Bargains With Monsters

Story by Kalan on SoFurry

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Monsters and creatures of the deep will sometimes be willing to strike a bargain with humans, but the bargains come with a steep price and Vellan is the one that ends up being forced to pay for it.


Vellan loved the sea shore, she always had, she had grown up with it as a part of her everyday life. She had been fearless of the water, learning to swim as a small girl with her brothers and sisters, learning how to build little ships and boats to float in the tide pools where they were safely held away from the ferocity of the ocean. She had grown up learning from her father on how to mend nets and clean the catches from the day, what hidden places yielded the most valuable fish and which ones gave numbers of the cheaper schools that could feed their own family. She had gone to sleep each night with the sound of the ocean soothing her, the rush of it hitting the shore and the sound of it hammering the rocks. Her little cubby in her parents home had been filled with treasures from the ocean, shells and pebbles, little things that she had found and loved, many she hadn't been able to throw away as she grew older.

The young woman looked out at the familiar sea and swallowed, not feeling the love and excitement she had once felt, but only felt a spike of fear as the blue-green waves rushed towards the shore. The bay was peaceful, the sky so blue it was only an extension of the sea on the horizon, but there was no peace for her. She flicked her eyes towards her father, the weathered man stared at the bay as well, refusing to look at her as his features were fixed in a scowl, as unyielding as the rocky cliffs that surrounded their home. There was no mercy in that face, no hope that he would suddenly turn to her and tell her to go home, she had already tried many times in the last week, but he had refused. His silvering hair was pulled back from his face in a severe tail that made his weathered features stand out, showing just how little she looked like him.

"Papa.." She started, and he only stiffened, his features hardening, unwilling to even look over at her as she shifted in place, feeling the hot sand beneath her feet.

She was the youngest child out of seven, she had five brothers and one sister, and they had been allowed to stay home as she stood on the edge of the shore. When she had grown up she had always believed that she stood out among them, with her mother's bright red hair and the dark eyes of her father she had been noticeable. She was younger by five years than her brother, so she had always had a bit of a favored spot in her mother's heart, at least she had always thought so. She had never been forced to sit in the little lessons that her siblings were, if she didn't want to she was allowed to have her freedom to play in the ocean or go down to the village. She had her own pony from a young age, the only one of her family to do so, though her family was successful and wealthy enough that they could have easily bought one for all of their children. Vellan had been spoiled from the day she was born, allowed many things her siblings had longed after.

She had once thought it was because she was the baby, now she knew, it had nothing to do with being a child and everything to do with the fact she had been bought and paid for from the time she had opened her eyes and taken her first breath. Their family had wealth and land, they had three ships that scoured the bays and ocean for rich catches to sell at five different ports. They were successful in a way that few fishermen ever made it. He was a few years away from being able to buy a seat on the Council and from there could likely push for nobility if he kept bringing in enough catches to supplement his family's income. It wasn't because he was a canny fisherman, or because he had secret maps of every spot in the oceans that boasted rich harvests. The old man had a far better way to locate where the fish were, or to bring them to where his ships were waiting, a deal struck with a heathen beast of the ocean's depths.

"Please! I never agreed to this!" She spoke up, the thought of the monster making her stomach turn in knots. "You have wealth enough, Papa! You don't have to go through with this!"

"Be quiet girl!" He snarled at her, snapping in a way he never had before. "I am a man of my word, Krakich has kept his word with me and now it is time to give him his payment."

"I'm your daughter!!!" She almost squealed the words out, the sound of them echoed along the top of the ocean and back to her.

Krakich, the great hippocampus that called the ocean his home, migrating to the rivers in the autumn when the weather changed and he wished to sample something more exotic in his diet. He was a beast of legend and terror to many, sinking ships in his fury and calling up crashing waves to hammer the shore when his anger was touched upon. She had seen him, everyone had, the blue-gold beast often followed hips, threatening them or knocking them in his 'games', sometimes able to be bribed with a fine feast of fish or red raw meat to leave them alone. Only her father had no fear of him, his hips were never harmed, his shoreline peaceful, Krakich would no more harm the fisherman than he would bite off his own tail. Years ago her father had made a bargain with the monster, when he had been a young man and full of himself, he had spoken to the beast as he might have to another man.

The old man had been given thirty years of rich fishing and easy catches, thirty years of peace as Krakich guarded the bay and herded fish into it when pickings were slim. Thirty years in which he could call upon the hippocampus for aid or advice and all in exchange for his youngest daughter at the end of those years. Vellan didn't know if her father even knew what the beast wanted with her, he had only told her of the bargain when Krakich had roared her father's name from the shore, demanding his debt be paid in full. Was it to eat? The beast had humans enough to feast on if he wanted to, or was he only wanting one to treat as a slave or servant? Would she be drowned in the waves or taken to some terrible place and expected to tend to the animal's lair?

"Barlast..." Her father's name was hissed with the rushing of the waves, the sound crashing just as loudly and Vellan jerked her head up, trying to take a step back before the man who had sired her grabbed her wrist and yanked her roughly back to his side. "You honor our bargain?"

The waves increased in size, great sea-green foamed waves that rippled and splashed to the sandy beach, rising towards the white soft sand that was nearly at her feet. She jerked against the hold on her wrist, but the large work worn hand only tightened, biting the tendons down against the bone as the waves grew larger. They seemed hungry as they lapped towards her, sliding and caressing until the cool water rushed over her bare toes and she jerked back as far as she could. The waves only broke when a great head surfaced, rising up with a crashing of foam that ran down the line of the neck and the equine muzzle was followed by a long elegant neck as Krakich lunged up towards the shore, riding the largest wave that his massive form could call up, his forelegs cresting through the water as she let out a shrieking cry.

Krakich was the best and worst aspects of his mingled heritage, a monster from the tip of his nose to his tail, with a deadly beauty that had lured many to their deaths. The equine head was smooth and glistening with water, made with fine scales that were so delicate and miniscule that they were almost impossible to detect until the sun ran over him. Iridescent flashes of gold, blue, green and purple mingled together on the forebody, with only the sea-foam green mane and feathering on his forelegs that was wild and alive looking, like the tentacles on jellyfish they were alive and moveable beneath the water, and deadly. A single strand of his mane could immobilize a person if they wrapped it around their torso or neck, the thick spill on the beast's neck would be deadly to anyone who touched it, let alone the powerful muscled forelegs that pushed up onto the beach, sinking into the sand. There were no hooves, but broad fins that curled down to either side as the long sinuous back breached the water behind him.

The harmless head of a horse was destroyed by the features on the elongated muzzle and the moment the soft lips were parted. Sharp hooked teeth filled the maw, this was no peaceful grass grazer like her little pony, the sight of the familiar shaped head with the deadly teeth was terrifying for her as Krakich dragged his lower body onto the sand, the long serpentine length twisted and coiled with broad fins spreading out to flash pale gold sails that were used to power through the currents of the ocean. A large dorsal fin was erect along his back with two side fins spreading open so he looked larger. He didn't need to look larger, he was already roughly twice the size of a normal horse, with the length to go with him, even if he had been half that size he would have been terrifying.

"This is the one?" The hissing voice came from the soft lipped muzzle and the equine head lowered towards her, one fierce green eye focused on her with the slit pupil flaring open. "The youngest daughter?"

"Yes, this is her. Named Vellan, she is now seventeen years old, I have had no others." Her father pulled her forward and Vellan dug her heels down.

"PAPA! PLEASE!" Her voice cracked as the equine head turned closer towards her and broad nostrils flared open, the gills along the neck rising briefly before smoothing down.

"Did you raise her not knowing?" The voice was hissing and strange, coated in an accent that she couldn't place and didn't want to. He smelled of water and salt, of blood and darker things as he neared her and lifted one finned foreleg and pulled himself higher on the beach.

"He is your master now, girl! Go to him." Her father tugged her roughly forward, his eyes carefully not on her as she was pushed towards the hippocampus.

"PAPA! I'm your daughter!" She protested as the muzzle pushed in closer and one foreleg lifted up to extend towards her. "You can't do this!"

"You were only born to be given to him, go to your master and be gone! You were never my daughter!" His voice was harsh, but he didn't look at her, he refused to watch her as one finned foreleg spread open and suddenly the feathering along the underside brushed against her.

Tendrils stung her, they twisted and curled, sliding over her skin like fire so she screamed out and jerked away, trying to run, but the foreleg only curled possessively down and dragged her closer towards the towering scaled form. It was pain unlike any she had ever felt before, like boiling water pouring over her untouched skin and not cooling, but spreading rapidly. The coiled serpentine body twisted towards her, the length of the tail rising up as the fire coursed through her veins. She had been born, raised, lived only to die at the hands of a beast for her father's prosperity. The thought hammered through her as she was dragged away from him, pulled along the sand with the tendrils biting her naked skin, raising welts along her sides and back as the rising waves rushed towards the beast. The powerful tail curled around her, dragging her from the sand until the water swirled around her and beneath her, lifting her pained form up as the hippocampus turned and began to push into the waves.

"Our bargain has been fulfilled.." Krachik hissed out as the waves hit her, salt water went up her nose, making her cough and sputter as the tail lifted her up above the water, twisting around her so tightly she felt as if she were being crushed. "Your fate is now your own, human."

"PAPA!!!" The last word was shrieked out before a wave of saltwater choked her, Vellan writhed and twisted before the hippocampus lunged into the water, only her body left aloft as he tore through the currents with her. She didn't know if she was his prize or his meal, and her pained mind couldn't keep ahold of the thoughts as every inch of her body throbbed and ached from the venomous stings. It would only be a matter of time before it killed her...

~ ~ * ~ ~

"Come girl! Do not stare at me like a starfish upon the shore, scrub properly or I will snap that arm off!" Krachik snarled the words out as Vellan leaned down and put her weight into the stiff bristled brush she worked down the broad back. "With as little as you are trying you would be just fine losing an arm!"

"I.. am... working..." Vellan squeezed her eyes shut and put more of her weight against him while her feet remained braised on the smooth rockface.

Krachik had beached himself in a narrow area that was only exposed when the tide was down, the one part of the island that he ever came out onto the shore entirely instead of remaining partially in the sea and in comfort. The tendrils of the foam colored mane were lax, laying down limp along his neck and unthreatening as she worked the brush harder along the ridge of his spine and along the line of the great dorsal fin. This was not the first time she had been called upon to groom him in the last two weeks, but it was the first time that he had brought a brush for her to use instead of making her make do with seaweed and dried sponges from the ocean floor. The stiff bristles tore away at the old scales that were loosening and falling off him, the sagging shed hide was slimy feeling as she brushed it away and tried not to show her disgust.

The venom hadn't killed her, she had been dragged to the island feverish and trembling, barely conscious that she was still alive as she had been cast onto sun warmed sand and seemingly abandoned there. She couldn't recall her first two days, or three days, she didn't even know how long she had been feverish and shuddering against the sand, being burned in the sun and cooled in the night. Krachik had seemed to forget about her after he'd dumped her, she couldn't recall him being there to even check on if she was alive as she had dreamt horrible fever dreams of his teeth shredding her alive, of her father drowning her, of her mother leaving her on the shore where she had sobbed and called out for someone to save her. She should have died, but she didn't, her body had taken a turn on the final day when rain had opened up above her and the fat fresh droplets had splattered down over her swollen feeling body, stirring her to the first real thoughts she had had in days. It had taken her so long to just stand up, longer to realize that her body was dotted with snow flaked patterns of scars from where the tendrils had envenomed her. Her perfect skin ruined forever.

And the first being she had saw had been the hippocampus. The monster hadn't asked after her well being nor offered her food as her stomach had been screaming for it, he hadn't even told here where to find water. He had snarled at her and demanded that she skin one of the largest fish she had ever seen for him, to prepare it to be eaten and part of it grilled that he might sample how humans had eaten. He hadn't seemed to care that she had been shaking with weakness, he had no sympathy, no humanity, he had only begun to order her around as if he had been put out that she had been unconscious for so long and he had done without a servant. It had only been after he had declared he would hunt in the northern current and had abandoned her without a thought or any indication of what she should do. She had been forced to rely on her own wits to find out what the island held.

It was surprisingly livable once she had gotten out to explore it. There was a fresh water current that went right in the heart of the place, only barely tainted with sea water and hardly at all if she dove in the small lagoon and got water from the bottom. There were stands of trees that bore various types of fruit, though none of it was of the sort that she particularly enjoyed, it was still food. There were no other islands near enough to offer escape, the only outcroppings were sharp looking rocks that lifted from the ocean like fangs on a serpent. She couldn't even see the shore from her prison, she had no idea how far he had brought her or if she could possibly make a small boat and have a prayer of making it to the safety of the mainland. She was a prisoner to the hippocampus, a slave, a toy and servant meant to give into his every whim.

"Tell me girl, are you particularly stupid or simply lazy?" Krachik hissed and turned his head to look at her, some of the tendrils stirring to nearly snap at her.

"I am neither." She responded stiffly, her fingers aching and pruned from the wetness as she stared at the glittering gem colored back.

"Then stop standing there with your mouth open, you are only making your chore harder." The monster curled his legs under him, tucking them against his chest as he blew out a blood-scented breath. "Get on my back and tend me properly, then you won't be missing entire patches of where I'm shedding!"

"I'm not climbing on you!" Vellan snapped, wiping her hands off on her frayed greying clothing. They were slowly being destroyed by hard use, the silky genteel material had never been meant for rough living.

"Master. You will call me master or sir, human." Krachik swung his head back towards her, snorting out a hot blast of air. "You can either tend to my shedding hide or you can go for a swim in the deep currents, I care little which one you choose."

"You paid 20 years of labor for me, you're not going to drown me!" Vellan snapped back, ignoring the fear that came with the large fang filled muzzle looming so close to her.

"Perhaps not, but I can drag you under over and over again. I know how long a human can live without air, perhaps I will keep pulling you under, keep making you feel your lungs about to burst, keep you helpless beneath the waves until you learn proper obedience." He hissed back and bared his thick equine lips. "The choice is yours, I think you could make a fine bit of game beneath the water. How many times do you think I'll have to drag you down until you learn proper respect?"

Vellan stared at him, outraged and terrified all in one go. It was a threat that wasn't empty, she had no doubt the beast would do something so horrible, but it was still horrifying to realize that he so easily decided that would be her punishment. It was extreme and violent, like the animal itself, and she was forced to move her eyes away from the bright sea-green orbs that were watching her and reached up to grip one of the broad side fins to haul herself up onto the serpentine back without another word. The hippocampus rumbled laughter, the feel of it vibrated over her as he turned his head back and rested his dish shaped muzzle down in some of the water that gathered in the crevice, blowing out a relieved breath as she began to continue brushing him roughly, working to slough away the old dead skin to reveal the softer brighter scaling beneath it. Had this been an animal in truth, one that had no power over her, she might have admired the brightness of the scales she revealed. They were the color of deep water with just the barest edge of gold at the tip, the metallic color brought out by the sun over head.

"Ahhh, much better, little fish." Krachik groaned out and lowered his fins as she started to work harder against the seams, feeling the powerful muscles rippling under her. "That is what you need to do, put all your weight into it to get the old scales off."

"Yes, sir." She gritted her teeth as she worked, feeling her arms aching as she had to strain to use enough strength to peel the scales away so they fell to the ground.

This was her life now, slave to an animal that could and would, easily end her life if she proved no longer useful. Her cheeks burned with shame and anger both, how could her father toss her to this animal for simple money? She would have happily grown up like one of the children in the sheds near the shore if it meant she would never have come to this place. It was her anger, not her fear, that helped her finish the back of the beast, the last of the scales falling away as the ocean began to raise up and flood the little crevice, pulling the old scales out to the ocean as the hippocampus lazily curled his tail around one of the rocks, obviously not yet ready to leave even as Vellan was forced to climb higher up his back to avoid the rising water.

"My mane, little fish, brush it out. It tangles so easily and it has been a long time since I have gotten the snarls out of it." Krachik rumbled and flicked his finned ears back towards her as the water began to help him float as the tide continued to come in.

"I am not touching your mane!" She yelped out, her skin going cold at the memory of the burning pain from just a brush of the tendrils along his forelegs. "Sir!" She added the moment the equine lip curled back to show sharp canines.

"You refuse an order, human?" He hissed dangerously while she was forced to cling to the dorsal fin to try and keep herself from falling off his back. "Very well, I sup-"

"Sir, I don't refuse because I do not wish too!" She nearly squeaked the words out as the massive body roiled up beneath her, rolling and bucking her as he began to push back against the waves. "You will sting me and I will grow sick again as I did before!"

"You fear my venom?" The beast turned his head and curved his long equine neck in a manner that made him look almost pleased. "And well you should, little fish, I could kill one of the great whales if I had a mind too."

"So, I will continue grooming you, but I cannot touch your mane." Vellan hated herself for her respectful tone, but she feared the idea of being drawn down into the water that much more.

"You can touch my mane, little fish." He replied smugly. "You were sick because I poisoned you nearly to the brink of death, but I did so to make your body grow used to my venom. As long as you touch my mane often, you will not be harmed by it. Come, touch my forelock and I will show it to be true."

"It won't sting me?" She stared at the sea-foam colored tendrils, the fullness of them hanging down along the broad equine forehead. "I have your word?"

"Of course, why would I wish a slave that cannot properly tend me?" He sounded amused and stretched his large head forward. "Come, touch my forelock with your finger tips, if I lie you will only be stung a little, but you will not even feel that."

Vellan didn't want to touch it, she remembered the fiery pain that had tore through her body when she had felt it before and the idea of feeling it again made her grow nauseous. The hippocampus made no move to threaten her, instead he held quite still with his head held back towards his shoulders at an awkward angle that couldn't be comfortable. After several long breaths she reached a hand out nervously and stretched her finger tips towards the mane, which thankfully remained still as she touched the warm broad forehead. She used the very tip of her smallest pinky to brush over one of the tendrils, ready to feel the venom and stabbing barbs hitting her, but there was only a strange rasping feeling against the pad of her finger and the slightest itching sensation. Embolden, she reached out further and ran her hand upwards, running over the forelock and feeling the warm weight of the tendrils against the palm of her hand with nothing more than the faintest feel of roughness.

"It doesn't hurt." She murmured to herself, squeezing the tendrils and feeling them ripple against her palm in reaction. "Not at all."

It was a wonder. She had always heard the horror stories about the venom and tendrils, how many men had accidently found shed parts and nearly lost limbs to touching them, but here she was stroking and running her fingers through the thick spill of them and there wasn't even a dull feel of pain. Vellan smiled a little as she reached back and, embolden, dug her fingers into the length of the mane and ran outwards towards the tip, raking through the heaviest portion and tugging at the snarls. She was truly touching the monster, there were no fangs snapping at her legs, no threat to swallow her down whole, he remained still so that he could stroke his mane and get a feel for it. It was almost magical, if she didn't look too closely at her situation. She could almost pretend he was an animal in truth, some magical creature soothed by her touch and tamed by her presence.

"There? I told you." The hippocampus sounded amused and annoyed both. "Now, brush my mane out and then you will start a fire so that I can have warmed meat for my dinner."

In a sentence the moment was shaken with his aloof command and he swung his head around to present his mane for her to brush out. This wasn't a magical being tamed by her touch, he was a monster who held her life in his grasp. He had always been a monster.

~ ~ * ~ ~

Vellan dug at her arm roughly with her finger nails, scratching up and down rapidly, digging at the rough dry skin in a frantic air as she hunched her shoulders against the winds that were battering the island. The skies were blackening and growing turbulent, but she didn't care about them or her lack of shelter, the only worry she had was for the rough patches that ran along the back of her forearms. It was rough and dry enough that skin was flaking off under her frantic itching, but it was what was beneath that was making her heart beat lunge up into her throat. She felt dizzy with horror as she watched patch after patch reveal something glistening and metallic beneath the dried skin. She dug harder, scraping her nails against the spots and tried to tear away what could only be scraps of dried scales that had come from the hippocampus or from the fish he brought for her to cook and clean. Where her nails rasped over red marks rose up, but the glistening rainbow colored flecks wouldn't budge, wouldn't shift, didn't even dull under her attack.

She had noticed her skin drying out several days ago. It had been just after she had helped Krachik shed his scales, she had thought it was a natural roughness brought about from scrubbing the beast and the salt water. She had dismissed it and simply used some rather smelly fish oil to try and soften the skin. It was only when it hadn't gotten better, only gotten worse, that she had really turned attention to it. That's when she noticed that the skin was flaking off, but it wasn't just dry skin, the delicate hair on her arms was gone entirely and where the skin was flaking away there were delicate looking scales beneath. She willed it to be wrong, for her mind to be slipping to insanity so she was seeing things where there was nothing, but she could feel them. Her nails ran over the spots and she felt the rough edges of scales, lifting them up to the point she cried out in shocked pain. They were attached to her!

Blind panic controlled her, this couldn't be real, this had to be a dream or else some fevered hallucination that gave it the air of reality. Her breathing came out faster as she rocked forward onto all fours and crawled the few steps towards one of the tide pools and shoved her arm beneath the water to swirl around. She would wash the spots off, they would turn out to be nothing more than dried fish scales or bits of shell that reflected lights. Her nails dug at her forearm as she did so, trying to scrub away the markings, but when she pulled her arm up there was little change. The scales were there, translucent against her skin so she could only see them when she turned her arm about in the dimming light, but they were on her. She had scales! Scales like a fish or snake!!

"Oh gods... Gods..." Vellan squeezed her eyes shut and gripped her own forearm, feeling the roughness extending up past her elbow.

"ARE YOU BLIND, STUPID, OR INSANE?!" The roaring voice brought her dazed eyes away from her arm and the hippocampus erupted from the battering waves like a demon of sea foam. "Damn you! COME HERE!"

Krachik's jaws were open so that every last serrated tooth was in view, his long blue-black tongue lashed in the air as his coiled tail lunged him up and onto the beach. The wind blasted behind him, hitting her with the water that was cast up from his eruption from the sea, but she paid little mind to the feel it hitting her skin. She scrambled back, trying to get away from the creature that lunged down and caught her wrist roughly with his large muzzle and yanked her up onto her feet. It was the same arm she had been looking at the scales, trying to scratch them away, and he threw his head up, nearly popping her shoulder from the socket as she was cast backwards and onto his serpentine back. Instinct saved her from being thrown back into the wild waves, instinct and the flared dorsal fin that hit her chest and let her grasp onto it blindly.

The hippocampus didn't wait for her to settle or say a word, he shoved with his serpentine tail and lunged into the water as she clung to him. The crack of thunder erupted overhead as the winds tore at her and the waves crashed to either side as he went to sea. She had no time to think! She was only barely aware of the storm rolling in, but the bulk of her attention was fixated only on the fact he was lunging deeper and deeper into the water, his powerful rippling muscles ran beneath her, tossing and throwing her this way and that as he surged against the tide. The equine head was cast up high, his forelegs pawed at the oncoming waves as he crested them one after another, the water threatening to sweep her away as it rose higher.

"HELP!!! STOP STOP TAKE ME BACK!!" She shrieked out as his head dove down and she was thrown up into the air as his back arched and dipped down, the ocean sweeping up and nearly tearing her from his slick scaled body.

"If you wish to die then hop off, human!" Krachik snarled out and crested another wave, this time turning sharply against it so they partially rode it. "If you wish to live, hold on and pray you are not as weak in body as you are in your head!"

Insulted, scared, wet and cold Vellan obeyed the command and leaned forward against the fin, digging her fingers around the strong stiff bone that held it erect. Her legs clung to the slick scaled body that twisted and slipped through the wild waves. She could barely keep hold of him, only when his side fins flared open to cup to either side of her did she get a break from the knocking water trying to scrape him from her back. He tore away from the island for what seemed like forever, slipping this way and that, sometimes diving down low enough that she nearly went under before he surfaced again, panting and heaving, his nostrils flared open wide as they worked instead of his sealed gills. The storm only grew more fierce, lightning clawed across the sky wildly, illuminating the angry looking clouds.

"HOLD YOUR BREATH!" She heard him yell out at her, his body arching up as they passed a barely visible bit of rock. "Suck it in and hold it!!!"

"Wher-" She stared to ask the question, screaming it to the winds before his back arched high in the air and the fins to either side of her suddenly swept back in a powerful stroke.

Almost too late she sucked down a breath of air, filling her lungs before the cold swirling sea water wrapped around her and the powerful body slipped beneath the waves and the howling storm above them. It was silent save for the muted crashes and bubbling noises that came from the beast she road. She clung to his fin, squeezing her legs around the muscled length as she felt him writhing and turning, his fins sweeping water back towards her as the pressure built around her and the light from the storm dimmed above her. The darkness was cold and currents pulled at her hair, tugging it this way and that as the hippocampus seemed to be aiming for something that she couldn't see.

Her lungs began to ache before the pressure grew unbearable, she felt them straining as she sent out small breaths that spilled bubbles from her nose. She tried to hammer her heels against the scaled sides as the need to breathe began to turn painful, her lungs burning as she let out more breath, but she couldn't suck any in. She tried to concentrate only on holding on, not on the pain and pressure that was growing around her, closing in from all sides and steadily growing worse by the moment as the powerful serpents tail began to coil and twist wildly enough that she was nearly thrown off as the beast dove down sharply and began to increase his speed wildly. Faster and faster, he was aiming towards something. Vellan didn't care, she couldn't breathe, couldn't think, her vision was going dark around the edges, her head was throbbing with the pressure.

-WHAM-

The tail bucked under her and suddenly flung her up wildly, the powerful muscles throwing her against the water. She couldn't even scream, there was no air left in her for that. She was flung up and suddenly hit the surface of the water, sucking in a breath wildly and dragging it down as she scrabbled to keep herself on the surface the moment she landed. She felt as if she were going to faint, the world tilting wildly as she kicked her legs with what little strength she had left before starting to sink again. The broad scaled head of her master pushed up and lifted her from the water, the darkness swallowing her as she tried to grab ahold of his forelock. It wasn't storming, there was no rain hitting her, what had happened to the storm?

~ ~ * ~ ~

Vellan came to life trembling and shuddering against the hard stone floor, the sound of the ocean muted to a roar that echoed around her as she dragged her head up. She felt dizzy, weak and confused as she looked around in the dim light and realized she wasn't on the island. Splashes of glowing algae clung to the ceiling and sides of the cave, mushrooms that glowed a pale yellow-white stood out against the darkness giving her some light to see by. She felt water logged and her stomach turned uncomfortably as she rolled over, feeling a shudder run down her back as she fought back the urge to be sick, coughing roughly a few times. She was in some sort of underwater cave, the entrance to it was just the large pool of water glistening in the dull light, but she could vaguely hear the storm outside of the cave, the snarling thunder and shudders as the waves hammered mercilessly.

She almost missed the hippocampus by virtue of the fact he blended into the strange yellow and green glowing flora, just another flash of something in the strange surroundings, but his eyes opened and glowed far more brightly. She let out a startled noise the moment the orbs opened and one of the 'rocks' shifted with a slithering sound, the large serpentine tail flashing the fins briefly as the equine head lifted up to regard her aloofly. Krachik was coiled around a jutting rock, his long body wrapped nearly all the way up before his legs took over, curled neatly along the largest point of his back and his head resting down against his knees. His mane was flat, not even shifting against his neck, the only movement were his eyes focused on her as she pushed up onto her knees, hearing a tearing sound as her skirt half fell off.

"Where are we?" She rasped out, clearing her throat roughly before she tried again with more force. "Where did you bring me?"

"Not, "thank you, master for saving me from my stupidty"? Not "I am glad to be alive, sir." Your first question is where I brought you?" The hippocampus lifted his head and curled back one lip in a snarl. "Are you disappointed you aren't drowned and dead, because I could rectify that immediately?"

"No.. I.." She started and flushed at the harsh rebuke. "I am sorry, thank you for getting me out of the storm."

"Master. Use the word properly!" He lifted his head higher, his ears pinned back flat to his head in a show of anger.

"Master." She spit it out at him, watching as he shifted and hissed out slightly as he began to drag himself free of the rock. He didn't move far, just enough that his finned fore 'hooves' dropped down to the ground so he loomed above her.

"What is that?" He hissed out as she moved backwards, his head extending out closer. "Come here! NOW!"

She moved further back away from him as his teeth flashed in the light, his eyes fixated on her torso and she realized something she had been overlooking since she'd woken up. Her clothing had given up the fight to keep together in their flight through the water, the seams tearing along her sides and shoulder, raggedly hanging down so a good portion of her upper arm and her stomach was visible, the underside of her breasts gleaming in the light so she moved her hands up to cover herself from the beast that loomed closer.

"I said come here, human! Or do you wish to be dragged across the floor and torn from those clothes?!" Krachik hissed the last phrase, but she wasn't listening, her hand had curled along her side and she froze as she brushed against something lying against her.

There was a spine coming from her skin, jutting out and resting along her side, it was a spine growing from her own body! She felt minute scales on the thing and she let out a wordless cry as she felt with her other hand, moving along her sides until her nails bit right under another spine, the tip was hard with something that felt like a claw. It was at least four inches long, coming from just below her rib cage and hugging tightly against her. She tried to dig beneath it, yanking roughly until she felt a jolt of pain the moment she tried to lift it upwards towards her body. It was really growing out of her! It was attached to her skin, her muscle!

"Stop that!" Krachik snarled out and shoved her roughly with his nose.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!" She shrieked the words, the sound of her panic echoed around her as the equine head loomed above her.

"Doing to you?" The beast scoffed and gave his head a shake. "Do you think I wish to have you die so soon?"

"Die?!" She jerked, shuddering as the hot copper scented breath hit her, the beast looming in closer so that one glowing eye was hovering near the spine. "I'm dying?!"

"Perhaps." He answered dismissively and suddenly flicked out his tongue, the hot slimy length sweeping against her belly so she let out a yelp and jerked away with outrage. "Perhaps not, but it is interesting..."

"Stop that!" She snapped out as he moved his tongue out again and she jerked back another step to evade the touch.

Krachik hissed out and suddenly struck with one powerful foreleg, the fins flaring open and cracking against her to send her tumbling to the ground before she could stop herself or escape him. His teeth were bared, tongue curling from his maw as he loomed above her and let out a venomous hiss of warning the moment she tried to shove herself back up to her feet. She froze as he struck again, this time with his muzzle so the fangs ran right along her back, raking along her skin in a smooth stroke, tearing against her clothing as she tried to writhe away.

"You are mine, human!" He hissed at her, his breath hot and panting against the curve of her spine as he tore at her shirt, making her struggle to hold it. "You are a slave, do you think you can tell me what I may and may not do? When I must and must not stop? Perhaps I have treated you too kindly."

"Please! Sir!" She cried out as the tooth caught nearly against her skin, her shirt giving way and tearing to fall down, making her grab at the tatters as she writhed forward.

"Master. You have taken too many liberties, human, you will call me Master or I will start to punish you." He cocked his head to one side, flicking his tongue out a little bit, curling at the tip. "Perhaps you are testing me because you desire to be punished?"

"No! No, master!" She managed to get the title out, no matter how it stung her tongue, and he only let out a low wicked chuckle.

"I must see how see how much you have changed, my dear, and you must begin to learn your place in things." Krachik murmured, his teeth slipping down to drag her shirt away as she yelped out, writhing and struggling to hold the tattered fabric before it was tugged free entirely leaving her chest bare.

"Master...." She whispered the word, her cheeks burning in humiliation as her breasts were exposed and there was the sound of slithering scales against the ground.

"You speak so sweetly when you wish me to stop, you have learned nothing, human." The long serpentine body twisted around her as a hot flick of a tongue rasped along her bare stomach. "Perhaps I need to teach you differently..."

"NNNF!!" She tried to speak, but the sound that spilled out of her was humiliating and loud as the tongue worked out again in a slimy powerful stroke along her stomach. "Stop that! Please!!!"

"You have scales on your stomach, little fish." The hippocampus hissed softly and tilted his head down, the long sinuous tail twisted beneath her, pushing her body up as he tilted his head down and peered down at her prostrated body as she struggled to get out. "Do you see them? Look!"

The tongue snapped against her navel, making her yelp out as she jerked her eyes up in horror to see the long dark oral appendage twisting and rolling against her. She was horrified at the feel of the warm wetness dragging against her, but her horror was short lived and easily transferred to what the slick saliva reflected off of. Minute scales, barely larger than pebbles, decorated her belly, just like they had her arms, coating her skin to give it a metallic sheen she had never possessed. The hot breath of the hippocampus rippled against her, blasting along the line of her belly all the way up towards her breasts so she shuddered and squirmed in place, making her jerk back hard enough she nearly pushed over the broad back. The long tongue coiled along the scales, tracing them as she watched, his glowing eyes rolled up to watch her as the tongue dipped down to one side towards the sharp spine.

"What are you doing to me?!" She hissed out, her stomach frozen with terror at the sight of her formerly pale skin being scaled in such a manner, her body shuddering in disgust as the tongue dragged backwards slowly, toying lower.

"Doing? You are doing it to yourself, girl." Krachik answered, his voice barely a whisper as his tongue flicked lower, low enough that she felt the last shreds of her skirt being pulled. "Are you so thick skulled you do not see what is happening?"

The drag made her fight, she shoved at the large head looming against her, but he only trilled in amusement as the fabric was pulled away and she felt a breath teasing lower as his ear fins pricked up high on his head. She didn't know what was happening, but the further down his muzzle went the more she realized that scales were coating her skin. Perhaps it was the dim light of the cave, but it looked like there was a bluish cast to her body. He worked his tongue downwards, one of his large forelegs moved up and pressed against her, pinning her down against his smooth body as she felt his teeth hooking against her skirt. To her horror he ripped it free without any effort at all, the worn cloth being freed and dropped to the side so that his hot breath rippled down her legs.

She didn't care what was happening to her, she cared about getting away from the brush of a muzzle along her legs. She struck out roughly, kicking against the snout that slid down her lower belly, but Krachik only snarled and snapped out of her, his serrated teeth caught along her skin and dragged against her, pulling roughly enough that she felt him dragging along her skin, raising welts as she struggled to yank her leg free, but he only jerked her forward with a rough twist, lifting her hips up higher in the air, dragging her across one of his coils, lifting her hips up higher in the air so that she felt a hot breath teasing along her naked loins. Her cheeks flushed hot red and she twisted away, kicking and struggling to squirm further, but the beast held her in check with almost idle strength, as if she were no more than another fish he planned to devour.

The tongue pushed downwards, the edges of the mane dragged along her sides, causing the faintest sparks to burst along her skin as the venom brushed against her. It wasn't painful, but stimulating as the warmth of the tongue started to roll between her thighs. The disgusting slimy saliva coated against her inner thighs as the tongue tip suddenly pushed roughly up against her cunny, dragging over it so that she shrilled out and her eyes snapped open wide at the vulgar probing. The oral muscle forcibly splayed her outer lips open wide and roughly probed into her body with a lewd powerful thrust that made her let out an outraged scream, reaching up to grab at the beast's mane, roughly yanking and twisting her fingers into it.

"Keep pulling human..." Krachik hissed out, his tongue pulling backwards. "Keep fighting and perhaps I will see if your scales will stop my teeth. They are in a vulnerable area you realize..."

"Wh-what are you trying to do?" She gasped out while the tongue slathered over her soft outer folds, the teeth grazed right along the upper edge of her stomach as the jaws parted open wider, threatening her.

Laughter, the beast's only answer was a low rumbling laugh before she let out a shrieking cry at the feel of the tongue suddenly plunging into her body in a swift powerful stroke. The tongue drove past her outer folds, prying apart her inner passage with the sheer thickness of it's length, curling and twisting, arching and rolling along her inner walls as she tried to jerk her hips away. The foreleg pushed over her upper belly and chest, pinning her in place so all she could do was use her feet, kicking at the head and neck, but it was little more than a mouse fighting a cat, even her hardest strike did nothing more than make the hippocampus grunt before the tongue plunged in deeper, the rasping texture scraped through her, dragging and roiling, twisting along spots that had her tensing up and writhing.

He was a monster. He was just a step above an animal. It was wrong, it was obscene, and still the beast worked through her, the thickening tongue forcing her to stretch open wider as she swallowed down a groan as the narrow tip probed and jabbed deeper into her body. She felt the heat of his breath against her, the mocking rumble as the tongue began to drag backwards wetly, raking right along a spot that sent a startling shock of pleasure through her. Her walls contracted tightly, squeezing around the oral muscle that began to push inwards again, a slow powerful push that wedged and pried her open, her walls quivering and straining to feel herself being stretched open. The base began to rapidly grow wider as the stallion tilted his head slightly, raking his teeth up along the line of her belly as the slippery saliva ran down along the crease of her ass.

Vellan had no idea what was happening to her, why it was happening, her body was shuddering and tensing up as her walls began to suckle and pull along the length of the tongue, instinctively tightening every time it started to push in deeper. She could hear a wet squelching noise when he pushed harder and the narrow tip of the tongue flicked right up against a barrier deep inside of her. She whimpered out and squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the way the tapered tip began to flick right up against the seal opening, swirling over it lightly in a way that she was never supposed to feel. The thickness of the base wedged up against her soft cunny, rolling just enough that he ran right along the swollen bud of her clit.

It was a shock of unwilling pleasure, a shudder that made her belly tense up and relax again while the beast worked over the nub again and again. It scrapped and pulled over her as the tongue tip teased inside of her, every flex and shift could be felt, her gripping muscles strained open in a lewd O around the base while he dragged his tongue backwards. She felt a tremor ran down the length of her spine, arching upwards as the tongue worked along her clit again, caressing and dragging back over the nub each time he pulled his tongue back. Every stroke and caress brought with it unwilling shudders of pleasure, her nerves being caressed as the tongue rasped this way and that, pulling out and plunging forward again. To her horror she felt herself growing wet around the tongue, not just from the slimy saliva either.

Her own arousal was being pushed out around the thick rolling appendage, the drags backwards came with strands of slippery wetness clinging to the length of the muzzle before they were pulled free. The nose pushed against her with the thick full lips intimately working along her outer folds. Slowly, oh so slowly, the tongue dragged backwards, pulling through her with a smooth stroke as the narrow tip flicked upwards and scraped right along the spot just inside of her, swirling over it so Vellan let out a groaning cry, her eyes squeezing shut as the swirling tongue tip lashed and teased in forceful wriggles as the length of the base pushed over her clit again, letting the last few inches withdraw with a wet sound.

She felt hot, her heart throbbing rapidly as the tongue tip slipped free with a wet sound, pulling out with a flick that ran right up along her clit, strands of her arousal and his saliva breaking free as Krachik lifted his equine head up and gave one last stroke. The brush made her cry out and her hips rocked upwards, almost yearning towards that touch before the hippocampus licked his lips, running his tongue along his large muzzle as his head swayed above her. Vellan couldn't think as the tongue moved away and the coils twisted around her, rolling and arching. She wanted the touch back, her throbbing quivering body wanted the tongue to plunge back against her, nerves that had been ruthlessly roused were left alone. Her heart was in her throat, her cheeks burning a dark red as the beast regarded her with obvious amusement. She folded her ears back in utter humiliation. Her ears..

"Please.. just tell me.." She whispered out, lifting her hands towards her ears in horror. The moment her fingers brushed them she felt the shape had entirely changed. They were more like fans... or fins, folded neatly to either side of her head.

"Say it." Krachik hissed down at her, roiling and shifting, making her jerk upwards as his coils rolled under her back. She was humiliated to admit that even that felt good to her feverish feeling body. "I want to hear you say it, human. You know what it is."

"You're changing me.." Vellan hated saying those words, she looked down at her body, the scales that covered her nude form, the wetness of her loins that were a stark reminder of his tongue.

"No." The beast snapped his jaws. "You are changing yourself. You long for freedom, and there is only one freedom left to you."

"Not this.." She trailed off and felt tears rolling up to her eyes as she noticed the skin between her fingers was higher up, nearly to the first knuckle. Webbing, she was starting to grow webbing! "I want it to stop! Please, master!"

"Sleep, little fish." The beast slid away from her, his smooth scales slipped along the ground as he went towards the pool of water. "After all, you will wish to have as much rest as you can find, because once you finish changing and enter the water, I will be teaching you a new way to serve me."

~ ~ * ~ ~

Day by day Vellen watched in horror as her body continued to change. The scales became harder and colored a dark vibrant blue-green, the fins on her sides began to grow out and larger so that they were easily as long as her arms. They weren't like fish scales, but more like a very fine reptilian scaling that was smooth and strong against the touch of her nails and hand when she could bring herself to touch them. One day she had woken up to find her hair moving of its own accord, the red hair shifting towards a paler color as it twisted beneath her chin and curled up at odd angles. Each day she saw a little more of her humanity slipping away as the color of her skin was lost, the fins on her side grew out, the spines threw thicker to support the webbing between them. Her teeth were sharper every day, she nearly cut her tongue on them sometimes when she wasn't paying attention to how she was moving it.

She stared down at the tidal pool with her ear fins pinned back on her head, feeling muscles that she had never possessed tensing and relaxing along her jaws and chin. Her hair was growing strangely now, she touched the edge of her temple to see the skin showing there as the hair was thickening in a straight line right along the line of her neck. She was a monster, or at least she was becoming one. She had no illusions that she was changing into something else, she could already see the faint spread of her nostrils, her hands had started to grow harder to move and control. She was being turned into a hippocampus just like her master. Her eyes narrowed a little bit at the thought of her master and she lifted her head to look at the beast that was rising and falling against the waves, his back rippling as he dozed.

He was no longer going to sea to hunt, he was remaining near the island and seemed obsessed with keeping her in sight. The only time that he left the outskirts of the island were the few times he gathered food when the tides were high and the fish ran close enough to be caught. Not that she could have gone anywhere, she was stuck here, the ocean her fence, and her changing body was just another prison. She looked away from the tide pool, trying to ignore the feel of the scales on her body and the tightness of her muscles, the aching of her bones that was a part of her everyday life now. Just this morning she had found something growing above the rise of her ass cheeks, a nub that she had never had before had greeted her when she'd tried to sit down. Even now she could turn to see it was longer.

With a grunt she stood up and swayed in place, the legs of her bones were hurting more now, a constant throb as she found it harder to walk properly. It was starting to feel more natural to walk on the tips of her toes than on her flat feet, but it was still awkward. How long until she saw her body changing into a tail and lost the use of her legs entirely? A shudder passed down her as she walked slowly and painfully down along the shore, away from the sight of the dozing hippocampus and tried to gauge just how deep the changes were. She had one hope left to her, she could swim away once she was changed enough, if she grew gills to match her lungs like the beast did, she would be able to go under the water and hopefully evade him until she reached some form of civilization and perhaps help.

The sound of the waves growing wilder followed her as she made her way around the cove and towards a little lagoon that reached the interior part of her prison. She didn't have to look back to know that Krachik was following her closely, she had no doubt that he had woken up the moment that she had moved away from her spot by the tide pool. She ignored him, stiffening a little as the waves lapped up towards her ankles and she stubbornly walked on the flat of her feet, despite the fact her elongated bones made such an action painful and clumsy both. Were her feet longer now? They felt longer, the bones felt like they were shifting around and her joints were throbbing.

"Do you think if you walk enough that you will find a way out?" Krachik hissed as he idly swam through the waves, matching her stride against the tide.

"No, master." She answered dully, trying to avoid her anger. She didn't want him angry, her body knew how he dealt with anger at her now, and even the thought made her body flare hot and cold.

"Perhaps you wish to swim today?" He asked hopefully. "The water is lovely and your fins are growing quite nicely, little fish."

"No. Thank you." She answered stiffly, feeling another wave hitting her so the sand shifted beneath her feet.

"Do you think to deny it you will change what is happening?" He snarled and the waves grew heavier as his body pushed through the shallows, his forelegs cresting and digging into the sand. "Or perhaps you think that you will remain on land and remain human?"

"I don't know." Vellan responded, hearing the waves crashing harder before she stumbled where the sand swept beneath her feet. She froze as he loomed beside her, his eyes narrowing as his tail curled and twisted in the waves behind him.

"Then you will go and fetch the grooming supplies, human! You have not served me in several days, perhaps you mope because you are offered too much time and freedom." Krachik snapped his jaws, the thick lips curling back slightly. "I feel the urge to be cleaned and perhaps a day working will make you think differently before refusing so simple a task as a swim!"

"Yes..." She flushed hotly, angry and humiliated, but as the word left her the equine head stretched towards her and she managed to get out the next word. "Master."

It took Vellan only a short amount of time to get the 'grooming supplies' as the beast called them. It was nothing more than two different brushes and a large sponge that he had obviously yanked up from the ocean floor, but it seemed to please him that he had gathered it. When she came back to the shore the beast wasn't on the sand where he should have been, or in the narrow channel, instead he floated with half his body beached, but with the waves rolling over him in water deep enough that it would have likely come to her chest, if not more. She clutched the tools and he swung his head to watch her, his ear fins held high before rolling over, twisting in the water to present his scaled underside, his forelegs tucking themselves against his chest as his long thick neck arched.

"Come, human, I wish you to groom me properly, let no scale be untended." He commanded her in the same harsh tone he always used, almost mocking her. "And get between them, the sand wedges there and irritates me."

"I can't!" Vellan protested as she waded out to her waist and the rising waves hit her, cresting to just under her bare breasts.

"COME HERE!" Krachik roared the words and reached out with one foreleg towards her. She barely had time to scramble backwards before the large limb hooked around her waist. "Do you think I ask you? I command you. Until such a day that you can match me, I am your master!"

Vellan felt the tendrils that ran around the large foreleg twisting around her nude body as she was dragged deeper, barely able to keep her head up as she sputtered and struggled. She felt the stings striking her, the venom sending small shocks over her as it always did, she no longer even flinched from the stuff, it just made her skin crawl. She was more upset about the feel of any part of him touching her nude body, the feel of smooth scales and the fins ran along the crease of her ass as she was hauled up past the waves, coughing and gasping, and tumbled onto the broad stomach with its sleek pebbled hide that was almost velvety feeling beneath her fingers as she scrabbled onto him and got her legs up so she wasn't rocked by the next wave coming.

His foreleg lingered for a moment, the feathering ran along her back so the tendrils stung a trail up her spine making her hiss out at the not entirely unpleasant feel of shocks caressing her skin. He wanted her to react, she knew that now, he liked taunting her body and making her do things she didn't want to do. Her cheeks burned red at that thought, remembering the last time he'd used his tongue on her, always seeming to know just when she was about to orgasm and denying her even that simple relief. She didn't know if she was frustrated or not at that, she was relieved she hadn't humiliated herself that far yet, but at the same time her body was growing distressingly aroused by his touch.

She dismissed the thoughts that made her cheeks throb in time with her heart beat, struggling to bury them deep as she began to work in silence under her master's gaze. She threw herself into her work, wanting to not think, to not do anything except work the brushes roughly over the belly of the beast. To her anger he rumbled and purred in pleasure, he rocked and twisted, roiling his scales under her as she set her brush to the hide and was surprised to realize that the way it was made wasn't entirely hide or scale, but a hybrid of them both. They interlaced together to form a strange seamless line of armor that was liberally coated in bits of sand, pebbles, crushed coral and other detritus picked up in his travels.

Vellan felt Krachik watching her, his eyes locked on her nude form as she did her best to hide from him, but she couldn't move her body the way she used too. She hunched her back and let her hair fall forward, but it began to hurt after too long, aching and throbbing as she worked down between the forelegs and felt the twisting tail roiling beneath her. He was broad along the chest and the start of his lower body, but the sinuous tail rapidly grew thinner as she ran the brush in powerful strokes, scrubbing roughly here and there. She concentrated only on getting the irritated bits of sand from him, her muscles aching with exertion as she not only worked the brush, but had to brace herself against the waves that rolled inwards and ran along her ankles, threatening to topple her.

She was so ingrained in her work that she didn't realize when the scaly hide began to change into a new texture, something soft and rubbery feeling, smoothing to the touch as she ran the brush over the spot and heard the hippocampus hiss out and his body shifted in disapproval. She paused and blinked a little, pushing her wet hair out of her eyes and immediately jerked backwards in disgust from where she had been starting to brush. The hide was a uniform white-blue, save the spot she had just brushed against, it was a darker richer blue color, like the color of the sea when it was above a canyon and it was obviously one specific part of his anatomy that she had refused to even think about. The long slit was puffy looking with thick lips and two angled clasping fins on either side with sharp looking hooks that she had nearly caught her arm on.

She went back to working over his scales, ignoring it entirely, but Krachik wasn't about to let her forget what she'd finally found on him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him starting to thicken along the sheath, a purplish blush ran over the glossy hide as the thick lips began to spread open just a hair. At first she could have dismissed it, she tried to at least, but it became apparent that it wasn't something she was going to be able to ignore. The first inches of the cock that emerged she barely glanced at, she could see the dark glistening flesh out of the corner of her eyes, but that was it, but then it grew larger, swelling and pushing out into the air moment by moment, quivering and she found herself flicking her eyes towards the onyx spire, but not in desire.

The glans was arrow shaped, curved ever so slightly at the tip and oozing something thick and gooey that ran over the edge, almost narrow looking, but it grew rapidly larger as inch after inch pushed outwards. The ridges that ran along the underside were sharply pronounced, standing out against the backdrop of the pale blue hide so that she couldn't help but cast a look at it. It was as large as her arm was by the time the base pushed outwards and the entire girth rested along the freshly cleaned stomach. The air was cloying with a strange scent on the air, one that made her nostrils flare and quiver, not an unpleasant scent at all, and that's what made it so disturbing as she rapidly ran the brush along the thinner tail. She was done here, she didn't want to know any more about her master. She knew he was only doing this to mock her, to try to make her do something he could punish her for.

With a final stroke she lunged off the hippocampus, hitting the water without asking if she was finished, she just wanted away before he came up with anything else to do to her. As soon as she shoved away she knew it was a hopeless bid to escape, her legs kicked frantically, but refused to move properly, the aching joints protesting every twitch of her muscles. She had no chance of evasion when the beast moved behind her, the long tail twisting and coiling so that the tip coiled right around her waist to drag her backwards.

"You haven't finished cleaning me, girl." Krachik murmured in admonishment. "You will not leave a job incomplete."

"The sand if off you.. master." She writhed a bit as the tail lifted her up from the water, her nude form being caressed over by the scales as the equine lifted his head up from the waves slightly. "I have done my job!"

"You are to clean me, girl. All of me, it is time you return the favor I have so often bestowed upon you." He mocked her, his voice roughening as the tail dropped her back onto his belly, nearly onto the stiffened cock. "You have a tongue, I desire you to use it properly to clean me."

"I.. no!" She got the word out automatically, jerking backwards as the tail ran her along the line of the shaft, feeling the tip grazing along her side in a slow caress that made her tense up.

"Ahh then I suppose I will clean myself with another orifice you can so kindly provide me. One without any pesky teeth to concern myself about." Krachik answered with absolutely no sign of annoyance. "True, you may be split in two, but how delicious it will be to finally be clean."

"You can't!" She felt a stab of real fear as she faced the quivering spire, the oozing precum that was spilling along the belly in a thick puddle. He'd kill her even trying to mate her with his inhuman member!

"Then you had better find a better solution, human, one way or another I will be clean. Is this understood?" He hissed at her, narrowing his eyes slightly as he watched her. "Your choice, little fish, I hope you will make the one that will see you safely to bed this evening."

Vellan stared at the shaft, her stomach twisted in knots as his tail remained looped around her waist. She could try to fight him, but it was much like fighting the weather, he would win. She had only one choice, she would have to do what he asked. Some part of her was trembling with something other than disgust, that part of her that was tasting the scents on the air and strangely electrified by the warmth of it, the way that it clung to her tongue and made her heart flutter uncomfortably even as the rest of her was trying to avoid what she was about to do. She didn't want to touch him, let alone use her mouth, but as she hesitated he dragged her forward, his tail lifting her so that she was dragged up, the length of the ridged cock grazed along her breasts and made her tense and struggle backwards.

"Okay! I-I'll do it!" She managed to get out, her voice high and panicked before the tail stopped it's movements and dropped her over his shaft.

She felt him, the cock wedged right between her modest breasts and along the length of her belly, the tip resting just under her chin so that she felt the swollen length quivering and throbbing in place. The oozing precum smeared against her messily, the scent growing stronger as she was closer to it and only serving to confuse her body more as she gulped down a breath and let it out again.

"Then attend your duties, pet." Krachik hissed smugly, keeping his tail on her as she moved her hands under her, her legs falling to either side of his powerful tail.

She felt him with her finger tips, warm and alive, quivering and the ridges were covered with little nubs that she could trace over in circles. She stroked lightly, caressing delicately this way and that as she sat up just enough that she could look down at the tapered glans that was oozing out viscous precum. She didn't want to lick him, she knew she didn't, but her tongue flicked out in a smooth stroke right around the cum slit so the beast quivered beneath her and writhed. The salty taste was much like the sea, but less overpowering, it ran along her tongue as she swallowed and gulped down the taste before her tongue pushed out again, a smooth stroke that ran up along the edges in a swirling caressing before she parted her mouth open wider.

She just barely wrapped her lips around his narrow tip, rolling her tongue out against him as her fingers wrapped around the thick ridges and began to stroke over them. He wasn't remotely human feeling, though she had never known what a man had felt like, she at least knew what they looked like. The texture was strangely silky in her touch, the turgid flesh so hard it was almost like a true bone ran through him as she traced down along each of the thick ridges. He would have torn her in two if he had tried to take her, she could barely wrap her fingers around him as she pushed down towards the base of him and then brushed back upwards again and felt a hot drooling spill of precum erupt out of him and splatter into her waiting mouth. The beast purred, the sound trilling and vibrating through her body as she pushed her lips down lower around his tip.

"So eager, your tongue, little fish. I want you to use your tongue on me. All of me." He murmured the words as softly and sweetly as a lover, but it wasn't a question or request, it was a command.

With a shudder she pulled the cock tip out with a wet popping sound and moved her tongue down to lick around his cock tip. The taste of the sea was on his flesh, no matter that it had been hidden inside of his vent, it was still there to melt on her tongue as she swirled in circles, licking down along the ridges. She worked each one, finding the small nubs were the most sensitive judging by the way that the moment she licked over them he let out short noises and his belly rippled strangely beneath her. She didn't want to know this! She knew she didn't want to know this, but some part of her felt smug that she had found them. Strands of her saliva clung to his length, coating him as she worked towards the base, her fingers moving to wrap around his cock tip as she wriggled down the length of his tail. The lower she went, the thicker he grew, impossibly large to her eyes and feel, making her struggle as she worked around him, having to shift on his belly, turning about to stroke in long sweeping strokes.

The precum oozed out along her fingers, coating his cock as well as her digits, messily catching along her palm as she struggled to ignore the way the precum tasted on her tongue, how it felt against her lips and cheek when she shifted her head wrong. Her hair tumbled back from her face as she heard him letting out low approving tones, growls and hisses at times while his hips rocked upwards and dipped down again, startling her body the moment her hips dipped under the water. It was cold, her body was too warm, the feel of the water coursing over her inner thighs, brushing along her cunny brought a gasp from her throat and she squeezed her eyes shut. She had never felt anything like it, the contrast had her squeezing her fingers around the tip before the tail rose up, cresting her from the water and she felt the hide grinding between her legs.

She was growing wet and aroused, she squeezed her eyes shut, willing that part of her mind to shut down and stop making herself react, but she couldn't do it. It had happened before with the beast's tongue, but now just feeling him against her was enflaming her senses and making it harder to remember her humiliation, her anger. She worked her tongue upwards, the rolling dribbles of wetness spilled over the bridge of her nose messily as she worked towards the glans, pushing up along the cum-slit to scoop up the taste of him. Her nostrils flared and she swirled her tongue around in circles, savoring the taste of him and swallowing it down, her body alive with sensations that were impossible to ignore. She wanted to taste more of him, the thought crept through her mind as her lips worked over the angular prick and pushed it down over her tongue.

He was large, too large, she knew that, but some part of her body was alive and throbbing with him. That scent, it was intoxicating, it was calling to her and making her humiliation take a back seat as she swallowed around his cock tip and pushed her mouth down lower along his shaft. Her ears were burning hotly and she wanted to yank back in disgust, but the taste grew sweeter on her tongue as she suckled around him and felt the tail caressing down the length of her back. She arched herself into the touch, shuddering as the narrow fin on the tail ran along the crease of her ass cheeks, making her let out a soft noise that was rewarded with the tail rocking upwards and stuffing the cock tip deeper into her mouth.

This isn't right.. She snarled to herself, willing her humanity to come to life, but the taste of him was like poison, horrible poison that had nothing to do with killing her body. Just her human half.

It ran down her throat in hot splatters as she inched her way lower, swallowing along the top ridge and running her tongue beneath it, her jaws aching as she spread them open wider to try and hold as much as she could. She wasn't made to have so much in her maw, it was beyond a struggle to just get the first ridge past her teeth and onto her tongue, but that was enough for the beast to grind himself along the roof of her mouth. Her tongue stroked out, feeling the smooth skin around the ridge as Krachik let out a low hissing sound of pleasure, the waves rocked around her, lapping along her legs as his body dropped down lower before pushing higher in the air, plunging himself into her mouth again. Her jaws were hurting, but it didn't matter as she forced her head down and another ridge popped into her mouth and another.

There was no alarm left in her, she felt something pop along her cheek and she swallowed more of his cock down, her tongue flicking out longer than it should have, twisting around the ridges and pulling around them greedily. The hippocampus snarled and writhed, bucking upwards so that she felt him grinding along her glistening folds, pushing against her as she hugged around his tail with her legs. Her hands moved to wrap around the base of him, pulling forcefully, stroking upwards in a powerful movement that nearly popped the cock from her mouth before pushing down again. The narrow cock tip wedged deeper, more of the ridges sank inwards as she muffled a groan of pleasure when a splatter of precum was flung into her throat.

She felt something changing, a warmth flowing along the line of her nose, but as she tried to focus her mind on the sensation the hips suddenly lunged back upwards again in a brutal thrust. She felt the cock tip driving into her throat, nearly choking her as she swallowed around him, the length of her tongue sliding and pushing this way and that. Her hands felt his cock tip thickening ever so much, throbbing and quivering against her palms as the beast lunged up beneath her, throwing his weight higher in the air. She pushed downwards, working her lips and tightening around him as his cock began to quiver within her throat, the ridges caressing her tongue in a way that made her lower body tighten up. The first hot rope of semen erupted from his cock tip in a pressured wash, splattering into the back of her throat, making her work her throat frantically as the spray built up strength.

Rope after rope, creamy and heavy it flooded her maw until she jerked her head backwards roughly, pulling and snapping her eyes open as some of the thick goo oozed between her lips and over her tongue. The taste of it so rich and strange, she felt light headed almost drugged as she stared down the long blue-green scaled muzzle that pulled the cock free with a wet slurping noise. The tip quivered in her grip, splattering out the last ropes messily over the bridge of her muzzle, flowing down towards her lips as she blinked her eyes and tried to make her mind work at what she was seeing. Something was wrong, so very wrong, and she couldn't figure it out as she licked her lips with a long slender tongue, twisting it up and over her muzzle before scooping out against the drooling cock tip.

"Ahhh so very good, little fish, I knew you would clean me properly if motivated." Krachik's voice was thick with pleasure and amusement and Vallen blinked again, her mind struggling with what was wrong.

She licked her lips again, the long dark tongue flicking out and past the wickedly sharp teeth from her muzzle. She had a muzzle, somewhere in the midst of her humiliation she had grown a muzzle. With a noise she jerked away, shuddering and shaking her head wildly before trying to kick off the creature's thick tail. Her legs didn't work right, her ankle was too far up her body, lifting high towards where her knee should have been. The moment she tried to use them she fell and was only caught by the tail that twisted around her monstrous form. She kicked out wildly with her legs, but they were moving all wrong and felt too heavy and strange for her slender upper body. The hippocampus twisted and roiled in the water, his cock flashing as he rolled over in the waves and ducked his head down briefly before lifting it up to regard her.

"Do not fret, pet." His eye came in closer to her, watching her as she struggled to say something, but all that came out were bestial noises. "I assure you, you'll sort yourself out soon enough, but for now I think it is time you learn how to swim."

"SHTAAAHP!" She whinnied out, the sound wholly unlike a human voice, but the beast only dropped her from his tail and into the ocean, her legs flailing wildly.

"Learn to swim swiftly, little fish, your gills have not grown yet and I would hate for my new mare to drown so close to completion." The words hissed down at her as the waves crashed forward, her legs kicking blindly to keep herself above the water. There was no time for her horror and tears, only the struggle against the ocean and the realization her humanity was nearly gone.

~ ~ * ~ ~

Three long nights Vellan spent in the waters with the hippocampus driving her away from the shore with snarling teeth and hisses that forced her back into the ocean. Three long nights she had struggled to stay alive as her body changed rapidly in answer to the danger that it was in. Her legs had been the first, but not into a tail, but a powerful set of hind quarters and finned feet that kicked through the water, a tail had grown independently above her rump cheeks, and like the hippocampus it was long and serpentine with a broad fine at the tip. Her arms were a distant dream, they no longer functioned the way that arms were supposed to, they paddled like forelegs as she constantly battled the waves to keep herself alive, her only respite given when she was forced to rely on Krachik's broad body to drape herself over to sleep. And oh how he enjoyed those moments. Even if she grew larger by the day, her form soon growing big enough that she realized she was over half the beast's size or more.

That had been hard to swallow. Every day her size increased, her body filling out and growing heavier, the need to eat grew more desperate as well. At first her legs had been too long and thin for her body, but the more she ate, the faster she grew and the muscles began to develop, the bones thickened. Her fins had grown large along either side of her body, almost like a set of wings, but they were never meant to kiss the sky. She could spread them open to help propel her body or turn them to steer her in circles, the limbs so strange feeling with new muscles that she had never possessed or controlled. She still was clumsy in the water, an embarrassment when she considered the sinuous glide of the hippocampus. Then again, she was not turning into the same type of creature as he was. Distressingly, she saw her body take on parts that he didn't possess, making her wonder just what was going wrong with his plan.

Each day she looked more like a horse, her face growing longer and broader, her eyes turning towards either side so that it was harder to look at anything straight ahead of her. Her mane grew out, for it was a mane, there was no denying the thick tumble that spilled down her neck and towards her shoulders, or the fact her neck had grown longer and more elegant. She could turn her head all the way around to look at her sleek body at any point, not that she wanted to see herself. There was nothing left of the human that she had been except for her mind, if she could call it her mind anymore, especially after what she'd done with the hippocampus when she'd cleaned his cock. It was a terrifying and confusing world, and she had no idea what the purpose for it was, why would he do this to her? Why change her? Why take away the hands that he had claimed to enjoy in being tended?

Sometimes she was allowed to walk near the shore, her body heaved up and feeling far too heavy to bear on her long slender legs, but she managed it. Her mane was a thick tangle that twisted and curled, the tendrils caressed her neck and down her back in strangely sensuous strokes. A fish had skirted past her once, and she now had no doubt that she was just as venomous as her master, it had died instantly and then she had eaten it. There was nothing else to eat but raw fish and crustaceans, and Krachik seemed pleased to bring her back meals to oversee that she wasn't starving herself as her change ravaged her form of every bit of soft fat it could find.

On the third day she went under and sucked in a breath of water, only to feel pain and confusion as the edges of her jaws had spread open wide to suck the water through, but she hadn't choked, she hadn't died. She had swallowed the water and blinked her eyes beneath the waves before cresting up again and feeling a startling change as the gills on her jaws sealed shut and she swallowed a great lungful of air. She paddled, her forefins spreading out to either side as her legs moved and the great fins on the sides moved. Relief, and despair, came against each other as she dropped back down beneath the waves, dipping her head down to suck down the water through her gills, swallowing it in a great mouthful as her twisting tail churned and powered her forward.

Nothing left.. She thought mournfully before pushing up above the water again and stared back at the island.

She could remember standing on that shore as a young woman, her body wrapped in salt stained clothes and she had despaired never getting off it. How she wished she could go back onto it again. With a flick of her tail she started forward, moving her legs in much the way she imagined a horse must run on land, but each stroke spread the fins she possessed instead of hooves, churning through the waves and towards the white sand hopefully. If she could get out, she had legs, she could avoid the beast perhaps, not forever, but maybe long enough that she could figure out what to do. Perhaps she might even dry off and find fresh water to wash in, was that not what they spoke of in old magic? Fresh running water to chase away a curse? And surely she must be curs-

The thought stopped as a coil slid along her legs in a brushing caress that made her rear backwards in the water, her fins flaring out to either side as she churned the water around her strange legs. Krachik ran around her almost lazily, his form rippling the water along his back so that the large dorsal fin breached upwards and parted the water as gracefully as any shark. Vellan tried to jerk backwards, her hind legs splaying a little as the waves hit her from behind, roiling and lifting her upwards so that the long coils twisted along her forelegs, dragging along them in a mockery of a caress before the equine head surfaced near her own. The glowing eyes brightened as she pinned her ear fins back and bared her teeth angrily.

"Where are you going, little fish?" He hissed softly, almost tenderly, not even having to exert himself to herd her away from the shore.

"Yah cahn't keep me he'ea." Vellan snapped in reply, flushing in humiliation at how her fang filled muzzle twisted the words.

"My dear, you should speak more often so that you might become more adept at making yourself understood." Krachik twisted his coils along her, no longer so much larger than she was that he could truly use that to drag her around, instead he simply tangled her long legs.

"Ah coul' shpeak properly if ya changshed me bahck!" Her garbled speech was embarrassing, but he understood, he mocked her, but he understood as he lifted himself higher in the water, his forelegs idly stirring to keep himself afloat.

"Why would I do that? Hrrm?" He moved in a circle, his nostrils flaring wide to draw in the air, she looked away. Just watching him breathe made her think about the latest change, she could feel the covered gills along her jaw.

"Deshency!" She snapped back, her teeth nearly catching her overly long tongue in the angry word.

"Decency?" The stallion let out a hissing laugh and she felt his coils caressing just under her belly. "I bought you before you were even born, why should I release you now? I had nearly forgotten what a female looked like."

With a short angry squeal Vellan jerked away, kicking wildly as he came closer, she hated when he talked like that. Going backwards meant going deeper in the water, making her bob wildly as she felt the cooler currents chasing long the underside of her stomach. She wanted back on the island, she was tired of swimming, tired of the ocean, tired of being in the one element the beast had her beat in. As he followed her, mocking her efforts with snaps of his tail that brushed along her side, trying to get her to go deep enough that he could wear her out. She knew that he enjoyed her body against his own, he often twined around her as she slept and rested certain parts of his anatomy against her that she didn't want to think about. She didn't want to spend another night like that if she could help it, she wanted freedom. And now she had a possible way to it.

He didn't know she had gills finally, if he did, he would have said something about it immediately after he had come close to her. He enjoyed calling attention to the parts of her that had changed and how different she was from her original body. It was in her benefit this time, she had spent her time learning to swim, but she could only swim so fast with her upper body above the water, riding and battling waves instead of rolling with them. She dodged backwards again, her long tail sweeping down with a pump of her spread tail fin as Krachik tried to coil himself around her legs again. She didn't want him to keep touching her, she hated the way he touched her, the way it made her body react, the way that he seemed to know where to touch to startle such responses from her.

With a sweep of her legs she dropped down as the next wave rolled towards her, letting the water sweep up and over her head so her mane fanned out around her face as she ducked down under the waves. She charged the shore, her legs churning with the water as she dropped her tail down, her mouth spreading to swallow down the salty taste of the sea water, running it through her gills as she slipped past the hippocampus. If she could reach shore she had legs, he didn't, she could evade him for at least long enough to come up with a plan. She felt his tail lash after her as she used her tail for what it was meant to do, driving her down to the point her legs brushed against the sand so she could skirt forward with the current that was rushing towards the island.

She felt the male coming after her, the ripples of his passing, the rush of current as he launched himself after her. She had the head start, she struggled forward, her legs kicking out wildly with the fins spread wide to propel her, her fins sleeked down along the line of her sides as the waves rapidly threw her towards higher ground, the crashing and foam rippling above her as she dug her finned forefeet into the churning sand to kick herself off, scrabbling ungracefully for safety as a thick coil whipped itself towards her. She felt the forelegs against her haunches, the snap of teeth against one of her fins, but it was the serpentine body that brought a halt to her impromptu escape as the coil twisted around one of her legs and wound its way up, the thickness of his tail flukes entangling her so she twisted and stumbled, crashing against the surf.

She squealed out in her rage, an equine sound that had nothing to do with her humanity, but Krachik ignored it as he had ignored every protest she had ever uttered. His snarling features twisted above her, his tongue lashed out wildly as she was dragged back, her head lifting from the water, her gills still working so for a moment she couldn't suck in a clear breath. The shore was so close, she could have leapt out and had the water come to below her shoulder, but that safety was dragged away as her master pulled her back and his large body coiled against her, the tail running along her back as her legs dragged furrows through the sand beneath the waves.

"Do you truly wish to go back on the island, little mare?" he hissed out, his teeth flashing as his lips parted. Too wide, they were too large for any horse, a disturbing looking into the great canines. "Is that your hope?"

"YESH!" She snapped out, her teeth clicking together as one of his forelegs draped along her shoulder, his chest shoved against her side. He ran his head behind her neck, his lips teasing her ears.

"Do you know the reason that you have hind legs, little fish?" He whispered softly, his body dragging her further from the shore, the waves helping to carry them as she struggled in his grasp.

"LET GO!" She made the words clear, her tongue rolling them as his teeth ran along her neck, making an unwilling shudder pass over her smooth silky scales.

"They have legs for one reason, because males are not designed to be on land except once and a while when they feel the need to sun themselves and enjoy fresh water." His hold tightened, the heavy tail draped against her and the edges of the fins ran along her. "But you, you are designed for that island, little mare. You have legs because you will need them."

"Then lemma goh!" She trembled and kicked as the shore left her, the sand slipped beneath her legs as she churned blindly in the water, writhing and twisting to try and slip out from beneath him.

He held her as a matter of course, he enjoyed touching her and rubbing along her, something she detested every time he started. At least, she knew she should detest it, there was still enough humanity in her that she snarled and tried to fight free, but it didn't stop her body. The feel of the heavy scales and serpentine haunches caressing her gave her another reaction entirely, one that humiliated her as she felt her skin flushing hot where he stroked her with his legs. The tendrils were a delight to her nerves, one that awakened pleasurable shivers that she tried to dismiss and ignore, especially when one of his legs curled forward enough the tendrils swept along the curve of her belly, to a spot that made her shudder and arch like a cat being stroked even as she fought it.

"Not yet, you only go to shore for one reason." The tongue lashed out along her shoulders, the tail coiling lower as his forelegs ran along her side. "To give birth. When you are fat and swollen with offspring and you begin graving rich sweet grass and hot blooded mammals to bring your milk in rich and sweet... I suppose I must prepare you for your life on the island then, little fish, far be it from me to deny you what you so dearly beg for."

Horror, raw terror and horror made Vellan tear forward with a shrieking cry, her legs kicking blindly backwards as the forelegs shifted to either side of her body and the rolling tongue twisted along her neck. Too late, she had grown too used to the way he manhandled her, her body playing into the caresses as the equine head slipped along her spine and she felt his tail twisting around her chest, curling up so the heavy flukes rested on her shoulders to keep her in place as she struggled and writhed, blindly kicking out before the hot breath ran the length of her spine. She pinned her ear fins back, she wasn't going to just let him do this, she twisted in the water, rolling to one side to upend herself, twisting onto her back so that her hind legs could strike out against his muzzle.

He let her hit him, catching him along his jaws hard enough she nearly wriggled free of his hold, the water kicking up around her as she surged beneath the waves, sweeping downwards under the weight of the tail, but he was right behind her. His mouth caught her hind leg, the sharp raking teeth ran along the line of her hock, making her jerk her leg protectively against herself as she twisted and turned about, rolling and bucking to pull away, forgetting the temptation of the shore and surging towards the ocean and away from the beast. This was above and beyond what he had bought her for, she had been sold as a slave, not his breeding whore! She snapped at the water, her jaws opening wide to gulp down a breath before the beast plunged after her, the broad fins swept forward and ran along her body, caressing the line of her spine as she awkwardly swam away from him, trying to tear away.

The hippocampus had the experience to run through the water, he knew his own body while her own still felt foreign and strange, unable to be controlled properly, but she fled him in a rush. She twisted away, turning and darting, her tail pumping as he loomed above her in the water, his shadow and waves sweeping over her as she dove down into the water, feeling the ripples flowing against her as she felt the water growing cooler and sweeping along her far more smoothly, diving down lower, farther than she had ever swum as a human, trusting in her gills to keep her alive as she went below the point any human could have taken and still the beast chased her. He wasn't chasing her to catch her, he was chasing her simply to drive her, twisting and turning, caressing her.

A sweep of his foreleg along her side, a run of his teeth against her spine, his tail hitting her haunches made her blindly run along the current, fighting the pounding of her heart that hammered along her chest. She grew hot, even in the cooler deeper waters, her body was growing feverishly warm as she drove downwards with a sweep of her tail, feeling the jaws catch her haunches in a sharp nip that drew a mangled squeal from her throat, the water vibrating around her before she gave a sharp turn. He stroked along her, his body sinuous and swift in ways that she couldn't hope to match, but that didn't stop her from trying to escape him. He rubbed her side, his tendrils caressed her making her twist to jerk away as her body began to feel hotter, almost on fire, burning and heating the water around her.

She dove down towards cooler water, striving to take away the heat that was building up along the line of her belly and made it harder to get any 'breath' beneath the water. He coiled along her, his tail running the length of her spine as he twisted himself away, roiling and arching herself up higher in the water at the feel of the stroke trailing down her spine in a slow powerful stroke. Belatedly she dipped away, twisting to one side and churning her tail around in circles, lashing back and forth before the beast snapped down at her and forced her to drop down lower into the cooler channel, her body swept against the current and launched forward as she felt her heart throbbing in her throat.

It was almost painfully warm now, she could feel her stomach tensing up as the brush of a leg against her back brought her nerves rising to the surface, a spike of heat that was almost painfully pleasurable before she tried to break free of the current. It was sweeping over her, the cold water soothing the fire that lit her skin, but not enough, not nearly enough to make her comfortable. The teeth snapped against her jaws, the teeth raked against her in a smooth line that startled her into twisting to one side, rolling over to kick out her hind legs as the male dropped down and ran his body deliberately along her. For a moment, her body just shuddered in pleasure, her powerful tail twisted upwards, lifting higher in the air to run along the underside of the males before she snapped it down, belatedly launching forward to evade the touch again.

Her body was quivering, throbbing and alive with the feel of the water flowing over her, but it did nothing to primordial need that was lapping at her thoughts. The male's teeth, his brushing body, they were all rousing her senses, she could feel his wake above her, the rippling water cast against her back every time he dropped down close enough to rub along her and twist against her. Courting her. He was courting her the way her body was oh so familiar and eager for, challenging her, proving his stamina against her smaller lighter form while making her body shift and ready itself. She twisted away, trying to stop herself, but her fins refused to answer, her forelegs only worked harder while her hind legs kicked off, lunging upwards away from the current as swiftly as she could. She had to get away, she had to stop this, cut the chase short.

She wanted to stop, her body did not, it was basking and taunting the male above her, charging upwards so that she ran herself long his side, feeling the teeth raking along her scales in a light caress that only served to increase her desire. The water warmed around her, making her more aware of how hot her scales had become, her body felt almost swollen as she saw the sky above her and the rippling water, the promise of ending the chase, of finding a way to evade him without courting him. Vellan wanted to believe such things, but as she twisted to one side, she felt him behind her, her tail twisted in the water, curling upwards as he brushed along her and suddenly she felt his legs running along her and then... it was over.

Her tail was twisting around wildly, not trying to escape him, seeking him, stretching out as his larger, thicker tail suddenly twisted around her own and squeezed, dragging her back while his forelegs hooked around her shoulders and curled beneath her neck. He was bigger than she was, his weight dragging against her, the heat burning along her hide as she strained towards the surface, only to feel his tongue flick out and dragged right along her neck, his teeth dragging along her scales as his tail twisted higher up on her own, twining their fins together as she kicked wildly with her hind legs. Her mind was screaming to escape, to fight, to make it stop, but her body was writhing and shiver in pure pleasure as his body caressed along her back and his teeth suddenly hooked right above her shoulders, biting along the sensitive muscles and yanking roughly and made her body go shuddering and limp with pleasure.

His tail whipped around again, curling upwards so the thick serpentine base suddenly ran up along her hind legs and brought her tail higher with it, running along her as the forelegs hooked to either side of her chest, pulling her backwards against the water as something hot slipped up high along the line of her hind legs. She knew what it was, Vellan's body went stiff and she twitched, trying to drag away, but her body was lost in the throbbing aching need. It almost hurt, burning through her lower body, making her gills work harder through the water as the serpents tail gripped harder, dragging her backwards as the thick cock pushed roughly up against her stomach, grinding along her and making her tail jerk higher, trying to pull out of the way as the sinuous body caressed back and forth, grinding along her.

Horribly, she felt her body reacting more intimately than she had ever imagined, tightening and relaxing as the thick cunny lips grew flushed and swollen with the way he had teased her body into reacting for him. The teeth slipped lower along her neck, hooking along her scales as she felt him growling his pleasure as the ridges of his cock dragged right along her puffy aching lips, slipping along her and making her folds flex in reaction, opening and shutting, quivering and pulling. It hurt, her loins were stinging with the painful need to be quenched. That was the only way to describe it, a need that was tearing through her as the cock pushed harder along the line of her belly, jabbing and caressing, drawing a shudder down the length of her spine and making her head jerk backwards.

The swollen cock tip pushed upwards, running higher as the length of the tail rippled and pulled backwards, his forelegs dragged harder against her as his arrow shaped cock tip pushed up and slid along the twin ridges of her nipples before suddenly jerking upwards. He drove against her, a wild thrust that made her entire body go tense with expectation, her eyes squeezing shut as she tried to hike her haunches higher, but his cock pushed up higher in the air and ran along the line of her tail before he dragged backwards again. He didn't thrust again, but drew downwards, dragging right along her pucker, she felt something smearing against her even through the water, the rich syrupy precum tracing down before the cock tip suddenly dragged low enough to brush right along her swollen thick lips, caressing lightly so that she let out a muffled noise in the water, her ear fins falling back against her head.

Vellan couldn't remember what she had been fighting or why, all she knew was the rush of pleasure and relief as the narrow cock tip suddenly wedged right up and began to spread her cunny open. The slow and steady pressure as he dug against her virginal body, forcefully grinding and nudging, splaying her walls open before something hot squirted inside of her, thick and rich, the sperm laced precum spilled into her untouched body before the tail clamped down and drove upwards in a powerful drive, splaying her open wider and wider. Her walls stretched wider, yawning open while she gaped her fang filled jaws open and cried out as her swollen passage was wrapped and molded round the cock tip as the first ridge ground up against her outer lips before the tail began to move against her.

His forelegs pushed her downwards while his tail powered up, rubbing over her as the ridge popped in with a wet feel, the precum spilling inwards as the aching feel of the too large shaft caressed her aching heated body, soothing it even as she clamped down tightly. The inner muscles worked as the plunging tail lifted her upwards, her body being pushed roughly as the ridge slid deeper and the next thicker line drove up against her. The stallion broke free of the surface, her head crested so she squealed out wildly as the next ridge began to force it's way between her swollen folds, narrowing them down to form an obscene O around the inky black cock, the tip slipping deeper as his tail rippled along her own.

Too much, he was too big, too thick, too long, but he was still slipping deeper and gliding through her, the ridge dragging in deeper before he lunged forward in a powerful thrust. It hurt, throbbing and aching, but she wanted more, her tail tightened around him as he was battling her own contracting muscles to push the next ridge into her, slowly and steadily stretching her open with a slick feel as her own arousal was sliding out around him. She was growing slicker, desperately trying to ease the passage of the prick trying to seat itself entirely inside of her. The shallow pants and shudders that were running through her grew, letting out a shrieking equine cry of pleasure and pain as the next ridge pushed into her, and another, rubbing along her caressing passage as she was stuffed.

He was bigger than she was, proportionally everything was bigger than she was, and it became more and more apparent as the slow and steady drives filled her body wider, making her walls clamp down harder. She felt the ridges teasing her, the nubs finding the most sensitive parts of her swollen body to run through her and pulling backwards with the wet sensation of them popping free one after another, the precum drooling into her as he nearly slipped all the way out before plunging forward again. The forelegs yanked her down again, forcing her body onto his cock as the ridges plunged their way in, one after another stretching her open as they grew thicker, too thick, far too thick for her virginal body.

She kicked out blindly with her hind legs, only to hear the low growl vibrate along the back of her neck with an approving sound as he pushed his glans in deeper and began to forcibly stretch her wider. The ridge dug against her wider and wider, making her walls open up to swallow around the ridge as he felt a spike of heat that made her belly contract and her walls rippled down, suckling along the shaft as the next thrust drove the cock tip in hard enough she felt it grinding right up against her cervix, making her head jerk hard enough that the teeth nearly came free of her neck as she startled. She was stuffed full, the bloated cock rubbing along her and the ridges caressing in places that had her shuddering and arching her back. Whatever humanity that was left to her was torn away in the feel of herself being impaled on the hippocampus.

Krachik's hot tongue flicked out along her mane and neck before he dragged backwards in a smooth stroking caress that had her snapping her jaws shut with a groan. He purposefully used the too large ridges to run through her, finding new places to rake and caress, her tail tightening around him so that she was nearly being pulled back against him as her forelegs kicked out. A hot splatter erupted into her cunny, oozing out into her fertile passage before he drove forward again with a short buck that hammered his tip all the way back so that his cock tip burrowed against her cervix again. Her cry was harsh, animalistic, she didn't care, the burning heat, the aching itch, was being soothed and teased in pulses.

He began to thrust through her, working the ridges along her with powerful movements as his tail clenched and relaxed, each time he clenched down he drove himself into her all the way up to the first knot that was pushing against her outer lips and when he relaxed his hold she felt him popping free one at a time, stimulating her as she twisted and squirmed. He released her neck, his forelegs gripped harder against her chest as his cock caressed in and out steadily, the tip hammering against her cervix with short powerful drives that dug up against the barrier, drawing cries past her lips as they twisted in the water, nearly dropping her down into the waves so her muzzle flicked under the water.

The arrow shaped tip dug at her cervix, caressing and grinding, pushing against it hard enough that her stomach cramped even as she kicked her hind legs out. Every kick out brought her down harder on the cock tip, pushing up against the dilated opening of her cervix. He ran his muzzle along her neck, teasing along her, twisting and arching, his forelegs sliding lower so that he entangled with her own, pinning them down while he roiled backwards, bringing her onto her back in the water so her hind legs flailed and kicked into the air, meeting nothing as she let out a shrill cry of shock. His tail lunged upwards as her lower body pulled free of the water, the lewd wet noise erupting in the air as the narrow glans caught against an opening that never should have been stretched.

A thick strand of precum erupted into the passage, spilling into her vulnerable womb as he tightened harder, pushing upwards while the cock tip began to yawn her open in a slow painful stroke. He inched inwards, no longer thrusting, but putting steady pressure on her as the thickest ridge at the base mashed against her obscenely stretched outer lips. The powerful push splayed her, her cervix forming a taut seal around him as she felt the aching push of the ridge nudging her open, pinning down her clit in a pleasurable caress that made Vellan's eyes squeeze close, losing herself to the moment as the arrow shaped tip suddenly pierced through her cervix, nearly tearing her apart as he hammered home. The final ridge pushed he folds inwards with a burst of pleasure that was too much for her enflamed body to take.

She clamped down around him, her muscles digging down painfully tight around the length of his spire as his cock locked in place, the ridges swelling just enough that they caught inside of her. His cock tip swelled, sealing her cervix shut as Krachik let out a rumbling snarl beneath the water, his body shuddering with pleasure before the hot ropey cum erupted from his tip. It hit hard inside of her, a thick heavy spill that came in pulses as her body shuddered and milked around him. The former human couldn't' stop herself, the pleasure rippled along the line of her spine as the heavy cream spread through her in soothing warmth. The aching itch sliding away in the sperm rich flood spreading through her fertile womb.

She wanted to care, Vellan tried to bring up the terror and outrage, but all she felt was relief as her body slowed down to the moment. She milked him, caressing and squeezing as his body caressed along her, light touches that brushed the line of her spine and tail, his tongue flicking out with a curling brush. The warmth in her belly spread, the millions of sperm spreading outwards in a race to claim her ova and make her body swell with monstrous offspring. There was no hope of escaping it, not now, and her own body damned her into relaxing in the hold as the thick goopy cum oozed deeper inside, dribbling from the swollen cock tip so that her lower belly began to swell ever so slightly with the amount being pumped into her. She would worry, she would fight... but not now. Her eyes closed as the thrumming purr of the male trailed along her spine in a teasing caress.

~ ~ * ~ ~

"Get up! Are you slow, stupid or merely deaf?" The hippocampus roared above her as Matya shrank back in fear of the jaws glistening above her. "I did not pay for you in years of hard labor for you to sit there staring up at me."

"S-sir if I could just have something to drink." Her throat was so parched, painfully so, it felt like daggers were stabbing her every time she swallowed.

The multihued creature dragged himself out from the water, though his serpentine haunches remained within the waves as his large forelegs rested on the sand, the webbing spread out to either side to hold up his weight. She tried to sit up, but doing so just made her aware of her weak body, the ache to her bones from the last bit of the fever that had come over her with the bite of the venom. It should have killed her, but she was alive, somehow she had survived something that should have killed her. Her head was pounding, her skin felt tight and painful from the fever that had finally broken. The moment she had stirred Krachik had emerged from the sea to watch her, his eyes glistening and bright as she tried to get herself onto her feet, whimpering a little bit as she felt the ache spreading along the line of her spine.

She couldn't remember much from being cast up on the island, only strange dreams of a blue scaled form flitting in and out of her consciousness. She had fever dreams of waking up to water being dribbled on her face from the mouth of a more horse like creature, or the feel of a nose against her cheek. The rest of her dreams had been tortured nightmares of the last sight of her father, the bite of the tendrils against her body that had stung her as she had been dragged from the ship. It had been a nightmare, one that she had woken up into from the time her eyes opened and she felt her aching throbbing body call her back to reality as the creature twisted his long thick neck to regard her.

"There is water enough for you to get, do you expect me to serve you it in a silver bowl?" The harsh voice mocked her as she got her feet under her, swaying as she tried to ignore the sting to her pride.

How could her father do this to her? Trade her away to a monster? She still didn't know what was expected from her, what she was going to have done with her or what the beast wanted a human for. She only knew that she had been delivered to him from her father's boat, gifted like she had been born simply to be handed over to the beast. The hippocampus let out a low noise of amusement and dragged up something from beneath one of his heavy forepaws, his head dipping down so the beast's fanged mouth picked up a truly monstrous fish that had been hidden from sight, the thing twisting weakly in the grasp before it was flung up onto the shore, nearly hitting her legs so she jumped backwards, falling onto her ass in the powdery white sand.

"Wh-what?" She stared blankly at the gape mouthed fish that was giving little thrashes back and forth.

"Little wonder you were given to me.." The beast snorted and pushed backwards, the waves roiling around his powerful body as he began to slip back into the water. "Skin it, cook it, I desire to taste fresh cooked meat. I am sure you can manage such a small task."

The hippocampus twisted further back, the waves crashing higher as his forelegs churned and kicked up splashes of water that ran up the shore towards her. She stumbled back, her stiff salt covered skirt swept around her legs as the beast disappeared into the surf and left her staring at the monstrous fish that was slowly going still. How the hell was she supposed to start a fire? Let alone skin, gut and prepare the fish for the beast to eat without any tools. Bitter bile rose to the back of her throat as she leaned forward, her body so sore it was a torture, and grabbed the tail of the fish to drag along the beach. Surely there was something around here that she could use to start a fire. The monster wouldn't set her an impossible task.

She never saw the mare watching from the distance, a mare that could have been mistaken for a horse if one had ever been born with blue-scaled hide and a long sinuous tail that twisted behind her. Vellan's finned forefeet had changed weeks ago, hardening and growing stiffer into a set of hide covered hooves that allowed her to walk easily on the land. Her swollen gravid belly made the water little more than a trap for her, unable to swim with the currents, unable to hunt, unable to do anything except ride the waves to bring her towards the island. Two weeks ago she had given up the battle, she had lumbered onto the sands with her heavy swollen belly swinging beneath her, waddling instead of walking the way she should have been.

Her eyes followed the human as she struggled with the fish, her ears twitching back on her head as she looked away in humiliation. The human had been brought here several days ago just as she had, left to fend for herself on the shore as the venom's fever had ravaged her body. She was a pretty little thing with short dark hair and equally dark eyes, young and nervous, scared of course. The former human twitched her tail and turned away with an awkward waddle as she moved through the thick rushes of grass that covered the interior of the island. She had never felt so ashamed in her life, but what could she do? What would warning the girl do to help except give her something to dread and know was going to happen to her one day. Soon enough she would figure it out, just as Vellan had. And the former human would have another slave to join her life on the island baring the beast's monstrous offspring.