The Bounty Breaker

Story by Forgotten Omen on SoFurry

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A bounty breaker chases down his prey, but ends up finding himself in an awkward situation.


Strewn leaves crunched beneath Ixion's hoofs as he walked across the gigantic root. Trees rose all around him, each ancient enough to be unfathomable. They towered toward the heavens, tall and as wide as skyscrapers, their roots forming a complex labyrinth filled with winding paths. Far below was a series of tunnels that saw no sunlight and were filled with mulch and oversized mushrooms, the passageways teeming with the pungent scent of freshly decomposed greens and rich, fertile soil.

Ixion stood at the apex of one of these roots glancing upward with a frown. The tree trunks rose as far as he could see, a gradient of brown and mossy green, straight and rough. They continued up until they splayed into a canopy that replaced the sky, a canopy so thick that little sunlight pushed through. Replacing it were bulbous spheres strewn around the trunks of trees like ornaments, glassy and held in place by vein-like vines. They gave off a bioluminescent glow in hues of green and blue.

He snorted as he glanced around. Bio-optics implanted in his eyes aided natural eyesight, coloring and categorizing things of interest and zooming towards the horizon like binoculars. A readout of data drifted by and was automatically sorted by his surface thoughts. Nothing was spared and everything was checked against a databank he had acquired prior to his arrival on the planet Ishtar, but he was no so dependent on his tools as to not triple check with a focusing of mundane senses.

Ixion repositioned his rifle against his shoulder, tail waving, muscles relaxed in the way of a predator waiting for the moment in which to kill. Where did you run off to?

A snap of motion caught his attention behind him. Ixion whirled around before his sensors could even bleat a warning in the form of sound and optics. He didn't wait to see his target, didn't wait to even see what it was. He brought up his rifle and tracked the movement, making a series of near-instant corrections as his augmentations and instincts flooded his mind with information. He squeezed the trigger, feeling the weapon draw on his bio-furnace, the singular organic implant that was never voluntary, grown when one was a child and thus unique for each individual.

The sound of thunder cracked and a jagged bolt of violet electricity burst from his rifle. Without hesitation he fired again, then again, each time making corrections as he took the time to better his aim and allow his augmentations to assist them. The flying beast was forced to alter its course in short spurts, moving far more agilely that Ixion expected given its speed.

Readings flowed in blocky script at the corner of his vision, pulsing yellow. Ixion growled. _Just as I thought. Bloody hell._He continued firing, ignoring the building heat in both his rifle and his chest where the bio-furnace was nestled like a second heart. The creature zoomed closer, seeming to dance in the air, its subtle movements allowing it to evade his shots while its claws extended to grasp and tear at him.

Ixion shifted his footing and set his rifle to reconfigure with but a thought. The stock adjusted slightly, the long barrel snapping back and folding on itself. A bright, wide blade of crackling violet energy gushed out, ending at a wavering point about six feet away from the weapon itself. He slashed forward, muscles rippling in his arms as he guided the slightly awkward weapon with finesse.

It should have been a lethal blow, but at the last instant a gust of wind flashed between them. The wind slowed the winged creature and pushed it up and over Ixion, evading the deadly arc of his bio-furnace powered blade. He grinned, heart thudding from his growing excitement, and willed the blade to die out. The pull on his bio-furnace ended with an abrupt sense of relief and the organ began to cool. Ixion willed the weapon to reconfigure back into a rifle and pulled back the lock to eject a red-hot filtering cylinder, then jacked it forward with a click so that another automatically locked into place.

The winged creature did a neat reverse loop and twist as he turned, the winds that carried it dying with as much suddenness as they had appeared. It landed on a lower portion of the root he stood upon, slowing and sliding sideways to face him. Ixion narrowed his eyes as he got a better look at the creature and grunted at the readings that poured across his vision. Aye, like the gryphons from old earth legends all right. The creature was the same mythological mixture of bird and feline, though he wouldn't quite say lion and eagle. Its beak was shorter and darker, but also sharper looking, and its upper body was crested by pattern of black and gold feathers that swept back to its mighty wingspan. Behind those wings muscular hunches and dark golden fur made up the feline portion of the gryphon, its tail thrice as long as its lithe body and tipped by a long, curved tuft of darker soil-brown hair.

His readings told him it was a creature possessing the rarity that was a naturally occurring bio-furnace. One that produces wind formulae. A racial quirk, then? Interesting. I need to see if its the same for the rest of the race.

Ixion rolled his shoulders and twisted his head to either side, popping his neck. The gryphon was regarding him during this lapse in their battle for dominance, its eyes shining with curiosity, and to that Ixion gave a savage smile. He was proud of his unusual looks, the appearance unique to a jhag. Mixtures of one or more races, jhags were a rarity and one often looked upon with scorn especially considering the ease with which such a condition could have been prevented. Ixion however had never regretted his parents' choice and now he stood as a jhag mix of wolf and stag. He bore a stag's broad, muscular frame, his fur brown and short, his legs hoofed though by artificial ones enhanced with adaptive augmentations that allowed him ease of travel regardless the terrain. He was crowned with a set of antlers as well and bore an angular, short muzzle that hinted at his equine lineage, but his ears and tail were that of a wolf. All and all, it was an appearance useful more often than not in his line of work.

The gryphon gave a screech, then leaped back into the air, winds beating. Ixion's read out immediately warned him that it was making use of its bio-furnace to aid its flight. No shielding, eh? Drawback of getting it all natural, I guess. He raised his rifle, then grinned as the gryphon rushed forward with a frightening burst of speed.

He sidestepped out of the way, his nanite trench coat adapting into unrestrictive combat armor that would be more effective against the creature's piercing claws and beak. As it zoomed by Ixion raised his rifle and cracked several shots of violet energy. The gryphon pivoted midair in impossible ways, its bio-furnace flaring each time in his optics. Ixion's grin widened as he continued to fight, struggling to find the pattern, to predict the limits of its movement, to land that wounding blow, but the creature was not content with simply being a target.

It flipped midair and sent a powerful ball of wind rolling towards him. Cursing, he rushed to move out of the way and made to leap down to a lower root, but the wind caught him full on and sent him spiraling backward. The gryphon was on him a moment later, claws tearing at his armor. Nanites rushed to converge at those areas to reinforce them, but he could still feel the ridiculously powerful grasp. Ixion clamped a hand around one of the gryphon's legs and with practiced calm pulled himself free from the flurry of beak and claws, flipping around towards the top of the creature. It expertly spun with him, retaining control even midair, but Ixion used his momentum to catch the gryphon by surprise and kick away from it. They parted, both tumbling down towards the distant floor of the forest. The gryphon righted itself, wide wings flapping, then screeched before sending another gust of wind at him and following after it.

Ixion called out with a whistle, then took aim and fired. The bolt of violet energy cut through the gust of wind unhindered and forced the gryphon to veer. Even so his shot grazed it, burning fur and leaving a burnt mark along its right flank. The gust of wind hit Ixion and sent him tumbling again, but he managed to reorient himself before the gryphon recovered and repositioned. His grav speeder reached him just as the gryphon dove. Ixion landed neatly on the slanted front, controlling the speeder with his thoughts while reconfiguring his rifle in the same instant. His speeder swerved as the gryphon dove, his blade flashing out. The gryphon neatly twisted around his blade, spinning, then lashed out with its tail. Ixion blinked in surprise as the tail wrapped around his leg and pulled him from the speeder.

Pushing down his shock, he swerved midair to swing at the gryphon, violet blade crackling. The gryphon closed and used its muscular body to pin back his arm, beak clamped near his wrist, its body like a lockbar between his chest and arm. His optics screamed warnings and notified him that nanites were rushing to reinforce the affected sections of his armor while he struggled to twist the blade into the gryphon, but they continued to tumble in a stalemate until the painful burning in his chest forced him to deactivate his blade. As soon as it vanished the gryphon kicked him away and spread its wings, taking to the sky.

Ixion's speeder flashed down by him, then rose as he righted himself. He landed hard, hooves clamping down on top of the speeder, then it began to rise up after the gryphon. His fur was damp with sweat, his breathing deep and labored, but he was smiling. Ah, I haven't had a good tussle like this in a very long time.

The gryphon swooped by, again swerving nimbly in the air as he took more shoots, maneuvering atop his speeder to keep distance. His shots became more and more accurate, coming closer and closer to the final death blow, but it seemed the gryphon noticed as well and so made a desperate dive toward him. He swerved his speeder back, lining up and matching speed for a clean shot--then growled as his speeder shook and jerked forward, a raging ball of wind hitting him from behind. The gryphon dove straight toward him with alarming speed, but Ixion merely reconfigured the rifle into a blade while simultaneously ejecting another hissing filter. He was caught by surprise however when the gryphon suddenly stopped in a snap of air, all its momentum gone, and his slash missed. That miss he had been expecting--he had really only wanted to chase it off, but the maneuver had caught him off guard. The gryphon spun almost in place, its tail snapping out and wrapping around the stock of his weapon while he was mid-slash. It was torn free from his enhanced grasp and then spun widely around in an arc, the blade dying as he remotely willed it off, but it was dying too slowly. It's feeding my own damn weapon with its bio-furnace to buy time. The weapon was synced to him and no one else, but those extra seconds the blade took to disperse was all the gryphon needed.

The dying blade slashed into his speeder as he flipped off it and cut through instrument panels and the hull. The speeder burst forward, sparks gushing from the smoldering opening on its side, and spun wildly before careening into a tree. Ixion landed on a nearby root that was as wide as a four lane street, kicking up dust and scattering leaves. His augmentations dispersed most of the shock, but he still felt the pain arching through his body and clenched his teeth. Ixion cried out in joy, grinning like a madman as he watched the gryphon meet his gaze before snapping his weapon in two.

Oh, you're no mindless beast. Not at all. For some that realization might have been cause for hesitation, but not for him. He drew a knife from his waist holster in one hand and a whip in the other.

The gryphon flew nearby, landing neatly before him and regarding him with a confidant gaze. Yeah? Think you have me figured out? Think you have me at a disadvantage? Sorry partner, I always save an ace. In fact, I keep a bloody bag full of them. The gryphon took off once more, spun several times, then charged at him. It screeched, sending a burst of wind before it.

Ixion was ready.

He clamped the bottom of his knife with the bottom of his whip, then thrust the knife down into the root. With a thought he commanded the barbs to spring and secure it in place, then held on to the whip and knelt, his armor and hooves shooting out anchors as well. The wind hit him hard, pulled at even his nanite anchors and causing warnings to dance across his vision, but they held. The gryphon squawked, puzzled as it neared. Ixion held tightly onto the whip and retracted his anchors a fraction of a second after the initial burst, riding the far weaker draft upward and allowed the gryphon to careen into him. He used his weight to force them to spin, laughing when the gryphon applied its own weight to control their spin in flight.

_Checkmate._Ixion draw on his bio-furnace and poured it into the whip's cable as it tangled around them. Violet electricity rushed through it, zapping the both of them and setting their bodies jerking and sizzling. The gryphon's body spasmed and all control was lost, sending them tumbling forward while wrapped in the whip's cable. The length caught, then resisted their advance, then finally pulled back, slamming them hard onto the root.

Still laughing, smoke rising from his body and a flood of warnings running across his vision to match the painful burns, aches, and bruises along his body, Ixion squeezed free of the cable and stood, glancing down at the still jerking gryphon. It struggled to free its much larger body, but now that he was free he mentally ordered the fiber links of the whip to constrict, tightening its hold on the gryphon. Drawing another knife and setting it crackling with violet energy, he shrugged at the gryphon as he approached.

"Almost a shame. Damn best opponent I've had in a long time," he muttered. He scratched his head and glanced at the smoking remains of his speeder in the distance. "Definitely one of the most costly, too."

The gryphon gave a hawk-like snort and, to his mild surprise, spoke a language patterned enough to be filtered by his universal translator implant. "I could say the same of you. You're an exceptional warrior, not like the weak fools we've been killing."

"Now you want to talk?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you in the habit of speaking to your dinner or the bloodfly you're about to swat?"

Ixion made a face of mock chagrin. "Well that's damn hurtful."

"No need to worry, warrior, for you have earned my respect and are thus excluded from that thought."

"Hence why you're talking to me. Uh, thanks, I guess. Is it all right if I kill you now?"

The gryphon gave another snort-like squawk. "Of course. Go on, claim your prize, warrior. There's no dishonor in having my blood spilled by someone of your strength and skill."

Shrugging, Ixion moved forward to deliver the death stroke when shadows fell over him and his sensors bleated warnings. Frowning, he glanced upward to see several more gryphons approaching. None of them moved with the ease or grace of the one he had just finished fighting so he already figured them as lessor threats even before his optics summarized them as such. Even so his optics revealed that they too had bio-furnaces and he wasn't prepared to tussle with them. I didn't expect to meet one of their aces so soon. Would've been a nice if these others had kept to themselves, but now...

They landed around him and the other gryphon, two to either side of the root in a circle. One of them squawked and cried out, "Princess! By the Land's Lay, what happened to you?"

"None of your business, fool," the gryphon at his feet replied in an annoyed tone. "Go away."

"You're clearly in need of assistance, Your Highness," another said angrily. "You! Humanoid! Step away from the princess if you value your life."

Ixion frowned. "Listen here, I don't like the odds but I'm pretty sure you value her life more than you value mine. I'll kill her and at least two of you before I go down. Probably even cripple a third."

The four gryphons blinked.

Rich laughter rose from the princess. "Oh, were that you were a kerri, warrior." The gryphon--or kerri, he guessed--rolled over and craned her neck. "Now come, and quickly. Slay me and claim your prize."

"Princess!" another kerri squawked. "Have you gone insane?"

The kerri at his feat let out a sigh. "Preferably Before they annoy me to death first."

"Uh," Ixion said, then he froze as his optics sounded warnings and a dozen more kerri landed around them, some settling on nearby twisting and arching roots.

"You found her?" another kerri asked.

"Yes, but this humanoid is trying to kill her!"

The princess snapped her beak. "He's earned that right. He's defeated me in combat."

That silenced the newcomers for a moment and drew Ixion to raise an eyebrow.

"The humanoid probably held some unfair advantage," one of the kerri muttered.

Another nodded his head. "Agreed. Your Highness is an unmatched warrior, a huntress with no equal."

"Aye, he's earned no right!" another shouted. "He's not even one of us, nor were you even supposed to be engaged in combat in the first place! Where was your escort?"

"They couldn't keep up. Besides, the foreigners don't have anyone worthwhile defending their nascent colonies. Machines, mostly, and most of them are less impressive than the rubbish the everroni use."

Another race on the planet? And technologically advanced? Ixion sheathed his weapon and crossed his arms, allowing his nanite armor to return to its long trench coat form. "All right, so I'm tired enough to consider this being out numbered. What now?"

"You die, of course!" another kerri said angrily. "Nothing less is acceptable after laying a claw on the princess."

"Oh, shut your beak Dawny." Again the royal kerri sighed. "If you aren't going to kill me then will you at least free me?"

Ixion glanced at her, then shrugged and with a thought willed the fibers to relax. The whip slid off her as she stood on all fours, stretching lightly. Some of her beautiful feathers were charred, messing up her perfect pattern. The others saw this and squawked either outrage or alarm. Maybe even both. The princess however glanced at them with mild disinterest and began preening herself.

"What is your name, warrior?" she asked while plucking at a feather, her tone casual.

Ixion glanced at the crouching kerri, saw the hatred in their eyes, and kept a hand near his knife. "I go by the name Ixion."

"Ixion. A good name. A strong name. I am Arene, princess of the Shattrah Kerri. This territory belongs to my clan."

Ixion shrugged and flicked his tail, ears flat. "According to Imperium records this entire planet belongs to the Astarr Interstellar Corporation, colonization division. That means so do you."

The kerri princess cocked her head. "Why are you here? Do you serve this corporation?"

"I'm a bounty breaker. When a bounty gets too high and is failed by too many hunters we're called in to break it, to end the bounty absolutely one way or another." Ixion glanced at the kerri surrounding him. "Astarr IsCorp thinks it's losing money because of what they believe to be indigenous life. They don't know you guys are sentient... or that you are used to combating a technologically advanced civilization, I guess."

Arene unfurled her wings for a moment, a motion he took as a shrug. "We're only killing their soldiers because they're encroaching and because they're weak. In that order."

"Well they see this land as theirs."

"They are welcome to it, but first they must earn it."

Ixion crossed his arms. "They're working on it. Don't have spare forces to do anything besides protect what they have though, and the bounty per head on you guys has been pointless so far. Leaving more dead hunters than anything so I figure more breakers will be coming soon."

Arene paused, then stared into his eyes. "Others like you?"

"No. There's only one me, but these will be... close."

"Why are you giving up information so freely?"

Ixion laughed. "Why not? It keeps you happy, keeps me alive, and it's not like you can do anything useful with it." He raised an eyebrow. "You ever try talking to the colonists, by the way? Their translators should be as good as mine."

Arene sniffed. "We spoke of this already, Ixion."

All right, stubborn and arrogant as shit, but these kerri seem to have the strength to back it. An interesting race, one he was coming to realize would give the colonists a lot of trouble. He glanced at Arene and then at her companions. "I was expecting to only hunt a few of you, get an idea of what I was in for, but I guess that's backfired." He let out a sigh. "So, like your friend said, it's the long night for me, isn't it?"

Arene watched him for a moment, her tail swirling in the air, then said, "No." The others squawked a series of protests, but she silenced them all with a single flap of her wings. "You defeated me in combat, Ixion. You have earned my life. Normally among our kind that entails either removing said life and giving back to the Lay of the Land or adding a life to the world and giving to the clan, but I think I find myself at an impasse."

"You think?" he said with a snort. "We can't call it even? Me life for yours?"

"He'll just come back to kill more of us," one of the kerri protested. "If he's skilled enough to defeat Your Highness then he is a threat that should be removed now!"

Arene pointedly ignored her companion. "It wouldn't be an even trade, Ixion. You have already proved your life of more value than mine."

I'm not really concerned with your damn honor system at the moment. He sighed, massaged his forehead with a thumb, then shrugged. "Well, then I choose option two."

Everyone fell into silence.

A very long silence.

Eventually it was broken by Arene who laughed uneasily. "Surely you misunderstood me--"

Ixion flicked his tail, his gaze heavy lidded, his posture relaxed. "Nope."

"But--" Arene frowned. "You and I-- I mean, there must be a life given for the exchange, and--"

Ixion grinned wide. "Love, I've done far worse in order to survive. Besides, it'll take time to know, won't it? And there will need to be multiple attempts, of course." All the slack I need in my noose in order to figure something out.

Arene squawked and unfurled her wings, her fur standing on end. "This is no joke! You won't be able to just pretend, to talk your way through this. There is leniency in our laws for some things, but not this, Ixion."

"Just tell me what I need to do. Well, I mean the crazy ritual stuff. I think I can figure out the rest."

Arene stared at him for a moment longer, then snorted and said, "You have already defeated me, thus proving you are worthy. Next, you must declare your intent before witnesses... and show proof of it before the same."

Ixion raised an eyebrow. "Kinky. I'm sure these birds will do?"

Most of the kerri scattered around them visibly recoiled.

"Technically," Arene said with obvious hesitation. "Though it really should just be a single wind witch and a vigilant, no more..."

"Well, they're going to have to do because I'm not risking a wait." He strode over to her. "Let's get this over with."

"Princess, you really aren't going to let him, are you?" one of the kerri said, alarm in her voice.

"I certainly won't!" another shouted, wings unfurling as he took to the skies. "Slay me afterward if you must, but I'll have his heart in my beak before I let him touch you!"

Arene snapped her head to him. "I'll cut you down myself, Juu, and your family will face the clan's wrath afterward."

"But Princess, this is obscene! This is... wrong!"

The kerri princess snapped her beak, then glanced at Ixion thoughtfully as he neared. "I disagree. In fact, I'm intrigued. He's certainly a bold one, and other than not being one of us I find few flaws in him." She glanced at the gathered kerri. "He's defeated me in singular combat with a beautiful, most unexpected maneuver. He bears a most handsome plethora of scars, each a tale, each a piece of a greater tapestry. He doesn't even show fear standing here among us." Arene glanced back at Ixion. "If he thinks himself clever enough then I will gladly take part in his game."

Ixion grinned at her.

"You know that, eventually, you will have to sire a child and that is of course impossible."

He shrugged. "One problem at a time, I suppose."

Arene glanced at him. "Running will not work. I'll personally hunt you down myself."

"Back to square one on that day, I guess," he replied evenly. "Which, by the way, is me standing over you."

The princess squawked laughter. "Come and take what is yours, then."

Ixion didn't need any more prompting. He moved over to her with a sigh, a thought commanding his nanites to disperse from belo_w_his waist_._ His equine cock hung limp in its sheath, yet still impressive in size and girth. All natural too since he was a firm believer that some things were just better that way, though the truth was he'd been tempted by some of the cock augmentations out there.

Arene's eyes slightly widened and he gave an amused laugh. Bird or cat, I'm sure your people's fleshy swords are more like pins compared to mine, eh? He moved until he was just before her and placed a hand on top of her head. He eyed her, then raised an eyebrow at her puzzled expression.

"Well, go ahead and start," he said.

"Start... what?"

He laughed again, shaking his head, then gestured at his flaccid cock. "Licking, sunshine."

Arene narrowed her eyes, then stared as his cock. "An unusual request. Is that how your kind does it?"

"Some blokes are into it," he said with a shrug. "But that doesn't matter, does it? You going to do what I ask of you, right?"

The gryphon said nothing for a moment, then drew her head near. Another gryphon squawked and shuffled, then said, "Princess, please! Don't tell me you're really going to mate with this offworlder!"

Another nodded, wings unfurling. "She's right, Your Highness. Let one of us do it in your place if you insist on holding yourself to the clan laws!" Others, presumably all female, pipped up and added their own agreement to that statement.

Snorting, Arene flicked her long tail in an expression of annoyance. "If you had left when I told you to you wouldn't stuck here watching this. Now shut up and witness whether you like it or not."

"B--but, think about what you're doing! Your mother will be furious, Your Highness!"

At that Arene squawked a long laugh. "Since when do I care what Mother thinks or does? I count each day that goes by with her upon the High Perch, each a day our clan suffers for."

"Sunshine," Ixion said, rolling his eyes. "Start with the damn licking already."

Arene cocked her head and gave a chuckle. "My apologies, Ixion. I'll make sure you get what you deserve."

She moved close and, after a brief moment of hesitation, ran her short, soft tongue along his cock. He tensed as pleasure jolted through him, totally unprepared for the sensation. Her tongue was soft with an interesting texture and abnormal warmth. He urged her on and she took to the task with either eagerness or stubborn determination. All the same to me. He let out a hot breath, enjoying her short, powerful strokes long his sheath. She explored slowly, ignoring the upset muttering and uncomfortable shifting of the other gryphons.

Even with a body foreign to her Arene seemed to realize that some things didn't change and so she experimented while carefully watching his reactions. When she traced her wet tongue around the rim of his sheath and he gave a soft grunt of pleasure she continued, focusing on that region. Her tongue slipped along the inside, following the inner circle, warm and wet tip occasionally touching his hardening cock. She pulled back with a glistening strand connecting her beak and his sheath, then with an amused purr continued down underneath. His cock began to poke out of its sheath, the flared tip bursting through wet and dripping precum. His cock rested on the silken feathers atop her head, staining them with precum as she warmly licked down to his balls.

Damn, she's good at this. Maybe she was just the kind that wanted to be the best at everything, but Ixion wasn't about to complain. Arene warmly nuzzled his hardening cock, her feathers rubbing him pleasantly as she lowered her beak to his balls and began lifting them with her tongue. He breathed softly, nodding and urging her on with his hand. Arene's short tongue continued its work, wedging itself between his balls, taking them into her beak to flick at with her tongue.

"Mmm." she said between breaths. "This is so strange... but not unpleasant. You seem to be enjoying it at least."

He snorted. "Well, I'll admit that you're a damn natural, but don't let it go to your head."

The gryphon chuckled, then squawked when he grabbed a tuft of the feathers cresting her neck.

"I'm almost ready," he said, grinning. "Open wide."

She did as he asked, eyes widening as he pushed his cock into her beak. She pulled back reflexively, but he held her in place, and began pumping his growing cock in and out of her maw. After a moment she repositioned her legs and braced herself, opening her beak wider while he thrust into her. Licking his muzzle, Ixion held his cock with one free hand as he began shoving the meat down her throat, its girth almost too big for her. Deeper and deeper, his cock now fully out of its sheath. His thrusts grew in strength as it became easier and easier to slide into her maw, wetness glistening on his cock and oozing out the sides of her beak.

Breathing heavily, Ixion continued to pump his meat into her beak, further and further until she started gagging. He pulled back to give her time to breathe, then surprised her by slamming his meat all the way down her throat. She tensed, eyes widening, but didn't resist and reacted quickly enough to swallow him.

"Hold that cock in your throat, bitch," he breathed, licking his muzzle again and tossing his head back with a grunt.

The other gryphons snarled, some pacing. One of them cried, "What the hell are you doing? You're going to kill her!"

He ignored them. Arene for the most part remained calm, holding him in her throat, her golden eyes locked with his own. After a few moments, when he felt himself at teetering at the edge of an orgasm, he pulled out. She turned her head and spat his cock out and then after little more than a moment of coughing shook herself and licked her beak, catching bits of precum that had dripped out earlier.

"Turn around," he commanded.

She spun smoothly, her haunches lifting at the same time, tail snapping straight up. The short brown fur at her slit was matted and sticky to his surprise. With a grin, he shoved two fingers into the large mound. She squawked and jumped, then purred as he curved his fingers, his thumb rubbing against the star of her tailhole. Sticky, wet noises emanated from her rump as he fingered her. After a moment she began to grind against him, her rear moving in small circles, the muscles of her tail taut and tense.

"Oh... that feels... amazing," she breathed.

Well, I guess your kind wouldn't be able to do this, eh? His grin widening, Ixion slipped the rest of his fingers in and began sliding most of his hand inside. She squawked again, bracing as he began to thrust harder and harder in her, his entire hand dripping sticky wet up to his wrist. He could tell that it was a bit too much for her, but his cock was a whole lot of more meat so he decided that she'd best start getting used to it.

Ixion let out a lusty breath, then pulled out his dripping hand, strands of her sticky arousal gleaming between his fingers. His cock twitched, rigid and massive, the flared tip oozing precum. Burning with desire, he stroked himself with his wet hand, rubbing her warm wetness all up and down the dark black length of his cock, then moved toward her. He spanked her feline flank with a hand and earned both a satisfying bounce and surprised cry from her, then shoved himself all the way to the hilt.

The reaction he got wasn't what he had been expecting. A sharp gasp escaped Arene, then she pushed back up into him, wetness squelching out as his massive cock was forced itself inside and she impaled herself. Ixion clenched his teeth, hands clamping down on her flanks, her tightness almost painful.

"You're... huge..." she breathed.

Blowing out a breath of hot air, he began to thrust into her, hard and fast. His thighs pounding against her with each thrust, eliciting sharp cries from Arene, but he continued heedlessly. Wetness continued to gush from her opening, oozing around his cock and down his thighs as her pussy struggled to accommodate his size. Licking his muzzle, he worked himself into a brutal rhythm. Arene braced herself, claws extended, and kept her haunches raised for him. Her muscles tensed as he thrust and she pushed back, the muscles working to keep herself firmly in place and making her rump a dependable handhold.

"I'm close," he breathed, feeling jolts of pleasure rippling through him.

He reached over and grabbed her tail, then thrust hard once, twice, three times before slamming into her, ears flat against his skull. He pushed his thumb into her tailhole, grinning savagely as she squawked and spread wings. Her pussy began spasming as his twitching cock squirted streams of hot cum into her.

After only a few moments of being filled Arene began to paw at the ground, making soft noises, and then tried pulling away. "You're... giving me... too much."

Growling and flicking his tail, he held her against him by gripping her tail. "Hush, sunshine, it's bad manners to not take it all."

Arene moaned, her rump's muscles tensing as he ground himself against her, then with a powerful rush of relief and sudden satisfaction shoved her forward and pulled back. She took several steps before steadying herself, moaning as his cock slid nosily out of her. Her gaping pussy immediately began to ooze his cum. Arene shook herself, then lifted a hind leg and curved to lick at her swollen pussy lips.

"Well," she said between licks. "That was a pleasant surprise."

Ixion snorted and shook his head at her. "That was just a quick romp. You should see me when I'm trying, love."

The royal gryphon paused and rolled her eyes at him, then pattered over and began to delicately clean his now limp cock. Ixion grinned down at her, his grin widening when her golden eyes met his and she gave a snort before continuing her work.

"You I think I'm going to like," Ixion said, his tail waving slowly. He glanced at the other gryphons, many who seemed restless, their claws extended and beaks snapping. "Not sure about your kin, though."

"Hmph," Arene said with a final lick. "Just wait until you meet Mother." She turned to glance at the other gryphons. "You have all witnessed Ixion's claiming of me, yes?"

One of the other gryphons strode forward and nodded. "Yes, Your Highness..." he said tersely. "Now that you're finished with the offworlder, we really should return. Your Mother would no doubt like to know about... the situation."

Arene nodded "Then go ahead as my herald. Make sure they know that Ixion is to be a respected guest."

"Only during the scant few heartbeats that the laws protect him," the gryphon muttered with a snort. "I will pass along your wishes, Your Highness."

The gryphon took off, spun once in the air, then flew deeper into the ancient forest.

Arene stretched idly, giving him a good view of her swollen, wet pussy, then turned to regard him. Ixion wondered was churning in her head.

"Let us be on our way, Ixion," Arene said. "I'm eager to see how the clan will react..."

Ixion sighed.

"Oh, don't make that face." The gryphon drew close, her voice lowering. "I promise you that I'll be most cooperative. After all, I think it's about time things were shaken up around here." She laughed. "Life was so dreadfully dull though now, if nothing else, I'll have some time to enjoy you... on the training grounds and in my nest, yes?"

"No complaints there," he said with a smile, watching as the other gryphons took to wing and began circling above. "Uh, so how am I going to get to wherever we're going? You tore apart my speeder."

"You can use me, of course," Arene returned, moving before him and lowering herself. "In fact, I'm ever available for you to... use. Just so we're clear."

Ixion grinned as he climbed up onto Arene's back, ignoring the quiet rage of her brethren. He had managed to slither his way out of a mauling, but it was only a method of buying time. Things had become a little more complicated. His speeder was trashed and that would limit his eventual escape through the woods. His bolter was also gone and that wouldn't make things any easier. Ah, well. He thrived on situations like this. Besides, it was a good opportunity. He would get to know these kerri, maybe even uncover more about the other race hiding on Ishtar. Information like that would sell for a premium, no doubt, and all this while adding to the considerable bulk of his legends.

He shook his head. It'll be hard to beat what the Chroniclers will say about me today, though!