A Dezolaat Yule
A Dezolaat Yule
Naked humans are marched to a scaffold and forced into the gurney of a guillotine one by one as snow falls and chills them to the bone. Skeletons mindlessly operate the machinery of death as a hooded vampire on a mechanical horse bears witness to the executions. Behind him throngs of humans in rags watch on in horror as ghouls in armor watch for a detractor to feast on as the vampire makes a decree:
"Be it known that on this third Zo of Fuyr in the one thousandth five hundredth and thirty-seventh year proceeding the glory of Raganarox's fall this clan of you worthless human chattel is executed for the worst of crimes against we your righteous lords and masters in death: raising an adventurer. We the Doom Lords shall brook no dejection in any from our slaves. Let the carnage begin!"
The vampire sups wine distilled from the blood of his slaves as five generations of a family are put to the blade. But the genocide is not complete as a young woman in leather armor stolen from her lord's armory runs up a mountain pass where evil eyes watch her with dark glee. Pursuing her is a patrol of skeleton warriors led by a bone knight, a skeleton who actually retains enough sentience from his former life to be able think and lead his fellow undead.
She is bald because her family prepares food for the other slaves and are shorn by the decree of their masters and she ducks into a cave she hopes is empty to try and evade pursuit by the undead chasing her. The sound of snoring soon tells her that she isn't alone as she contemplates her options and decides to find out the source of the snoring to help her make amore informed decision as to whether she should be captured or take her chances with whatever monster inhabits this hole in the mountain into which she has hidden herself. Slumbering in a chamber semi secluded from the rest of the cavern is an urzu, one of Dezolaat's races of former lycanthropes, a bear in this case, that became locked in their hybrid form in the wake of the meteor shower event Ragnarox coming to pass.
An urzu actually affords some hope as the intelligent undead of the Doom Lords actually hate the furred races more than any rebellious slave. Her family is being publicly executed as an example to the others but while she lives, her lord's vengeful wrath remains incomplete. Not only that but there is a chance she can reason with him, maybe trading sexual favors for his assistance in keeping her alive.
"Who goes there!" The urzu growls groggily as he awakens to her presence and reaches for a huge ax which fills the human with dread. "A human? Do I want to know?"
"Good urzu, I beg you to please spare me!" The human girl drops to her knees in supplication. "I am hunted for embracing the gift of sorcery within me."
"A human sorceress, eh?" The bear says with a smirk and a chuckle. "How close are your pursuers and what did they send to fetch you?"
"In here!" A voice yells from beyond. "Quickly you sluggards!"
"Skeletons," She states and the bear puts down his ax.
"Neermind the other question," the bear says with a smirk as he picks up a two handed warhammer and puts on a leather kilt. "We'll talk compensation when I get back, for now, stay put."
Miss sorceress peeks around the corner to watch the urzu at work as bones shatter with each telling blow from his hammer staff. The bone knight shakes its skull in disgust as he watches his platoon get devastated by the urzu warrior and the idea this might be a ranger starts to dawn on him as the very mountain seems to conspire with him to devastate the skeletons in rapid fashion. When the last skeletal soldier falls the bone knight marches forward, saber and shield ready for battle.
"You luck ends now, urzu," The bone knight growls with much malevolence in his voice.
"You are the one that invaded my home, Doom Knight," the urzu spits out and raises his weapon high. "Armor only helps me destroy you, you know,"
"Do you have a name, urzu?" The bone kight inquires in a threatening, yet jovial tone. "I want to add it to my list of victims."
"Kodyax," the bear replies with a smirk. "What's yours?"
"Kodyax the Crusher!" The Bone Knight yells in true fear as he backs away. "My apologies, great ranger lord, I did not know I had entered your territory..."
"A little late for that," Kodyax growls with a sinister smile and makes a powerful blow that the bone knights blocks to its detriment as the force of the blow shatters the arm holding its shield even if the strike itself was blocked. "You understand why I cannot allow you to leave here intact."
"Mercy!" The Bone Knight pleads as the next blow caves in its skull as the body crumbles to dust.
"That was rather quick, Lord Kodyax," The human observes. "I am Delilah; if you would kill I ask you do it quickly. By law I am now yours by conquest"
"You would trade one collar for another?" Kodyax asks in a growl.
"They were executing my family as I fled," Delilah answers. "At least with you I have a chance of living out my days as sex toy."
""In other words staying alive as my bed warmer is preferable to being killed and used as an effigy." Kodyax says with a smirk to which Delilah just nods. "Get undressed and get into bed then. I need to make sure the cold iron wards I had are still in place."
"What kind of fey are you trying to keep out?" Delilah asks as she complies with his orders.
"Red caps primarily," Kodyax answers, "Buggers have been getting more aggressive lately."
"I was told that I have fey blood in me," Delilah stats as she gingerly gets into blood.
"Well, you are fey marked," Kodyax remarks as he traces a butterfly shaped birthmark on her chest that encompasses her breasts. "How long have you been shorn?"
"I have no memory of ever having hair," Delilah admits shamefully. "My virginity was taken by a vampire so he could drink the blood of my busted hymen."
"Par for the course where they are concerned I guess." Kodyax states with a heavy sigh. "You have no family?" She shakes her head. "I will take you before our druid council tomorrow. Tonight may be your last night as a human."
"What do you mean?" Delilah asks as she spreads herself as she has done too many times before.
"We do not allow humans to dwell among us," Kodyax replies as her lowers his muzzle to her breasts and starts licking at her nipples. "More than likely you will need to go through the trial of the chrysalis in order to remain."
"What will that do?" Delilah asks between moans as she enjoys both the bears muzzle at her nipples and his phallus slipping in through her folds.
"It will either kill you," Kodyax explains as he takes her slowly but surely, his member sliding in deep and the receding to near full egress before thrusting back in fully, "Or you will become a beast folk."
"Will my fey blood influence the form I would take?" Delilah asks as she enjoys the warmth of the bear taking her as he doing and not wanting this feeling to end. "And if I embrace the change will that help my chances of survival?"
"If you embrace the change you guarantee your survival actually," Kodyax grunts as he plows his phallus in such willing and fertile field. "Fey blood will definitely influence the transformation. You'll come out as a cat, a rabbit or a vixen more than likely."
Kodyax finishes inside of Delilah and she clings to him throughout the night but sleep is largely a stranger. She has never been very faithful, most of the humans of Dezolaat have pretty much agreed that the gods have abandoned them, but she fins faith in nature as she directs her prayers to entities she has heard about in legend: the Fey Lords. In her prayers she prays that she be made into a cat when she takes the trial of the chrysalis and that she can continue sharing the bed of the urzu after her rebirth.
Delilah dresses in a simple white woolen dress and slippers as she travels with Kodyax to Chrysalis Cavern where crystal cocoons hang over a caldera of constantly steaming water. A pantheros, or cat folk, ryzzo, or rat folk and a lykan druid are in attendance as Kodyax and Delilah enter the chamber. All three glare at the human as the urzu ranger explains the situation.
All three druids nods in agreement as Delilah strips and climbs a stone stalk to enter one of the crystal cocoons and begin her ordeal. The druids were discussing what should be done for the upcoming Yule celebrations but that is temporarily halted as they bear witness to the transformation. Pink light steams from the chrysalis Delilah entered indicating that she is indeed becoming a beast folk; a fact which pleases all four witnesses in the cavern.
Delilah emerges from the chrysalis under her own power as a carnation pink housecat which the male cougar pantheros druid finds most pleasing. She hugs Kodyax which causes the other two druids to smirk at their fellow priest of the feline persuasion as she has chosen the urzu over him. She puts the robe back on and as she does so, it terns a verdant green which is more in keeping with her powers as a fey blooded sorceress.
It was not noticed at first by anyone but the birthmark manifest in green in her fur as a green diamond manifests on her forehead between her eyes. At first when she notices Delilah is alarmed but she is the only one as the ranger and the druids find nothing unusual about it. The wall surrounding them spits out a man made entirely of stone who walks over to them.
"Greetings all," The stone man says with a light tone. "I see someone just survived the trial of the chrysalis."
"A male rock nymph?" Delilah asks.
"I am called, Steward," the stone man says as he nods to Delilah.
"When I was human I had a butterfly birthmark over my breasts," Delilah inquires of Steward, "But now that I am a pantheros it is green. Is that normal?"
"Perfectly normal, Delilah," Steward returns, "You embraced your power in secret. Now you don't have to hide your abilities. That's also why you have the green diamond on your forehead. For those that survive the trial the mark manifests as an indication of your ability to use magic. The color is related to the source of that power."
"I guess that's also why I now have the knowledge of converting so of the potables I would brew as a slave into magic potions," Delilah says with a smirk. "Although I was kind of experimenting with that when I got caught and outted as a sorceress."
Kodyax shows Delilah to the communal brewery where beverages are made for much of the community. At large as well as some import to other places. Delilah is excited to be doing this because she wants to and not so much because she has to.
Delilah kisses Kodyax good bye as he has to go on sentry duty and they agree to meet back at his cave at the end of the day. The weasel in charge of the brewery as a whole is getting everyone to make potent potables for the upcoming Yule festival although some like Delilah are left to their own devices as she is making potions which they can turn around and sell to travelling merchants. An older rabbit makes sure Delilah is on track with her potions, and while they may not all come out perfect; all of them do come useable and do what they should do.
As part of his duties, Kodyax goes on patrol looking for various threats to the community which is usually looking for rogue ghouls or a wandering zombie but red caps, small humanoids with blood red cloth hats that they dip in the cooling blood of their victims, are also on the prowl looking for victims, anyone will do. A small pack of them stalk after the urzu and he pretends he is not seeing them. Five of them attack him at once but it's then that Kodyax shows them that he knew they were there the whole time killing two of them with one swipe of his great ax.
More and more of these evil fey pile on to try and kill him out of spite as they pile on till it gets to be ten to one. But even as they gather to gang up and kill him, Kodyax is well versed in killing them in particular so their plan to overwhelm him failed outright. After more than half of them are killed and the bear is not only still standing but he looks like he is very willing to kill the rest of them; they flee as he limps back to town.
By the time he gets to the hospice he is getting exhausted as their blades took more out of him than he initially realized. A lady wolverine druid working at the hospice recognizes that he has been cursed, probably by the red caps to weaken him but while in combat with the little monsters it failed, now that he needs care it takes effect and lessens the effects of their treatment. Delilah visits the hospice with the rabbit matron to deliver potions when she finds the big bear in bed.
The red caps made the escape clause of their curse vague in that he needs to please a fey or fey touched creature in order for their curse to be lifted. In a secluded hall they pool they watch as their magic is beginning to make him fade from reality, one less hero in the world thanks to them, a fact they take malicious pride in. Unfortunately Delilah figures out the curse and as the powries watch on in horror she strips herself and slips into bed with him so he can please her and thus lift the curse.
Pleasing the lovely Delilah is one thing Kodyax will do quite gladly as he licks her tits and gropes her rear. He finds his strength and vitality returning the more Delilah moans and is pleased at his efforts. Delilah moans quite loudly which arouses similar feelings in other persons at the clinic.
Cold iron wards are renewed all around the mountain town as a precaution against the red caps who are notorious for slaughtering whole villages in the middle of the night if they can get in. While physically they are prevented from entering the village they decide to lay a trap that will go off when someone comes to bathe in the waterfall. That victim comes the next morning as Delilah bathes in the stream and flash of light blinds her temporarily but then curses her in the form of mystical cataracts that form over her eyes to prevent her seeing beyond her immediate vicinity.
Even as a naked Delilah runs back to the hospice for possible treatment the red caps feel a pull to the high courts of their own kind. By doing what they did to Delilah they pissed off a fey lord whose blood flows in Delilah's vein due to a tryst he had before the night of the rangnarox and is just now coming to fruition. Simply put this fey lord is very angry and going to punish the red caps severely when he gets his hands on them.
In bed with Kodyax, Delilah cries as the very fey lord, a seven foot elf like being with skin like tree bark and hair like autumn leaves. He cannot undo what has been done but infuses her additional power, more of a divine nature than anything else before he blows out of town upon the wind as a pile of leaves. It is the start of Yule that night and the gift from the mysterious fey is only the first bestowed upon her as the community at large comes to welcome her to the community, even if she clings to Kodyax to be her protector and in the evening he gets her settled in his cave and his bed as the gift he has to give is shelter and love.