The Feast
Page 42
Vale steps backwards out of the circle watching you closely.
“It’s over, kitten,” he says. “I’ve won.”
Attack Vale for his dagger.
Run.
You need to have the minotaur inside you and know how to get around the elf’s warning. You slide the head of his cock backwards until it rests between your butt cheeks.
His slick cock enters you easily, flared head and all. You are better able to receive his full length this way than any other, and the minotaur seems to appreciate it. He moans against the elf’s pussy as you fuck him with your ass.
You spend quite some time with the couple pleasuring each other, fucking and massaging and tasting and getting well acquainted with every curve and fold of their bodies even after the minotaur has cum deep inside you. The couple is quite good at what they do, and so are you.
Only when the three of you are utterly spent do you make it back down to the feast. You feel giggly, your legs wobbly. The three of you lean on each other as if drunk, kissing and groping your way back down to the great hall.
There is someone waiting for you when you return.
“No wonder you were gone so long,” the faun says, his eyes roaming over the couple.
They return the faun’s gaze before excusing themselves back to the centaur’s table.
“It’s time,” the faun says. “We must bring the world to heel.”
He takes you into the upper reaches of the castle until you arrive at a stone archway draped with black curtains. Beyond it is a room filled with robed figures, along with some guests from the feast in their fine clothes. Red candles are placed on different surfaces and in sconces. Many of the nobles are in various states of undress, occupying themselves with the shackled slaves both human and demonic that are apparently here for their entertainment.
Your gaze falls on the king seated in a plush chair, a buxom woman bobbing her head between his legs. Beside him are several uncomfortable-looking guardsmen.
“Kitten,” Vale says extracting himself from a couple of scantily clad slaves. The fingertips of his leather gloves glisten in the candlelight.
“And who is this?” the mage asks.
The faun changes back into his true form. The goat-horned demon towers over the party’s guests.
“My lord.” Vale bows on one knee before the hoofed feet of the Old One. The Old One strokes his hair and then beckons him to stand.
“I thank you for your service,” the Old One says, “of inviting me into your realm. Your duties have been fulfilled.”
Vale looks confused. “I have a kingdom to run.”
The Old One laughs. “Can you not feel it? This little kitten is no longer yours. She is mine, and she possesses my power. She will rule.”
Vale’s eyes flash red. “No, she didn’t even want this. I forced her to complete the ritual. I bound her here with my magic. She cares nothing for this new world I’ve created. I will be its master.”
He shouts something in Dorian and the guests clear to the edges of the room, revealing a large circular symbol carved in the stone floor right below where you and the Old One are standing. It must be a binding circle. The Old One is trapped.
“Take his dagger,” the Old One tells you. “Strike it into the stones and free me.”
Vale steps backwards out of the circle watching you closely.
“It’s over, kitten,” he says. “I’ve won.”
Attack Vale for his dagger.
Run.
You wake up on the cold floor of a hunter’s cabin deep in the forest. A terrible fire has left the place a scorched shell. The wooden roof is all but gone apart from the cross beams, allowing what little sunlight there is to illuminate the inside.
The bed and table are charred and everything else has been reduced to piles of ash. A thick cake of dirt covers the floor, telling you the fire must have happened sometime ago.
There is no sign of the beasts that brought you here. You decide not to wait for them just in case they decide last night’s taste of your blood wasn’t enough.
Your dress gone so you’ll need something to wear. You search the burnt remains of the cabin and find out back a small leather making area. You gather up the scraps, an unfinished tunic and a skirt of rabbit furs.
Once dressed, you continue through the forest following a game trail that crosses a badly rutted wagon path. Though the path seems long abandoned, it eventually leads to a ramshackle town nestled in the forest.
The people of the town seem to be of mixed orc, lizard, and cat folk blood. Some have more characteristics of one or the other, but you don’t see many of a single race. No one hassles you as you walk through the streets, reading the shop signs to find a suitable place to rest. There are no monsters, either. You wonder what happened at the feast, if Vale was able to win over the king of Tyven and the leaders of the other lands. Perhaps he is worried about you, or angry you were not there.
You ask at the inn how far it is back to Tyven. The innkeeper shakes her head. “Never been. Don’t know.”
You ask around town but no one seems to want to talk. When you ask the name of the town, they claim it doesn’t have one. You wonder if they are suspicious of you since you are human. You think they might not get many visitors at all. The day draws to a close with you still not knowing where you are. The innkeeper lets you clean tables in exchange for a night’s rest.
Epilogue.
You refuse to take the dagger.
Vale sighs. “Dear kitten, why must you be so difficult? It’s only a life. It’s nothing compared to what you’ve already done for the Order. Or are you hoping for a punishment?”
A sudden jolt of pain brings you to your knees. It is as if your nerves are on fire, each one screaming out for the agony to stop.
Vale smiles and strokes your tear-streaked cheek. “Now will you take the dagger like a good girl? Or do I have to hurt you again?”
You feel the power that the Old One gave you welling up inside you, driving back the pain. You grit your teeth and stand. You are stronger than Vale now, and he will not tell you what to do.
Vale’s eyes go wide in fear. He staggers backwards. “Kitten,” he stutters. “I don’t—”
“She’s mine now.” A faun wearing an ornate mask steps from the crowd. He carefully removes the mask, and as he does he transforms into the goat-horned Old One you met in the garden.
Vale falls to his knees before his god.
“You should have been kinder to her,” the Old One bids him. “Stand.”
Vale stands. He looks so small, so weak, in comparison to the beast.
“I’m sorry, my lord,” the mage says.
“Sorry isn’t enough.” The Old One grabs Vale by his throat.
Vale kicks and struggles but it is no use. He begs to be let go.
The Old One lifts the mage higher, forcing him to stand on tip-toes.
“Beg her,” the Old One says. “She gets to decide what to do with you.”
Vale turns to you, his eyes red with tears. His full lips blubber apologies and supplications for your mercy. You think about the way he makes you feel, how he dotes on you as his kitten. But you also remember the pain you felt when you defied him.
Spare Vale.
Destroy Vale.
You refuse to take the dagger. The duke might not be the most chivalrous of men, but he doesn’t deserve to die.
Vale sighs. “Dear kitten, why must you be so difficult? It’s only a life. It’s nothing compared to what you’ve already done for the Order. Or are you hoping for a punishment?”
A sudden jolt of pain brings you to your knees. It is as if your nerves are on fire, each one screaming out for the agony to stop.
Vale smiles and strokes your tear-streaked cheek. “Now will you take the dagger like a good girl? Or do I have to hurt you again?”
You feel the power that the Old One gave you welling up inside you, driving back the pain. Y
ou grit your teeth and stand. You are stronger than Vale now, and he will not tell you what to do.
Vale’s eyes go wide in fear. He staggers backwards. “Kitten,” he stutters. “I don’t—”
“She’s mine now.” A faun wearing an ornate mask steps from the crowd. He carefully removes the mask, and as he does he transforms into the goat-horned Old One you met in the garden.
Vale falls to his knees before his god.
“You should have been kinder to her,” the Old One bids him. “Stand.”
Vale stands. He looks so small, so weak, in comparison to the beast.
“I’m sorry, my lord,” the mage says.
“Sorry isn’t enough.” The Old One grabs Vale by his throat.
Vale kicks and struggles but it is no use. He begs to be let go.
The Old One lifts the mage higher, forcing him to stand on tip-toes.
“Beg her,” the Old One says. “She gets to decide what to do with you.”
Vale turns to you, his eyes red with tears. His full lips blubber apologies and supplications for your mercy. You think about the way he makes you feel, how he dotes on you as his kitten. But you also remember the pain you felt when you defied him.
Spare Vale.
Destroy Vale.
You spare the mage.
“So be it,” the Old One sighs. He drops Vale, who kneels to grovel at his feet. The Old One stomps his hoof and Vale recoils, scurrying to the corner to watch you both from a safe distance.
The Old One turns to Vale’s guests. “I am sorry for the interruption,” he says, “But there’s been a change of plan. We won’t be completing the sacrifice. At least not this one.”
He says to the king, “Sorry, but there can only be one ruler.” Black flames engulf the king. He can’t even scream as he is burned alive. When the flames dissipate, not even his ash remains. The guests are completely still, afraid they will be next.
“Go back to your homes,” the Old One tells them. “Tell your people of their new ruler, your queen. I will be expecting all to bend the knee.”
A deep blush blossoms on your cheeks.
The guests look as though they have been released from a binding spell and the room is soon empty. Only Vale remains, curled in the corner like a kicked puppy.
“My master—” he starts.
The Old One gives one look at him and he shuts up.
Without a word, the Old One takes you by the waist. He bites your neck and undoes the back of your dress. He takes you right there on top of the broken binding circle, in the room that only moments ago contained the most powerful people from all over the kingdom. You scream out in pleasure, knowing there is no one to hear you except the mage.
When you finish, he tells Vale to wait in the next room. Once you are alone he gives you a choice—to restore your memories from your life before, or let them fade away forever.
Ask for your memories.
Tell him the past doesn’t matter.
“Get rid of him,” you say to the Old One. What feelings you might have had for Vale disappeared when he thought he could use pain to keep you in line.
“As you wish,” the Old One replies.
Vale screams as a black flame engulfs him. The nobles and Order members stand in shock, unsure of what to do. Then one by one they too are consumed by black flame. The Old One drapes his arm over your shoulder as you watch them all burn.
When the flames die down, there is nothing left of them. Not even ash. You ask the Old One what happened to them.
“They’ve been sent to my realm. It will be a long eternity for them.” His hand tightens on your shoulder. “But all this fighting has left me excited.”
He takes you right there on top of the broken binding circle, in the empty room that only moments ago contained the most powerful people from all over the kingdom. You scream out in pleasure, knowing there is no one to hear you.
When you finish, the demon gives you a choice—to restore your memories from your life before, or let them fade away forever.
Ask for your memories.
Tell him the past doesn’t matter.
You ask Jasper about what Vale said, if it’s true that Jasper used to be part of the Order.
“I was never part of the Order,” he replies. “But I was employed by them. I used to only care about was money. My family never had money, but I learned at a young age that it could be earned with very little effort on my part. Vale paid me to find young women for him. He told me he was looking for young converts to his religion. I didn’t really care, only that he paid me for each one. It was only later I found out what he was really doing.”
Jasper’s hand closes into a fist as tears form in his eyes.
“He was using them in his dark rituals, trying to open a portal between this world and that of his ‘gods’. As far as I know he never succeeded, but the women didn’t survive his trying. He made me burn their bodies to ashes to make sure no one found them.
“I got out, but only after Vale had taken everything from me. He owned a part of me that I could never get back. But I escaped and vowed to destroy the Order and everything they stood for.”
You squeeze his hand.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” he says.
His voice is barely above a whisper and it is hard to hear him over the clatter of the wagon wheels.
“I know who you are,” Jasper tells you. “I knew all along. But Vale made me promise not to tell you.”
You can see the pain in his eyes. He must be worried of your reaction. You allow him to explain.
He says, “You are from Doria, and you fled your home to come warn the capital of the Order. But you were captured by Dorian guards before you could arrive. You were transferred to a prison convoy to be tried for treason back in Doria.
“We had heard about you and knew you were a valuable ally. We tried to rescue you from the prison convoy, but the Dorian guards were prepared and put up a good fight. I saw you fall off the back of the cart and hit your head. But I couldn’t take you with me. I had to flee for my life. I went back later to look for you, but you were already gone.
“That’s when I met Vale. He had heard rumors that you had lost your memory, and made me promise not to tell you who you really were. We were to let fate decide which side you would choose. I did what I could to steer you towards us without breaking my promise. But now that Vale’s dead, the promise doesn’t matter. We’ve won.”
You ask him why he would agree to such a thing.
“I barely escaped the Order with my life. The hold that Vale had over me was powerful, and I was never quite able to get free of it. I knew that agreeing to his little game was the only way I’d survive to fight him. He could have killed me years ago, but what he loved more than anything was playing with people. And he knew he could play with me.”
You let Jasper’s words sink in. The stars seem too bright, scattered across the heavens without a cloud to darken them. Should you be mad at Jasper? Forgive him? He did what he could to keep you safe, to make sure you ended up where you were meant to be. You know in your heart that he would never do anything to hurt you.
“It’s okay,” you say, kissing him on the cheek.
What matters now is the road ahead. The fight is not nearly over.
Epilogue.
You ask Jasper about what Vale said, if it’s true that Jasper used to be part of the Order.
“I was never part of the Order,” he replies. “But I was employed by them. I used to only care about was money. My family never had money, but I learned at a young age that it could be earned with very little effort on my part. Vale paid me to find young women for him. He told me he was looking for young converts to his religion. I didn’t really care, only that he paid me for each one. It was only later I found out what he was really doing.”
Jasper’s hand closes into a fist as tears form in his eyes.
“You were the only one to
ever survive one of his attempts at the ritual. I don’t know what made you so different, but it saved your life. It also created all this.”
He gestures out towards the dark countryside. You can’t see any of the monsters but you know they’re there.
Jasper continues, “I got out too, but only after Vale had taken everything from me. He owned a part of me that I could never get back. But I escaped and vowed to destroy the Order and everything they stood for.”
You squeeze his hand.
“There’s something else I need to tell you,” he says. “I’ve always known who you are. I mean, who you were before all this. But Vale made me promise not to tell you.”
You can see the pain in his eyes. He must be worried of your reaction. You allow him to explain.
He says, “You are from Doria, and you fled your home to come warn the capital of the Order. But you were captured by Dorian guards before you could arrive. You were transferred to a prison convoy to be tried for treason back in Doria.
“We had heard about you and knew you were a valuable ally. We tried to rescue you from the prison convoy, but the Dorian guards were prepared and put up a good fight. I saw you fall off the back of the cart and hit your head. But I couldn’t take you with me. I had to flee for my life. I went back later to look for you, but you were already gone.
“That’s when I met Vale. He had heard rumors that you had lost your memory, and made me promise not to tell you who you really were. We were to let fate decide which side you would choose. I did what I could to steer you towards us without breaking my promise. But I had no idea that Vale would try to force fate like that. I should have expected it from him.”