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Anthro Sex Squad Story 1 - Vibra's Story By Killenor Arc 1 - Origins Chapter 14

Braziers of violet flames lined the semi-circle stage of the amphitheater. The air reeked of metal, oil, and exotic spices. Hundreds of sackcloth-hooded figures sat, bound by rope and chain to the seats. Each figure chanted their given lines over and over to the sound of drums. Any who missed their timing were severely punished, glistening scabs from lashings and the raised flesh of old scars obvious upon their naked backs. None had missed their mark in some time though, and today the taskmasters stood idle, yet vigilant, at each row.

The ceremony demanded perfection, but they had all practiced. Through countless setbacks the very best worshippers had been assembled, the ingredients prepared, and the rites checked and rechecked. There only remained the stars themselves to align for the apotheosis to take place.

Queen Aubregina, true leader of all Gurftheim was pleased. Her supplicants, the true inner circle of the Church of the Holy Royalty, were reciting the words with steely perfection, their posture was that of unwavering supplication and their wills were completely hers. She could demand absolutely anything of them and they would comply without question, without thought. They would be the stepping stones, willing and thankful, to her ascendancy of the loftiest of ideals. She would use them to join the pantheon.

Gazing upon her supplicants, the Queen allowed herself a small grin. A lifetime of work had led her here, taken up from her mother and grandmothers before her. Once complete, she would be the goddess of rulership, the final form of the magicks, and subjugate the pantheon with her will. Generations had been spent preparing and now Aubregina would be the one to reap such fruit. A new Magick would be born, her magick, and she would rule all the realms with it. Best of all, no one had truly tried to stop her yet! She would think that if the deities looked unfavorably they would have stopped her by now.

The gods did not oppose her. She would ascend and join them! It would not be long now.

***

I awoke in darkness, the burnt remnants of the block still under my chest. Somehow my eyes had been spared letting me see around me. My limbs were stiff as if they were still bound, but as I tested them I felt the ash of the ropes fall away. _ _ It hurt, I will not lie, but now within me was the balm of love. No pain would ever lay me low again. With vigor I had never felt before I stood tall and looked around me. _ _ The night was no hindrance to my newly blessed eyes and I saw clearly the area scorched around me. Further out I saw the place where my tribe had once lived, now gone and long overgrown. It did not matter, though, as I had expected them to be gone and my body forgotten. By all rights I should be dead and were it not for Aaluran I would have been. But now I knew my purpose and my goals. The beacon of my first task was alight before my eyes to the north and the east. I must cross the land of Romaji and into the kingdom where the royals thought themselves the equal of the gods. _ _ My goal was simple. I was to spread love and hope among the people. I was to be the bane of tyranny and chastity. I also knew that I would not be alone in my tasks. I would meet a group who had been preparing for their role for many years. I would also see other champions of the other gods who, like me, were to provide a disruption to the royalty's carefully laid plans. I would not hinder them nor help them, for they all had their own goals. _ _ As I set out, my skin flaked from me like black rain, shedding the old dead 'me' who had died in the fire and letting the new me emerge strong and fresh from the ash. I must have been hideous to behold... knowing now what I look like... but at the time it felt like nothing but refreshing coolness. Naked and raw I set out for Gurftheim.

***

Doriminay, Elenyra, Issa, and the other leaders of the Conclave gathered round a table, each staring at the map thereupon. It was crudely sketched, not to scale, and had basic symbols, but all knew that this was a map of Gurftheim City. Small baubles and colored stones represented the initial placement of each group and the expected location of enemies.

"My contingent is set to muster in two days from Trenton," said Blossom, a brightly colored frog-woman, "Foxglove and her people will remain there to disrupt the ceremony there."

"I received word from the Romaji front this morning. We can expect no aide from the other side," continued K'tee in turn, the battle-scared rat preening his facial scars as he spoke, "Besides the Conclave, I fear there are none who will stand beside us to stop the Queen."

"There are yet the Untouched," interjected a tall willowy human woman bedecked in wild-colored silken clothing that seemed to be woven from scraps, "They won't fight with us, but you can be sure that they will be trying to disrupt the ceremonies just as well as we."

"And I'm sure they won't hesitate to attack us as soon as look at us," commented Issa grimly, "You know this as well as any Val. They won't stop considering us enemies just because the Royals are trying to rule the world."

"Still," Val responded sharply, "as long as we stay clear of them, we might have an advantage. Perhaps we can convince them to stay their battle with us until the ceremony fails."

"A fine hope," Doriminay cut in, "but even with their help I can't see how any of us are going to survive."

A dark hush settled around the table. Each had already known this mission was doomed. Their only hope remained that they could prevent the apotheosis of the royal family. If they had to sacrifice their lives to keep the world from falling under the evil of a tyrannical new god, then so be it. Still, none wanted to die.

"Survival was never an option," Issa grunted, certainty in his voice, "My friends, my loves, none of us matter anymore. Whatever happens, the battle plan is simple. Everyone fights. The queen cannot be allowed to win. We all know this; we just don't want to say it. However many or few of us there might be, the plan doesn't change."

With a sweep of his mighty grey arm, Issa threw the contents of the table upon the floor. All leaders looked at him, wide eyed and open mouthed. He had been completely calm as he did it, at odds with his proclamation of doom. Elenyra strode toward her lover and embraced him, tears welling in her eyes.

"We fight..." she said sadly, softly, before burying her face in her lover's arms.

"Aaluran has poised us for action. Shi is not a deity of patience and planning. Shi is one of passion." K'tee intoned, "The gods are on our side against this blasphemy the Queen seeks to commit. Issa is right, of course. We cannot rely on anything but ourselves. I know in my heart that love will win the day."

"Love, hope, and freedom," chanted the rest.

***

Andris left one day and did not come back. I was heartbroken for a time, wondering where he had gone and why he stayed away. I really felt like he loved me, and perhaps he did, but I could not help feeling that his absence was because of me. _ _ I remembered my childhood, alone in that nest so long ago. My father had built it, I imagine, though I didn't even question his absence when I was small, but I now made up stories about him to pass the time. They were idle fancies, these stories of my father, but still they helped me cope with Andris' absence for the time. I sat with my eggs, only leaving them to retrieve meat from the smokehouse from time to time. _ _ I remembered too the experience of the day I laid my eggs and now I knew that my time would come as soon as my babies were matured. We roc-folk grow very quickly and although it had been almost a year since I left the Conclave and my friends, I would be able to return to them in only a year or two more. Roc-folk babies learn incredibly fast and grow just as swiftly. Just as my mother had taught me everything she knew during my first year, I would take on the task of instructing my young before they were fledged. I would teach them of hunting, flying, living as a roc, and even the lessons of Aaluran and the mysteries of the other races. _ _ And then I would offer to have them join me. I would let them fly away if they wanted, but unlike my own wanderlust I would offer them the choice to accompany me and see the wide world. I dreamed about taking all five of my children back to meet Elenyra and Issa and all the other wonderful people I had met.

***

Vibra woke to a cracking sound. Immediately she shot upward, afraid that she had damaged one of her eggs while she slept upon it. Eyes wide, she saw quickly that one of the eggs had indeed cracked, but movement from within told her that it was not due to her weight. A tiny, pointed beak pushed itself against the new seam in the hard shell of the egg, splitting it further and giving Vibra the first look at the new life within.

In moments, a little wrinkly-bald head had pushed its way through the eggshell, gazing up at Vibra with huge golden eyes.

"Welcome to the world little one," Vibra said, love gushing from her voice as she beheld her first child. In his face she swore that she could see the future. The potential that such an innocent, tiny body held within it was staggering.

The newborn struggled to get itself free from the hindering shell. Vibra felt a strong urge to aid her chick, to nurture it and be with it as soon as she could, but knowledge held her back. This was the struggle of life, the exertion of willpower that would define this child's strength. If she interfered, she would be robbing it of that strength it would gain by pushing free from its bonds.

Meanwhile, three other eggs began their journey into the world of light and sound. Soon Vibra couldn't help herself for switching between each of her babies as they emerged. The first was done, but tired, and she gathered it close to share in her warmth. As each child emerged they were brought close as well, content to sleep with their mother as they recovered from their first ordeal. Vibra watched and waited, hoping to see final egg crack, hoping to welcome her fifth child to life and to hold it close amongst its siblings.

After three hours she knew with a heavy heart that she waited in vain.

***

Across Gurftheim, all prepared for the coming holiday. Festivals were allowed, nobles showered gifts upon their oppressed peoples, and the home-quartered soldiers stood at ease. This was to be the first Holy Ascendency day, and all the faithful of a thousand races gathered to celebrate. Everyone, from the layperson to the church leaders, participated; knowing that the holiday itself was strictly a solemn occasion. Vendors, all paid by the royal coffers, distributed wares at no cost to the populace, all of them with the royal holy images. Still, every commoner took of these gifts eagerly, not caring what was engraved upon them but only that they had new things that they could use. For this they would give their praise and loyalty in whatever manner the King and Queen asked.

Wethers thought it strange that he was so easily able to walk around in the stolen robe amongst these people and not raise any suspicions. He was clad in a great many 'borrowed' clothes, and had very few places where any flesh could be seen at all upon him. What a sight he would have been, thought he as he wandered among the festivities, all raw and red and hairless walking through this city. Certainly he looked as though he shouldn't be alive at all. Such a figure would raise far more questions than someone hiding their identity. With gloved hands he accepted the trinkets offered by the vendors and smiled at them behind a veil of cloth. Strange, he thought, in his old life he would never have thought humans capable of generosity or happiness. Now he wondered if the same might be true of the other races he had been taught to hate.

Removing himself from the main avenues, he let the currents guiding him here pull him along to an absent pile of boxes. Without knowing, he was certain that this was a secret door leading to people he was supposed to meet. Propping himself against the far wall he waited, expecting something golden to emerge.

The boxes shifted, seeming to move all at once like they were nailed together. A woman stood there, tall, confident, draconic... golden.

"So you have arrived," she said in a lyrical voice.

"Indeed, Aaluran has need of me," he said, slightly confused at the seemingly clunky dialogue shared between two people who knew this would all happen.

"Please, come inside and meet the others," Elenyra said, "Wethers, my visions told me of your name... strange. In our language 'wether' means 'castrated sheep'."

"Strange... yes... it is funny how things work out like that." He admitted with a humorless laugh, "In the language of my people it means 'low born'. You wouldn't happen to have a word for 'first born son' like Wynono would you?"

"I'm afraid not," Elenyra said curiously, "Anyways, we should get started."

Without another word, Wethers followed the golden dragoness inside.