, you fell so fast and so far, I didn't have time to save you completely. If you leave my side I can't help you anymore."
"What do you mean..." The Pomeranian shifted a little and straightened up, it was strange talking to the large gryphon while he held her against his stomach and chest. The world was filled with a warm scent, slightly musky, almost spicy that came from his feathers. She remembered that scent, she had woken up a few times before with that scent wrapped around her.
"I'm part phoenix.." He roused his crest feathers, scattering a few sparks that twinkled harmlessly towards the ground. "I'm not whole phoenix, but partly. I can heal wounds, terrible wounds, to myself, so when I saw you there I knew I could help. I brought you here to my home and kept you warm, it was better you weren't wearing clothing because it was all soaked through so I couldn't warm it. I had hoped that I could extend my healing aura over you and make you better again."
"I feel alright, my back hurts a little, but it's not bad." She ventured and moved a paw between her and gryphon's chest feathers. Her back felt a bit sore, but not horrible.
"I know, it only hurts a little now." Avalerion's eyes turned sad as he tilted his head away. "You're alright here beside me, but not forever. If you move away, outside of my aura, you will be hurt very badly indeed."
"Th-then you can help me." She swallowed a little and turned around, the wing spread against her back, keeping her touching him as she tried to find a position that would at least hide her nude body better than she was currently managing. "You can get me back to my post, they have healers there and I'll be just..."
"What is your name?" Avalerion fluffed up his feathers and kept his brilliant eyes focused on her own. "You said it in the storm, I did not hear it well."
"Hati, I'm Hati." She blinked a few times. "Please, we can leave now and if you carried me I could keep close enough to make it."
"Hati... That is a lovely name. Did you know you're named after a wolf?" He rumbled and clicked his beaks a few times. "How I enjoyed that sto-"
"Stop that! Just, let's go." She straightened up as he seemed to meander from the point, his eyes sliding away from her to look at the fire.
"They couldn't save you, even if I walked through the gates of the fort without being shot down." He spoke softly, not looking at her. "When you fell, you hit the sled wrong, you were dying when I found you. You would die if you left my side. I can heal a broken bone or a cut, I can even heal truly bad wounds with my touch or tears, but not this. I cannot heal a wound meant to cause a death, I can only keep you whole within my aura, once you leave it.... Then fate will claim you as it meant to the moment you hit the sled."
"What?" She whispered in horror and flattened her ears against her head. Cold ran down her spine, an icy chill that centered in her stomach. "I don't believe you."
The gryphon turned his head away as she felt her eyes starting to water and she moved her paw against her back. She wasn't hurt, it was just a little sore, there was no wound there. She wasn't hurt. SHE WASN'T HURT! She lunged upwards from his side, struggling against the hold of the wing to get away from him. He was a monster from the North, he was trying to mock her and trick her, he was doing this to give her despair so he could take information from her on how to kill her people. Monsters couldn't be trusted! They could never be trusted. She struggled away from him, flailing as he reached out and she stumbled away.
White hot pain coursed through her as she kicked away the wing that reached out to her. The Pomeranian screamed out as it lanced along her back and rocked through her body. Something hot spilled down her back as she dropped to her knees in agony, the same pain she had felt in the snow came tenfold. She couldn't feel her lower body, she couldn't feel anything except the pain in her back shooting upwards as she collapsed into the darkness. Death to take her, her mission failed, it would never come to pass.
~ ~ * ~ ~
"Why do you keep me alive?" Hati rasped as she was pulled back against the gryphon's side into a more comfortable position. She didn't have the heart to even move as his tongue rasped along her back, bathing her like a cat.
She'd woken up against his side again, his wing protectively hovered over her as he pulled her back from death with his strange magic. She hadn't intended to wake up, but he hadn't allowed her even the dignity of death. She didn't want to move, she didn't have the heart to, bleak despair washed over her even as he continued to clean her fur with steady strokes. He had pulled her over his forelegs to tend, crooning a voiceless song to her as he tried to make her comfortable. Damn him, he was tormenting her, he had shown her what her fate was and he allowed her to live with that knowledge. Tears pricked her eyes as she remembered the pain she had felt, the pain that stilled waited for her. She almost choked on those dears.
"Because I do not wish you to die." He rumbled and clicked his beak with each word, his beak rested against the line of her back, sending a warm tickle of breath against her. "And I haven't tried to keep you prisoner."
"Do you enjoy your joke?" She laughed, a broken sound that turned into a sob while she fought not to curl into a ball. All of her hard work, her training, her hopes, her dreams, killed in the cold north. All by a simple moment when the straps had given way and the sled had gone down. As she dwelled on her situation he started to groom her.
"I do not think it is a joke." He licked in long languorous strokes, feline movements, that soon had her fur back to being black instead of tacky with the blood from the wound that had appeared. It was gone now, the moment she'd woken up she'd felt her back and there was no gaping wound there from the sled. It was healed.
"Let me die, gryphon." She lowered her head in utter defeat. She couldn't live clinging to him, it was no life at all. "I'm supposed to die."
"Avalerion, you can call me Ava." He chided her. "I don't want you to die. There are so many deaths up here, that you shouldn't join them. I see them all the time. They come to the mountain and they don't make it. I am tired of death, I'm tired of seeing those come here only to disappear. Death owes me a favor, I shouldn't let him take you as well."
"You said I'd die if I move away. What will you do? Strap me to your back and carry me around forever?" She retorted and shifted as his tongue worked lower down her back and then back up again.
"No... I wish you to live." He asserted again and dropped his head to rest over her, his large beak rubbed against her shoulders. "Do you wish to live? If you could, would you remain alive?"
"Of course." Hati flinched a little, it was like a barb in her situation. "I don't have much of a choice though."
"You could." Ava pushed her ever so gently with his beak. "You could have a choice. It would just mean, a different sort of life if you did."
"I can't cling to you forever." She shifted wearily, and he allowed her to move, even helping by arranging her against his chest so that her back was tucked up beneath his broad neck.
"No.. but.." He clicked his beak a few times and leaned down to nibble her ears, almost preening the short fur there. "I could help you live, Hati. I.. It would not be the life that you know now, you are too broken to heal that way."
"What do you mean?" She almost hated to hope.
The gryphon shifted, his forelegs crossed in front of her while he seemed to squirm against her back, his body rustling the feathers along his wings that flickered open and shut. She was growing used to the warmth of his body against her, he was so much hotter than her own normal temperature. It was as if she were baking in his heath, it made tense muscles relax and the scent of him was even a strange balm. It let her know she wasn't alone, because deep inside she was terrified. She didn't want to die, she didn't want it to be over, she didn't want to be cold and alone. He offered her warmth and company, a bracing form that kept her held up as she felt him move, almost squirm. After a few moments he lowered his head so that she could see one great sapphire eye.
"You can live, I can give that back to you, but to do so you would have to change." Avalerion's words were the softest whisper. "You are mortal, you cannot heal yourself, but I am made of magic. I can make you different, I can give you a part of myself and you will be able to live. The aura that allows me to heal would extend to you entirely without my help, because it would be a part of you."
"Y-you can do that?" She twitched her ears up a bit. "Why didn't you say anything? Do it! I can take my sled and make it in time to save them, I can-"
"You can never go back home, Hati." Avalerion turned his head so his beak brushed against her side, a gentle touch. "I can change you, but you would become.. like me. You would change, physically. You could never return to your people, they would think of you like they think of me, a monster. You would have to leave them behind and live in the places where there are no people, as I do."
"Change me?" Hati swallowed and glanced down at herself, her short fingered hand paws, the thick dark coat that covered her body, the familiar sweep of her legs. "What would change?"
"I don't know, it's wild magic. It could just be a few feathers, or you could change entirely." He lifted his head away from her. "I've... never really tried it before. I just know it can be done, changing someone... It would have to be with your consent, you would have to agree and acknowledge the price."
"How?" She shifted, but she didn't go long before the gryphon moved against her back. He allowed her to slip against his side where she could see him as he talked.
"I'd have to.." The gryphon's feathers ruffled upwards, a rippling of sparks trailed down his back. He almost looked a bit chagrined "I'd have to make you my own. It's a gift, a passing of a gift to someone special." The foreclaws flexed down and the long talons raked against the ground. "It's something shared between the closest of friends."
"How?" She asked again, feeling him shift on his belly before the azure gryphon glanced at her and met her eyes, his ear tufts flicking up.
"It would require you to become something special to me. Something that must be preserved against all ills and harms." He clicked his beak a few times and his tone deepened as he leaned in closer. "You would bear my clutch, and the spark of a gryphon's life inside of you would change your form. You would be healed."
Hati froze, bear his clutch? The world seemed to slow around her as he continued to watch her closely, the dark blue eyes were focused on her as he lowered his beak towards her, but was careful not to touch. He wanted to breed her? Make her bear his eggs? She was less than half his size, the wrong species, she couldn't bear a clutch for him.
"I'm not in heat... I don't have eggs..." The words left her without even thinking about what she was saying. "I'm not even avian!"
"You don't have to be," The gryphon shifted in closer, his pupils flared open wide until she only saw a band of blue around them.
Heat flushed to Hati's ears as she was suddenly aware of the heat of his body wrapped around her, the feel of the feathers against her back and the scent of him on the air. The strange musky scent that filled her nose with each breath, as it had since she'd woken up, but now it made her shift away, just a touch. Her ears splayed a little bit as the beak brushed down against the back of her neck, he didn't bite, he slid his beak through her in a slow sensuous movement that parted the fur. The gentle nibble touched the back of her neck and made a tremor run down the back of her spine as she swallowed, her dark pink tongue flicked up over her fox like muzzle.
"H-how much would I be changed?" Her voice was soft, almost muffled as the great forepaw wrapped around her stomach and she watched him. "I mean, would I change who I am?"
"That's a foolish question, you are exactly who you should be." Avalerion sounded amused as his tongue rasped along the back of her neck. "And you wouldn't need be alone. You could stay here as long as you wished, I could show many places and peoples out here in the Wastes. It would be a good life."
The beak preened lightly down the back of her neck, a gentle nibble that found the thick fur and brushed through it. He wasn't pushing her, it was just a gentle touch that occasionally brushed the sharp tip of his beak beneath her fur to touch her sensitive skin. She couldn't help it, she shivered and bit her lower lip as she flushed a bit harder. His purr suddenly grew, a rich vibrant sound that ran down the length of her spine like a strange soothing song that made her shift again as the paw gently caressed along her stomach and kneaded against her. The toes flexed ever so gently, the sharp claw tips never so much as threatened her. There was no attempt to press her, just a gentle preening that teased her neck and sent shivers down her spine and the press of his paw.
A life outside of the Guard, there was no way she could go back if she changed a lot, but if she only changed a little... The thought was appealing, if the gryphon didn't know what the change would be, how could he assume that she couldn't go back? What if she grew stronger and bigger? What if she just grew a few feathers she could clip and hide? If it was wild magic perhaps it was controlled by her own desires? She would still have to bear a clutch of eggs, but that was a cheap price for her life and was it truly so bad? The gryphon had saved her, he had kept her close to him despite any discomfort, he was willing to help her for no reason other than kindness. And he was... exotic.
The flush grew in her ears and she bit her lower lip slightly as she shifted enough to look back at the gryphon, the flare of sparks that outlined the glowing feathers. He lifted his beak away from her neck with something that looked like a smile and tilted his head to one side. His crest roused up and she tried not to blush any harder. She'd never thought about trying anything like this, her only lovers had been felines, generally shunning dogs since she didn't care to bear a litter of pups. And felines were... small to be exact, the gryphon was easily the size of a horse curled around her.
"I... don't know how it would work.." She managed a bit softly and Avalerion let out a trilling noise, curving his neck before shifting behind her. "I want to live, I'd change to live."
"It's alright, I do..." He chirped softly and wrapped his forepaws around her body and pulled her backwards making her let out a high pitched yelp of shock as the gryphon suddenly rolled behind her and took her with him.
He rolled onto her back so that she was dropped onto his stomach and chest with her back sinking into those warm heavy feathers and along the fur. The wings were lifted up to either side, the long primaries glowed in the light as he rested a paw on her stomach and his head slipped forward to brush along her shoulder. The feathers tickled along her cheek as he crooned out softly and shifted his body so that she was well aware of the warm scent starting to grow sharper. It wasn't like any animal that she knew, it was strangely spicy, like all of the best spices rolled into the essence of male musk that made her draw in a scent. His paws slipped along her, the avian fingers curled downwards in a gentle caress that brushed along her thighs. It was the gentlest of touches, but it made her tremble in place as he rasped his tongue along the line of her muzzle.
His dark blue forepaw dropped down to brush between her bare thighs, gliding through the thick softness of her fur to find the soft spade shaped sex hidden there. The tips of the fingers brushed against her outer folds and made her squirm slightly, but he didn't push his advantage, but glided his paw over her soft silken folds so that a shiver ran through her. His beak nipped lightly along the curve of her shoulder before his toes lightly curled forward and pressed against her loins. There was a brush and suddenly the tips of the fingers began to flare a brilliant glowing blue as they caressed along her outer folds again. His beak gently gripped her shoulder, just a hold so that he could purr against her as the glowing paw tips caressed along the outer edges of her folds and sent a shudder of heat through her body.
Hati arched up in shock as she felt it spilling through her body, a tickling warmth that seeped into her stomach from his gentle touch. She wriggled backwards, pushing against his feathered chest as he crooned out a comforting noise. The heat spilled through her, rushing inwards until she felt her soft spade shaped sex started to grow warmer and swollen. The skin was drawing taut with the first touch of her heat and curled in deeper, making her pant shallowly as she shivered slightly. It wasn't like a normal brush of her estrus, it was a sudden sensation of her nerves growing increasingly sensitive. Her toes curled slightly as she let out a yipping noise under her breath as her stomach cramped slightly and one glowing digit curled forward to spread her puffy folds open.
He barely parted her open as her inner walls clamped down tightly, flexing and contracting automatically as some of her slickness was pushed out around the edges. The scent of him stopping being simply enjoyable, it filled her muzzle in a way that made her breath come in short pants, it was intoxicating and rich. Fully male so that she shifted her hips and let out a little whimper, only to be rewarded with a roll of the toe that pulled outwards and brushed along the nub of her clit so that her hips quivered. The grip on the beak left and shifted, rasping his tongue along his neck to brush along the edge of her jaw line. Warm, he was so incredibly warm, her coat felt too hot as she squirmed and let out a breathy whimper before licking back against his beak.
"I told you I could fix the problem..." Ava crooned softly and leaned his head forward to rub his beak along her muzzle gently.
Hati flattened her ears on her head and felt the paws sliding along her haunches as he shifted his hips upwards, his light nips trailed over her neck as she squeezed her eyes shut and wriggle din his grasp. She slid down along his chest, the thick feathers tickled over back and along her ears while she let out a soft yipping noise. Something large and heavy brushed against her inner thigh as he settled her along his lower hips, his powerful hind legs spread open on either side of her hips. She jerked her head upwards, blinking rapidly as he lightly rolled higher up and brushed the dark shaft up and along her inner thigh. There was a glimpse of something glowing blue before a thick syrupy drop of precum spilled into her fur and remained glowing brightly against the darkness of her fur.
Isn't.. it supposed to be clear or white? Her mind worked in puzzlement as the hot spill ran along her fur making her entire body quiver as her stomach contracted again.
It was metallic blue and glowing, rubbing through her fur and coating around it as the heavy shaft brushed along her inner thigh lightly. The tip of him was large and heavy, spade shaped and showing a ring of fleshy barbs that were lifted up slightly. Ava crooned warmly at her, trilling before he nibbled along the tips of her ears and clasped his paws on either side of her furred hips to hold her in place. He didn't try to lunge forward, he didn't do anything except hold her there and tease along her ears. The male scent making her squirm as she could see her own arousal coating along her folds, gleaming slickly. He was waiting for her, he wanted her to make the last move. He was giving her a chance to back out if she wanted.
The little Pomeranian tilted her head up to lick along his beak, trailing beneath the beak before she moved one of her paws down to brush along the tip of his shaft. He was large, far larger than any lover she had ever had, the tip was large enough to nearly cover the palm of her paw. The warm glowing precum oozed out over the edges and trailed along her short fingers, goopy drops that were warm and glowed in the light. The moment she brushed around the edges of the glans the gryphon's croon picked up a notch and his hips rolled so that she felt the fleshy barbs rasping against her when he relaxed again and drew back. She felt slightly out of breath while she squirmed in place for a moment, he was too big, she couldn't handle this, there was no way he would fit. And there were parts of her mind that didn't care, she wanted to try, she'd never seen anyone shaped the way the drake was.
Her breathing came out in a shallow puff as she drew the glans up against her sensitive folds, the brush trailed along the line and trailed warm precum over her. The moment the glowing spill ran over her she tensed up and let out a high pitched whimper as her heart beat started to speed up. She'd always been told that being in heat wasn't as bad as all that, just an itch and a heightened sexual desire, but this pushed past those bounds. She rolled her hips and guided his tip upwards, forcing her plush lips open as she rocked forward and felt him pushing upwards. His large avian paw dropped down to press on her stomach as he trilled out along the line of her shoulder and helped her to slowly sit upwards. She moved her paws back to press against the thick feathered chest and dug in to brace herself as she carefully eased herself down. The press of the cock tip caught against her swollen tender opening and started to spread her open, splaying her walls wider and wider so the next spill of precum edged into her body.
"Gods.." She bit her lip tightly, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt herself impossibly spread open wider and wider as the paw on her stomach helped guide her.
The tip pushed inwards, caressing through her as she let out a trembling puff of breath, her eyes held tightly shut as the gryphon let out a low groan so his hips rocked upwards. Her own slickness was pushed out around the edges to coat him as her inner walls clamped down tightly. Ava didn't hurry her, or plunge wildly into her, he let her take the time as her narrow passage tried to adjust to the thickness of just his tip before being drawn downwards. Her swollen spade shaped sex yawned open around him, straining into a lewd O to try and hold him. She rocked her hips downwards, rolling as she slowly started to sit up a bit higher, using her own weight to impale herself on the thickened cock. Every inch seemed to spread her wider, sliding and stroking along her passage in ways that sent shocks of pleasure through her. It almost felt like his glans was a knot itself as she was slowly lowered down.
Nearly half the spire plunged into her before the gryphon used the grip on her hips to lift her up and the barbs flared open in her passage. She had felt barbs before, but this time they pulled tightly through her, teasing and caressing the overly sensitive nerves so she yelped out and jerked her hips higher in the air. The swollen tip pulled backwards, tugging just over her g-spot before she moved too much and it popped free sending a spill of precum and her own arousal along her lower belly. The gryphon's teeth lightly gripped right along the nape of her neck, pulling against her scruff firmly before his cock tip pushed right up against her heat swollen folds and plunged into her. This time it wasn't a gentle easing, but a full powerful thrust that wedged into her body and drew her back down again. The heat of his breath ruffled against her fur as she dropped herself down, helping to impale herself with her weight.
This time he plunged in deep enough that the thickness of his base wedged up against her sensitive folds, grinding along the swell of her clit. Her walls clutched around him, milking along him as she curled her paws into his feathers. She forgot about her fear, her problems, she forgot about everything except the pulsing feel of the shaft running along her silken inner walls before the paw on her stomach helped her lift up. The barbs raked through her, forcing a cry from her throat as they caressed through her and pulled right along the sensitive rise of her g-spot before she was allowed to drop down again. She arches her belly, rolling her hips downwards all the way to the point that the swollen thickness of the base wedged right up along her clit, rubbing along her before he helped her pull up again.
Her legs splayed to either side of the furred belly, yipping out softly as the grip on her scruff became a bit more firm, tugging as he let out a high pitched trill each time her walls contracted and squeezed. The thick ooze of precum spilled inside of her, splattering up higher into her body so that she could feel the heat building up. The barbs raked through her, it should have been painful at this size, but they were fleshy enough to just caress and tease her. Her eyes opened, watching as he plunged forward, the precum coated along her strained outer lips as she rocked her hips downwards and felt his paws helping to pull her downwards so that the knot pushed harder against her outer folds. The tip was nearly bottoming out inside of her straining inner folds.
The gryphon never released his hold on her nape, each cry from him vibrated down the line of her spine as his haunches quivered beneath him. Her foot paws curled a little bit as she spread her mouth to loll out her soft pink tongue. She rocked her hips against him as the thrusts drove up higher and faster and faster, the warm spill of precum erupted inside of her, coating her, making it increasingly easier for the base to wedge deeper into her. The knot started to splay her open, yawning her open wider and wider, her walls quivering as she writhed in place. The paws clutched against her hips, squeezing and pulling her downwards even as she bucked back down against him, crying out as the gryphon's hips rose upwards and she saw his wings flaring open to either side of her body. And then he pulled harder against her hips, plunging upwards so that she was nearly thrown forward.
The knot wedged into her, sliding inwards with a wet popping noise as her puffy folds were pressed open almost far too wide before he plunged entirely into her body, making her cry out and squirm her hips. Her walls latched around the swell of the base, but it was the tip that sent her squirming in place. She could feel it driven hard up against her cervix, the tip forcing forward enough that it began to edge right into the narrow passage that led to her vulnerable womb. It was too much, too large, she could feel the knot flaring open wider inside of her and the tip swelling as well, forcing her walls open all the more while the barbs pressed inside of her and pressed along the silken passage to help keep him locked inside of her. Too much, it was too much, she pushed her hips down and let out a quivering call as she began to milk around his cock, pulling from the base all the way towards the glans that was plunged inside of her.
The grip on her scruff released her suddenly, the gryphon's body lunged upwards a final time that bucked her higher in the air and the base flared open wide, prying her apart almost entirely apart as she shuddered in place. The gryphon suddenly cried out, not a screech or a croon, but a burst of phoenix song that spilled into the air as the first heavy rush of seed flooded into her vulnerable body. It was hot, almost feverishly hot as it was flung deeper and deeper into her womb, her own walls milking him while she whimpered out in a shallow burst of sound. Every throb that she felt ran through her, sending shivers down her spine when Ava rolled upwards and pressed against her, helping to push towards her vulnerable womb and the ova resting there. Millions of sperm flooding her while she rocked against the strange beast, feeling his paws gliding along her hips.
Time passed slowly as she came down from her shivering high, her breathing spilling out in trembling rushes while the gryphon relaxed on his back and let her lay over his thick furred stomach and feathered chest. The little trills he gave and croons were interspersed with gentle nibbles and preens against the thick scruff of her fur. He tended her slowly, taking his time as she felt the warmth flowing over her, spreading along her stomach. It wasn't the harsh rush of fire from her heat, but a throbbing warmth that flowed along her veins as he nibbles along her shoulder and neck, not speaking, simply holding her with his large avian paws curled around her stomach. She was kept close as the spill of seed turned into a slow ooze pressed against her cervix, her lower belly rounded from the amount of seed that had been spilled inside of her.
"You'll live now.." Ava's voice was the softest rumble against her neck as he nip nibbled along her shoulder, the warm scent of him filling her senses. As he preened she felt his beak drop down and brush against something on her back. "Live and flourish."
She had felt a dull warmth there, but the touch of his beak made her flinch and suddenly flex something against the side of her shoulder blade. She froze at the feel of something moving, a part of her that she had never had, something that was tucked up tight along the side of her spine. Even as she felt it, the beak brushed against her and she felt another, right along her back.
"What is it?" She let out a short pant as he shifted, rolling himself through her only to croon comfortingly towards her.
"Wings, perhaps more, but wings.." Ava's beak continued his lazy preening touching them lightly and coaxing her to lean forward. The warmth in her muscles made her blink as Hati twisted her head.
Wings, dark azure blue wings were half spread along her back with the feathering still growing in and rapidly becoming larger by the moment as they filled out. The feathers were bared in lighter colors, the tips already starting to glow brightly in the light as Avalerion gaped his beak in a pleased smile before running his beak along one of the primaries. It was a sensual feel as the beak brushed through the stiffening feathers, sending a shiver down her spine as she leaned forward and relaxed the muscles. Wings, she had wings. The idea rolled through her mind as she trembled slightly and carefully spread open one of her wings, watching it spread out.
"Too small to fly with.." She spoke softly, almost surprised at her own disappointment at the change in her body. But what pup hadn't dreamed of flying when they were young.
"They'll grow, with time.. And I can teach you to fly with them when they are large enough." The gryphon licked along a wing and lifted his head up, the dark sapphire eyes resting on her as he did so. "Regrets?"
Hati opened her muzzle and then closed it. She could never go back to the guard now, not with her body changing, not when she still felt an unsteady sensation in her body and wings. She couldn't hide wings, she could never hide them. She'd never pull a sled like she had dreamed, she'd never be a part of the Guard that she had wanted to be since she was a pup. The thought was like a blow as the gryphon nudged her other wing up, obviously looking it over with a critical eye as the wing tips showed a glimmer of blue light flaring over the barring. She'd never pull a sled, but perhaps.. just perhaps.. she would fly. She blinked her eyes up towards the gryphon as he preened the feathers and sent a shiver down the length of her spine.
"No.. not truly.." She managed, and the gryphon began to rumble low in his throat, a deep throated purr that made her shiver. "You will teach me to fly?" They were the words of a pup, soft and uncertain.
"I will teach you to soar." The gryphon gaped his beak open wide in a gryn, one that only faltered when she felt the pull and the glistening blue shaft began to pull from her body with a slick noise, making her yip out. "Before you're too egg heavy that is." The last was a soft chirruping tease that made her shiver.
Deep inside of her the spark had already started, not simply the flare of new life forming within her ova, but changing her body subtly. Her womb starting to shift to allow to carry something besides live pups, her body coursing the strange magic that the phoenix gryphon had poured into her body with the rush of his virile seed. Only one thing came to her mind as she felt him shifting, pulling away so she could drop onto all fours and try to balance herself without his warmth against her side. The post, they needed their rations, they needed food.
~ ~ * ~ ~
In the midst of a blizzard the Ninth Ward Guard Post had the door to their fort rattle with more than wind and a monstrous scream had erupted from just hind the wood. The demoralized encampment hadn't had food for three days, nearly taken to eating leather to simply continue on, but still they had rallied. The gaunt canines had tried to charge the gate with their crossbows drawn, part of the group willing to defend the fort, the rest praying simply that they could get food from whatever they killed. Better a quick death by a monster than a slow death by starvation. That was the general consensus. It had been four days since they should have had supplies, if it hadn't arrived now it would never come and so they erupted out ready to do battle.
And found a sight in the swirling snow that caused them to freeze. A broken and battered sled lay just in front the gate, the familiar crates and sacks that held dried meat, beans, fat, salt, were all there though many were cracked open and showed frozen lines of beef. The edges of the traces had been torn apart, the railing split apart, but it was neatly set there. In the rush for food no one truly questioned it in that moment, only desired to fill their stomachs with something other than water and caught mice. Later, far later, when all had been fed, they one and all recalled the lack of tracks leading up to sled. Only massive paw marks and the snow brushed away, but nowhere had there been traces to show where the scout had pulled the sled up and why hadn't they stayed? It was one more mystery in the North, a fire side story.
One more story added to that mystery, one that grew with each new batch of recruits who were ready to don armor or harness for the sake of the Fourth Guard. A guardian was in the forest, watching the Fourth Sled Dogs as they made their rounds in the deepest winter. No one quite saw her, but all knew that the beating of wings and flash of glowing blue light would lead them home when all hope was gone and they were exhausted. They saw it in the dainty paw marks that appeared when they were unable to find safe tracks, all of the sled dogs knew that if they followed them they would be guided past thin ice or deep drifts. The stories were always shifting, sometimes they saw a glimpse of a black dog with wings in the snow, her eyes bright sapphire as she called them onwards. Other's spoke of an azure beast that drove off the creatures of the night and could be seen haunting around their campfires. They were guarded, protected.
And sometimes, on warm nights when there were no sleds running, they would hear bursts of song and laughter in the forest and dancing lights flitting through the trees. One bold and large and one small and fleet as they took to the air. On those nights, the Fourth Guard relaxed, knowing they were safe as long as the flashing azure and black forms haunted the forest. They were protected. And when winter came again, the Fourth Guard took down their flag and another arose. After decades of being only a number they finally named their company. The Azure Guard.
And Hati... Hati had never known life, nor a partner, so grand as when Avalarion taught her to spread her wings and soar.