[Companions Chapter 30]

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WARNING! The following text contains explicit adult subject matter. It is not intended for anyone under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18, then you must stop reading now. The author has taken steps to ensure that this story does not appear in any subject-inappropriate or age-inapropriate forum. This version has been posted with the author's permission to Yiffstar.com.

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* _COMPANIONS_

* by Evoquus

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* (c) Copyright 2003, Evoquus, All rights reserved.

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* Feedback is appreciated: [email protected]

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Rating: NC-17 for explicit sex: M/M, Human-Stallion, Anal, Oral, Violence

WARNING! THIS EPISODE CONTAINS THE MOST EXTREME, VIOLENT, AND GRAPHIC

DEPICTIONS OF DEVIANCE IN THE ENTIRE SERIES. IT IS NOT FOR THE

SQUEAMISH OR EASILY OFFENDED. PROFESSIONAL CHARACTERS ON A CLOSED

SET. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR OR PHARMACIST.

Chapter 30: Darkest Horse

Malaya started up the musical round again, but the singing part predictably gave way to the mostly non-verbal kiss-in. Everyone was so engrossed with their osculating neighbor that no one noticed the black mare behind them until her smell was unavoidable.

"Ew!"

"Danny..." gasped Shianna. The revolting sight of him left her otherwise speechless.

"Companion," whinnied a worried Rovaun as he stood up slowly, unsure of the intentions of his mate, who no longer appeared rational after apparently eating a great deal of dung. Most of the mare's face was caked with the dripping filth, to the delight of a dozen buzzing flies.

"You are not well, Companion," said the stallion with a tremor in his usually smooth voice, for he had no idea how to help his mate.

"Kiss me, too," said the mare, coldly.

"Companion..."

"Are you not my husband?" she snipped.

He glanced at Shianna and Malaya who were slowly getting to their own feet, preparing to bolt.

"I am your husband, Companion."

"Then my request is not unreasonable. Kiss your loving spouse."

"You need help..."

"Perhaps if you pretend I am the beautiful Shianna, you will be more inclined to kiss me."

Malaya whimpered in terror, holding close to Shianna. Rovaun glanced at them again as if seeking advice. Shianna gave it in the form of a terrified head shake and a desperate "Don't!"

The stallion returned his attention to the possessed mare, and tentatively took a step toward her.

"That's it, Hubby," the mare grinned evilly, traces of dung clinging to her teeth. "Wifey-poo's waiting for her smack."

"Companion, please..."

"I've got a big surprise for my husband that's simply to die for... Just a couple of more baby steps."

He took another step toward her.

"Rovaun, NO!" shouted Shianna.

"Don't worry, dear," said the black mare to the white. "I'll be happy to pass the smooch to you, next."

Shianna bit her tongue.

"I'm waiting," she said, holding open her soiled mouth for her beloved. Rovaun nervously stepped within range, then briefly pecked her muzzle and backed off, wiping his nose with his leg.

"You call that a kiss?" protested the mare. "I call that an insult! Now kiss your eternal bond mate with the passion she deserves. I know... pretend we're on... our honeymoon."

The stallion finally took a stand. "No."

The black mare stared at him in disbelief, then dropped her head and chuckled. "I'm really freaking you out, aren't I, Husband?"

"Companion?"

"I'm sorry, Husband. I saw everyone making out and just thought I'd have a little fun with it."

"Now THAT behavior is far more consistent with the juvenile antics of my Companion," said Rovaun relieved.

"But... your face," said Shianna.

"Yes, Companion. Please explain your... appearance."

"After you kiss me."

The brief respite from tension had passed. Everyone suddenly found themselves right back in the middle of controversy.

"Why must I kiss you, Companion?"

"You just answered your own question - Companion."

"Let's get you cleaned up."

"No! You must kiss me now! If you love me, you will do this."

"Don't Rovaun. It's a trick!"

Rovaun paused to consider his mate's demand and then made a valiant declaration. "I do love you, Companion, forever and always. And I truly believe that you love me too, and would never do anything to harm me or your sons. Therefore, I will do as you ask, and kiss you appropriately."

"No..."

The red stallion opened his mouth and mated it with the mare's. Like a striking adder, she darted her tongue inside and deposited the venom she had been concealing. The stallion whinnied with fear but could not break free from the teeth that locked onto his own.

"ROVAUN!"

The infection spread rapidly, instantly altering the bucking stallion's mood. He stopped fighting and settled down, no longer apprehensive of his coprophagous mate. Whatever she had vomited into him, he no longer shunned, but rather relished. Shianna cried as she watched her lover slip away, his soul being devoured before her eyes by the vile black succubus. The stallion moaned and swirled his own tongue into the mare's mouth for more filth, and the both of them began to giggle like the true lovers they were.

"You sneaky little devil," chuckled Rovaun.

"That's me."

"You found it!"

"I had to root down to the very bottom of the pile, but I knew it was in there somewhere."

"And now I understand why you couldn't tell me. My oath."

"You need to pick your words more carefully."

"Rovaun?"

"Everything is all right, Shianna. My courageous and thoroughly disgusting mate was just demonstrating the extraordinary lengths he will go to prove a man's innocence. We can now say with complete authority, that neither Daniel, Jeremiah, nor Fred are Harlok's assassin. The killer is an outsider."

"How do you know that?"

"The proof is in the pasture pudding," said Daniel.

"And now I can appreciate why Azgard desires to hoard Fred all to himself," winked Rovaun. "Even covered with shit, the man is quite an hors d'oeuvre."

"Rovaun, what are you talking about?"

"I cannot say, Shianna. I gave an oath that I would not pursue this matter any further, and thanks to my Companion boldly going where no other self-respecting Hipponaur would dare go before, I can keep that oath. As a favor to me, I would appreciate it if you did not tell anyone else about this little episode."

"Husband, I would very much like to dab a little water on my face."

"I'd offer to lick you squeaky clean myself, but... I won't."

"Maybe after I wash up."

"Definitely!"

"So all of this 'kiss me' horseshit was just Danny being an asshole, as usual?"

"That's right, Shianna," said Daniel. "I'm your asshole brother-in-law. I guess dysfunctional Hipponaur family dynamics aren't so different from human ones."

"Not when they involve the same dysfunctional human!"

"That is quite enough from the both of you."

"You're right, Husband. I apologize, Shianna. Kiss and make up?"

"Grrrr."

"Companion, let us leave this party while everyone still has four unbroken limbs."

At the creek, Daniel rinsed the feces from his face and mouth. "You know, Husband, horse poopy isn't all that bad."

"Being an ass man, you probably have a higher tolerance than most."

"That must be it," he said, raising up and shaking off.

Rovaun beamed at him. "You look much better." He reached out to kiss the mare but then held back. "You still reek, though."

Daniel dunked his head some more. "I feel bad about not trusting Azgard."

"So do I, Companion, but what choice did we have? No one is as they seem when a murderer is in the midst."

Daniel grinned at him with eyes just above the water's surface. "I really had you going, earlier."

"Excuse me?"

"With the 'kiss me' horseshit."

"Oh," he smiled. "I should know you well enough by now, but evidently you can still keep me guessing. To be honest, you nearly scared me to death. That little stunt did not improve your relations with Shianna, either."

"I'm beginning to think it's hopeless between me and her."

"Not hopeless, Companion. Strained, perhaps. I think you are doing all the right things, that is, up until fifteen minutes ago. But it is nothing a dozen or so rain checks won't repair." The stallion eyed him affectionately. "No rain checks for you, my Sweet. A typhoon could not keep us apart."

"You're so romantic. What do we do now?"

"Now we inform the others that the killer is from outside the clique. It will be small consolation, but at least it is progress."

"Husband," said Daniel sullenly, raising up again, "we still don't know that for sure."

"Companion, we have been through this."

"Look at the evidence, the VIRTUAL evidence. The only thing I am one hundred percent certain of is that it truly belonged to the killer. But if the killer isn't me, then how did it get in my virtual stomach?"

"I don't know, Companion, and since you will not show me this most recent dream of yours, I can only surmise that you are somehow receiving messages from someone else. It has happened before. Whether or not the sender is intentionally transmitting them I cannot say, but it is logical to assume that your human soul might make you more receptive to external dream state transmissions. It is quite possible that you were, indeed, inside the killer's head for a while."

"It felt more like we were joined together. The link went both ways. He was aware of me, too. I know how he thinks, Husband. He and Zhorelle are a lot alike."

Rovaun stared at him ominously, and suddenly Daniel understood why. "Do you think... Zhorelle is waking up again?"

The stallion shook it off. "No, Companion. Zhorelle would not have left semen behind."

"Oh... you're probably right. That wouldn't be her style."

"Companion, if you know how the killer thinks, then what is his next move?"

"I don't know. He seemed perfectly happy with himself - with Harlok's head."

"He still has the head with him?"

"Yes. He... plays with it."

"Then he will likely kill again. A dead Hipponaur does not last nearly as long as a live one. Where is he, Companion?"

"I don't know, Husband. It was dark. I couldn't see anything but the head."

"You have a psychic link with Harlok's murderer. It is our best chance to catch him. However painful this may be, Companion, you must try to re-establish that link."

"No!" he cringed. "You don't know what he made me do."

"I have a pretty good idea," he said somberly. "Forgive me. I do not wish for you to relive that horror again. We will find another way."

A raucous commotion nearby heralded the return of an emissary. Rovaun and Daniel were quick to join the rest of the clique in mobbing the stallion for information, but it turned out that he had very little to offer. The neighboring cliques were horrified, of course, by the news of Harlok's death, but so far, it appeared to be an isolated incident. It was a relief to know that more Hipponaurs had not been killed, but it also deepened the mystery surrounding Harlok. The question of "Why" was on everyone's mind, but with no evidence found of an outside intruder, nor any indication that a second victim had been targeted, it looked as if the answer might never be known. As for Harlok returning sooner than expected, the reason was rather banal. He simply wanted to be with his clique to provide counsel and comfort after Varyl's passing.

Rovaun proclaimed to all his faith in the evidence that cleared Daniel, Fred and Jeremiah of any wrong-doing. Most Hipponaurs were happy to take him at his word. The few that didn't had already decided to leave to go visit far away friends. Rovaun took no offense and offered them his best wishes for a safe journey and timely return.

Daniel spent the rest of the day convincing himself he had nothing to do with it. Replaying the nightmare in his head was painful at first, but got easier as he found himself able to detach and observe as a non-participating third party. A real semen sample would exonerate him, and he was convinced it was out there. Harlok's head had to be somewhere, and it was brimming with it. The subtlest detail in the dream might reveal its whereabouts, and Daniel examined every speck through a mental microscope. He looked into Harlok's eyes for a reflection. There was definitely something there, but he could not make it out. The hands that lifted the head were not his, but he could not focus on them, because the dream did not focus on them. It was all about the head, and doing unspeakable things to a hole that wouldn't say no. But the head refused to divulge its secret, exercising its right to remain silent. Daniel's best lead was another dead end.

That evening Daniel experienced his first night as a homeless horse when an unseasonable mid-Summer thunderstorm washed through the valley. Most Hipponaurs had very little by means of shelter from the harsher elements, because most didn't mind the weather, especially a wet storm like this one which meant weeks of greener tastier grass ahead. Daniel, however, was miserable. He hated being soaked, and as a human, could never sleep through thunder and lightning unless he wore earplugs and a mask, neither of which he could manage to produce to fit a horse. So he endured it, because there was nothing else he could do.

While the rain pelted him from above, he occupied himself with a singular task: finding the evidence that would either convict or exonerate him, preferably the latter, but either would do. Find a real non-virtual sample and he would be set free. But where was it hiding? This creep liked to fuck things, things that wouldn't or couldn't put up a struggle. Perhaps he killed a coyote and had his way with it, but how could he find it?

The silent electrical flash that lit up the sky for a tenth of a second caused Daniel to jump, for what he saw during that moment could not have been in front of him. Like a drum roll, the thunder rumbled through a few seconds later to underscore Daniel's comprehension of the vision. It was of a headless palomino, twitching horizontally on the ground as blood gushed from its mortal wound.

Another flash, and another vision of the same scene but a different angle, this time with a "head on" shot of blood and gore where a head used to be.

One more flash and one more vision: a close-up of the severed trachea, aspirating bloody spray like the blowhole of a harpooned whale.

He knew that the things he was seeing could not be happening, that they had to be images from someone's memory. Rovaun posited that while Daniel was asleep, he was more receptive than most other Hipponaurs to psychic transmissions. Now that he was awake, it seemed that the lightning acted as a similar conduit, briefly connecting the two minds, bringing the two entities together. But there was much more going on than the mere recollection of a murder. He was witnessing these scenes for a reason: because he had asked to see them, and the Other was subconsciously obliging. The location of the evidence that Daniel so desperately sought was plainly in front of him.

"There's another hole... You sick fuck! You fucked both holes that you made!!"

Being careful not to wake his mate, Daniel got up and ran off towards Harlok's grave.

"I know where you're hiding," he said with new resolve. "And I know you're not me. Soon I'll have proof."

At the next lightning flash, the black silhouette of a man appeared in front of him. "Hello, Friend." The man was gone a millisecond later. Daniel held up and looked around for him. Then another flash briefly materialized him again, always in Daniel's center field of vision. He wasn't really there, but he was obviously awake and aware of what Daniel was up to.

"I know where you're hiding," Daniel shouted.

"Then come seek."

As the black mare continued to trod through the mud toward the grave, subsequent electrical flashes yielded no new insights as to the Other's identity. He had turned himself off, or perhaps wrapped foil around his head to block any more transmissions. This had become a game to him, a game Daniel was willing to play.

At the gravesite, the pounding rain had turned the overturned earth to a muddy slurry. The evidence of his innocence was seven feet down, so he stepped out as a human to start digging, but something was wrong - he was completely naked. His Hipponaur brain was unable to create anything virtual other than himself, but he would not let that stop him. Naked and shivering, he stepped gingerly up to the grave, and began slinging mud with his hands.

"Would you like some help?" said the silhouette during the next flash.

"You've done enough, thanks."

The work was not as difficult as he had expected. The soft mud was easy to relocate, and he still had the stamina of a horse. After twenty minutes, he had uncovered enough of the body to retrieve his prize. Worms had already begun their diligent work, but most of the body had yet to putrefy, Hipponaur essence acting as a natural short-term preservative. Daniel was thankful that at least he would not have to endure the smell of a rotting corpse. He was also thankful that, out of respect for the dead, they had dug the grave big enough to accommodate the body with its head, so now there was plenty of room for Daniel to get up close and personal.

"Harlok, I hope you will forgive me for messing with your body. You're dead and I'm alive. I need to stay alive. You'll still be dead. I hope you understand."

"Perfectly."

Daniel looked up to see the silhouette standing by the grave. It still wasn't really there, but they no longer required lightning to communicate. As he cleaned the mud away from the exposed innards, Daniel felt himself getting an erection.

"Knock it off," he muttered.

"Who me?"

"Yes, YOU! I can't believe this turns you on!"

"I'm not the only one."

"Fuck off."

A timely rain cell passed through, cleansing the wound with a pounding torrent. Then it moved on, leaving nothing more than a light sprinkle in it's wake.

"Baptism from Heaven, perhaps?"

"You are unbelievable!"

"Call it coincidence, then. In any case, Harlok is presenting for you."

Ignoring him, Daniel pushed two fingers into the stallion's esophagus, then held them up to the mare standing above him to examine. There was nothing that she could see. She took the fingers into her mouth, and informed Daniel that the results were inconclusive, but a barely perceptible trace amount of semen may have been detected.

"Give me credit for having a dick longer than three and a half inches. Perhaps yours is long enough to reach."

"You'd like that wouldn't you."

"Don't knock it..."

"I don't have to try it to know that I prefer the living."

Daniel climbed out of the grave to search for a twig he could use to fish out the evidence. The ground was littered with them, but he could not budge a single one.

"Problems?"

"Nothing insurmountable." He instructed the mare to pick up a twig for him, but when she dropped it in his hand, it took on the weight of a neutron star. His hand, followed by the rest of him, plummeted to Earth and remained pinned under the two ounce stick. The mare had to nudge it off of him.

"This is ridiculous! I just moved a ton of earth with my bare hands!"

"Perhaps your brain is telling you something."

"And what the fuck might that be?" said Daniel exasperated.

"You're naked, you're aroused, you can move mountains. You can do anything you want as long as it gets you closer to your goal. Using a twig, does not."

"Fuck off! Just fuck off and die!!"

"How profound. You must have been captain of your high school debating team."

Daniel jumped back into the grave and tried widening the esophagus to see if he could fit his hand in, but it was no use. Like the twig, his hand simply would not do.

"If only you had the right tool."

Daniel looked down at his erection that pulsed with sentience. Then he shrieked when he saw it bend down on its own and blindly probe Harlok for sanctuary.

"Fuck!" Daniel hurled back against the wall of the grave in order to keep the corpse well out of dick's reach.

"You're just delaying the inevitable."

The frightened human turned to climb out, conceding that he was way out of his element.

"Tsk, tsk. I can see you need some help getting over the initial hump. Say no more."

A wrenching pain at Daniel's groin told him someone had grabbed him and was now dragging him around by his dick. The reluctant marionette swiveled around and lumbered back toward the stallion, arching forward with his horizontal hard-on blazing the way. He could fight this ghost if he really tried, but it would mean having to endure his virtual penis being ripped from him. No man would disagree that being forced to fuck a corpse was the lesser of two evils. His dick angled down, bringing him to his knees. Then it stretched painfully forward, pulling with it the ligaments that ultimately kept it attached to his skeleton. It trembled like a compass needle to a magnet, pointing to the hole that was about to be violated again.

"Paradise is just an inch away..."

Daniel could resist no more. He surrendered more than an inch, and was treated to paradise.

"Oh, sweet Mother," he cried, never believing until now that a separate Heaven existed just for penises. Half of his dick was still being neglected, but it was a no-brainer to remedy that inequity. He forced it all the way in and then nearly died of pleasure. His brain swelled with virtual endorphins as synaptic lightning targeting all the right places that brought a smile to his face. Out of his mind with erotic fantasia he made a solemn oath to Harlok to remain here with him until the worms devoured them both.

"Worth it?"

"Y... yes... Thank... yes..."

"Congratulations," said the Other as he turned off the link. "You found me."

Daniel strained to hold on to the fading ecstasy, but it was never his to begin with. He opened his eyes to the cold reality of a cruel world and looked down to get a front row view of Act One of Daniel's Damnation.

"That was just a taste," said the silhouette as it began to pace. "There's more. So much more I want to show you."

Daniel couldn't hear him. All he could hear was Harlok somehow calling out to the Wraith while his dick plugged up the horse's vocal chords. But he also knew that the guilt he felt was not justified, having been tricked and raped by the Other just now. His conscience shook off the tule fog that enshrouded it, and Daniel regained control.

"I've got you," he muttered.

The silhouette sighed. "And there is no point in maintaining the mystery any longer. You'll discover soon enough that the semen currently caressing your dick is very real."

Daniel closed his eyes in triumph.

"But before you pull out, consider this: The deed is done. From now until forever, if someone asks you, 'Have you ever fucked a corpse?' you'll have but one answer. So why not go all the way?"

"Because I don't want to," he said, withdrawing slowly to preserve the evidence.

"Don't you? Don't you want to know your nemesis? You found me, but you have yet to catch me."

"I don't need to be like you to catch you. Fucking a dead horse will not accomplish that."

"Ah, but it will. If you do this for me, then I will reveal myself to you. We did it together once before. I know it was a climax you will never forget, and you were not even conscious then. This time, together, we can produce pleasure beyond imagination."

"You're so full of shit."

"I have no reason to lie to you, because once you have joined me, we will no longer be adversaries."

"Join me on the dark side, Luke. What are you, fucking Darth Vader?"

"In truth," he said, folding his shadowy arms in silhouette, "I consider you, Daniel Racher, to be MY father... philosophically speaking. No blood relation."

"Philosophically speaking, I consider you to be a shithole."

"In a few moments, you will consider me to be your dearest Companion."

"Ha! In your dreams."

"Scoff if you like, but we have already begun. I can feel the sexual tide rising, and so can you. It's going to be a tsunami, soon. When that wave breaks, our rapture will be legendary. Just keep doing what you're doing."

Daniel was startled to discover that he had been slowly humping the corpse of his own volition. It was all lies, but he couldn't deny the feeling that enormous pleasure was building several miles off shore. It was all mind games, he told himself. These feelings were not his, and if there was the slightest chance of catching this evil, then it would be worth it.

"Six bucks a pound," he said to himself. "It worked for Rovaun, it can work for me."

"What was that?"

"Meat. This is nothing more than screwing meat. It does nothing for me. My Primitive couldn't care less. Fucking a hamburger would be more pleasurable - at least that would be warm."

"Hmm-hmm, we'll see. I think you'll be singing a different tune, soon."

Daniel increased his pace to get it over with.

"Yes, Friend, that's nice. Feel that? You're starting to get Ol' Harlok's juices flowing. I do believe he's salivating."

Daniel confirmed that he had tapped into some sort of internal fluid that was acting like a lubricant. It turned his stomach to wonder what it was, but it had the opposite effect on the Other, which made the whole business disgusting, but tolerable.

"I cannot believe how much you dig this."

"Look who's talking... yeah... a little faster."

Daniel obliged, and was rewarded by a perceptible rising in the tide's swelling.

"That's it. You're doing perfect! We're just seconds away, now."

"Um hmm," he agreed. This was going to be a good one. "Tell me your name."

"Soon... very soon."

"Are you Tattoo?"

"No," he chuckled. "As I said, I am not a blood relative."

"Do I know you?"

"You're asking me to give away the ending before the final act."

"Just a yes or no, that's all I want to know."

"Yes. In fact you know me very well. Now less talking and more fucking."

"Okay."

Daniel fucked harder and the feedback was immediate. Penis Heaven was just over the next swell. 'Who could it be?' he wondered. Who did he know that could kill a god and violate it like this. No one. Not a living soul. And his own violation at the moment was entirely incidental. He did not do this to Harlok. Even as he was doing it, he was not doing it. To admit otherwise was to commit mental suicide.

"Look down at yourself."

"Why?"

"Go on, look. It's a lot sexier than you might think."

Daniel dared to view the spectacle of his dick sliding in and out. In the moonlight, it glistened with slime from the horse and from the Other. Like a bad slasher movie, the sound of his groin smashing wetly into meat made the horror seem almost comical in its absurdity. There was no way that this was really happening, and certainly no way that it could feel so good and, yes, so sexy. So sexy that he was no longer in such a hurry to end it. He backed off the throttle, not enough to lose momentum, but enough to hold off the final breaking of the wave.

"I know what you're up to, Friend, and I have just one word for you: Bra-vo. That Tower of Power is going to grow another hundred feet before it smashes us to bits."

"That's the plan."

"See? This isn't so bad."

"It's still just meat."

"Any particular cut?"

"Filet mignon," Daniel admitted to himself, and was instantly rewarded with a micro-orgasm. "Oh! ... Oooh..."

"There, you see what a little honesty gets you?"

"Cut the crap. YOU did that."

"I assure you I did not. That was entirely your own doing. When you face the truth about yourself, you remove the barriers to ultimate pleasure."

"And what truth might that be?"

"Nothing Earth-shattering. That you are simply having a good time. That you enjoy certain activities that other prudes with weeds up their butts might consider abnormal."

"I admit only that I liked that little zap just now. [Zzzt] ... Oh!... Goddamn!! I could do this all day! [Zzzt]... Fucking-A!!"

"Welcome to the O-Zone. You got the door cracked open, now come on in."

Daniel hesitated to take that leap, but found himself considering it. The little hits of ecstasy were addictive, and yet they didn't diminish the big one which was still coming.

"It's not like... this is really hurting anyone."

"Pre-CISE-ly!"

"And if Harlok is watching, I'd like to think that he's happy to know that his body can still give pleasure."

"If anything, he's probably hoping you'll do him in the ass next."

"Gosh, I hope so... What about it, Mr. Ed? Do you like swallowing my dick?"

"A whore's a horse, of course, of course."

"Heh-heh-heh. I'm startin' to think about his head some more, too."

"What about it?"

"That... I kinda liked it. [Zzzt] Oooh... okay I LOVED it! [Zzzt-Zzzt] HOO-HOO-HOOoooo, now come on! Don't tell me you had nothing to do with those."

"You know I didn't. The truth sets you free."

"Well, just call me Sir Cumsalot. You still have his head?"

"You're welcome to borrow it whenever you like. It may need to be emptied, though."

"Oh, I'll empty it for you, of that you can be sure!"

"You know who else has a pretty head on her shoulders? That mare Shianna."

"Yeah," chuckled Daniel. "I wouldn't mind fucking her brains out."

"I called dibs first. You can have sloppy seconds."

"And sloppy thirds and fourths and fifths..."

"That's right," laughed the other, "it only gets sloppier."

Daniel started busting up. "Don't make me laugh or I'll lose it."

"Oh no, we wouldn't want that... This is fun."

"It is."

"First things first, Friend. Let's finish up here, then we can plan our next conquest."

"Okay!"

Daniel pumped full speed, and could practically see the eight hundred foot wave begin to crest.

"This one's so much bigger than I'd anticipated. We make a great team."

"We do, don't we," panted Daniel.

"I would have cum by now, but you've got much better control."

"I've had lots of practice."

"Well, Friend, practice makes perfect."

"Help me out, like before. Let's finish together."

"Yes, Friend. The first of countless many."

Together they shared the rudder that steered their ship headlong into the wave front. Together they pistoned the drive shaft. Together they were unstoppable. Suddenly Daniel felt a finger squirming into his ass, causing the wave to swell another two hundred feet.

"Oh... Lover! Is that you?"

"Not that you need any more help, Companion," said the Other, "but I happen to know that you really like this."

"I hope that's not your needledick," he said, rotating his ass on the backwards thrust, trying to swallow more of it.

"No," he chuckled. "Just my finger. Believe me, you wouldn't be asking that question if it was my dick."

"Well stop fartin' around! Get back there and shove some real meat in. Make me a Wraith sandwich."

"Ha-ha-ha, I'd love to, but at the rate you're going I think I'd fly out of the grave. You'll have to settle for my middle finger for now."

Well... at least its the middle one. But swear to me that your big fat horse-choking cock is going in there next when this is all over."

"Friend, wild horses could not prevent it."

Daniel worked his ass around the digit, much like Danielle had worked him over, giving the Other a taste of what a virtual sphincter could do to a human dick.

"Holy... fuck...," said the ghost. "Maybe I'll risk it! Too bad Danielle can't get a piece of this action, too."

"Yeah, but I think I know what she'd like. After you empty your balls in me, she's gonna wanna felch it all out." Daniel turned to the mare. "How 'bout it Danielle? Think you can shape your tongue into an ass straw?"

The mare nickered and licked her lips. She had joined them, and the wave doubled in size. The time was now.

"Welcome aboard," said Daniel, plowing full throttle. "Shove your finger in all the way, Companion. Hurry!"

"With pleasure."

"Fuck yes! Now diddle my prostate!!"

"Like this?"

"Ohhohhohho... that's it. We're done."

The half mile high curl came down upon them.

"HERE... WE..."

Instantly, Daniel pulled out and held still against the wall of the grave, depriving all of the inconceivable pleasure that had arrived, but not quite. The curl dissipated in the ocean breeze, and the vertical swell gently flattened out, returning the ship to calmer seas.

"What the fuck are you doing!?"

"Proving something to myself."

He climbed out of the grave to retrieve a plastic bag from Danielle. Then he gathered the slime on his cock and sealed the evidence. The mare held onto the baggy with her teeth, and Daniel scritched her behind the ears, thanking her for a job well done.

"Pity," said the Other. "We could have had such fun together... Perhaps we still can."

The mare dropped the baggy as she brayed in mortal terror. Daniel whirled around to see a blurry flash of steel swipe from left to right, then he saw the ground bounce up to him and roll around. When he came to a stop, his naked body fell next to him, flopping around with virtual muscles that had gone open-loop. The mare stood by in shock, unable to do anything but watch more bloody horror unfold.

"What's that in the road, a-head?" said a sardonic voice that he knew instantly.

Daniel was lying on his face, but his nose kept it tilted to the side just enough to be able to partially see out of one eye. He watched the legs of the man approach until his right boot completely filled his limited field of vision. The boot slowly nudged him over, so that Daniel could pan up his legs, up his chest, up to the face of his slayer. A face that matched the voice, a face he recognized, yet had never truly seen before.

"What's the matter, Daddy-o? Soar throat? Feeling a bit hoarse?"

The man Daniel knew as Jeremiah reach down and picked him up by his hair then held him up to eye level.

"Nice ta see ya agin. My goodness, take a gander at Danielle. She has no idea what to make of this."

Daniel found himself facing the mare, who continued to tremble helplessly in gaping fear. The scene spun around for him again, and he stared back into Jeremiah's discerning mug.

"Don't look so surprised, Daddy-o. When you dance with the Devil, expect to get stomped... or decapitated, whatever."

"... Can't... be..." mouthed the twitching head.

"You know, you should bone up on your European history, because this little simulation of yours isn't right at all. Most folks who lose their head generally have little to say about it, afterward." Then he corrected himself. "Ah, that's right - you're Hipponaur. Well, that stands to reason, then. They due have the uncanny ability to keep their wits about them, even when they manage to lose everything else from the neck down. Hmm."

He tossed the head from one hand to the next like a volley ball, then decided to fill in a blank or two.

"So you're wondering how easy-going country bumpkin Jeremiah could have cultured such a mean streak... Ohhhh, I see your confusion now - You cleared me of Harlok's murder before you even cleared yourself."

He shook his own head patronizingly at the other. "But based on what evidence, my ovoid amigo? You never stopped to wonder why I tasted exactly as you imagined I would. Because that's all it was - your vivid imagination. You see, I never actually came in your ass. I did a whole lot of other terrific things to you, but filling you with gism was not one of them. I'm stockpiling it for a very special occasion. But you didn't know that, did you. So you coughed up your own best guess and outsmarted yourself."

Daniel's fading eyes cried in disbelief. How could Parceph's beloved companion be so monstrous? It simply could not be.

"You still don't know who I am, do you. You must not be nearly as smart as you boast, because you know me better than I know myself. Take a good, long, look."

He held the head close, and then a distant flash of lightning illuminated all. For a brief moment that lasted forever, Daniel stared, once again, into the face of evil that went by the name, Garson.

"Recognize me now? It seems like I've known you my whole life, which I suppose is true, since technically I'm only four days old. I was conceived the split second you pumped my heart full of buckshot, Daddy-o. Instant death and rebirth. What you failed to consider at that time, was that I had already ingested a great deal of my mother's blood. Mama took very good care of me while a gestated inside of her."

It was Parceph, Daniel realized. Parceph had unknowingly carried Garson's dormant soul around like a tapeworm in his guts. Rovaun had done the same with Daniel when he'd died. By killing the monster, Daniel had planted the seed of his own demise. How could he have been so careless?

"Can you imagine my befuddlement when I woke up four nights ago not knowing who or what I was. But Parceph knew. He had lot's of memories of Garson that I could play back while he slept. I knew right from the start that it was me I was learning about, and Parceph had enough to give me back my identity. Unfortunately, he didn't leave me very many fond memories of myself, which makes me feel somewhat one-dimensional, but I don't fault him for that. It makes my purpose that much easier. My 'To Do' list is quite short, actually. Number One: Survive. Number Two: Kill you and Rovaun. That's about it... Oh, and how could I forget. Number Three: Fuck. That one kind of goes without saying."

Garson unzipped his pants, then held Daniel's head face up at groin level, positioning his cock at the toothless end of his victim's throat.

"Do you mind? No? Appreciate it."

He forced his way in, and Daniel choked on him as he reached the roof of his mouth and slid back down again.

"Hey, you're right. This does beat fucking a two day old dead horse, especially that gag reflex of yours. I should have left you more of your neck, though. It's not nearly as deep as it could have been... Ha-ha-ha, I gotta tell ya," he snorted, "the expression on your face is priceless."

"Danielle, help me!" silently cried the dying man to the mare, who was making the same desperate plea to him.

"I don't think she's going to be much help to you, Pappy. She's just a dumb frightened horse, and you made her that way, just like you made me what I am, you and your friends, especially Jer-Jer. He's so much more accommodating than Mom. I find I can work his brain that much easier when he sleeps - like now. He also has memories of me, but for some reason he fixated on my sexual prowess as a stud stallion - rather enviously in fact. I can never thank him enough for that. I should thank you all, really - you and Rovaun, Azgard and Fred, even little Tattoo had some insight to offer me late at night while you slept all snug in your beds. Whoa..."

He held still for a minute to let his impending climax wane. This was going to last all night.

"But then the well of knowledge dried up. You all left me with less than a complete identity, and all of it rather anti-socially irresponsible. But this was what I had to work with so I made the best of it. Now to get down to business. Item Number One: take care of Number One. Harlok made that simple. The randy old buzzard has nine bond mares. Now I've got nine more places to hide if I need to. It doesn't take that much blood, really. Just a liter or two, and the effects last a lifetime - literally!

"So on to Item Number Two: killing you and Rovaun. You're already halfway there, shall we finish together, Companion?"

Garson pulled the head from his cock and dropped it on the ground. It bounced and landed on its side facing away from the mare. Daniel could not see him take the knife to her throat and deftly sever her aorta, but he heard the alarming sound of liquid splashing continuously onto the ground, and knew that he had only seconds left in this world.

Garson placed his mouth over the red gusher and drank from the fountain of life, moaning with pleasure as his belly filled to capacity. Completely engorged, he backed away to allow the mare's heart to pump the rest of her blood into the heartless earth.

"Incredible! I can already feel several new hosts rolling out the welcome mat. Danielle, Rovaun... and Tattoo. Unfortunately, they'll all be dead. But there is one other... Little Tantau. He's perfect!"

Garson squatted down to Daniel's level to gloat. "You see, Big Daddy, I can't stay in this body any longer. Parceph already suspects something, and I just can't bring myself to kill my own mother. But with Tantau, I can move in, push him out of the nest and no one would be the wiser. Hey, we're gonna be blood relatives, after all!"

"Rovaun! Help! Husband! Save us!"

"No point in wasting your breath, crying to hubby. He already knows this is happening. The old boy is fast asleep having his first real nightmare, right now as we speak - a real horror show of a dream-come-true. And you wanna know something marvelously ironic? Because a lot of it is about you giving me head, he's gonna wake up with a roaring hard-on. Hoo-hoo-ee, I think I'll let him live with that for a few days before I take a fancy to his cabeza."

The mare fell over when the spouting from her neck had reduced to a trickle. Garson sucked a few more mouthfuls out of her for good measure before finishing up.

"It's time for that head you promised me."

He replaced the blade in the gurgling slit and hugged the mare as he began sawing.

"Did you know that a Hipponaur head can stay alive for hours after separation. There's no real brain damage at first. So you'll be alive and gagging while we become more intimately acquainted. And don't lie to me, Daddy-o, I happen to know that you've been dying to know what I really taste like. Well, today's your lucky day, 'cause I've been saving it all up just for you. During the last hours of your life, you'll be blissfully drowning in milk, savoring my true essence on your captive taste buds. Maybe if you ask politely at the Pearly Gates, they'll let you take it with you."

He gave the mare a final kiss and hummed like a strolling violinist while he bowed completely through her flesh.

The horrified Hipponaurs stared in silence as the last sputtering flame died out leaving only embers to cast a bloody spotlight on the face of the gruesome storyteller. Jeremiah, complete with sailor's cap and pipe, sat grimly before them with his duffel bag on his lap, stroking it like an old stuffed lap cat.

"Garson is baaaaaaaack," said the bicentennial man in a little girl's voice. "He's playing a little game called 'Hide and Seek' and you're it."

The Hipponaurs looked at each other nervously. This awful story did not seem to have an ending.

Jeremiah gingerly opened his duffel bag and reached in with both hands. "But let's hope that when you find him, you have better luck than ol' Harlok did... or the late Mr. Racher."

He produced a large blood-soaked bundle and dropped it on the ground near the campfire. A knife handle protruded from one end.

"Hey, that's my knife," said Fred. He bent down and slowly pulled out the large blade. The entire length dripped with fresh blood. Rovaun nickered nervously then stepped forward and sniffed it.

"It is my bond mare's blood!" he cried, evoking a chorus of frightened whinnies.

Jeremiah sat stoically throughout the uproar.

"What have you done with my mate!" demanded Rovaun.

The man slowly looked up at him and grinned, "Catch me if you can!" Then he laughed out loud like a maniac and suddenly fainted, falling forward into the campfire embers. Parceph grabbed him by the jacket collar and pulled him out. His smoldering hat suffered the worst of it.

Jeremiah woke up with a start then yanked off his hat and stamped it out. The others all gaped at him in silent horror, which for some reason he now found very uncomfortable.

"What's goin' on? Why're y'all starin' at me?"

"Where is my Companion!"

"Danny? Uh... I dunno, Rovaun. Ain't he with you?"

"He went away with YOU, just before you came back to regale us with your tales of abomination!"

"Rovaun, I don't know what y'all are talkin' about. I don't even know how I got here." Jeremiah caught sight of the bloody package in front of him and recoiled. "Holy almighty!"

"Open it," demanded Parceph.

"Companion, I ain't going near that heap o' trouble," he said, sitting down and folding his arms.

"I'll do it," said Fred. He carefully untied the twine and unwrapped the burlap while everyone held their breath. No one noticed the subtle grin on Jeremiah's face. When Fred flipped over the final layer of blood-congealed cloth, the grin evaporated.

Hipponaurs howled their banshee cries while both Rovaun and Jeremiah stared at the inconceivable sight of a black mare's head still dripping with warm blood.

"No," said Jeremiah shaking his head. "That... that's not right. It can't..."

"Companion, what have you done!"

"Parceph, I didn't do it. I swear to Hipponaur!"

"Jeremiah did not do this," growled Rovaun in a controlled rage. Then he stared down the man with murderous fury. "It is Garson!"

"No, no, no... I made the whole thing up! It was just a story. There is no Garson."

"Then YOU killed my Companion," he roared.

"No Rovaun, I swear! I don't know what happened! It was supposed to be an old cow skull and some snakes, that's all. I never touched Danny or Harlok."

Rovaun turned to his Best Stallion. "Parceph, you know your Companion better than any of us. Is that him?"

Parceph brought his head down to the terrified human and closed his eyes. Then they opened with fury that paralleled Rovaun's.

"They are both here. My Companion is dominating now, but Garson is lurking in the shadows."

"Parceph, listen to me! I - made - it - all - up! None of it hap..." Jeremiah suddenly realized that the thing on the ground easily disproved that claim.

"Don't you see, Companion, that is exactly what the arrogant fiend wants you to believe! He manipulated you into thinking it wasn't real. It's his twisted way of wreaking havoc along with his revenge. But I do not blame you for Harlok's or Daniel's death. If anyone is to blame," said Parceph humbly, "it is me."

He lowered his head to Rovaun. "Please forgive me Rovaun. I suspected Garson was alive but I refused to admit it to myself. It would mean that he and I..." The stallion still could not admit the unthinkable.

"Parceph..." said Rovaun, unable to decide whether or not to hate his friend. "We shall discuss this later."

Jeremiah sat with his head in his hands, wondering how it was possible that he could be possessed by such evil and not know it. "I just wanted to tell a scary story," he said to himself. It couldn't have happened, he thought. Danny was just here. Harlok was away on emissary duty. He didn't kill them. He didn't copulate with... Dear Lord, please make it not true!

He peeked through his fingers at his handiwork on the ground, hoping a benevolent Supreme Being would change it back into a harmless bovine skull. The equine head not only defied his wish to transmute, but now leveled an accusing eye on its murderer.

"It's still alive!" he wailed, bringing his feet up onto his seat and burying his head in his arms.

Rovaun dropped down to his mate and wept tenderly. "Companion... Forgive me for not being there to protect you. I... love you."

The mare's eyes welled up and her mouth moved just enough to respond in kind while a thin string of fresh semen drooled out onto the ground.

"Get him out of me!" whimpered the man rocking on the log.

"We cannot, Companion," said Parceph. "Not until tomorrow's sunset. If we force Garson out now, he'll be free to find another hiding place, and he has hosts situated all over the world."

"No, no, no, no, no, no..."

"Use meeeeeeeee..." gurgled the head.

Parceph and Rovaun nervously consulted the remains of the mare.

"Use you how, Companion?" cried Rovaun.

"Ullll... cerrrrr..."

"That's it!" snorted Parceph. "Rovaun, all is not lost. Your Companion and son are still alive in the head, and when it dies, they will continue to live within you."

Rovaun nodded and smiled tearfully at his mate. "Be brave, Companion. Our destiny will yet be beautiful."

"Garson drank Danny's blood. His soul is now compatible with the head as well. If we can force him into it, then Danny can hold him captive until we can toss him into the spatial ulcer. That should keep him imprisoned until tomorrow."

"The trick will be forcing out Garson's soul and not Jeremiah's. They both are now compatible with my mate."

"It won't be difficult to focus on the evil one." Parceph nuzzled his mate. "Don't worry, Companion. You won't feel it. Garson, however, is headed for the very top of Mount Migraine."

"Okay..." he cried, "please hurry."

Parceph picked up the head in his mouth and held the dripping mess in Jeremiah's face.

"Press your forehead into it, Companion. Then we can begin."

The blubbering man nuzzled the carcass as the other Hipponaurs crowded around him to transplant a soul, but it was painfully obvious from the start that they had all chosen the wrong one. Jeremiah jammed his palms over his ears in a vain attempt to block out the piercing whines of multiple exorcisms.

"Stop Parceph! You're forcing ME out!"

"That's right, Garson."

"No, Companion! It's ME! I can feel it! You're killing me!!"

"What's that Garson? I can't hear you over all this noise."

The whines doubled in intensity, and Jeremiah felt himself detaching from his body.

"You are not a nice man, Garson," said Daniel, clear as a bell to the soul that was merging with him.

"I'm sorry..." he squeaked contritely.

"How sorry?"

"Really really sorry," he said earnestly.

"Hey everyone, he's really really sorry."

"How many really's?"

"Two."

"You don't say! A double really? Then he must REALLY be really really sorry."

"I suppose we should forgive him, then."

The assault stopped and the Hipponaurs backed off.

"Well why didn't you say you were really really sorry?" said Parceph, swinging the head back and forth in his grinning mouth. "Heads up!"

Jeremiah opened his eyes just in time to see his mate fling the virtual head into the air where it exploded into a miniature shower of fireworks.

"Wh...?"

The last of the harmless sparks rained down on a black mare coming out of hiding.

"How did you like the ending, Companion?" said his chimpanzee-grimacing mate. "Scary enough?"

"Scary...?"

"Are you okay, Jerry?" chuckled Daniel as he approached.

"What... who..."

The confounded man looked at him and then around at all the other snickering horses, then back to the mare and cursed, "You... BASTARD! You told everyone!"

"I did not!" insisted Daniel. "I agreed to this charade on the condition that I had the option of letting my husband in on it if I felt that a real knife dripping with my real blood was going to be too much for him... So, I told him, and he told Parceph, who then told everyone else. If you're looking for someone to blame, look at your own loving mate. All of this brouhaha was his idea."

Parceph took a bow. Jeremiah was still furious with the mare who had ruined the grand finale of his best horror story by giving away the ending to everyone in the audience except the storyteller. "You told everyone," he grumbled, trying his best to hide his utter elation that none of it was real.

"I'm sorry, Jerry. At first I thought a murder mystery was a fun idea, but then I knew it would have ended in disaster. If I hadn't told them, then you and I would have alienated everyone here for as long as their infallible memories lasted. The Hipponaurs where you come from might have found your bloody theatrics amusing, but these guys have yet to appreciate a good prank because they've never been party to one... until now. Trust me, this ending is much better."

Jeremiah scanned the group of horses who seemed generally pleased with themselves. "You assholes just aged me another two centuries, I hope you know!"

"We're really really sorry," said one, to the belly-busting guffaws of the rest.

"Go on, have your laugh," he said, taking the knife twist much better than most humans would. He pointed to Daniel and squinted. "You are very lucky that I am not a vindictive man." Then he retargeted the finger of doom onto his mate. "You, however, are a big ol' bucket o' glue."

"I will make it up to you, Companion," said Parceph.

"There is nothing you could do that could possibly..."

The stallion bent down and whispered a few choice words to him. The man gasped in shocked distemper and turned to his mate as if never having met the wretched beast before.

"You vile, disgusting, filthy pig... Your place."

Jeremiah hopped onto his back, and the lovebirds departed for Parceph's vile, disgusting, filthy pigsty.

"Something tells me we'd better watch our backs for the next few days. I don't think Jerry is quite the turn-the-other-cheek sort that he portrays."

"Let's hope this doesn't escalate into nuclear war," said Fred.

"It will," sighed Azgard. "Perhaps it is time for me to meet my in-laws."

"I think you're right, Companion." Fred climbed onto his back. "We can come back in a month or two to pick up the pieces."

Shianna sauntered up to Daniel and planted a kiss on the mare's cheek. "That's for giving us all a head's up." Then she kissed his other cheek. "That's for an amazing virtual performance at the end." And finally a long sensuous wet one on his mouth. "And that one is for you, Danny, just so you know that none of that stuff about me in the story is true. Yes I am fond of Rovaun, but I am very fond of you, too."

"Thanks, Shianna, but I already took it with a grain of salt. For me, the most difficult part was not the digusting things Jerry had me doing to Harlok. It was finding out that... everyone knows about my... indiscretions."

"Indiscretions? What indiscretions!?" snorted Shianna. "I assumed Jerry made all of that up!"

"Um..."

"Are you telling me you've already had an extramarital affair!? You just got MARRIED!" She looked to Rovaun to see if he knew anything about it then snorted at his cum slut again.

"Oh God..."

"Out with it Daniel Racher! Exactly how many other Hipponaur stallions have you had heterosexual relations with!!"

"Hetero... Well... none as a mare..."

"Then I ask you again," she said calmly, out-smiling a Cheshire cat. "What indiscretions?"

Daniel turned obliviously to his mate who nodded to him. "The issue of our honor is black and white as far as Hipponaur law is concerned, Companion. The considerable grey area of extramarital virtual sex is not even a blip on the legal radar screen. Jeremiah was simply having fun with your own conscience, which in my opinion, needs to loosen up a little."

"But when Parceph and I... uh,... did it, he told me that my honor was trashed, and his was too."

"Then Parceph was having the same fun. I suspect he thought it would make your encounter seem more naughty."

"So, no one really thinks that I..."

"Danny," said Shianna. "There are many more whispers about Rovaun and me than about you."

"But everyone knows you're part of the family."

"They are whispers of envy, Companion. No one's honor is in jeopardy."

"So you're telling me that as a human I can screw whomever I want whenever I want and still not break my marriage oath?"

"Technically..." hesitated Rovaun.

"And as a Hipponaur mare, I can screw anything except a Hipponaur stallion and still retain my full honor?"

"Legally, yes, but as your spouse I expect that you would consider my feelings..."

"And if I have your consent, then I can screw anyone and anything anytime anywhere!"

"I dearly hope you will show some restraint, Companion."

"Husband! I love this marriage thing!! Nobody pinch me - I don't want to wake up."

"All right, now you are just having fun with me," smirked the stallion to his mare.

"You're catching on, Stud," nuzzled Daniel. "It's great to know I have options that I'll never ever need in a Hipponaur lifetime. Although..." He whispered a sweet something into Shianna's ear.

"Aauughhh!" she gasped. "You... you vile, disgusting, filthy pig! Did you hear what this buggering tramp just said to me?"

"I am afraid not," said Rovaun.

"Then let's all get a move on," she giggled.

"When do I find out what we are doing?"

"Soon, Husband, once we get your blindfold in place."

#

[End of _COMPANIONS_ Chapter 30: Darkest Horse]

[This concludes Part 10 of the series. Take a break.]

[Next in series: Chapter 31: Dysfunction Junction]