FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

This story was commissioned by Catsithx, who also collaborated with me to write it. If you'd like to put in a commission of your own, PM me and I'll see what I can do. Feel free to express any comments, questions, or concerns below as well.

I'd also like to thank my patrons, Huskydog, SanSantiago, and MrGolgoth. If you'd like your own bit of thanks, check out my Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=7712890.

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Trent fell to his knees as he tripped over yet another well-placed rock. As much as he has tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his feet, it still made him grimace as he stood back up. Walking over the pebbly roads was something he never got used to, teleportation and going to places by carriage had royally spoiled him. His traveling companion, a tall grey wolf in a weathered jacket and worn leather armor, looked back at him with weariness written all over his face. He irritatedly adjusted the sword at his side, then crossed his arms over his chest in agitation. "You can't fight, you can't drink, you can't even walk," he sneered, "Why the hell did Kerrin decide your scrawny ass was her type?"

"Why it's my lovely skills in bed," Trent smirked as the wolf scowled at him. "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll eventually find someone who can stand that knotted monstrosity between your legs."

He could almost feel the burning hatred of the wolf as he walked past him. Trent knew he needed the wolf's help, but couldn't help but poke at the grumpy bastard. What they had set out to do was not going to be easy, and there was a genuine chance things could go oh so very wrong. But, to save his mate, he was willing to take on these impossible odds.

Two weeks previously, the cozy fox inn had been going about business as per usual. Sakura was cleaning one of the smaller rooms and was in the middle of dusting the nightstand when she noticed a certain gleam in the sunlight. She bent down, reached under the stand, and pulled out a necklace with a horseshoe-shaped charm. At first, she thought one of the guests had left it behind, but then she thought back to the first night she'd met Trent; he'd been wearing something just like it under his shirt, rubbing the silver charm like it meant something dear to him. Maybe he'd want it back...

Sakura made her way down to the common area, humming a half-forgotten tune as she spied Trent. He had Alef perched on one knee, and was reading her one of her favorite stories: "The Smith's Apprentice." He looked up with a smile on his face as she approached, and seemed about ready to get up and hug her until she pulled out the charm. "Honey, what's this?"

Trent's blood ran cold. He hadn't expected ever to see that necklace again, and he would have been happy to never find out where it had wound up. But now, the little shameful fragment of his past had come back to haunt him in the very hands of his mate. "I, ah..." He could see Sakura and Alef both starting to grow concerned, but they didn't know what he was worried about. He could easily play this off as some relic of a bad time, of a lost lover, of anything inconsequential that Sakura wouldn't blink twice at. It could just get swept under the rug again, never to be seen... it would be so easy just to lie... but no, he shouldn't. He couldn't. Sakura was his mate, and she of all people deserved to know the truth. He picked Alef off his knee and set her down on the ground, then pointed to the stairs. "Sweetie, go upstairs, mommy and I have something grownup to talk about." Alef wouldn't understand the weight of what he was about to confess, and even if she did, he didn't want her to see things get ugly.

Alef hesitated, then began walking up to her room with her head hung low. Trent knew that look, he'd had it on his own face countless times, but he didn't want her hurt. Sakura walked up and put a hand on his shoulder, her worry evident in her tight grip. "Trent, is something wrong? Talk to me, I-"

Trent looked up at her, and she could see the sadness in his eyes. "Sit down. There's... there's something I need to tell you. You and Kerrin."

"Trent? Do you need-" Kerrin stepped out from the kitchen doorway, and upon seeing Trent and Sakura sitting solemnly at the table, she walked over to join them. "What's going on?" she asked, and after taking a moment to assess the situation added, "How can I help?"

"I... have something to confess. About the night we first met." He could still lie, could still get himself out of this... but then he'd wind up sitting on a web of lies that'd break at the slightest inquiry. He took the amulet from Sakura, holding it up to the light for all of them to see. "That night, I was wearing this necklace. It's... well, it was a magical charm. I made it myself and designed it to help me get laid, made it so that anyone who started mating with me would get... addicted, for a short time anyway." He watched the expressions of his two mates change as he told the story; Kerrin seemed sad and a bit disappointed, but to his surprise, Sakura grew livid with rage. "I was going to tell you a few months after that, but... well, instead I asked you to be my mates. I never, ever lied about loving you, though, and to this day I-"

SLAM!

Trent's monologue was cut short as some mystical force slammed his head into the table. He could see Sakura holding out her trembling hands, and right then he realized how powerful she truly was. Fear started to take hold of him, a worry that she wouldn't hold back, that she'd kill him in a fit of rage and emotion over what he'd done years ago. It only got worse as something constricted around his neck, and in a moment he could hardly breathe. She was going to kill him, he thought, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Sakura, stop it." Kerrin stood a few feet from Sakura, but she didn't move to stop her. "It isn't worth it, walk away." Her talk seemed to be enough, since the force that was choking him and holding his head to the table finally let up. He hardly had time to recover, though, as he was thrown back into another table. Sakura took one last look at the havoc she'd wrought before storming out the door, going from furious to sobbing in the time it took to twist the knob. Trent could hear quickened footsteps as she sprinted off, and wondered if he'd ever see her again.

"It's not entirely your fault," Kerrin began to explain, "She has a bad history with mind-altering charms." The black-furred kitsune took Trent's hand and helped him to his feet, but kept hold of him when he tried to move toward the door. "Don't chase after her, not yet. She needs time to think, to get her mind straightened out." Kerrin got him settled at one of the tables before going into the kitchen. When she returned, she had a bottle in one hand and two wine glasses in the other; the bottle was labeled as "Shoto's Private Reserve," and was stamped with the image of a winking kitsune. Kerrin popped off the cork before pouring them each a glass, and Trent immediately recognized the strong smell of sake.

Trent heard some confused whispering and turned to see the two rabbits who worked in the kitchen peeking out. They pulled back as soon as he spotted them, though, and he could make out a gruff voice saying, "Leave them be, this is a personal matter of theirs."

The glass of sake slid over to his side of the table, so he picked it up and gave it a sip. It was stronger than he thought it would be, more bitter too, but he figured a bit of booze might help calm his nerves. He took a bigger gulp, then turned attentively to Kerrin.

"When Sakura was about seventeen," Kerrin began, "Her father tried to force her into a marriage with a kitsune boy from an allied family, a boy by the name of Bennett. Shoto set up dates, invited them to balls and galas, and did everything in his power to get the two of them together, but Sakura wouldn't have it. She always told me Bennett was a creep, an aristocratic jerk-off who thought he was entitled to her hand in marriage. When he was alone with her, by coincidence or coercion, he would go on and on about how she needed a strong, kind husband like him, someone to protect her, provide for her, and 'fill her womb with a great many beautiful children.' His words, not mine."

Kerrin took a sip of her sake before continuing. "This forced relationship went on for a few months, with Sakura scorning Bennett at every turn, so one day he decided to take things into his own hands. He got Sakura alone with him in her father's office, got her a little tipsy, then before she could stop him he cast a paralysis spell on her. At the time she was fairly resilient, but Bennett was an incredibly strong caster, and she found herself unable to move. She was helpless as he stripped her naked, all while going on and on about how a female needed to be submissive and how he'd claim her the old-fashioned way. He forced her onto the desk, and got pretty far with... you know... before she finally broke free. She grabbed a fairly prestigious award from her father's desk, hit Bennett over the head with it, then beat him half to death before someone heard the commotion. There was a big scandal and all, but Bennett's parents managed to shield him from the worst of it." Kerrin took another drink, and Trent sensed she was getting to the point of the story. "To this day she hates using magic in relationships, and that's why she reacted, well, how she did."

"But, what I did was nothing like that!" Trent exclaimed, "I didn't rape her, she came onto me!" Well, he thought, you still pushed her to be with you, you made it so she had no choice but to come back for more. The guilt, the thought of not being a part of his lover's life anymore, and the idea that their authentic relationship could get thrown away over something that happened years ago all hung over his head like a dark cloud, threatening to smother him in despair.

Kerrin looked at him with empathy in her eyes. "I know this hurts, but you kept this from us for too long. And, to be honest, I can understand how she thought it was rape."

"But it wasn't, Kerrin! I didn't force her to do anything!"

The black and white kitsune looks at him, confusion warping her brow. "You said it yourself; the necklace made us addicted to you so you could have more sex. How is that not at least partially exerting control without consent?"

"I... look, I can barely cast a simple charm, there's no way in hell I could actually control you two. All it did was stimulate your sex drive a bit, made you a bit more needy, a bit more affectionate. All it did was get my foot in the door." He gently stroked the side of her face, his eyes glowing with happy memories. "Everything else... all this... we did it on our own."

She blushed at this, remembering how the three of them had gone at it like rabbits, but quickly regained her composure. "Okay, but if you are inept at the magical arts, how did your simple charm have such a profound effect? Kitsune aren't exactly easy to manipulate."

"I think... I think it's because you were already feeling that way. I mean, I lost the charm about a month after I met you, and neither of you seemed to love me any less afterward. Plus, we've been together for two and a half years now, and never once did I think you'd stopped loving me." He continued to caress her face gently, trying his best to convey his love with his gaze. "I know for a fact that I've never stopped loving the two of you."

Kerrin softly purred, leaning into his touch before taking his hand in hers. "We both love you too. You gave us two beautiful daughters, the inn of our dreams, and two years of pure bliss. I don't think we could have asked for a better mate." She looked down to the ground for a minute before a joking smile slowly spread across her lips, and her expression went from serious to jovial. "Maybe we don't deserve you, seeing as how Sakura threw you to her mother like a juicy bone." They both laughed at that, hugging each other close in a warm embrace. However, after a moment Trent felt a chilling emptiness wash over him like half his heart was locked up somewhere far from the inn. He pulled away from Kerrin and sighed, trying to figure out what had him so glum. Kerrin was here with him, the kids were napping peacefully upstairs, and everything in the inn was in order, but... it just felt empty without Sakura.

"Kerrin, I'm going to go for a walk. I just need some time to clear my head, and maybe I can convince Sakura to come back home." He started toward the door, grabbing his coat off the rack by the door.

"Stay safe!" Kerrin called after him, but before the words reached his ears, he was already out the door.

Trent tried to think of a way to tell Sakura he was wrong for keeping it a secret while convincing her to come back, but nothing seemed to work. Everything he had built up over the last two years had a foundation of trust, a trust he'd betrayed when he first met his mates. How could she be convinced that that damned charm hadn't built their relationship and that the love they shared wasn't some fabrication? The thought of failure and rejection circled over him like a black vulture, and as he continued down the road, he tried desperately to think of a way to fix his mistake.

Most females wouldn't travel alone in the woods for fear feral animals, bandits, or anything else hungry for gold, flesh, or sex. Sakura, however, was no ordinary female. She was a kitsune, and a powerful one at that; any poor bastard unfortunate enough to attack her would wind up in a world of hurt. But now, with her life cracked and her heart split in two, she hardly felt able to lift a finger. Her gut twisted itself into knots knowing what her one true love had been using her this whole time. Was he even her love? Kerrin always said he'd do anything for them, and he seemed to do whatever she and Kerrin asked him without hesitation. And what had she done for him in return? Why, loaned him out to her mother, the sex-hungry predator. She didn't have much choice in the matter, though, seeing as how her mother would have gotten into his pants one way or another.

Sakura eventually reached a small pond by two tall oak trees, a place she always came to when she needed to think or calm down. She loved it here, where the sounds of the woods and the crystal clear water made it so peaceful and tranquil. She moved to the edge of the water and sat down on a well-worn rock, dipping her feet into the cold water. Her tails settled behind her as she enjoyed the feeling of tranquility, trying to let the calm of woods and the chill of the water dissipate the anger clouding her mind.

Was it wrong to feel this way? Was she blowing things out of proportion? She thought about Trent being with her mother and how his enjoyment from screwing her was likely the product of one of her enchantments. He didn't resist as much as she would have expected to, but maybe she overestimated his abilities; he wasn't nearly as powerful as her or Sakura, or even as powerful as their children once they came of age... but despite his weakness, she still loved him. She could have a strong male by her side as her father wished, but it wasn't the kind of relationship she wanted; she wanted a mate that would love her despite who she was, who didn't care about money or titles or stupid traditions. Trent was all of that, and yet here she was pissed over what he did two years ago.

Was it a love born of lust?

Maybe, but that didn't make it any less real; if all the storybooks she'd read as a teen were to be believed, love could bloom from the oddest places. She smiled as she thought of how he'd go out his way to get both of them gifts, how he would create things for them with his own two hands. Neither she nor Kerrin ever asked for anything, yet he always got something special for them. Once, he managed to get her a black lily from her homeland, a rare feat indeed as it could never grow where they lived.

Sakura had tried to cultivate black lillies herself a few times, but they always died. Kerrin would sometimes tease her about it, saying the flowers couldn't stand her overbearing personality. Sakura gave up, but Trent found out what she was trying to do from Kerrin. On her birthday, while she was out on a trip, he'd created a whole garden for both of them. When she returned, Sakura was surprised by what he'd managed to grow in the garden; there were petunias, chrysanthemums, begonias, and to top it all off, a full bed of black lilies. She'd cried into his shoulder for a full minute, so wonderfully glad that he'd done all of it for her. Of course, once she'd calmed down Kerrin made a snide remark about how she'd just kill the flowers all over again, then ran off laughing hysterically. Sakura chased her around like a little kid until dinner, where the two of them finally started acting like adults again.

Trent had gone out of his way to make his mates happy time and time again. He didn't demand anything in return, he helped out with chores, and he even looked after the kids, something most males would never have the guts to do. He was the perfect mate, and she was blaming him for a mistake that had been buried under years of happiness...

She suddenly realized the forest had gone dead silent. She gathered her mystical strength, but before she could utter a single syllable something made of cold iron snapped around her neck. She scrambled to her feet as she tried to remove the thing around her neck, which had begun to glow a sinister red.

A familiar voice sounded from behind her, droning on like a pompous teacher. "You are so easy to sneak up on, my love. You really shouldn't go out in the woods on your own." Sakura continued to try and pry off the collar, which earned her nothing but a tsk-tsk. "Don't bother with trying to remove it, dear, it feeds off your magical powers and only I can take it off." She continued to struggle against the collar, but something sinister was creeping into her mind. Meanwhile, the voice droned on, "I always told you would be mine, Sakura, and now I have the means to handle your... unpredictability." She finally looked towards the voice with a mixture of fear and anger. It was exactly who she thought it was, the one piece of shit she never wanted to see again: Bennett.

His fur was dark red with jet black feet, paws, and tail tips. He wore an aristocratic riding outfit of black satin, with blood red designs on the cuffs and a row of polished silver buttons running down the front. On his hip was a silver-hilted rapier that looked more like an ornament than a weapon, with a fancy gilded handguard studded with small gems. His ruby eyes gleamed with lust, and Sakura knew precisely why he was here.

"My dear Sakura, what a pleasure it is to see you again in the flesh." His voice dripped with hungry malice, mirroring the predatory thoughts swirling through his twisted mind. "I've been watching you for some time now, my sweet. Are you upset that that filthy alley cat lied to you? I will never lie to you. I told you that you belong to me and me alone, and that is where you are destined to be."

Sakura strained even harder on the collar that now held a steady red glow. "I said don't bother with the collar, dear, I've perfected the design over several months and several lesser females. With it on, you'll slowly come to love me and see me as your rightful master."

She looked at him with hatred, but she could feel a comforting warmth start to flow through her body. He did look rather handsome in that satin coat, and she bet he had a nice package under those trousers... what the hell, where were these thoughts coming from?

His tongue slid across his lips as if he could already taste her. "Mmmm, I can see it's working already. Don't worry, my sweet; I'll take care of those mongrel children you had with that alley cat and that filthy inn you insist on living in. Then maybe I'll take Kerrin as a servant as well... she'd be a great fit for entertaining the guards, don't you think?" Sakura desperately tried to do something, to cast a spell to warn her mate, but the words seemed to die on her lips as the collar glowed brighter. She then tried lunging at the pompous prick in front of her, but her whole body seemed like it was made of lead. "Oh, I so do love to watch you struggle," smirked Bennett, "You're doing such a great job of tiring yourself out. The more you fight, the faster you'll come to see me for what I really am: your one true love. All the struggling in the world can't stop me from claiming you as mine."

Fear began to creep into her mind, the fear that he'd kill her children and enslave her friend. But why did they matter so much? She had Bennett here to provide whatever she needed, to take care of her, to keep her safe, something Trent could never do.

No, no, no! That wasn't right; those thoughts weren't her own, she didn't care a fig for this... strong... handsome... lovely kitsune.

"S-spare them... please..." The words seemed to catch in her throat, almost like her body was trying to stop her from speaking out of turn. "I... I'll go with you... just don't hurt my family." Her voice cracked, betraying the fear and sorrow she felt in her chest. She might be doomed, but maybe... maybe she could keep them safe...

"Oh, don't worry, my sweet, in a few weeks the collar will make you forget all those pesky vagrants. You will live solely to please your mate, as all females should."

Both of them turned as a rustling sounded from the bushes, and Sakura's eyes widened as Trent stepped out into the clearing.

"Sakura? Sakura, are you..." He stopped as soon as he saw both Sakura and Bennett.

"Uh, Sakura, who is this?" Trent quickly realized that Sakura was in trouble and that she was clawing at something around her neck: a metallic, glowing collar. He quickly realized from Bennetts predatory demeanor that he was the one to blame for this, and turned on him with fury in his eyes. "What the hell did you do to her?" Trent shouted, his voice burning with anger. Sakura has never heard him get this furious before; part of her thought he might be able to save her, while another part knew he was no match for Bennett.

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic, you knew she needed someone stronger than you to be her mate. I'll take over caring for her from now on, seeing as how you've been doing a piss poor job of it. Oh, and don't think you'll come to save her like some storybook knight, I'll make sure she forgets all about you and your pathetic excuse for a household."

With a flick of his wrist, Bennett viciously hurled Trent into a tree as he sneered malevolently. Trent felt something snap as he mashed into the bark, maybe a rib, maybe something worse. Trent could only groan in pain as Bennett walked up to him, and couldn't stop him from roughly grabbing him by the front of his shirt. He winced in pain as Bennett lifted him off the ground like a ragdoll, making him look straight into those merciless ruby eyes.

"You're nothing, alley cat, you're not even worth the seconds it'd take to kill you. You were out of your league when you first met Sakura, and now you're out of your league with me. You made the mistake of going against your betters, so now I'm going to take everything that makes your life worth living: Sakura, Kerrin, those half-breed brats, that one-star inn, maybe even those dumb leaf-munchers you hired to help run the place. Don't worry, though; I'll leave you your life just so that you'll have the rest of your pathetic existence to think about how much better I am than you." Bennett cracked a sadistic smile, giggling a bit at his own wit. "Have fun living with the knowledge that you're too weak to change anything!"

He dropped Trent with a loud thud before walking back over to Sakura. He put his arm around her shoulder as he began to lead her away, treating her like he already owned her.

"I let him live so you know no one will be coming to save you," he whispered into her ear, "Your family knows better than to cross me, and Kerrin won't stand a chance on her own. It'd be best for you just to do as I say; if you fight back, I'll make sure your entire pathetic family wishes they were dead. Oh, and I'll make sure your children suffer the most; I'd doubt they'd last more than a minute against my hunting dogs."

Sakura looked back at her love and saw he'd passed out from the pain. Part of her wished he would come to save her, but the sensible part of her knew he was nowhere near powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with Bennett. She merely lowered her head and let her captor lead her along, crossing through a portal that he'd conjured up and leaving her home behind. A second later the portal closed in a bright flash, and all that was left in the woods was Trent's mangled, unconscious body.

Trent slowly came to, trying to comprehend what had happened. He'd come out into the woods to beg for his mate's forgiveness, but in the span of a few minutes, she was taken from him. Kidnapped. In the distance, he could see smoke rising, and the faint sound of panicked screams reached his ears. He wanted to succumb to the pain, to just lay down and die, but he needed to make sure Kerrin and his children were still alive. He slowly rose to his feet, doing his best to ignore the burning pain in his ribs, and started the long trip back to the inn, all while praying his loved ones had been spared.

After an agonizing hour of limping through the woods, Trent somehow managed to reach the edge of the forest, and what he saw there nearly stopped his heart. The inn was nothing more than a burnt husk, two years of hard work reduced to a heap of smoking timber. Fear swept over Trent as he pushed on toward the charred ruin, pushing aside as much of the pain as he could. The fear compounded with each painful step he took as disturbing images flashed through his mind, pictures of Kerrin and Alef and Rini burnt alive. He ignored the crowd gathered around the remains of his home even as some called out to him, the pain and anguish making him deaf to their questions. Many try to stop him for his own good, some to give him medical attention and others to keep him from doing something stupid, but he shoved them aside trying to get to his home. He kept on moving until a large hoofed hand clapped down on his shoulder, holding him in place despite his struggle.

"Get off me! I need to find my family! LET ME GO!" Panic surged through him as he struggled against the firm grip, but when a woolen arm wrapped around his neck, he swiftly realized he wasn't going anywhere.

"Trent, TRENT! Calm down! Nobody's dead; everyone made it out!" Trent stopped struggling as he recognized the familiar voice, and the horned head of a ram leaned in close to his ear. "Kerrin managed to keep the flames at bay with a bit of magic; most of the patrons think it was an act of god or something."

Once the woolen arm had let him go, Trent turned around to see Ingram standing there, and after a few seconds, his muddled brain regained enough sense to hug the big ram. "Ingram! Oh, gods... he took her, he-argh! Hah... I need to tell Kerrin!"

"She's right over there with Emily and Bethany."

Trent looked to where Ingram was pointing and saw the two female rabbits who worked in the kitchen looking after an exhausted Kerrin and his two crying children. He pushed off the large ram and made a limping beeline towards his family, catching Kerrin's gaze once he was about halfway over.

The two bawling kits ran up to their father as soon as they saw him and hugged his legs as if they'd never see him again. He gently caressed their hair, trying to calm them both down with a feeling of comfort. "It's ok little ones, daddy's here, daddy's home. It'll all be fine; I just need to see mommy, okay?"

Alef nodded slightly, tears still glistening in her eyes. Rini, however, only seemed to hold onto Trent tighter. "Where's mommy?" she sobbed, and Trent dreaded having to answer her.

He never lied to his children, though, not once, and he wasn't going to start now. Lying got him into this mess, and more lying wouldn't fix it. As much as it pained him to tell the truth, and as much as he wanted to keep her from being more frightened, he still wouldn't lie to her.

"Mommy was... taken. By an evil person. I need to talk to your other mother and figure out how to save her, okay?" Rini sniffled a bit more, and Trent got down on one knee to look her straight in the eye. "I will do everything in my power to save your mother and bring her home. Nothing will stop me from bringing her home."

Rini sniffled some more as she tried to dry her eyes on her sleeve, but tears continued to stream down her face. She gave Trent an understanding nod like she knew what he meant and understood he'd do whatever it took to rescue her mother. Then the two rabbit cooks came up to look after the girls, and Trent muttered a few words of thanks before walking over to Kerrin. She looked almost as terrible as him, with fur and clothing singed by the fire and an aura of hopelessness hanging about her. Trent could swear she looked paler, too, like something had sapped away some of the color from her fur and eyes. Maybe it was just the ash and smoke playing tricks on him.

Once she saw how badly hurt he was, she rushed over and hugged him, but pulled back after he yelped in pain. "Oh gods, what happened to you? You look like you got thrown off a cliff! Here, pull up your shirt, let me see if I can't fix whatever's broken." Trent carefully pulled up the hem of his shirt, revealing the area where it hurt the most. Kerrin winced as she examined it; she could see a bit of bone poking out under his skin, and under his fur, she could see he was severely bruised. She put her hands on top of the broken bone, and to Trent's surprise, the pain seemed to decrease to a dull throbbing. After a few seconds, she gently pushed inward, and Trent felt his rib snap back into place like some kind of miracle. Sakura kept her hands on him for a little bit longer, and when she was done he felt a whole lot better. "Who did this to you?" she asked, "Did you see a red-furred fox?"

Trent stretched a bit, trying to see how much he could move before it started to hurt. "Yeah, he's the one. I guess Sakura's old boyfriend Bennett never got over her rejection."

Terror crept into Kerrin's expression. "That was Bennett? Oh sh-" She quickly caught herself, realizing the little ones were still nearby. "-shoot. What'd he do to you, hit you with a tree?"

"Well, he hit the tree with me. Hard. Then he took Sakura through some portal, leaving me for dead. I'm guessing he took a quick detour here to burn the place down?"

"Yes, he just threw a fireball into the center of the commons. Thankfully everyone got out safe, but there wasn't anything we could do to stop the fire once it had started." She looked back toward the charred husk that was once their home mournfully, then back to Trent. "He had Sakura with him, too, and I think she was under some kind of spell. She had a collar on that glowed red, and it didn't seem like she had control of herself."

Trent looked down at the ground, trying to get his thoughts in order now that the blaring pain was gone. "I think it was a Herrschaft-shalsband, a collar designed to control magical beings like... well, like you and Sakura. It's the kind of thing archmages used on dragons and greater demons, way back when they still roamed the earth; it's costly and complicated to make, but for someone of Bennett's means I doubt that'd be an issue."

Kerrin's brow furrowed. "And how exactly do you know this?"

Trent grinned a bit. "Two years in Olbeck College of the Mystic Arts. Dropped out after that 'cause I didn't have the money or the talent to go further."

"So how exactly does a Her-shaft-shals... er, how does the collar work?"

Trent tried to think back to his time at the college, pushing aside memories of partying and goofing off. He'd only barely managed to pass the classes there, but he still managed to latch onto a scrap of knowledge he'd read back when he was studying. "It's designed to make the wearer subservient to whoever made the collar, using a bunch of high-power charms to warp how they think. The charms also suck up a lot of magical power, so they wind up inhibiting most magical abilities. I think there's also something about how only its maker could remove the collar, but you can get around that by killing said maker. Or you could unbalance the power..."

"But that would probably cause an explosion or something else horrible," concluded Kerrin. "Probably best to just cut Bennett's throat."

"Yeah, you're right, it would be risky. Anyway, the spell takes a long time to have a lasting effect, but I think the process speeds up of the wearer resists the collar's control. I remember reading about how some warlord got turned into a submissive slave in about three weeks, but..."

"You don't know how long Sakura has." Kerrin finished. Both of their moods darkened at the thought of Sakura becoming some drooling sex slave to Bennett, drained of all her wit and independence, stuck as little more than a shell of her former self for the rest of her life. "Is there anything else?"

"Not that I... wait! I think the collar also saps the creator as well, so the longer Sakura wears the collar, the weaker Bennett's magic becomes! We just have to wait until he's tapped out, and then we spring in and take him out!" Trent punched his fist into his palm for emphasis, a cocky smile spreading across his face.

Kerrin, however, didn't seem nearly as optimistic. "Okay, so let me get this straight: you're going to ride up to Bennett's castle, somehow get past his army of guards, then take him out in a one on one duel and free Sakura from imprisonment with your less than rudimentary magical abilities. Doesn't that seem just a little far-fetched to you?"

Trent's ears drooped as his face twisted into despair. "Wait, he has a castle?"

Kerrin nodded. "Yep, Kalepeck Citadel. I don't know if you know this, but Bennett's father is the chief advisor to a province governor. He can pull all sorts of strings from the governor's shoulder, and one of those strings made his son the mayor of Kalepeck."

"Alright, so he has a castle and a town. Great... just great... is there anything else I should worry about?"

Kerrin put her hand to her chin, concentrating for a moment. "Well, his father is known to keep bad company, so I wouldn't be surprised if Bennett had some oni or plain old thugs as bodyguards. He might also have the town guard under his thumb, though I'm guessing they wouldn't be too much of a threat."

"Well, that's just great," Trent sighed. How the hell was he going to save Sakura with all of that in his way? He wasn't going to give up, he couldn't let his mate get enslaved, but he just didn't see a way through. "Could your parents help at all?"

Kerrin shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Even if they were willing to put their businesses on hold and could weather the political hurricane that'd come from openly attacking another family, Bennett probably prepared for other kitsune; he's likely got some sort of trap to cancel out their magic, and without that, they're little better than..." Kerrin stopped herself before she said something offensive, but Trent still got the message. "Ahh, let's just say they won't be all that helpful."

"Alright, then we can go together, you and me. The two of us could probably slip in undetected, then we just find Bennett, kill him, then rescue Sakura and get the collar off."

"What about the kids? Our children?" Trent looked over to where Rini and Alef were sitting, still sniffling in the care of the rabbits. "Someone's got to look after them, and seeing as how Bennett might come after them it should probably be someone with magic."

He couldn't get the in-law's aid, and he couldn't bring Kerrin along, so what the hell could he do? "Alright, then... then I'll go by myself. He won't expect me, and with his powers drained I could probably take him on."

"No, it'd be suicide." Kerrin reached behind her neck, undoing the clasp of a necklace. When she pulled it out from under her dress, he saw it was little more than a small, round silver pendant. However, as she held it out to him, he could swear the pendant was transparent, and that inside lay some sort of crystal. "Take this and go to Kinallen, I've got an old acquaintance there who you'll find at the Grey Anchor Inn. His name is Damian; he's a wolf with a small scar on his left hand. Show him the amulet, tell him I sent you, and he'll certainly help you."

"Which way is it to-" Trent trailed off as Kerrin shut her eyes and furrowed her brow. She extended one hand toward empty air, and as Trent looked on, he saw a small blue spark flash in front of them. The spark grew into a little ring of fire, then grew some more until it was the size of a door. He noticed that Ingram was drawing attention away from the forming portal, and when he looked back, he saw that it led to woods at the edge of a town.

"Thank you, Kerrin," he said reverently, then stepped through the ring of fire after she gave a quick nod. There was a brief feeling of being wrenched through reality, a bright flash of blue light, and then he was at his destination. The portal quickly closed behind him, giving him one last glance at his home and his mate before he found himself alone. Determined to free Sakura from Bennett's clutches, he set out toward the town, not caring about what his chances of success were. All he focused on was the thought of having his mate in his arms again, and the satisfaction of shoving a sword through Bennett's heart.

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