A Prince's Promise
The young jackal chuckled as he slipped through the garden of his enemy. His ebony fur shone like obsidian in the full moon light, rippling like waves of tall grass on plains with many hills in a strong wind despite the fact that it carried so much desert sand over it. He had a strong, well defined body, but was a bit lithe, and if all honesty allowed, slightly stringy. He dressed simply, anyone glancing at him mistaking him for a common street urchin, as he did not even wear a shirt, revealing the fact that he bore a four-pack of abdominal muscles. All that he truly wore were a pair of large but comfortable looking pants, stitched in some places and horribly dirty, must like a Indian street bum.
As his digitigrade black hind paws lightly padded on the soft earth beneath him, hardly crushing a blade of grass, his sharp ruby red eyes tore through the darkness of the night, telling him of his surroundings. He was in a palace garden, large ferns growing along the walls, as well as massive trees of varying levels of exoticness. A large stone fountain rested in the center of the room, with a statue of a massive specimen of a Persian lion in full battle armor, bowing his head reverently, his hands resting on the pummel of a curved sword, that was impaled into the back of another fur whose face had been worn away with the ravages of time and the constant flow of water from the wound on his back, a morbid sight to behold.
And above him rested a balcony, leading to a royal bedroom, though whether of the Sultan, the Sultana, or the widely known beautiful Princess, the jackal did not know. For his knowledge, it could have even been the entrance to the royal harem. Or even the royal bathroom. This is what he was here to find out.
He chuckled as his razor sharp wit quickly found a way to ascend to the balcony, and what was within. Along the walls were many poles, hanging long emerald green flags with this kingdom's symbol embroidered upon them. He climbed up a palm tree with relative ease, before kicking off to one such pole, and began swinging upon it in complete revolutions, much like an Olympic gymnast. Just before the peak of his upward swing, his nimble hands released the steel bar, and shifting his weight, he was able to grab the next. Performing the same feet, he hit the wall, his palms and feet hitting it with the softest of claps. Before gravity could exert it's law upon his light body, he shot out one foot, kicking the wall perpendicular to the one he clung to, and threw all his weight to the balcony railing.
Barely, his paws clasped to the smooth marble balcony. He let out a small grunt of pain as his chest collided with the edge, stinging his ribs and his sternum, but he stifled it, and remained still, his pointed ears listening intently for any signs that he had been discovered.
None came. But that was no excuse to allow another mistake. He carefully swung his leg up, and climbed in, as silent as possible. His mission could not be compromised by a simple utterance. He snuck in silently, his ears perked, his nostrils flared, even his fingers trying to sense any small vibrations of the floor.
His nose picked up a soft scent. That of exotic bath oils, smelling faintly of jasmine and lilac, mingled with the soft, almost unnoticeable musk of a female. Fairly young, probably barely of age to be wed and bear strong children. There was another scent, but it was much more vulgar. Like that of a non-sentient dog that sorely needed a long bath and a good scrub. It came from a further corner of the room. His mind had formed a simple conclusion.
He had stumbled into the Princess's bedroom, and she had a pet to keep her company. Though the room was dark, the moonlight blotted out by curtains over the balcony entrance, his other senses told him so. He knew he was supposed to find information of the Sultan... but the male within the confines of his mind told him to just explore faintly.
Softer than a breath, he crept forward, until his nose gently bumped against a soft bed, possibly filled with feathers from exotic bird. He lightly tapped it, to see how easily it would support his weight without shifting it enough to awaken the sleeping maiden. He felt that if he kept his weight a half foot away from where it sunk for the maiden to sleep, it would remain unnoticed. His conscience was screaming at him to move on, to abort this folly. But his youthful male instincts told him otherwise, saying that it would not harm to see the girl.
He took deep breaths through his snout, taking her scent deeply into his being. She was young, possibly fifteen, not a day over sixteen. She smelled enticing, and wonderful. His paws began moving on their own, and slowly hovered to an inch above where he believed her chest to be. Faintly, some part of him forgot the purpose of coming here, except to ravish this young girl. The front of his pants lightly tented as his paws gently brushed the very tips of the short fine hairs covering her chest.
A soft sigh, but no sign of wakening. He took this as a sign to test his luck. Slowly, his paws lowered further, until they very gently lied upon the oh-so-soft mounds of flesh. From how they were soft but firm, and of only modest size, it helped confirm the theory that she had not been with a male, let alone marriage. This excited him further, especially as a faint moan urged him onwards.
He gently squeezed them, feeling how ripe they were, his padded paws feeling the silky fur underneath them as he carefully fondled the delicious melons in his grasp. The female continued to sleep, but it was obvious that she was enjoying the attentions. Beneath his palms, the nipples were becoming vaguely stiff, and her breath slightly quickened, as if she had been plunged into an erotic dream. Another faint scent struck the jackal's nostrils. The smell of her arousal.
Only by the strongest force of will he could gather did he retreat, removing his hands from those succulent orbs. Faintly, he thought about how this female would feel, but he refused to molest her. Yet. He lightly sprung from the bed, and landed on the floor, quiet as the wind that gently rippled the curtains. A broad smirk spread across his muzzle as he slowly began to feel his way through the room, knowing he had been the first to touch the Princess, besides probably her many maids, and possibly her pet.
His thoughts all suddenly shot to the pet as his fingers suddenly grazed another bit of fur. But this one was in almost all ways the opposite of the girl behind him. This was coarse, even a bit stiff, and seemed to be caked in dirt, making the small hairs as stiff as small iron spikes. From the way that it seemed mostly fur but no shifting muscle beneath it, the jackal assumed he had touched the tail. His nostrils flared with it's stench, wondering why a princess of such quality wish to have a pet as ill tended as this. It reeked of so many things, including urine, feces, and old decayed food, he wondered how a thing could be allowed in the castle. He could not even tell if what species it was of, let alone the gender. All he knew was that it was exceptionally large. And once again, his curiosity gained the better of him. He gently stroked upwards along the fur, to see what type of body it was.
Big mistake.
A pair of narrow almond shaped eyes appeared before him, and to his horror, they were glowing with an eerie, spectral light like those of a ghoul, the light radiating from those slits of malice instead of shining with all the faint light within the room. Even more terrifying was the fact that they were of two different colors. The left one was a bright green emerald light, the left a dark, sinister jade glow, both working together to reveal a vaguely canine face, and a snarling muzzle with fairly sharp yellow teeth.
Before he could even cry out, the thing launched at him, and he howled out in pain as he felt sharp jagged claws sink into his shoulders. Things all blurred about him, as the door swung open, revealing two guards with bared swords, one hanging a pair of heavy iron chains with rings at either end. A female voice spoke a little way away from him, but the only words he could catch were "Off, Emrys."
Before a hard blunt object, probably the pummel of a sword, struck him at the base of the skull, and his world went black.
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When he awoke, he found he was chained by the neck to a stone wall, obviously in a dungeon of some sort. All around him, there were stone walls, except for one large iron door before him, with a single fair sized window with metal bars on it. Light pored in through it, and from shadows on the opposite wall, if he stood and looked out, he could see a small group of people standing about, talking. And one creature, possibly this "Emrys", hunched on the floor. He strained his ears to hear the avid conversation.
"... should rot in this dungeon for the rest of his miserable life! The pathetic little rat... touching my royal daughter..." It was a deep, growling voice, of a large and slightly chubby male, the shadow raising it's arms in anger as if to strike at something. The jackal could not tell what species it was, but from a slightly blunt muzzle, he assumed a type of feline. This must have been the Sultan Jafred, the most powerful man within this castle.
"Father, please control yourself! If he had tried anything, Emrys would have torn his throat out the moment I had made a sound!" A female figure this time, thin and luscious. The Princess that he had groped not too long ago, now clothed. Her delicate paw rested on the creature's head, lightly stroking it as she defended it.
"Miserable little mongrel! It should have destroyed the son of a whore when he entered your room!" A foot quickly shot out, and struck the creature, that let out a yelp of pain, then a soft whimper, curling up a bit more.
The female dropped to it, her face turned to it as if to check if it was okay, before looking up at her father, her facial expression lost in the shadow that symbolized her. "Don't call him a mongrel! He's my friend! And your stupid little weapon!"
The male's paw snapped out, and a loud crack was heard, of a slap so brutal that it might have dislocated a jaw. "Stupid wench! It's nothing but a sniveling little beast now. And as I can use it's powers to benefit our kingdom, I have every right to do as I wish!"
The jackal growled softly as he saw this portrayal of the typical family life of this royal kinship, as the female seemed to break into sobs the moment that she hit the floor. The creature, Emrys, huddled closer to her, and to his surprise, opened a pair of thin, fragile arms, like those of a female with long claws at the tips, and embraced the princess lightly, as if to comfort her. "Emrys... you can talk... tell Father what you think..."
The male snarled, and gripped his daughter's hair, pulling her back roughly, away from the creature, which let out a soft whimper as she let out a strangled cry of pain. "So... you're the one who taught it how to speak... too bad the little beast is too damn insane to even realize anything about itself, even that it's talking about itself!" He threw his daughter roughly to the ground away from the beast, who kept it's head bowed quietly. The girl just sobbed softly, the shadow on the stone wall looking to be a broken, pitiful creature now.
Jafred growled, and grabbed the creature by one large ear, pulling it to him as he looked down at his daughter. "Get to bed. You sicken me almost as much as this whelp. Come back when you learn your place." And with that, the girl slowly stood, and limped out of the room.
As soon as the girl's sobs were beyond even the jackal's sharp ears, the Sultan snarled, and threw the creature down to the ground by it's ear, the poor beast letting out a sharp yelp of pain. The king growled, and walked behind the pathetic Emrys, looking down at it.
"Look at you... brainless... barbaric... and a pathetic little beast. I cannot believe that my seed had a part in creating you... your slut of a mother must have been a type of demoness in disguise... had I known about her, I would never have allowed her in my harem..." He gripped it's tail, yanking it so roughly up that the jackal would not have been surprised to hear a snap of bones, before the king's burly paw slapped so roughly upon it's bottom that the jackal felt like crying out in pain in unison with the poor creature as it's bastard father's hand smacked the poor thing's buttocks harder than he had hit his own daughter.
"Feh... your posterior even resembles your mother's... the one pleasant feature you both share..." He gave the aforementioned hindquarters another loud slap, before a soft chuckle was heard. "But in some ways, I must thank her for the creature she had given me... so much power, as well as the ability for me to control it... as well as a pleasant evening that not even my dear sweet wife could ever give at her best..."
The captive's eyes widened to the size of golden coins at those words. The Sultan was so corrupt, he would not only treat his bastard child worse than an animal, but would use it in so many ways... He shuddered in sheer disgust as the king rubbed with one paw below his slightly protruding stomach, groping a place in his large comfortable pants which he chuckled about, enjoying himself.
"Yes... I think one good round for the night... then I shall return to my dear sweet wife, who has given me a daughter worthy of my affections, and show her how I care for her..." He laughed as he lifted the tail high, the creature raising it's hindquarters with it so as not to experience the pain of a lost tail. It was now obvious that Emrys was humanoid and it's body structure as frail and lovely as it's half sister, but the tail was much larger, spread out in a way that told him that it was a vulpine. It's head was hidden behind a curtain of thigh length hair that frayed out in many directions, obviously never given the privilege of a true bath or haircut.
The jackal watched in unspeakable mute horror as the sultan reached up slightly, and pulled down the front of his pants, revealing an exceptionally large, flaccid penis, which he began rubbing gently with one large paw, coaxing it slowly to life. During the time of preparation, the vulpine lowered his front body, and rested its head on the floor, but spread its legs, obviously knowing its fate.
Soon, the fat pole was erect, and from judging the length by the shadow compared to it's thigh, he knew it had to be fairly large. But that was not what bothered the jackal. What bothered him was that the bastard father was now proven to be at least partially feline, because not only was the tapered length large in stature, but also many jagged edges all along the shaft said that it was a feline phallus, complete with painful looking barbs.
The Sultan gripped his shaft, showing it actually was only a little above average size in comparison to his fist, a small bit longer than two hand widths, but the thickness was left to the imagination. He let out a soft purr as he rubbed the pointed tip along an unseen crevice of his child's bottom, his thick fist helping to find the appropriate place. "Mmm... as I don't have the herbs needed to prevent another monstrosity like you being born, your little flower is safe from me tonight... a true pity, as your other hole is not as pleasant in comparison... feel lucky, beast." And with that, he shifted his hips slightly, a slight grip on his shaft showing to help keep the tip rigid enough to sink into the wrong hole, emitting a loud grunt of pain from the fox.
The jackal looked away, clenching his eyes shut, but as his hands were bound behind him, he could not stop his ears, or his imagination. He had honestly once experimented with male sex, and he saw nothing truly wrong with male romance, it was just different and unfruitful to him. But what he was witnessing was nothing but cold blooded lust, no gentleness or emotions behind it besides the wish to use a weaker unwilling creature to get something he could legitimately from his mate. With his own unwanted child, as well!
Closing his eyes only seemed to worsen the image, the scene unfolding within his mind, like a sick type of erotic play. As his ears heard the fox's grunts of pain, and the sultan's synchronized grunts of lust, he could imagine it in his mind. A young vixen, dirty and unkempt, forced down onto her knees and face, with her rump raised to her own father, who was now using his paw to push his shaft into her young tail hole, not caring at all for her comfort as he pushes deeper and deeper through the unduplicated little cavern. The mental image was so horrible and vivid, he felt that it would be better to watch the reality than let his mind enhance it to beyond reason.
Now that he saw the shadows, he saw that the fox had lifted its head, its mouth open in a silent scream of pain, as the shaft was now mostly within its anus, spreading it painfully wide, though thankfully not feeling the barbs... yet. The ruler's expression was hidden, but as he removed his paw from his length, and starting to push in with nothing but his own hips, gripping his child's tail with his other hand, pulling the creature onto his length, the jackal knew he was loving it.
"Yesss... there are a few redeeming qualities about you, bitch... and you know your place..." He punctuated the last word with a short but strong thrust, and a soft slap of flesh against flesh with a little grunt declared that the sultan had impaled his child to the hilt. He remained still for a moment, possibly to admire the feel of flesh around his loathsome rod. Before slowly beginning to wrench it out of his own child. A cry of pain broke through the air as a sick sound of ripping flesh was heard, the barbs slowly tearing open a tunnel never meant for anything to be pushed up it, let alone a feline penis that only female felines can naturally bear.
As soon as he had pulled out to nearly the tip, the bastard began to push in, purring loudly as now his child's own blood was lubricating his shaft with hot liquid to make the trip more enjoyable. The fox, on the other hand, was on the ground obviously not enjoying this in the slightest. It was gripping at the ground, panting heavily, whimpering in sheer agony as its father began a slow rhythm, punctuated by a soft grunt of lust with each successful pump. The jackal wanted to look away, or at least cover it's ears and nose, to block out everything of this, but he couldn't. As the scent of a rutting male and the hot blood struck his nostrils, he felt as if he was going to vomit.
Jafred seemed to relish in this, however. His grunts of lust increased with each pump, now gripping the fox's rump with both paws, pumping hard into its bowels, the feline seeming to act as if this was a female's blossom instead of his own child's ass. He purred loudly, chuckling softly as he suddenly stopped momentarily. "Mmm... it's been a while since I've been alone with you, my pet... let's make this one last..." He laughed, and his head turned, but the shadows didn't show which direction. "We have an audience, after all..."
The jackal felt something in him snap at those words. He was on his feet in an instant, and rushed towards the door, before the chains on his wrists and neck stopped him a yard away from the door, his teeth gnashing at the air as he shouted. "You sick ANIMAL!! You're mating your own child and never even treating it like a living creature!!" He struggled against his bonds, snarling and snapping in the direction of the shadows like a feral beast that Emrys had appeared at first.
The king just chuckled, as he gripped the fox's hair, and pulled it back. Again, the creature opened it's mouth in a mute howl of pain, but slowly to it's elbows. The sultan's expression was hidden, but the enraged jackal could sense that he was enjoying the exhibition he was performing for his captive audience. He got onto one knee, the other resting along the fox's thigh, and reached his hand around to rest on the opposite cheek of the ass he was penetrating with that the arm connected to the body, giving his length a different angle, an easier way to pump to his black heart's content, and a bit more excruciating pain for his bastard child. And as the jackal called the monster every expletive he could imagine, the sultan began again, moaning lightly as he seemed to enjoy this way more.
The jackal watched in sheer rage as the sultan pushed into his own kin, grunting slightly, before pulling out a bit, extricating a moan from the father, and a loud whimper of pain from the creature as its sire's cock ripped along its anal walls with it's barbed shaft, digging deeper and deeper into already painful and bloody wounds. This angle also allowed the canine to see something he hadn't before. Bobbing slightly with each painful thrust was a modest canine shaft, the creature's body giving in to the torture it was given, despite that it was getting no real pleasure out of this rape at all. This made the jackal momentarily silent, now wondering about the "flower" that Jafred had mentioned if this creature was male, but the tumult of insults for the horrible beast that would do this to anyone, let alone his own child, began again swiftly.
The horrible string of insults only seemed to excite the sultan further, beginning to pump into his prey harder and faster, the pained grunts from the creature showing that it was both wishing for it to stop, and that it was near it's own forced climax. A loud smack was heard as the king slapped the fox's rear again for no apparent reason. The event seemed to last for eternity, the sultan using his pet roughly, the creature only able to take it with nothing more than tears and cries of pain, and the jackal trying to stop this travesty.
After a minute or so longer, the crescendo seemed to finally be at hand. The feline was pumping faster, his grunts becoming so loud that they were overriding the fox's matched grunts of pain, or the jackal's now hoarse insults. The fox's shaft trickled with a fluid as it flew back and forth, it's head bowing as it knew what was to happen. And with a loud drawn out groan of triumph, the thrusting stopped, the sultan throwing his head back in conquest as he seemed to climax. The blood trickling from beneath the juncture of his loathsome cock and the child's little colon now seemed a bit thicker, falling to the ground with a few loud splats. For a minute, the jackal was silent. Despite all his attempts, the bastard had finished his foul deed.
Minutes passed. Everything was silent. The jackal couldn't tell if the fox had been given release or not. Time seem to stand still, everything sinking deep into the invader's mind.
At long last, the feline panted heavily, his orgasms completely done. He purred deeply, his paw rubbing over the fox's now probably slapped raw buns. "Good, my pet... now remain still... I need to relieve myself..."
The jackal clenched his eyes, expecting for a loud disgusting sound faintly like flatulence when the pair separated so that the sultan could relieve his prostate and bladder before beginning another round, despite what he had said of a single one.
It never came. All that came was a relaxed sigh, and then a soft trickling of water, followed by a pungent smell striking the jackal like a blow to the stomach. Jafred was using the now blood and semen filled fox as a privy! How low could this creature sink!? The jackal didn't even have the willpower to insult any further. He only could turn his head, and empty the day's previous meal, the hot vomit burning his already aching throat on the way up.
The next thing he knew, the door to his cell opened. And a soft thud was heard, landing in the pool of his still slightly steaming vomit, making him wince slightly. Before he could look up, he felt a hand with a grip of steel pincers grip his muzzle, not allowing him to open it, and he felt his cheek being rubbed against something soft and slimy, with little points tickling his cheek. Then he was thrown so roughly back that he nearly passed out as his skull collided with the wall. He looked up with bleary eyes to see a tall and potbellied lion in regal clothing, complete with a crown... and a now flaccid, spent cock being tucked into his pants.
"Emrys, you will stay here and watch this intruder. He tries anything funny, kill him. You choose how." And with that, the door slammed, and the king walked out, looking rather pleased with himself. Leaving the jackal alone with the creature, that was now whimpering slightly on the ground, but slowly getting to its knees.
The jackal looked at his new cell mate, and tried to not vomit again from the smells coming from it. He now saw that the creature was indeed a fox, but the strangest type he had ever seen or indeed heard of.
This one looked rather scrawny, malnourished. It's fur was every bit as filthy as he had assume, and more, especially now. Drying sperm clung to it's stomach, and blood was still trickling from it's crack over it's tail and legs, mixed with the lion's seed and urine. It looked faintly like a normal red fox, except it had been abused so much, it seemed that it had been driven mad. Even when it had the opportunity, it walked on it's hands and the balls of its plantigrade feet, both with claws that needed a trim, jagged and mud coated, but fairly sharp looking. Between it's legs was an average shaft, possibly seven inches long, and seemed to remain out because of a vulpine knot, like a smooth black ball at the base of the tapered shaft. Oddly, despite the overwhelming amount of stench coming from it, there was a soft hint of female musk. Could it be hermaphrodite?
As his eyes traveled upward, he saw that it had a flat chest that was slightly stretched across it's ribcage, so skinny that if he looked closely, the jackal felt he might see a small pulsation of the beating heart. Finally, he saw its face. And indeed, it looked quite mad. Its muzzle, slightly shorter than a full fox, was coated with filth of all sorts of things, most of which the jackal wasn't sure he wanted to know. It's head fur, or "hair", was obscenely long, covering most of it's body when it sat upright, and was so filthy and matted it looked more like a set of dirty window drapes. But those features were driven out of his mind as he saw the eyes.
The one on the left half of the creature was a brilliant emerald green, even though it was no longer glowing with unseen power as before. Same went with it's jade green right eye, both of which now normal, but wide and slightly twitchy, like those of an animal with a disease like rabies. It's lips curled back, showing a set of still sharp yellow teeth.
The jackal backed away slightly, knowing the extra coating of his own vomit could not have helped the creature's disposition. He kept eye contact with it, his eyes stinging slightly as he fought the urge to blink. The creature, on the other hand, was taking a couple small steps towards him, his small black nose sniffing at him, as if to remember a scent.
He panted nervously, knowing this creature was fairly insane from the speaking of the Sultan and his daughter, and also very dangerous. But thoughts of the daughter reminding him that this creature embraced it's half sister gently, and her words came swimming back into his mind.
"Emrys... you can talk... tell Father what you think..."
He cleared his throat slightly, and spoke in a soft, soothing tone, though a bit off because of his now sore larynx. "Emrys... that's your name, isn't it?..."
The creature froze, looking at the jackal with large eyes, but nodded slowly, his eyes never blinking.
The jackal gulped, knowing that saying the wrong thing would give the creature reason to follow its father's orders, but had to attempt speaking with the creature. If he was lucky, he could woo it like he had done with so many other males and females in the attempt to find one that felt right. "Emrys... a very pretty name... want to know mine?..."
The fox was still for a moment, as if the thought was trying to squeeze into his damaged mind. But soon, he nodded again.
"I'm Lukaku... Lu-kah-koo... can you say that, Emrys?"
The fox's ears perked slightly, as if startled, and the jackal stiffened, wondering if those words had been enough to enrage the creature. The little beast looked up at the window, and then slowly turned those large green eyes back to its captive.
"Lu-kah-koo... Emrys now knows your name..." The voice was soft, and raspy, as if it wasn't sure of how much vibration to put into it, unused to speaking. There was no real masculine bass in it, but no female dulcet tones either.
Lukaku relaxed, breathing a soft sigh of relief, and nodded, making a mental note of how the creature speaks. "Yes... I didn't mean to scare you... I had only come to meet the Sultan..."
The fox seemed slightly confused, this word seemingly foreign to it for the moment, but comprehension dawned within those mismatched eyes. "You didn't scare Emrys... he only attacked because he thought you were going to hurt Umisie... why come to Umisie's room if you were looking for Master's room?..."
It was the jackal's turn to looked confused for a moment. If Emrys was a he, why did he seem to also be female? Umisie must have been the princess's name... a rather lovely name for such a delicate and kind maiden... he thought quickly, wondering what to say.
"Emrys... do you know... Umisie's your sister?..."
The fox whimpered, as if that question struck something in him, and suddenly his ears snapped shut, covering his ears with his paws. "No! No! Master say Emrys not his child! Umisie is Master's child! Emrys not to speak of such lies to sweet Umisie!" He suddenly began beating his head on the stone wall firmly, yelping and whimpering.
Lukaku quickly moved in between the fox and the wall, and winced slightly as the fox's thick skull pounded against his chest, but bore it. "Okay, okay... stop harming yourself Emrys... it's okay..."
The fox whimpered, tears of pain running down familiar trails forged only minutes ago of the molestation he had to endure, but ceased his self assault. He looked up to the jackal with those large eyes, and from this vantage point, Emrys looked like an innocent dog that had been whipped to the point that it would whip itself if ordered to.
"It's okay, Emrys... we won't talk about it... but I don't like seeing you and her being hurt by your master... would you like to be free?..."
Emrys looked to the wall next to him with a dangerous look in his eyes, as if he was ready to bash in his skull again. "Emrys would have no where to go... Emrys stay here... Lukaku shouldn't speak ill of Master..." His voice oddly began to echo with the last sentence, as if gaining power...
The jackal could sense that haste was needed, speaking rapidly. "Okay! Okay... I won't speak bad of your master anymore... but tell me... what do you want most in the world?..."
Emrys jumped back as if Lukaku had brandished a whip at him, looking around nervously as if he expected his master to appear out of a wall. After a moment of frantic paranoid glances, his soft voice spoke in a whisper so soft that even the jackal's sharp ears strained to hear it.
"Umisie to be happy... she nice to Emrys... pets him when sad... talks to him... never hurts him unless he did something really, really bad..."
Lukaku knew he had struck gold with this method. He pressed on, being fully cautious. "Umisie wants you to be happy too... I could hear it... tell me, if I think of a way to make her and you happy, will you help me?..."
The fox seemed nervous again, looking terrified of being caught speaking to the prisoner, much less of a mutinous plot, but looked into the ruby eyes of his charge. "... if Umi is happy... Emrys will do anything..."
Lukaku nodded, forcing a smile. Something within him felt guilty about tricking the fox, as if he was tricking a child into doing something dangerous, but it needed to be done. "If you help me, I'll make sure Umi is happy, and you can be with her... you will not have to do what you did with the Master unless you really want to ever again..."
Emrys whimpered softly, the memory seeming to pain him more than his internal wounds, but nodded slowly. "Emrys heals quick... very quick... but he doesn't want to get hurt anymore unless he does something bad... what should he do, Lukaku?"
The jackal slowly slid into a sitting position, his legs folded in front of him in a basic meditative pose. "All you have to do is tell me how your master has never been defeated in battles, and help me out of this dungeon. Will you do that, to help Umi?"
Emrys whimpered a bit more loudly, but nodded slowly. "Anything for Umi... Master never get hurt in fighting because he never fights... he always sends Emrys..."
Lukaku blinked slowly, but nodded again, thinking about this. "Tell me... what can you do? Why does he always win when you fight for him?..."
The fox erfed, but looked around once again, and whispered softly, "Emrys has powers... Master keeps him in the castle, so no one else knows... but Emrys can destroy the palace, if he was told to... Emrys show you small bit..." And with that, he raised his hand. The canine stiffened, preparing for a test that would cause excruciating pain for the "example".
Instead, the fox seemed to draw something in the air with his two forefingers, a black little line traveling after them. As the jackal watched, entranced, the thing began to take shape. It seemed to be a dark little butterfly or moth, in all honesty a bit cute, if dark. And when the fox drew away his jagged, filthy talons, the butterfly sprung to life. It fluttered towards his chain, and rested gently at his neck, the little wings tickling his neck slightly. He was about to say that something like this was neat, but couldn't harm anybody... before he felt his bindings become brittle and stiff. The butterfly had vanished. He carefully moved to look behind him... when his bindings fell apart, crumbling into sharp smelling reddish powder.
Rust. The little butterfly had aged the solid iron manacles and chains into dust within mere seconds.
"Wow..." He gulped, but stood slowly, making sure it was not only his imagination. "Er... okay. N-now... how does one stop that? You are too powerful to beat normally..."
The fox whimpered softly, closing his eyes as his ears flopped back, seeming hesitant. "But... Master said never to tell..."
Lukaku knew better than to pass up this opportunity. He bent down, and gave the fox a gentle stroke on the cheek, ignoring the stiff fur beneath his paws. The fox's eyes sprung open, and looked at the smiling jackal, seeming now both scared and confused.
"Emrys... if I know, I can let you and Umi stay together... no one would hurt you again... Umi and I will be your friends..."
The fox slowly relaxed, and after a moment of the gentle rubs, he lightly nuzzled into the paw, like a dog or cat would to show affection. "Emrys found a dagger long ago... the dagger protects who holds it from his power... Master sends his mind into Emrys in fights, and uses his body and powers... Master had the dagger hidden in a vault with many traps... said that if the dagger was used against Master, and Master was harmed with the dagger, Emrys would be free of his power... One who holds the dagger has the power to defeat all things unnatural to this world... that's what Umi said the markings on it said before Master took it away..."
Lukaku couldn't help but smirk, continuing to stroke the fox's cheek. He would get the bastard back for all that had happened, and would have his daughter as his bride, and Emrys as their pet... He would not harm either of them. Emrys was an innocent pawn, as well as the daughter.
"Thank you Emrys... could you please show me where it is? Just show me where it is, and I'll go. And when I come back, I'll make sure you and Umi are happy for as long as you both will live. I promise."
Emrys froze, his eyes snapping open again. The jackal froze, wondering if he had said something wrong. The fox looked up into his eyes, looking nervous, but inquisitive.
"Promise?... Umi taught Emrys about promises... if you make one, you have to keep it... or Emrys will gobble you up..." The lips finally twisted into a small, meek smile. "Umi says that if anyone breaks a promise to Emrys or her, they have to be spanked hard... so if you break promise to Emrys, Emrys gets to hurt you bad... okay?"
Lukaku thought about it for a moment. Emrys was like a child, and didn't really know how to lie or bluff. If the jackal did not pull through with the promise, his body, and maybe his life, was forfeit to the odd creature before him. But if he did, he would have the gratitude of the half siblings...
"Okay... I promise that if you help me get the dagger and get out of here, I will do everything I can to make you and Umi happy..."
Emrys nodded, and smiled, before licking the paw on his cheek like a small pup. "Emrys will get the dagger for you now. Wait here, he'll be right back." And with that, he vanished, a spectral after image of him in silver smoke remained, leaving the jackal all alone.
Lukaku was stunned momentarily. He was beginning to like this creature. It was almost like having a child of his own... no, not a child. A pet. A loyal friend. He felt very guilty now, knowing what he must do...
After what seemed like an eternity, Emrys reappeared. But the object he held in his clasped hands must have cost him dearly. There were deep, bloody gashes in his arms and legs, and one of his ears had literally been chopped in half. But despite this, he smiled up at the jackal, and held up the object.
A simple brown leather sheath, holding inside a dagger with a fairly ornate handle. It looked to be of lapis lazuli, the blue stone surrounding a yellow crystal, the grip tapering into a point at the opposite end, though blunted. On either side of the blade, there as a little wing, one a white feathered wing, made of what looked to be marble, and a black demon wing, made of jet, with one little groove smoothed between the "fingers" of the wing, as if meant for a finger to rest there.
"Emrys! Damn it, you should have told me about the traps!" The jackal brushed the dagger from the fox's hands onto the ground, and gently took his head into his paws, turning it slightly to look at the wing.
The wound was healing before his eyes.
"Emrys doesn't mind... he gets many deep cuts in battles... they heal up fast, but leave scars... Emrys has many scars, under dirty fur..."
The jackal didn't know what to say or do. He just sat quietly for a minute, thinking of what he would do soon.
And on an impulse, he pulled the fox into a hug so tight, the fox might have suffocated if he did not let go swiftly.
"Emrys... thank you. I will keep my promise... just open the door, and I'll get ready to make you and Umi safe and happy... you will never need to fight again after I come back..."
The fox looked a bit stunned as well. He had probably never been hugged, except maybe by the girl he avidly wished to help. But his lips broke into a smile.
"Emrys take you outside." And before a word could be said, a large white light surrounded the jackal, and when it was gone, he was outside of the castle grounds, his knees imbedded in sand. The dagger now hung at his hip, tied on by unseen fingers.
He blinked slowly, glancing around. "Wow... your power seems infinite..." He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Emrys... what about you? Won't you be punished for me getting away?..."
Emrys simply smiled, and shook his head. "Emrys doesn't care. If you make Umi happy, Emrys doesn't care if he loses his arms again! Just remember, if you don't keep your promise, Emrys hurt you bad."
The jackal gulped, knowing now the fox could, very easily. At least, if he didn't have the dagger, but he decided not to chance it. "I'll remember. But... Emrys, listen to me. When your Master comes in to see me, tell him I tried to hurt you, and you had to make me die. If you do that, you won't get in trouble."
The fox blanched, shaking his head. "Umi told Emrys never to lie... that wouldn't be the truth..."
Lukaku frowned, but an idea dawned once again. "And she also said she doesn't like you getting hurt, right? After all, you're doing this to help Umi, right?"
Emrys froze in place, hearing this. Two forces seemed to battle in his mind, and it was easy for the jackal to imagine it within his mind, the two mismatched eyes dueling for dominance.
"... Emrys will lie, if it will make Umi happy..."
Lukaku nodded, and stood. "Good. And don't tell anyone that I got the dagger. I'll be back in a day or two, and after that, you and Umi will never be harmed again. Now, please go back to the cell, and wait with Umi for me." And with that, he took off, his paws padding nearly silently across the sand.
As he ran, his mind raced as he formulated his plan. He would go back to his kingdom, rally his father's armies, and ride at the head, ordering those who come close to the powerful fox to stay back. He would shove the enchanted dagger into the sultan's skull, and take his two children to his home, wooing the princess and providing Emrys with a bath and proper treatment. He would ensure those two would be eternally happy, even if Umi refused to marry him.
For the jackal was Lukaku, Prince of a neighboring kingdom, and he had come to find why no land could conquer Sultan Jafred's. And he would take the lands of his enemy, to please his father... and to free the oppressed children of the kingdom.