Liam’s life had been nothing but paperwork and arguments and dickering for what felt like an eternity. Meetings and compromises, all the things that it took to run a city that was rapidly becoming something far larger. But a part of him missed moments like this. Where it was just him and his wits and his raw physicality. He clenched his jaw, tugging on the ropes, then loosening his pressure. His muscles knotted and strained, but every time he strained, he felt the ropes give ever so slightly more.
Liam paced himself. He both didn’t want to tire himself out and he didn’t want to cut his wrists. He also didn’t want to break free at an...inopportune moment. He kept his ears perked up every moment he was letting himself relax – listening to what muffled noises came to the cave from the jungle beyond. The thick, cloaking layer of vines made that tricky. But Liam had listened to a lot of footfalls in his time as an adventurer.
And he recognized the sound of heavy feet and dragging feet. Two guards, dragging another prisoner.
Anubis?
He lay back, then realized that just laying on his back might seem suspicious – why just remain on his back, huh? Why wasn’t he struggling? And so, he pushed himself and rolled until he was on his side, then wriggled, looking as if he had been trying to roll free. The vines flipped aside and he heard one of the pirates – a male – saying: “I guess we shove ‘em in here.”
“Captain said to stash ‘em together, and we watch ‘em.” The other voice was deeper. When Liam craned his head around, he saw one was a goblin and the other was a lizardman. The lizardman looked down at him, curiously. But Liam didn’t see any sign of familiarity or appreciation. Brax’s army had not been the entire lizard race – just one of their tribes. For all he knew, this lizardman was from an entirely different part of Purgatory, to whom the whole War of the False God was someone else’s problem.
The lizardman, though, was also holding a figure with a bag over their head. The fur and the tail made it clear it was Anubis – but that was just baffling to Liam. He had expected the god would have gotten away, or used his magic to escape, or... well, anything.
“So, this is Liam Vanderbilt. The Godkiller,” the goblin said, smirking.
“Yup. Good roommate for the Pesdjeti,” the lizardman laughed and pushed Anubis forward, who yelped and tripped over his own feet. He crashed to the ground and the two pirates stepped back outside. Since the cave only had one exit, they clearly weren’t worried.
Anubis kicked at the ground and his voice came through the hood – muffled and terrified. “Where am I? What’s going on? Where is Kiyat?”
Kiyat? Liam thought.
But then he actually listened to what Anubis was saying.
Liam had learned the languages of Purgatory in bits and pieces. Usually, though, he never needed to speak Purgatorian Greek or Latin or Coptic or Norse (all of which had been warped onto their own paths by linguistic drift over the centuries of separation from Earth.) Rather, he used a translation spell put on him by Meg. The translation spell turned everything he heard into English, and everything he spoke into the language the listener could understand.
It was a neat trick, and used by many diplomats across Purgatory. Meg was just one of the few who had used the casting of it as a pretext for fucking someone’s brains out.
Not that Liam was complaining.
But listening past the spell, Liam could hear that Anubis…wasn’t speaking Coptic.
“Anubis?” he asked.
Anubis tensed. “W-Who's there?”
His voice seemed softer and more deferential than before, like he was worried he was going to get kicked. Liam sighed, then wriggled around. By hopping and squirming along the ground he got his wrists into Anubis’ reach.
“I’m a friend,” Liam said, trying for simplicity. “Cut these off me.”
Anubis, rather than using his claws, just worried and tugged at the ropes. Liam sighed the instant the ropes went loose. He rolled free of the chair, then stood up. He knelt beside Anubis, undoing the god’s bindings, then yanking the hood off. His eyes widened as he looked into Anubis’ eyes. They no longer glowed. In fact, they were an entirely different color – they had turned a rich brown and had human pupils.
More, Anubis had a thick torc of crystal around his neck. Like null-dart tips, but forged into a slave collar.
Then Liam noticed Anubis’ expression. The god was gaping at Liam like he had never seen Liam before. Then, to Liam’s shock, Anubis’ muzzle turned bright red, the blush showing through his dark fur. He looked aside, squeaking quietly, his tail beating a quick, excited tattoo against the ground as his loincloth went from limp to straining within a few seconds.
Liam felt his own flush crawl up his cheeks.
Anubis thought he was cute.
Apparently.
“W-Who are you?” Anubis whispered, huskily. “You look... very strange.”
Then he looked down at himself and screamed.
It was an intense, shocking, human sounding scream that caused both guards to rush in. Anubis had leaped backwards and pressed himself flat against the wall, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open in shock as he looked at his paws. His hands went to his furred chest, groping at his own pecs. “What? Oh Ra! Oh Ra! Oh Ra!” He wailed. “Oh Bast! Please, tell me, what have I done? What did I do? What is happening?”
The guards were reaching for their blades, their eyes wide in fear. They looked like they had no idea what Anubis was saying – which made sense. Anubis was babbling in a tongue that Liam had never heard before. Though he did note that the names of Ra and Bast hadn’t changed.
Which made it click.
Anubis was speaking ancient Coptic. It was as alien to the pirates as Latin was to an American.
“Stand down!” Liam bellowed, lifting his hand to gesture to the pirates. “Now!”
The pirates, trained to obey that tone of voice, drew their hands away from their swords. But that wouldn’t last long. Liam looked back at Anubis, taking his paws. He held them and looked deep into the god’s eyes.
“I am a friend,” he said. “You have been injured, you may have forgotten much. But we are in danger, and you need to calm down and act as if this is normal. Can you do that, Anubis?”
Anubis gaped at him. Then, slowly, he closed his muzzle. He nodded.
The guards both relaxed slightly as they saw Anubis start to calm. The lizardman growled: “Neither of you try any magic. The Captain says that null-collar will stop him from using any god magics. So don’t even try.”
Anubis nodded gravely a moment later.
The guards turned and stepped out.
Anubis gulped. But he wasn’t Anubis, was he?
Liam took his paws, squeezing them again. “Let me start. I’m Liam Vanderbilt. Who are you?” He smiled. “If I know what’s going on, I’m guessing the last thing you remember is... um, your normal life?”
Anubis gulped. “My name is Diayet. W-Where is my husband? My children?” He paused, then looked down at his chest. “M-My breasts?”
Liam blinked slowly.
“This is going to be hard to take,” he said, slowly. Anubis and he sat on the soft moss covered cave floor. Liam groped for a way to begin. He looked down, then sighed. “Okay. Were you a priestess? Of Anubis?”
Diayet nodded, slowly. “Yes.”
“I’ve met another man like you,” Liam said. “He was a great warrior. They said he fought like a god of war. Over time, the stories changed from him fighting like this god, Ares...to being the god of Ares. Somehow, those stories became the truth for him.” He licked his lips. “He became Ares. His old personality was wiped away, his memories were altered, the way a storyteller changes a story that they don’t like.”
“I remember...” Dia licked her muzzle. “I remember being lauded. We wore masks, you see. To celebrate him. And they said I was always so even handed. So fair. A-And... then the miracles came.” She looked down at her paws, at her male body. “It becomes a blur, then...”
Liam rubbed his hands on his f
ace.
Then he started to laugh.
“Why are you laughing?” Dia asked, her eyes widening.
Liam’s laughter turned to tears. His palms pressed to his face as he tried to control the brilliant explosion of emotion that roiled through him. For years, years, he had struggled silently with his own faith. With his own thoughts on the divine and the nature of man and god. He still believed, deep in his belly, that even if Christianity was based on lies and superstition... that... the teachings mattered. That his choices mattered.
He had clung to that.
And now?
Now he felt the weight of doubt being lifted from his shoulders and it felt so good. It was like a hobble he had grown so used to that it had become invisible had been unlatched. He laughed, then choked, then coughed, wiping at his eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Dia. I’m sorry.” He sighed. “But you’re not gods. None of you are gods. None of you.”
Dia looked somewhere between offended and terrified. “Of course I’m not a god.” She paused. “You do not need to rub it in while I am still... coping with this.”
Liam nodded. His laughter subsided as he forced himself to be sober. “Of course.”
They sat in silence for a time more. Dia’s hands slid slowly along her body, feeling out the differences. Then she squeaked. “Eee!”
Liam started as he saw that Dia had, just by brushing her fingers against a tuft of fur, yanked it free. The black strands crumbled away between her fingertips, drifting to the floor like tiny flakes. Liam leaned close, his eyes widening as he saw that the patch of skin beneath looked healthy and clean. He looked up at Dia.
“Can I... touch it?” he asked.
Dia nodded, looking too terrified to speak.
Liam slowly reached out and touched the tiny bit of belly. Then his finger rubbed up – and where it touched fur, the fur simply started to flake away. Dia’s head rolled back slightly and she sighed softly, shivering. “Oh...” she whispered as Liam spread his palm. He brushed away fur in larger and large passes, revealing soft, rich brown skin beneath. Then his hand slipped up to Dia’s pecs – which felt male... until they didn’t. A sudden swell of a breast filled Liam’s palm and his eyes widened as he jerked them up from Dia’s changing chest to her face. Fur was starting to flake off around her eyes. Her muzzle started to shrink before his eyes.
“It feels... strange,” Dia crooned. But the word Liam thought she was hunting for was good. His fingers found, by instinct, the tip of her almost black nipple. It was hard as a diamond and he started to withdraw his hand. But then Dia grabbed his wrist, keeping his palm rooted there. Her voice was husky. “Don’t let me go. Please...” There was a deep, desperate need there. How long had it been since she had been touched, like this?
Millennia?
Her muzzle had shrunk completely, and the fur cascaded off her shoulders. Her face was beautiful – dusky skinned and exotic, with plush lips framing a generous mouth. A mouth that met Liam’s with a warm moan as Dia pressed her mostly nude body against him. Liam’s hands slipped along her spine, reaching down to find and cup her ass. He squeezed her, his own thoughts on escape and planning and even the nature of divinity scattering before the desperate want that radiated from her.
Dia’s tongue probed his mouth and the hot drip of her tears made him press against her all the more hungrily.
She broke away for air. Her breasts rose and fell as she panted, then shoved him onto his back so hard his artificial foot almost slipped off his leg. Liam let himself lay there as she straddled his lap, her loincloth laying flush with her thighs. Her palms caressed his chest as she shivered. “My husband was a potter,” she breathed. “Not a warrior...” Her fingers found one of the many scars that seamed Liam’s chest. Her eye grew hooded and she ducked her head forward. “G-Gods, I’m a slattern...”
“Dia,” Liam said. He wanted to tell her it was okay. That her husband was many thousands of years dead.
But that wasn’t a help. Or a comfort.
Instead, he simply took her hands in his. He held them to his mouth, kissing first one palm, then the other. He kissed her wrist, nibbling at her pulse point. Dia crooned hungrily, rolling her head slowly back. She closed her eyes, letting Liam sit upwards and kiss his way along her arm to her shoulder. He nipped at her neck, then started. He had gone to kiss her ear, but he noticed that her human ear remained missing – instead a pair of sleek, jackal ears thrust from her head. Looking at her back, he saw that she still had a tail, wagging.
It seemed there was a limit to how far back a null-collar could spin someone.
Dia panted softly. “Is it bad t-the fact you’re not him is driving me absolutely wild?” She looked down at Liam, her legs quivering as she held herself above him. Her sex dripped down onto his cock, slicking him with her moistness. Liam felt his breath catch slightly. He took Dia’s chin in his fingers, forcing her to look at him.
“Nothing you’re feeling is bad,” he whispered. “You are not a bad person for what you feel. Just for how you act.” He smiled. “And would the man you love want you to turn away from joy, now that you’ve finally become yourself again?”
Dia shook her head, blushing. “Y-Yes, but he may have words to say about the- oh my gods!” She looked down, her eyes widening as if she had just noticed Liam’s cock for the size. “You’re hung like a horse!”
Liam was sure that, at some point, he’d tire of hearing women gasp those words.
That time had not yet come.
Dia actually shifted backwards, her knees sliding along the soft moss of the cave. Her breasts pressed to Liam’s thighs as she leaned herself down so she could look straight at his cock. Her jackal ears perked upwards and her tail started to wag and Liam remembered why Japanese catgirls were so fucking popular.
They were fucking adorable!
“A-Are you a god too?” Dia whispered, looking up and down his cock. “Or...or were you blessed by one? Bast?”
“It’s all natural Earthican,” Liam said, grinning down at Dia. The goddess - a description Liam would have used even if she had never had powers - leaned forward. Her nose flared as she breathed in his smell, and her tongue darted out. Feather light, she started to lick up his cock, tasting him as Liam rolled his head back and let himself slump against his arms. That felt nice. Her tongue was slightly rougher than a human’s, but still soft enough that he could enjoy the feel of it as she lapped her tongue from base to tip, her soft lips pressing to the head of his cock. Her tongue ringed around the softness of his foreskin as she drew her legs under her – so she’d be able to free up her hands to grip the base of his cock. She started to stroke him as her head bobbed on the first few inches of his dick, her moans soft and eager and filling the cave with sensuality.
Dia drew her mouth back, gasping quietly.
“Gods, you even taste better than my husband,” she whispered, then went back to sucking. She dropped one hand between her thighs. Her fingers started to stroke her own sex as her slurping mouth took another inch into her mouth. Her eyes screwed up and her ears started to press back against her head with the strain of taking more cock than she ever had in her life. She worked her way down, then slurped her way back up. Gasping, she looked up at Liam. “I want this in me. I want... want...” She trailed off.
Liam didn’t ask questions. He had a feeling he knew what she was looking for – and his arms opened, then folded around her as she crawled atop him. His hand slipped along Dia’s back, finding her ass. He squeezed the base of her tail and she let out a tiny, pleased yip as he lifted her up, then rocked his hips to grind his cock against her hot, wanting sex. Her pussy spread for him as she let her weight and his driving hips slam his cock deep, deep, deep inside of her. Her mouth opened in almost mute shock, then her teeth sank into his shoulder as she tried to stay quiet.
Liam groaned low in his throat, losing himself in the familiar joy of sex.
Dia clung to him, gasping quietly in his ear. Even without chomping down on him, she m
anaged to keep her voice under control as she rode his member, her eyes narrowing to thin slits as her face went utterly slack with pleasure. Liam felt her ability to move growing weaker and weaker – her whole body twitched with the feeling of her orgasms. Pent up by untold years as a man, her needs were sending her to heights that Liam could hardly imagine...but he could feel them as her pussy clenched on his cock with eager convulsions.
And so, Liam pushed himself to the side, rolling Dia so that she sprawled underneath them, her cunt almost squeezing him out of her body. Her back arched and she bit down on her own wrist to keep from screaming in pleasure as Liam planted his palms on the ground above her shoulders and started to slam into her. His balls slapped her ass with a noise so loud that he was shocked the guards didn’t come in to investigate. He fucked her like a drum, her legs spread as wide and wantonly as any woman he had ever been with.
Dia’s back arched again as another orgasm rocked through her. Her breasts almost slapped her own chin as she rocked beneath him and Liam let himself go. His body tightened and his muscles drew taut against his skin as his balls surged and he felt that familiar, wonderful sensation of climax. His head ducked forward and he looked into Dia’s eyes as her face went slack, her head rolling to the side as she rocked against him. His cum pumped into her sex, filling her to the brim, then dripping out around his cock as he remained hilted inside of her.
Quiet came afterwards – the hammering sound of his heart overpowering in his ears.
“Wow,” Dia whispered.
Liam leaned forward. He kissed at her neck, his lips almost touching the null-collar that still wrapped around her throat. Just being near it made his skin feel slightly numb. He kissed her chin, then her lips and she kissed him back. Then, quietly, she whispered: “You’re starting to squish me.”
Liam chuckled, then slipped out of her with a soft, wet slurp. The two of them sprawled on the mossy ground beside one another. Dia’s breasts mashed against his chest as she crawled half onto him, her arm wrapped around him. Her fingers traced a scar on his shoulder, her nose rubbing against his neck as she lounged there, the picture of languid bliss. Liam’s fingers traced the outline of her ear.
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