Red's True Tale (part 4)
#4 of Red Riding Hood
I found myself stirring what must have been several hours later, still curled up on Anubis' chest, the fingers of my useable left hand curled into the long-ish hairs just below his sweet, pointed ears. The fire I had built previously had long since burned out, and my light spell had expired, but there was light - I assumed daylight - seeping into the chamber from the entrance. As I shifted, I could still feel the sticky wetness of our coupling trickling from my nether regions, as well as a dull, but persistent ache at the entrance to my love tunnel. 'Must be from his knot' I mused, smiling contentedly as I recalled our exertions from earlier.
I looked down at the face of my lover beneath me; whether sleeping, or feigning, he wore a mask of contentment. I extracted my hand from his fur, feeling the pressure of nature's call more insistent than before, and carefully wobbled to my feet. Standing sharpened the sensation below from 'ache' to 'pain' and I winced; looking down I could see flaking layers of dried cum making trails along the length of my legs, mixed in with smaller crusted trails of what had to be blood. 'Well this is likely to be sore all day' I thought as I made my way awkwardly towards the cave entrance. As I shuffled un-gracefully, I heard Anubis shifting around on the straw 'mattress'. I cast a glance behind me to see he had rolled over towards where I now stood and was watching me with that contented visage still firmly in place.
"Goood morning my love" he proclaimed.
I couldn't help but smile back at him as I responded, "And to you, lover"
"Doooo be careful stepping out Juuulietta, the path is... tricky" My smile grew at the sound of my name... noone, aside from my granny, had called me by my name in a very long time. Hearing it from Anubis now, charmingly drwan out to almost a howl, sent fingers of warmth radiating out from my chest through my entire body and made me adore him even more. I didn't even care where he had learned it; my name sounded natural dancing from his lips.
Still basking in the warmth of that simple gesture, I assured him I would be cautious and turned back to the task at hand. I walked - now scarcely aware of the pain in my groin - around the bend in the cave entryway and stopped up short. Looking out the cave entrance I could see the forest spread below me in a mosaic of greens, blues and browns. I gasped at the sight of the valley several hundred feet below. I could see the river winding through the greenery, occasionally peeking out through a break in the canopy as it snaked its way along. I could even see my clearing where it cascaded into that lovely little waterfall before continuing on its path. I stepped closer to the entrance and the scene expanded into a panorama; The sun, only half of it visible yet, was rising far to my right. Almost directly ahead (a little to the left), some ways in the distance, I could almost see the city to the north of my village. Following the path of the main road as it made its way south, my gaze soon came upon that same village, almost at the edge of my vision to the left. I could see smoke rising from the chimneys of some of the larger buildings as the community was starting to stir; here the tavern, there the baker's.
I did not realize that I was holding my breath until I felt a hand on my shoulder; a short, shrill shriek slipped out before I realized Anubis had silently come up behind me. The rest of my breath rushed out more quietly as I took hold of his hand.
"This is incredible! I can't believe this view Anubis!" I continued to survey the landscape, constantly noticing new things - a clearing to the northeast with signs of charring, as though someone had cast a fireball there... a brown bear (possibly even the one that nearly killed me) lounging on a large rock outcropping with her two cubs wrestling nearby... a pair of swans taking off from a large pond upstream of my special place, their raucous calls echoing off the cliff face where I was seeing all of this. Breathing in there was a myriad of scents to stimulate my senses, from the hints of wood smoke from the village, to the various trees and flowers of the forest, along with the less distant aromas, including the traces of sweat and sex that still clung to me, and Anubis' distinctly feral olfactory presence.
He pulled gently at my shoulder, turning me to face him, before responding "That view is a sad thing indeed next to the vieww I have noow" He leaned down to me, cupping my chin in his hand, and kissed me gently. My heart melted at the corny, yet heartfelt, endearment and I returned his kiss in earnest.
We kissed briefly - more affection than passion (this time) - then broke off. I turned my back towards him and he pulled me into an embrace, drawing me in against his chest and wrapping both of his long, toned arms around me. Reveling in the affection, I could have stayed that way for hours, except the pressing call of nature. Seeming to sense this (or simply deducing it) he released me with a sigh.
"If yoou follow the left trail down for a bit, you will find a... " he paused for a moment, seeming to search for the right word; "...plateau" he finally offered, "that should suffice for your needs. I imagine you already know, but do not go near the shiny leaves." he added. I nodded, having long since learned about itchweed, and started out of the cave.
Stepping out beyond the entrance, I noticed there was a narrow path to the right, at an incline, and a wider path to the left, seeming to gradually descend. As instructed I chose this path, and after ambling along for about 5 minutes I came upon a plateau, which must be the one Anubis had mentioned. Spanning an area easily several hundred feet, across and deep, it looked as though one of the gods had carved it out of the cliff face with an enormous spoon. It was thriving with greenery, despite the rocky and inhospitable terrain, including several patches of itchweed, a sizable copse of some peculiar bush, several different flowers ranging in color from a soft, dusky pink, to a bold, vibrant blue, and even a hauntingly beautiful species of black flower, similar in character to a daffodil, but jet black with crimson streaks on the outer petals. There was also a carpet of some type of grass that whispered against my bare shins with a feather soft touch as I walked along.
I took all of this in rather quickly before finding a semi-secluded area behind one of the peculiar shrubs, where I conducted my ablutions - no small feat under the circumstances. Once finished (avoiding the itchweed) I stood and walked out the concealment of my shrub, taking a moment to revel in my surroundings. Nearby a thrush called shrilly to its mate, or perhaps in search of one. This thought led me quickly back to my own mate, awaiting my return. I smiled, a mixture of fondness and amazement defining my expression as I thought back over the events of the last few weeks. It was hard to believe that in that short time I had gone from a hermit-like existence on the fringes of a modest humanoid settlement, with no intimate contact beyond myself, to being mated with my beautiful Anubis, belonging to him. Of course the persisting tenderness in my loins solidified the truth of that, along with the residual warmth I felt all over from our coupling. I could feel myself blushing faintly, recalling our shared passion, the renewed warmth slowly spreading from my chest up, making me somewhat lightheaded, as well as down, inciting the first tingles of fresh arousal at the core of my womanhood.
Still smiling, I made my way through the knee-high grass, back towards the precipice, and the path leading back to my lover. I came up short as I reached the edge of the plateau, kicking loose a few pebbles that skittered over the edge and plummeted several hundred feet to the ground below. Upon reaching the edge where the trail should have been waiting for me, instead there was nothing but a sheer cliff face, racing hundreds of feet up and down, but with no discernable trace of the narrow pathway I had traversed to get here. I closed my eyes, counting slowly to ten, and re-opened them, but there was still no sign of my path. Panic started to rise in my chest, my heartbeat accelerating slightly, as I began retracing my steps.
Careful to avoid my mess, I meticulously backtracked my paces; however upon returning to my point of arrival, there was still no sign of the trail. I turned the other way, noting that the descending pathway remained, leading down the cliff face, but turning back to the east there was still no sign of the missing passage.
My heart began pounding faster yet as I wondered what was going on. Suddenly the wind shifted, blowing towards me now from the west, and there were noises carried aloft by the gusts. Voices, of several someones ascending the trail. My breath caught in my throat, just in time to stifle what would have undoubtedly be a squeal of surprise. I could not see anyone yet, but from the sounds they were not far. The loudest among them sounded very familiar; after only a moments' contemplation I recognized it as belonging to Hector. Most likely just beyond where the trail curved with the cliff face, they were close and getting closer. My heart thundered in my ears, the icy tendrils of panic starting to seep into my chest.
My eyes darted around, seeking some place to take refuge, but with little conviction. Hector was a skilled enough woodsman that he would quickly discover me. Thinking quickly I muttered an enchantment as quietly as possible, watching as my footprints were quickly erased, the signs of my passage wiped away. There was still a chance that he would uncover those traces, but it was the only choice I had.
I was still standing there, furiously contemplating my dilemma, when there was a sensation of movement from behind me. Before I could react there was a hand clamped down over my mouth, and another snaked around my waist. My eyes popped open in astonishment as I felt myself yanked backwards, towards the edge of the precipice.
Instinctively I tried to gasp, but could not for the pressure over my mouth. Still riding on instinct I attempted next to scream, but again the hand was pressed tightly enough to preclude my attempt. Immediately following that half second that was occupied by my suppressed startlement, my awareness began widening to take in slightly more remote details: the first that I was not plummeting over the edge of the cliff towards which I had been dragged. The next that there was a familiar scent seeming to hover about the warm presence behind me. Then, that the hand over my mouth was not human, but covered in velvety fur. I exhaled a sigh of relief through my nose as my heart rate started to decelerate to a non-lethal pace. At the same time, the pressure over my mouth gradually let up, along with the grip at my waist. As soon as his grip had lightened enough to allow it, I spun 180 degrees to look up into the face of my canid lover.
I opened my mouth to express my relief but he quickly - if more softly - pressed his hand over my mouth again, shushing me immediately. He gestured over my shoulder back towards the clearing with his other hand and nodded slightly in that direction. Turing back, I saw several figures rounding the bend of the lower pathway and coming into focus. At the head of the troupe was, as expected, Hector himself. Even from this distance I could clearly make him out, between his commanding presence and the handle of his mighty axe jutting out over his right shoulder. In truth a warrior might call such a weapon a bardiche, but in our little village, comprised primarily of farmers, it was nothing more than a big axe.
I watched as Hector and half a dozen of the other villagers came into sharper focus, two of them approaching the spot where Anubis and I stood, Hector and the others making their way into the foliage of the plateau. As the two villagers came closer to us, I looked up over my shoulder at Anubis, my concern undoubtedly clear upon my face. He simply smiled knowingly and nodded back in that direction. Curious, I turned back again and watched as the two men - Javier, my boss and the owner of the mercantile, and his oldest son Piotr - came up to the very place I remember where the path had disappeared on me and stopped up short. Javier held a hand up to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun and looked directly at me, before looking back down the cliff face to the ground below. After a moment he shrugged and turned back around.
Perplexed, I continued watching the group as they walked around the area. For the most part none of them seemed to have a clue what they were doing, as though they expected to find whatever they were looking for (I could only assume it was me) just laying out in the open somewhere. Hector, of course, was the exception. At one point he came out of the brush and gestured to one of the others with him, leading him back into the foliage. They both came out, Hector gesturing wildly as he spoke, while the other (I eventually recognized him as Jaxon, one of the local farmers) looked on dubiously. Clearly frustrated, Hector waved Jaxon off and continued his prowl. Jaxon, meanwhile, walked back to the others, who had grouped together near the head of the lower trail to converse quietly.
Suddenly, Hector's face appeared not five feet from where I stood, angled initially downward, where there were faint traces of my feet where I had been dragged backwards. He knelt down for a closer inspection, softly tracing the tracks as they proceeded. He looked up, briefly, staring directly at me, his brow furrowed in concentration. For the briefest of moments I thought for sure he would spot us there, exposed on the ledge. Just then, Piotr called out, and and Hector looked back over his shoulder in frustration. The gaze he leveled at Piotr must not have been a friendly one, as he visibly paled and ducked his head back into the group assembled there.
Hector looked back towards where Anubis and I were, but clearly his concentration had been disrupted, as he only briefly peered towards us before looking back down at the debris my movement had disrupted, then out over the edge of the ravine towards the forest below. He huffed and mumbled something to himself that I could not make out, then turned back towards his entourage, scowling all the way. Within minutes they had vanished back in the direction that they had come from.
I exhaled the breath I had been holding, the relief evident as I did. I turned back towards Anubis, my slew of questions no doubt obvious upon my face.
"I will explain as we walk" he stated, interrupting the deluge, "If that is ok with you?"
"Yeah, ok, sure" I responded, and we started back up the path. As we made our way back to Anubis' den, I pondered the situation, coming up with many of the answers myself before Anubis confirmed my guesses.
"First I want to apologize I did not warn youu, I forget about the spell that is there." Anubis began. "It seems that there is a spell, or spells, in place that make the upper path seem too disappear, I believe it is what your huuman wizards call an illuuusion. Wolfkin are generally not foooled by such things, as our other senses often defeat them, so at first I was not even aware that such a spell was in place. It was only after several moooon cycles that I chanced upon a huuman exploring the ledge and had stopped where the spell begins. I had thought for cetain he would see me there and attack, or call for help, or something, but instead he looked right through me as though I was not there."
He paused for breath as we reached the slightly extended ledge jutting out from the entrance to his cave, he standing slightly aside to allow me to pass. I nodded, having already reached a similar conclusion, but waited patiently for him to continue.
"It seems that whoever used this cave before me must have been a spell user," he continued, crouching to enter the cavern after me. I could still smell the mingled scents of my exhausted fire - faintly - and our vigorous lovemaking lingering in the air. I smiled warmly as Anubis continued, "The illuusion that hides the path from the plateau also seems to hide it from below, as from that distance my other senses doo not defeat the spell and I am unable to see the path or the ledge from below." I nodded again in affirmation as he divulged what little he knew about the former inhabitant. It turns out that the wizard had left behind several of his belongings, including several books and scrolls, a few furninshings, and a collection of miscellany strewn haphazardly about, suggesting a hasty departure.
Anubis took me to the back side of the cavern, around the corner from where he had earlier retrieved my belongings, and I was surprised by the assortment of things collected there. Two small (compared to him) chairs and a table carved from some dark wood stood in the corner, as well as several bookshelves crafted from the same material lined the walls. Many of the shelves were empty, with neither objects nor traces of dust upon them, but 2 of the shelves were quite fully occupied. One held several books of varying shape, size, and age, along with stacks of rolled parchments - possibly maps, or correspondence, or even magical scrolls - wedged between them. I closed my eyes for a moment, reaching out with my awareness, and discovered there were definitely traces of residual magic present. Intrigued, I made a mental note to examine those further later on.
Looking now to the second bookshelf, this was filled with a variety of odds and ends, including mundane household objects like cups and plates of various composition, 2 small statues elegantly carved to resemble griffons, piles of discarded clothing, an assortment of small matching boxes that appeared to be carved from ivory, as well as a wealth of bric-a-brac.
As I absorbed all of this, I realized I could also hear water trickling, like a tiny stream bubbling over a rocky streambed. Walking over to look more closely I noticed that there seemed to be a basin of some sort jutting out just beyond one of the empty bookshelves. As I moved closer the entirety of the device came into view. The basin appeared to be carved, or sculpted, from some elegant looking black stone with flecks of gold and silver throughout. Above it was an intricately carved golden dragons' head; from the slightly opened mouth of the dragon poured a steady stream of clear water into the basin, which swirled around before slipping into a small round opening in the bottom.
Fascinated, I reached my hand out and intercepted the flow. The water was icy cold as it trickled over my palm and through my fingers. Cupping my hand, I collected a small pool and brought it up to my face, leaning over the basin. There was no real scent to it, so I lifted my hand the remaining distance and drank. Clear and refreshing; this must be where Anubis filled the copper bowl from earlier.
"This is pretty incredible Anubis!" I proclaimed, turning back to face him. Wearing an expression I can only describe as pride, he nodded.
"I am glad you are pleased my love" he stated, the rich timbre of his voice not failing to send a cascade of tingles along my spine.
"It seems that there is nothing about you that I find displeasing" I purred, strutting over to where he stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "Not. One. Thing" nearly moaning, I reached my magnificent lover and let my hand slip, not accidentally, down to his sheath. I stroked the fur surrounding that incredible tool of his gently, along the entire length, until I could see a good two inches of twitching red member protruding. He shuddered and let out a sound somewhere between a whimper and a moan, as his hands dropped to my shoulders. Twining my fingers into the long, shaggy brown tuft of fur at his chest, I pulled him gently towards the makeshift bed.
"Payback begins now." I whispered seductively, pulling him down for a long, leisurely kiss. "Rest assured I repay my debts..."