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The kitsune sat back. Xerio let himself relax against the soft cushions and reveled in their comfort. Yes. That was how life was supposed to be. It was what he had always deserved. It was his right!

Xerio's pair of fluffy tails were pressed against the throne he sat in. Such power! From his mind link, he could peruse on what his other selves were doing as well. The other parts, his other tails, were split parts of himself, for his power was so great that he could afford to divide his consciousness. They were him, yet they were not him. Each of them played a different purpose across the large castle and all of them were feeding. More and more power being gathered. Yes, life was great and on the road to get even better.

It had been five months since Xerio had put his latest plan in action. Capturing the five noble adventurers had been the right move, yes, for they had so much to offer! Back then Xerio had had five whole tails to signify the extent of his power. The infinite potential of a kitsune. Now? Through the plethora of intense feelings he had extracted from those delightful adventurers Xerio had managed to reach his sixth tail. His power grew exponentially as his new tails came, which was what had prompted Xerio to push for a little change of scenery. After the many, many years he had spent in forests it was about time for him to get ahold of something more fitting for himself.

Granted, while the lion king's throne room was large and fancy, it still wasn't a complete fit. Xerio had plans to eventually have people build... perhaps a palace or, maybe even more appropriately, a temple for him. Maybe both? A place where he could be revered as the God he really was. But, for the moment, the lions' castle would do.

With five tails his power and influence were large enough to slowly overtake the forest next to the castle with his flowers. With six? Xerio's flowers continued to expand. Before long the cunning little sweet-scented plants that carried the catalyst of his magic were sprouting through the cracks of stone beneath the castle. In its gardens, in its roads, everywhere! The king and his men were even foolish enough to make little adornments using his flowers on the walls. With his influence so well ingrained over them all it had been a very simple matter for Xerio to take the castle over for himself. That had been about two weeks ago and, while there were still some annoying knick-knacks to work out regarding the nearby town and the king's absence, he would deal with it later. It wasn't as if any mortal that came knocking on the gates posed any threat for him anyway!

Through his mind's eye, Xerio looked. He had one of his tails down at the castle's training grounds where he had gathered all the big strong felines that served as it's protectors when he arrived. Big brutes those were, but so weak-minded! His catalyst carried through the flowers coursed heavily inside all of them making it so very easy for him to influence them. Xerio opened a smile from his throne as, focusing through his other self's eyes, he could pretty much see them as if they were right in front of him.

Some of the lions still wore remnants of their armor on their shoulders. A helmet here, a leg protector there. As for the rest? The kitsune licked his lips. All of them were naked. At least two dozen big male lions laid around the large courtyard. Xerio had split them in pairs. It was all a matter of looking through them to see who disliked who, who was a rival or who, and so on. Then, he had masterfully paired those together and trapped them within their own minds.

It was quite a pathetic sight, really. It was always one lion laid down on the ground squirming and twitching. Xerio had them believe they were bound so even though their arms were hanging free, they did not move them. The other lion was then enthralled to... well, to many things. Suck the other one off, fuck them against the ground, shove their dicks into their muzzles or any other kind of emasculating activity the kitsune, or maybe even the lions themselves could think of. The lion on the bottom was forced to lay there and take it from his enemy believing he had no choice. Feeling the depth of his humiliation! Then, as soon as one lion cummed? They both forgot. A minute later the lion that had been doing the fucking would fall down on the ground while the other would be compelled to do the same thing to his now downed rival. Trapped in their own worlds of illusion they couldn't even notice that their asses were still dripping with their counterpart's semen when they shoved their own dicks up the other's tailhole.

In other parts of the castle, Xerio had his other two tails working as well. Servants, workers, nobles or even unfortunate commoners that happened to be in the castle when Xerio arrived were all under his influence. All of them suffered similar, yet unique fates that allowed the kitsune to feed on the strong feelings he drew from them. Every minute, every hour and every day Xerio's power grew. Soon enough he'd grow his seventh tail allowing his power to expand even further. Then, much as the kitsunes of old, he'd take over towns, then cities, and one day, if everything went well, Xerio hoped to see the whole land covered in his flowers so that he and he alone could take his rightful place ruling over all as the most powerful of all beings.

However, as fun as the castle folk was to toy with, the kitsune still had a distinct preference for his five new favorite toys. They were, after all, the most delicious souls he had the pleasure of tasting with all of their noble intentions and strong sense of pride. Even after five months of taking they still had so much to give! That was why Xerio chose to keep the five of them close to him at all times. Whenever he grew bored Xerio knew that they would always be there to entertain him.

The adventurer that Xerio had been waiting for walked through the large doors of the throne room right at that moment bringing the kitsune's attention back to his real self.

The dragon, Dreviren, hadn't had a chance to practice with the bow that he was so proficient with in months. He walked in with his head held high despite his state of almost absolute nudity. The only thing Xerio had let him wear was a white tie-like band around his neck that, in the kitsune's opinion, had a nice contrast with his black scales. The dragon had adapted well to his treatment. Or, at least, he was good at making it look like he did. Getting inside the dragon's head through his thick magic resistant scales was troublesome at times, especially when Xerio's power was split as it was, but he had done so enough times to know what laid beneath the dragon's facade of dignity.

The adventurer approached Xerio's throne and went down to one knee, bowing his head.

"Everything is ready for today's event, your grace," Dreviren said. His voice was controlled, his tone respectful. Yes, the dragon had fit well in the position of steward that Xerio had put him in. Xerio giggled. It pleased him greatly to see the dragon bowing down to him like that. More so because Xerio knew.

He knew that deep down it was killing the dragon to have to do this. To have to serve him as his 'steward'. To obey Xerio's every whim and do everything he asked which, more often than not, was something that would end up in further torment or humiliation towards his own friends. Yes, the dragon was good at hiding it on the surface, but Xerio had never been one to be limited to the surface. Everything was exactly as Xerio wanted. After all, if the dragon didn't hold on to some internal notion of hope then his methods in breaking and bringing out frustration when those hopes were shattered would not work. Yes, he needed them hopeful so that he could break it again and feed on the results.

"Very good, steward. Did you bring the mirror?" Xerio asked with a grin.

"Velv- I'm sorry, your jester is bringing it up as we speak," the dragon said with his head kept low.

Just as if on cue, the hyena's grunting could be heard as he pulled a large, round full-body mirror in its stand into the throne room. The former bard, much like his companion, was almost fully nude. Since the hyena was so good at entertaining crowds, Xerio had decided that Velven would be his personal jester. Every king needed one, didn't they?

Therefore the hyena's attire changed according to Xerio's mood. Sometimes he would have him dress up with a girly dress or skirt so that he could laugh (and feed) from how embarrassed the hyena was when he was made to walk around the castle wearing it. Sometimes he would have the bard wear revealing clothing, sometimes no clothing at all. At that moment, Velven wore a set of simple peasant clothes. Basic, of course, but the fun twist was that they were torn in all the right spots so that what lay beneath his tail as well as his sheath and balls stood out from them as if he was naked. That was a result of Xerio's entertainment from a few days ago where he had his jester 'thrown to the lions', so to speak. It was fun watching how the bard had evolved so much that he could almost take three dicks at once beneath his tail. He would get there eventually.

Sitting on his throne, Xerio waited until the struggling bard managed to pull the heavy mirror across the large hall until it sat in front of him. The kitsune could see Dreviren twitching to go help, but the dragon stood by the side of his throne dutifully instead. By the time the mirror was properly placed, the hyena was panting and barely able to breathe.

"It's... it's here, your grace, the biggest- ...mirror," Velven said having to pause to breathe between his words.

Xerio just waved a hand towards him. "Very good! Now go down to the castle kitchen and bring me something to eat. I want something meaty. And it better be good!"

Velven's ears dropped at the notion of walking all the way down to the kitchen at the base of the castle, but the bard didn't dare complain.

"Yes, your grace..." Velven was forced to say. Xerio watched him turn around and pried into his mind for just a moment. He could feel the physical strain the hyena felt. Xerio made a mental note to prepare something very... active for the bard later.

As the bard left to get his food, Xerio stood up.

"The lion prince is in place, you said?" he asked the dragon, who in turn nodded and bowed his head.

"Yes, your grace..."

"Very well."

It took a little focus for Xerio to split himself. Every time he did it, it was as if a part of his mind was ripped off from him. The kitsune closed his eyes for a moment, swished his tails behind him and focused on visualizing them apart...

And when he opened his eyes again, apart they were.

The kitsune smiled and sat back down on his throne now with a single tail left behind him. His other self just split from his own body was an impeccable copy of him. His body was as perfect as his own, laid bare from the tip of his fox-like ears to the very claws of his toes. As Xerio looked at himself, he licked his lips. Damn, he looked good. The kitsune took a last look at the replica of his own sheath and plump, round balls, then gave his other good looking self a small slap on the rear that prompted a pleased grin from both. A mental command was enough for his counterpart to leave.

Left to again be the only Xerio in the throne room, he waved his hand towards the mirror.

"Push that further back. I don't really need the mirror, but I thought that today my personal court would like to watch the events from up close as I do," Xerio said. Dreviren nodded and got to work in pushing the mirror a little further away from his throne.

Xerio caught the dragon glancing towards the companion he knew Xerio wanted watching the events. The wolf paladin was, after all, remarkably close to Xerio's throne. At all times.

Graham had been by far the toughest nut to crack and Xerio was glad for that. From all of the adventurers, the righteous paladin was perhaps the most fun and, ironically, the one he was able to draw the most power from. His unbreakable will and strict vision of the world taught by his 'code' made the wolf so delightfully easy to frustrate and outrage. But, thought his unruly nature served Xerio's fun pretty well, it also made it hard to leave the wolf free to have a real position in his court.

Therefore Xerio had decided that the paladin was going to be his statue. The throne room had already been adorned with statues of the four major deities surrounding the throne. Lupos, Davos, Artemos and Indigo, the four 'gods', were depicted in real-size statues carved of beautiful stone around the lion's throne. Since the paladin was so very devout to Lupos, the wolf god, Xerio had had the statue of Lupos removed so that he could tie Graham to the column where it used to be atop its pedestal.

With an intricate work of rope, the wolf was kept on full display with his arms open wide and legs well spread. As an appreciator of nice things, Xerio had, of course, left the wolf completely naked. In fact, the many levels and rows of rope coursing through his body had been made in such a way that Graham's balls were pulled forward so that his sheath was all the more prominent. The ropes were tied to the stone column and hooks the kitsune had placed below and above it so that they could be extremely taut, leaving the wolf room for almost no movement at all. As a statue should. Most of the time he kept Graham muzzled by rope as well, but lately, due to most recent events, he didn't even have to.

As the kitsune glanced towards the wolf he saw Graham's eyes shifting towards the mirror. It wasn't every day that a statue got to see anything different after all. The low rumble of the wolf's outraged growl was like music to Xerio's ears.

"Pet," Xerio called out, waving his paw, "come! Bring your dogs! The show is about to start!"

From the area behind the throne where Xerio usually kept the dogs, his pet emerged. Wayne, the smaller red fox, looked as handsome as ever. With Wayne standing completely naked just as most of the others were, his red fur and lithe form were always on full display for Xerio to appreciate. The kitsune licked his lips. From the top of his sharp long ears to the small set of hanging furry nuts between his legs, Wayne looked so much like him. If he had a few more bushy tails behind his back and infinite magical power potential he could be a kitsune himself! Beautiful. Just beautiful.

And just as satisfying of a sight was who was on the other end of the leash Wayne was carrying. With a worn leather collar around his neck, Jevier, the tiger, approached crawling on all fours by the fox's side. Alongside him, his three trained wolfdogs bounced around their former master. Xerio had seen no need to collar those, but the way the tiger, which Xerio had made one of his personal doggies, carried himself with his head low never ceased to amuse the kitsune. Just for fun, Xerio took a peek on Jevier's mind. He savored the now familiar humiliation the tiger felt upon having all eyes on the room shifting to him as he crawled forth naked amongst the other dogs. He was, after all, the only orange-furred, black-striped 'canine' in the room!

"Did you have fun playing fetch with the doggies, pet?" Xerio asked, patting his leg. Wayne smiled up at him dropping Jevier's leash and jumping to sit on the kitsune's lap. The fox hugged Xerio's chest with his tail wagging.

"Yes, master, I did!" Wayne said with actual enthusiasm.

"And did the doggies have fun as well?" Xerio looked at Jevier smirking with his questions. The other three dogs were too dumb to answer, but the tiger knew what was expected of him.

"Woof..." the tiger barked, or tried to while looking away.

Xerio laughed. "Good! That's a good doggie and a good pet!" A few months ago Jevier might have resisted the humiliation. The tiger wasn't even bound in any way! Yet, he remained on all fours acting as Xerio's dog because he knew he had to. It was, after all, a very simple matter for the kitsune to lock them in a room and make Jevier's three dogs genuinely believe that the tiger was a bitch in the high of her heat again.

On Wayne, though, Xerio had worked hard. While he was content on letting the other four keep their amusing little hopes up so that he could feed off of it, Wayne was different. When the kitsune had decided way back then that he wanted the little thief of the adventurer group as his personal pet he had meant it. It had taken some good work to reshape Wayne's mind, breaking his will with his displays of power and training him out of those silly notions of camaraderie he still had whenever Xerio played with the other adventurers, but over the course of those five months, Xerio was proud to be able to say he had succeeded. Wayne's hidden attraction for other males was the pivotal point upon which he built the new affection. Expanding on the freedom Wayne now had to enjoy that side of his, Xerio reshaped him, and as a result, there he was.

As was almost his instinct, Xerio peered into Wayne's mind as he hugged his pet. He saw only satisfaction and love. The way Wayne rubbed his muzzle against Xerio's neck with care was genuine. The fox still held love for his companions as well, for that was too ingrained into Wayne's mind for Xerio to remove completely. He'd have to erase almost all of Wayne's self to do so. That love, however, was now shown in a different way. Instead of clinging to silly hopes that they would get away from the kitsune and be free again, Wayne would instead advise them to obey Xerio so that they didn't get punished as harshly.

The way the fox tried to convince the others to submit to Xerio was the utmost proof that the thief had been truly and thoroughly broken. Xerio felt immense pride in it. So much so that he directed Wayne's muzzle up so that he could kiss his fox with passion. With equal devotion, Wayne kissed him back, going as far as letting out some of those cute moans of his into the kiss. As always, Xerio took control of the kiss. His tongue made its way into Wayne's muzzle to subdue the fox's in a subtle yet so very pleasurable little display of intimate dominance. It took some level of self-control for Xerio to not bend his pet over and fuck him over the throne again.

No, he'd have time for that later.

Xerio broke off the kiss and kept Wayne on his lap. With Jevier sitting on his 'haunches' beside the throne obediently, the kitsune waved his hand and the mirror in front of the throne started getting blurry. Xerio made good use of his mind link, shifting his view to the last of his tails and transferring his own vision to the mirror so that they all could see it too...

In the castle's main lobby four figures stood. Five, if Xerio counted his replica of himself. In there, Xerio grinned. Everything was indeed ready.

Three of the biggest, meanest-looking feline guards Xerio had found in the castle stood there butt-naked. A tiger and two lions, all of them looking disturbed not only because they were completely nude in front of everyone, but because of the fact that they were all very erect. The arousal they had coursing through them was something Xerio had built over hours and hours of merciless edging. That, coupled with an inserted need to fuck something that the kitsune had twisted into their minds made them very motivated to win Xerio's games.

In front of them stood the main focus of the event: the lion prince. As young and virile as always, the smaller yet equally muscular and handsome lion was back to his former self as well. Well, at least his mind was. The prince looked thoroughly distressed over being naked as well. He pressed his legs together in a vain effort to hide a little bit of himself, at least, but that wasn't gonna happen.

"This isn't fair!" the prince complained with a very undignified mewl towards Xerio, or at least, his replica.

"Well, I think it's more than fair, little princeling. You won the games twice in a row so I need to add a little bit of difficulty this time!" Xerio giggled.

Not only was the prince naked, but he also had his arms thoroughly bound behind his back, making them useless. His once so gracious mane and short fur were matted with remnants of all sorts of things. Between his legs, however, was also the object the prince was complaining about. Xerio leaned forward to give the small bell tied to the base of his balls a flicker. Not only did that make the bell ring quite loudly, but it also made the lion prince groan as it swung from one side to the other. Xerio had purposely chosen a bell made of solid, thick metal. Its weight pulled the naked lion's balls down in a rather funny way, keeping constant weight on the prince's sack that did not look very comfortable.

"I can barely walk like this!" the prince complained again, but Xerio ignored him. Instead, he touched the prince's chest and poured his magic through the feline. He could feel it coursing through the lion's veins, mixing in with the essence from the flower pollen the poor feline had breathed over and over and boiling into the effect Xerio wanted it to have.

The lion felt it too. The prince hunched forward and moaned out loud. Within seconds, his member started emerging from his sheath as Xerio forced his arousal. The bell swinging between the lion prince's legs chimed as his legs trembled. Soon enough, the prince's modest pink-colored, barbed length was at full display for everyone, much to the lion's embarrassment.

"You know the rules, little prince," Xerio said as he casually produced a golden ring between his fingers. Xerio then nonchalantly grabbed the prince's cock and slid the golden cockring down all the way to the base where it would be secure. Its enchantments would also guarantee the prince's high arousal would remain.

"If you can keep our contestants here from finding you and taking the ring, you win. If not, whoever takes the ring wins the prize," Xerio explained again not only for the prince but to everyone that was watching through his mirrors. "The prize is the freedom to fuck our little lion prince here as much as your heart desires."

Xerio grinned. He could see the cocks of the three felines he had cursed throb in response to that prospect regardless of the fact that the lion in question was their prince. There was precum drooling from their tips from sheer need.

"They have two hours to find the prince hiding in the castle's ground. The prince will get a ten-minute lead," Xerio continued. The prince looked ever so worried! A little pry into his mind showed the deep levels of fear and humiliation coming from the once so prideful and honorable future ruler. It was delicious.

"How am I supposed to run with a bell hanging from my...! This isn't FAIR!" the prince said stomping the ground. It made the bell swing again, pulling his balls down and making him groan with renewed discomfort over his own action.

"That's your problem, isn't it? Now, let the games begin!" Xerio put his hands up. He did love some showmanship.

"But I can barely even walk with this-"

"And... GO!" Xerio said, interrupting him. The lion's eyes went wide.

"But this isn't-!"

"Nine minutes and fifty-five seconds left," Xerio interrupted again in a sing-song voice. The lion prince gasped.

It was the funniest sight watching the prince scramble to run with a grunt in each step as the bell rang swinging back and forth between his legs hanging from his balls. The kitsune laughed even if the three contestants that had once been part of the prince's personal guard just looked uncomfortable. The prince darted out of the lobby's door and took a right turn.

"I will give the signal when it's time to go," Xerio said to the three needy felines and then moved to follow the prince so that everyone could watch him scrambling to run and hide with his erection bobbing in front of him while his eyes teared up from the weight pulling his balls down.

Xerio then left his replica to follow the stumbling prince and shifted his focus to another one of his tails.

This one stood by a large mirror much like the one he had made the hyena bring up to the throne room. In one of the castle's dining halls, most high-ranking nobles that had been in the castle when Xerio took it over sat around a table watching the games. That, of course, included the lion king and his family. Xerio grinned at how the proud lion bit his lip watching his son running naked through his own castle.

"Do we have all of today's wagers?" Xerio asked them. No one responded, but they all nodded meekly.

It was extremely fun to have all the nobles took wagers on how the prince would fare in every day's games. The coin they bet had very little value considered they were all trapped in the castle with him, of course, but Xerio was generous enough! Whoever had won the most could get a prize at his discretion too. Or, rather, not be punished, which was enough of a prize in the kitsune's eyes. It also pleased him greatly to see how the king himself had bet that his son would be found within the first hour.

A look in his own mirror showed that the lion prince had run down to the castle's kitchens. No one but Xerio laughed at how the prince struggled to open a large sack filled with fruit with his teeth, nor at how that bell rang again and again as the lion prince pathetically attempted to get himself inside the sack of food headfirst without the use of his hands.

A fun little fact about the games? Xerio liked to keep the lion prince with his own fair share of arousal and denial. He had made it clear to the lion that the only way for him to cum was while wearing that golden cockring around his member. Since the lion never had freedom with his hands during the games and such games were the only time he had the ring around his length, it still made for an entertaining sight for everyone to watch how the prince tried to hump whatever he could while hiding in an attempt to get himself off in the most humiliating of ways while still remaining hidden. The bell would make that harder this time, though.

With his daily events well underway and everyone entertained, Xerio shifted his focus back to his real self. The dragon, hyena, tiger and especially the wolf bound next to him all looked shocked as they watched Xerio's game through the mirror he had brought up. Even Wayne, his loyal pet, had his ears half-bent with some level of worry. Xerio pulled the fox into a new brief but passionate kiss to take his mind out of it.

"Isn't it nice? Those stupid brutes seeking the prince think he's hiding under the lions fucking in the training grounds again, though, so it'll probably take a while until we get to see one of them find the hiding kitty." Xerio chuckled. "Jester!"

Velven had returned to the throne room. The poorly-dressed hyena stood there holding a tray with a plate and a nice piece of cooked meat, courtesy of the one single cook Xerio had left cooking in the kitchen, but the bard looked enthralled by the sight of the lion prince still trying to fit in its entirety inside the sack of food. When Xerio called, however, he piped up right away.

"Yes, your grace?"

"I don't want that food anymore. Throw it to the dogs." Xerio smirked at the bard. He watched the hyena's deep frown closely. Perhaps he considered the tiger lucky to have taken a position as the court's dog because Xerio always took pleasure in having the adventurers throw the good food for the dogs to enjoy and leave them with the scraps. Velven didn't dare speak against him, though, simply taking the plate towards the dogs and throwing the perfectly cooked steak on the ground for them. Jevier's wolfdogs attacked it and Xerio took great pleasure in the shame the tiger felt when he too advanced upon the steak on the floor alongside the other dogs in a mess of barks and growls. The tiger knew, after all, that the food the dogs got was also the only food he was going to get.

"Now be a good jester and entertain me while the lion prince fails to." Xerio beckoned the hyena closer. He knew from experience how much Velven hated when he requested that, which was precisely why the kitsune had been doing it more often as of late.

"I, uhh, yes, your grace..." The hyena's head remained lowered, but Xerio didn't need to see to know he was gritting his teeth as he approached the throne. Wayne, still on his lap, lowered his ears and looked back at Xerio but he too didn't dare speak against it. Xerio brought a paw up to idly scratch behind the smaller fox's ears.

"What would you have me use today?" the bard asked. Xerio's grin widened. He brought his hand to his chin and made a bit of a show of looking like he was thinking.

"Hmmmmmm... How about... the riding crop! Steward, go get the riding crop for the jester to play with!" Xerio waved towards the dragon, who gave him a small bow before moving to do as he was told. Velven, on the other hand... The hyena's eyes were wide with worry, his ears pinned against his head and he looked like he was about to piss himself. Perfect.

"Your grace, maybe I could interest you in- in- in jokes or perhaps I could-"

"Nope! I am in the mood for the riding crop today!" Xerio exclaimed, cutting the hyena off. The kitsune licked his lips deeply enjoying the bard's fear and anticipation while waiting for the dragon to return. It wasn't long until Dreviren returned with the very small leather riding crop in hands. He handed it up to the bard himself. Xerio giggled thinking of how much that must have bothered the dragon too.

With it in his hands, the bard stood there pretty much trembling. Oh, it was too much fun. Xerio licked his lips again and let the seconds drag by just to dwell on that anxiety for a little while longer. Then, he raised his hand.

"One swat. Go."

The order that the bard already knew was coming still made his heart sink. Xerio focused within his mind feasting on the humiliation, the fear, the dread! It was so wonderful. With much, much hesitation, the bard spread his legs a little, brought the riding crop up...

And then Velven himself brought it down to lash at his own exposed balls through the teared up pants. As soon as the sharp sound of the thin riding crop slapping the hyena's furry balls echoed through the room, Velven's howl of pain accompanied it. Xerio started laughing just as loud even if no one else in the room did. The way the hyena clutched his balls and fell forward to his knees was exceedingly funny! From the bard's mind, Xerio could feel the notion of the throbbing pain, the shame of having to do that to himself, all of it! It was just amazing.

"Again! One more swat!" the happy kitsune bellowed. With his eyes still wet, Velven made an effort to grab the riding crop again and stand back up. If he didn't, it'd be worse. With much fear, Velven raised the riding crop one more time. His hand was trembling, his legs still a little wobbly... Xerio's grin was wide and his eyes locked on the bard full of his own expectations...

The bard fought through his fear. The crop came down again, then the swat, then the howl. The second hit wasn't as strong as the first, which Xerio disapproved of, but the way a small tear ran down Velven's muzzle still brought a new bout of laughter from the kitsune!

"Wonderful! Just wonderful!" Xerio said, laughing and clapping. As a powerful wizard, he wasn't interested in watching a jester jumping around, dancing or juggling. Thought Graham, the paladin, could withstand ten swats of the riding crop to his balls with only a grunt (Xerio had tested it), the bard's low pain tolerance made him the perfect subject for some hardcore ironic humor.

"Again!" Xerio said, and Velven let out a pained groan from the ground where he was curling, grasping his balls.

"My lord, maybe go easy on him? He's been good lately!" Wayne said from his lap. The fox looked exceedingly worried. Xerio brought a hand up to pet his pet again. His worry for his companions was cute, especially when he looked all full of pity like that, but it was also annoying.

"He has to learn to please master well, my pet. Not everyone is as lucky as you to be able to please me by just being cute." Xerio's other hand came to feel Wayne's fluffy chest. It went down, exploring his pet's naked body and appreciating it. Damn, he looked nice.

"My lord," Dreviren said from his side with the same tone of respect Xerio liked so much. "I apologize for the interruption, but something might be wrong with Graham? ...I mean, your statue?"

"Hmm?" Xerio idly glanced up at the dragon, then followed Dreviren's worried eyes towards Graham. Oh, there was something very wrong indeed. As there had been for many days. Weeks, even! The kitsune stared at the wolf and grinned.

For Xerio, looking at Graham was like looking at a book bared open and with gigantic handwriting. His influence coming from the pollen of his flowers ran deep in each of the adventurers but in the paladin? With a simple glance, it was as if Xerio was a part of him. He could see his thoughts as clearly as if they were his own, feel what he felt, see what he saw.

That was why the simple stare into Graham's mind made Xerio's own sheath swell a little with arousal. He cut that connection off pretty quickly for, in that regard, he did not want to feel exactly what the wolf felt, but yet the depth of his frustration, the constant internal struggle with the paladin's own pride that he glimpsed within Graham's mind was extremely delicious.

The wolf stood there, bare naked as his statue and completely immobilized by the bounds keeping him as such. And, in front of him, the paladin's cock was as hard as a rock. Graham's erection, that beautiful dark red lupine cock was so inflated that even his mean-looking, fully engorged knot throbbed. By his pedestal, the pool of constantly dripping precum was so large that it was starting to run down its side. He could see why Dreviren was worried. Graham's expression was one of constant struggle as he fought against the huge wave of arousal Xerio had pushed him into him a few hours ago and that still coursed through him.

It wasn't Xerio's fault, though. The paladin had asked for it.

Though Xerio had had fun forcing Graham to break his ridiculous vow of chastity over and over again upon the paladin's capture, it had been only one month in when Xerio decided that he wanted to really put the paladin's willpower to the test. He gave Graham an ultimatum:

The paladin would not cum again until he begged to fuck Xerio.

It was true that Xerio could, at any point, use his power to fuck Graham himself, control the wolf into fucking him or, hell, tricking the wolf's mind into doing whatever the hell he wanted, but what was the fun in that? No. Xerio wanted the paladin to willingly, in full conscience, admit that he wanted to fuck another male just to feel pleasure. He wanted Graham to sink that low all by himself. And, when the time came that the paladin's will finally broke and he gave in to his own lust, Xerio himself longed to feel the male's big chest against his back just as much as he longed to feel the deep, unique rage and frustration that would be behind each of Graham's thrusts when he sank that beautiful knot into Xerio's perfect ass.

That ultimatum had been given four months ago and still, Graham resisted. Unlike his friends, the paladin had not been allowed a single sexual release ever since just as if he was back into his vow of chastity. Except for one key difference.

Xerio smirked. With Graham fallen so incredibly deep into his influence, it was child's play to push a new wave of arousal into the wolf that had Graham's ears folding back as he moaned out loud for all of them to hear. The wolf's cock, completely untouched but already so very close to the edge of orgasm, twitched and spurted a new wave of precum. Xerio could feel through Graham's body how those powerful furry balls ached with built-up seed from all the merciless edging and arousal that the kitsune kept him under almost constantly.

Xerio had to give it to the wolf. His discipline was formidable, for he was sure that any of the other four adventurers would have already given in a long time ago when put in such a deep state of arousal with no relief over such a long time. The paladin, however, stuck to his pride.

Xerio could also see Graham's vision of the alternative every time he considered giving in: how incredibly shameful it would be for Graham to say those words, to beg to fuck another male out of sheer lust, of buckling under the physical torture that was being inflicted to him and defying the creed of his lifetime for the pleasures of the flesh. To the paladin, that was unthinkable, and that eternal conflict generated such a high amount of frustration inside that beautifully narrow mind of his that Xerio felt his mouth salivating just from all the delicious power he had already taken from the paladin's soul. And would continue to take for as long as he resisted.

"Jester," Xerio said without taking his eyes off of Graham. "I think that your lupine companion is feeling a little frustrated. Perhaps a little physical comfort would help him feel better."

The kitsune didn't even have to look away from Graham to feel the dread rising within the bard.

"I'm sorry, my lord?" Velven asked.

"You heard me. Get atop his pedestal. Give his cock a little friendly lick of comfort."

It brought Xerio great joy to see Graham's eyes opening to look at him. How the wolf frowned heavily and grit his teeth. Graham didn't speak and, through the paladin's mind, he saw that the wolf kept quiet out of the sheer amount of focus he needed to keep himself under so that he wouldn't give in. Over the last months and more so over the last week or two, Xerio could see the armor of his pride cracking little by little, piece by piece, which was precisely why Xerio had been keeping the wolf's arousal unbearably high so often lately. The appointed hour was close.

All the other adventurers were also aware of Graham's situation, which was why Velven climbed up on the pedestal with his ears lowered. He fell down on one knee next to the wolf and Xerio didn't miss how the bard mouthed an apology up towards the paladin before he brought his muzzle close to that fully hard, desperate cock.

"Easy now," Xerio instructed. The kitsune kept a close watch into Graham's mind so that he could watch and stop any kind of accidental release. It would be no good to have all that time work be for nothing just because the slut of a bard suckled at his cock a little too hard.

"Lick," the kitsune instructed. Xerio let out a soft groan himself as he felt, through Graham's body, how the simple warmth of the bard's tongue against the side of his cock ignited the pleasure the wolf felt tenfold already. His cock pulsed and more precum came, so very close to cumming. This time, Xerio couldn't stop his own member from swelling from his sheath right beside a worried-looking Wayne.

"Again, at the tip," the kitsune instructed again and the bard followed. Velven winced at the strong taste of precum but Graham's loud moan was a victory in itself. The high and noble paladin had been reduced to a statue that moaned when someone nuzzled his dick! Xerio grinned and giggled with sheer amusement.

"Now suckle at the tip. Very slowly!"

The reluctant bard hesitated but did as he was told. Graham moaned again through his gritting teeth. The wolf's breath was ragged. The sight of that powerful chest rising as he panted, all of those beautiful muscles tense as he tried his best to resist the pleasure... Oh, it was a work of art in itself. The wolf was so very close to cumming, just a little more...

"Stop."

And the bard did. Xerio felt how just the warm breath coming from the hyena as he waited, staring as the wolf's cock almost triggered the reaction Graham's body so desperately needed.

"Oh, this is even better than watching you slap your own balls! Now THIS is real entertainment!" Xerio laughed out loud. He glanced at his other tails' minds and found that the guards were looking for the prince in the castle's armory like the morons they were while the lion himself had managed to get his whole body into a sack of food using his innate feline flexibility. The sight of the prince inside the sack, all contorted and almost upside down, was fun. The sight of him still trying to grind his hard cock against a tomato to get off without ringing the bell attached to his balls was even more fun. Yet, that didn't even compare to watching the noble paladin struggling against his own companion's tongue.

Therefore, Xerio kept going. He would order the bard to lick a little bit here, a little bit there. Suckle, lick the wolf's balls, nuzzle his exposed knot... anything to drive the paladin crazy. Graham's breathing was ragged, his expression showing the sheer effort of will he had to do as the kitsune made his companion keep him on the absolute edge of orgasm with no chance of going past it.

He could see in the heads of the others that they too felt their companion's intensity. The bard felt extremely guilty over the pleasure he was providing to the point where he became reluctant to obey the kitsune's commands, but he never dared not do it. Jevier was there on all fours with the other dogs watching it with a heavy heart. Dreviren, by his side, kept a straight face but Xerio didn't even need to go through the trouble of penetrating his annoying scales to see the cause of the occasional twitch of his eyes or grit of teeth.

Even Wayne, sitting on his lap with Xerio keeping him close against his chest was nervous. More than once the fox tried to dissuade the kitsune from his fun either by begging him to go easy on the paladin or even going as far as trying to kiss and entice Xerio by nuzzling and licking his neck. The kitsune appreciated the effort coming from his pet, but he wasn't going to let it distract him from his purpose.

Especially since, able to see so incredibly clearly into Graham's mind, he saw that the paladin was close to breaking.

Thoughts of giving up started creeping up through his resolve. The lust for the pleasure his body demanded, the frail hope of resisting the kitsune and clinging to his honor breaking down little by little. It had been months of this torture, what good would it be to resist for another month? Xerio licked his lips. He felt tempted to tamper with the paladin's mind and force him to break, but he resisted that. Graham would break on his own Xerio would reap the deep humiliation that would follow through his own satisfaction. None could stand against him and his immense power and that puny paladin was no exception.

"Give the side of his knot a small lick," Xerio ordered as he had been doing for the better part of an hour. Velven whined audibly but brought his muzzle near the wolf's fully engorged, pulsing knot to obey. Graham was gritting his teeth so hard that it looked like they might crack under pressure. The wolf let out a series of huffs through his nose as that tongue caressed his knot, the most sensitive part any canine had, and his cock pulsed again tethering ever closer to an orgasm.

Xerio saw it coming before it actually did. For that, the kitsune opened a large grin.

"S-stop!" Graham said, his once so powerful voice rasp from his struggle. "Stop. I..."

The throne room went silent. Every eye was on the paladin as he had finally spoken. Suspense lingered as the seconds dragged themselves on one after the other, but Xerio's grin only widened while the paladin regained his breath with his cock pulsing in need before him. Graham looked pretty much limp, drained of strength by his own pleasure and lust, pretty much hanging from the myriad of ropes keeping him in position as a 'statue'.

"Yes, paladin? Is there something you wish to say? Or perhaps... ask for?" Xerio asked with his voice full of mockery. He could feel the spike of shame and humiliation rising within the wolf as those yellow eyes met his. There was a deep level of hate there. Guilt, embarrassment, lust... so many powerful, delicious feelings rising from deep within Graham's soul which Xerio, through his mind link, absorbed unto his own soul. They were so powerful that Xerio could swear he could feel his seventh tail growing if that was possible.

It still took a lot of hesitation from the wolf before he spoke again. Xerio saw, clear as day, how the resistances within his mind tried hopelessly to justify not giving in. Graham looked for excuses, fighting an internal battle, to the point where Xerio was close to ordering the bard to continue teasing him, but finally...

"...Please. I... beg," Graham said. Each word coming from his muzzle was like lifting a boulder to the poor, narrow-minded paladin.

"Beg for what now?" Xerio asked acting innocent. He would hear all of it.

Graham's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Perhaps some of his zealous fury would return, but there was something else there as well. Despair grown from the many days of pleasurable torture Xerio inflicted. Instead, the wolf pushed himself to take the final step into his degradation, much to Xerio's pleasure.

"I beg you... to let me fuck you..."

Xerio couldn't help it. He let out a small giggle hearing the words as the satisfaction of finally hearing them swelled within the kitsune. His companions looked nothing short of surprised at watching the paladin, their rock, finally break under the kitsune's influence. The power of their feelings coming from their noble souls was like a grand feast for the kitsune!

"Is that so? But what about your precious vow of chastity? What would Lupos, the mighty wolf god, think of his servant that has fallen oh so far?" Xerio laughed. Graham's ears folded back, a sight that was rare for the wolf, and Xerio could feel the guilt within him spiking up to great levels. New doubt over his failure grew as well, though, and while milking the paladin's despair was fun, the kitsune didn't want to lose the moment he had longed for for so long.

"Oh but I jest, of course, we all know that you're way past that!" Xerio pushed Wayne off from his lap in a gentle manner and stood up so that he could approach the wolf by hopping up on his pedestal. Standing face to face with the paladin, Xerio could see the distaste in his eyes from up close even as the wolf looked away from his in shame. Graham's downfall was turning out even better than he had hoped it would.

Xerio himself brought his delicate fingers to the paladin's cock. It had cooled down a little bit, mainly because of the deep humiliation he felt, but it still stood rock hard before him. The kitsune trailed his fingers over the very sensitive flesh, prompting a new moan from the defeated wolf.

"Fuck me, you say? It's a bold thing to ask for, fucking your king. I wonder if I should grant you the privilege." Xerio's grin was a reflection of his joy. He saw a new glimmer of despair in the paladin's eyes. This one originated from the thought of not getting the pleasure he needed even after degrading himself in front of them all. The feeling left the paladin conflicted. The fear of not feeling pleasure he didn't want to feel in the first place.

"Please," Graham forced himself to say through his gritting teeth. His struggle was beautiful. That Xerio was able to craft such despair in an otherwise so noble paladin was proof of his genius in itself!

"Well... since you ask with such vehemence..." Xerio's hand teasing the wolf's cock trailed up. It went over the wolf's chiseled abdomen of which the kitsune could feel the hardness even through his fur, then up to the wolf's chest. It played with his hidden nipple, then felt the muscles of his pectorals before trailing up to feel the same hardness on the muscles of wolf's biceps.

Immobilized by the rope, Graham could do nothing about it. Yes, the wolf sure had an appeal. A different kind of appeal than that of his pet. I was indeed a shame that an order full of such strong, powerful males was not allowed to fuck. A sin, even! When Xerio became the God he intended to become, he would change that. Every paladin from the Order of Lupos would fall to the same pleasure and lust this one had.

"Such strong arms holding me, such a big knot trying to wedge its way into me. I am but a poor king, so I wonder if I can take it..." Xerio continued saying. He chuckled even if the wolf continued to keep his eyes away from the kitsune in shame.

Xerio saw Graham struggling hard within his mind, wondering if he should beg again and feeling the full weight of the shame of simply considering doing that. The kitsune had barely noticed that, at some point along the way, he himself had grown fully hard as well. Being within Graham's mind and feeling the huge depth of his lust shadowed his own. Xerio wasn't sure if he was hard as a reflection of the paladin's own despair or if it was over the incredible amount of power he felt over the wolf at the moment. Perhaps both? It didn't really matter. Xerio was going to indulge in its pleasure.

"Very well." Bringing his hand up, Xerio snapped his claws. Just for show, of course, for it was with his mind that he manipulated the magic around him so that the intricate ropework surrounding Graham started undoing itself. Within seconds, all of the rope enveloping the paladin fell to the ground and, without it to support him, Graham himself fell down to his knees with his body weakened. With effort, the paladin rose again until he was standing face to face with the kitsune.

"Don't even bother thinking about hurting me. You can't, I can assure you of that, and the four of you will feel the full weight of my punishment again if you attempt it." The fleeting thought Xerio saw passing through the wolf's mind indeed vanished with his warning. In the first few months, they had suffered many of his harsher punishments after their attempts on him. Enough for them to have learned not to try anything as foolish as a straight physical attack.

Still with a wide smile, Xerio trailed a finger over Graham's chest, to which the wolf did not react to despite the kitsune seeing how humiliating it was for him to simply let the being he hated so much touch him like that. Satisfied with the paladin's submission, Xerio turned away and went back to his throne.

"You can fuck me right here. On the king's throne. It feels appropriate, doesn't it?" Xerio sat on the cushioned throne. Naked as he always was, it was only a matter of sliding forward and placing one of his footpaws on the large throne seat for him to expose himself. The kitsune's hand went down to his own length to give it a few strokes as it rested against his cream-colored stomach.

The wolf was such a delight to look at. Graham said nothing but approached him with his eyes glued to the floor. From within his mind, he could see the paladin actively avoiding meeting any of his companions' gazes as he was about to humiliate himself in front of them all. Xerio could not ask for anything better. As the wolf stood before the throne and lowered himself using the handles to support himself, the canine's sizeable cock rested right above Xerio's ass and balls. The mix of both disgust and incredible lust overcoming the wolf was so powerful as he stared down at the sight! The kitsune moaned for the sheer amount of feeling he was getting from the wolf to feed into his own power.

"Come on big guy. You know what to do. Are you worried about your king's well-being? Don't be. I can take you on any day..." Xerio's intent was very much to taunt and on that, he succeeded. Graham looked down at him, frowned and even growled softly. At the same time, however, the wolf grabbed his cock with his paw for the first time in months and pointed the tapered tip of that veiny, angry red cock right against the kitsune's exposed entrance. Xerio's mind link with the paladin was so strong that Graham's longing for pleasure felt almost as if it was his own. A droplet of precum showed up at the tip of Xerio's own cock to mat the perfect fur of his stomach. He would have his pet lick it up later...

"Step away, you two," Xerio said, signaling for both his 'steward' and his pet that were standing close to the throne to take a few steps back. "Give the paladin space to fulfill the desires of his flesh. To embrace his sin..."

In reality, what Xerio wanted was to focus entirely on Graham to savor his victory without having to think about the others. He had prepared the paladin, built-up and grown his frustration exponentially, all for this moment! To his words, Graham's growling and guilt grew together. The wolf's hands around him trembled as the side of him that had spent his entire life following those silly values of his Order fought one last time to keep the paladin from folding. The moment he sunk his cock into the villain, it'd be over. Graham knew that and Xerio could see it. To spur him on, the kitsune raised himself ever so slightly so that his rump would grind against the wolf's cock. Graham fought not to moan...

And just as he had planned, the paladin's last resistance faded. Graham closed his eyes. He was growling, but to himself, and for a moment Xerio even thought he was going to cry! For being allowed to fuck a king- no, a God! The twisted ways mortals lived with were humorous indeed. With great anticipation, Xerio finally felt how Graham steeled himself, let his body speak louder, gave in to the lust and...

"Hnnnngh~!" Xerio moaned with absolutely no restraint when Graham shoved his hips forward, thrusting that sizeable cock straight into him. The myriad of precum enveloping the lupine's member made for poor lubrication, but Xerio embraced the pain he felt as the initial penetration spread him open. Feeling pain was something extremely rare for the kitsune and, in a situation like that? It was nothing short of extremely hot for him. The wolf above him grit his teeth to avoid moaning as well. After all that time being denied almost any touch, the tightness of the kitsune clenching down on the wolf's cock felt like heaven itself for Graham. A thought that the wolf actually had, but then his ears fell down with further guilt over his own blasphemous thoughts.

Graham was in too deep, literally, to stop though. His needy cock felt the pleasure of fucking and, through sheer instinct, the wolf pulled back and sank himself in deep again, then again. The motions rocked Xerio over the throne with the rough fucking making him cringe with pain, but at the same time that large member pressed all of the pleasurable buttons Xerio could possibly have back there. The kitsune knew all too well how to enjoy being on the receiving end. He had a habit of making his pet fuck him just as well, but even Wayne with all of his adoration could not be this... rough. This brutish. This raw! What drove the strong paladin was pure, unrestrained lust. The need to feel that pleasure, to breed, to fuck!

"Show me what you got, paladin!" Xerio moaned out loud. He saw and felt how that angered Graham and, as he expected, it only made the paladin grow rougher. With every thrust, Graham put all of his anger and frustration behind him. From within his mind, Xerio could feel the tiny bits of satisfaction the paladin felt every time his cock spread the kitsune wide again hard enough to make Xerio grunt or even whine. The kitsune indulged him, for he was getting everything he wanted and more. Xerio's hand came down to his own cock to stroke it and feel the pleasure of his own flesh grow higher. Graham, on the other hand, leaned further in against the throne to improve his angle so that he could fuck harder. Such delight!

There was only one problem though. The paladin's fucking, though hard and fast, was bringing him to climax too fast. Through his thrusting, the paladin's large knot bumped and pressed against Xerio's entrance every time, but though the urge to knot was very much there inside Graham, the paladin restrained himself. Even through the sex, Xerio was able to see how the notion of being knot-stuck to him disgusted the paladin and the moment he sensed that? Xerio knew what he wanted. Graham's hand went down to his cock to squeeze at his own knot. Xerio could feel the paladin's pleasure already rising disappointingly fast, but after all he had been through it was only natural. That would not do, however.

"You will not cum... hngh..." Xerio started saying, panting through the rough fucking full of pleasure. "-will not cum, until you knot me, wolf!"

Making good of his promise, Xerio proved how incredible he was by dwelling into the paladin's mind and body ridden with his influence and stopping Graham's orgasm just short of happening. Graham groaned, felt his balls pull up, felt his cock throb, his pleasure rise...! And then nothing. All of that and the incredible frustration that followed Xerio saw through the paladin's mind, causing him to smirk. The wolf's thrusting became more frantic, more desperate. He squeezed at his own knot with such strength! There was so much pleasure coursing through Graham's body, but no sign of the ultimate satisfaction with Xerio blocking it. After fucking the kitsune as hard as he could for a few more moments, Graham slowed down and opened his angry eyes to look down at the kitsune and meet his.

"Knot me," Xerio repeated. "Make this a real, proper mating session. What respectable wolf would have sex with someone without a proper tie to finish it off? We both know you want it..."

Graham was panting. His large, broad, sexy chest heaving with his breathing. His cock was sunk all the way into Xerio with nothing but his very intimidating knot sitting outside of it and, though that thing looked huge, Xerio wanted it. He wanted to feel the pain, then the pleasure of it inside him, then he wanted to feel everything Graham felt when he inevitably cummed, tying himself with the kitsune and sealing his defeat.

"You demon..." Graham growled. He felt so much guilt, so much frustration. Deciding to still go against Xerio, the wolf started fucking again but without trying to knot. Each time that cock slid into the kitsune's tight passage, each time the wolf's powerful paw squeezed hard on the most sensitive part of his cock, it felt like he was about to cum. That same powerful sensation of climax overcame him, then Xerio blocked it again, turning it into nothing but a strong sense of frustration of pleasure without peak. The paladin's body craved it, screamed for it, but his climax would not come. Small tears of sheer frustration appeared beneath the wolf's eyes as he tried and tried to defy the kitsune by ravaging his ass as hard as he could, but to no avail.

And in all of that, Xerio just fed. All those feelings, all that roughness! His body would perhaps be sore afterward, that much was true, but that was nothing compared to the incredible amount of pleasure and satisfaction Xerio felt through Graham's frustration. The kitsune had to slow down his own stroking over his cock or he would risk cumming too early himself. Not that that was a problem for him, but through his magic, he could always give more, but he wanted the wolf's climax and humiliation to be perfect. That meant he had to wait.

After a lot of the hardest fucking Graham could provide and no relief in sight, the paladin finally slowed down again. Xerio saw how the paladin's throat felt tight, his teeth gritting so hard in frustration that they almost hurt. At that very moment, the paladin realized he could not win and that by itself was perhaps Xerio's largest victory. No matter what he did, how strong his will was or how hard he tried, he could not win. For the second time that day, Graham gave in to Xerio's desires and more seeds of defeat were planted in the paladin's mind. A few more repeats of that over the years and he could still have Graham behaving like a little puppy ready to lick his feet at the snap of his fingers, perhaps. The thought of that pleased the kitsune greatly.

It pleased Xerio almost as much as feeling the paladin resuming his thrusting again, but this time with a new purpose in mind. Xerio grunted, for that large knot being rammed against his entrance was intense all by itself. It would be no fun if it were easy, after all. It took thrust after thrust with both him and the paladin filling the throne room with grunts coming from their rough sex until finally, with an echoing moan from Xerio, that knot finally worked past his entrance, spreading the kitsune wide for a moment before the oversized bulb of flesh worked its way into him.

Such size. Such masculinity. Xerio let his tongue loll out of his muzzle drowning in his pleasure. A lingering ache of pain was felt around his ass which was spread far wider than usual, but the kitsune simply relished in it, letting it resonate with his own pleasure in the most beautiful of ways. Through his mind link, he could feel Graham's own overwhelming pleasure as if it was his own if he so desired, all of it in a whirlwind of strong emotions that was a true, full-fledged feast for a demon such as himself.

With despair to reach climax, Graham continued to fuck, though now with shallow, deep thrusts. Xerio's block on Graham's release was constant now, for as soon as he let it go he knew the incredibly pent-up wolf would reach the climax he had both desired and repudiated for so long. Dwelling on that point of high pleasure for as long as he could, Xerio's own hand came down to stroke his own cock, squeeze his own vulpine knot, let his own pleasure reach its peak until finally, finally, he let it all out at the same time.

It was funny how, from deep within Graham's mind, he saw an urge to howl as the pleasure overcame the wolf. He kept his mind link going so that he could feel the full intensity of both their pleasures as their climax came at the same time under Xerio's control. Every throb, every pulse of the wolf's cock as he planted his powerful seed deep within the kitsune's body was felt by him just as his own body clenched hard on the wolf's cumming cock through his own orgasm that came to paint his chest fur with white.

Those blissful seconds of pure, carnal pleasure made the months of working Graham up worth it and, even as he relished in it, the kitsune's devious mind was already thinking of ways he could torture not only the paladin but the other adventurers too for even longer than that so that he could feel this all over again.

If it was possible for Xerio to become 'full' from feeding off the intensity of another's feelings, Graham would have reached that point. There was so much going through the paladin's mind not only during the peak of his pleasure but even more so when it started receding. When the wolf opened his eyes to look down at Xerio's body beneath his with his own cock tying the two of them together. The weight of his defeat fell upon him without his lust to support it. He had given in, willingly, to the breaking of the code he lived for. His will hadn't been strong enough.

Xerio reveled in that with a wide smile plastered on his muzzle even as he panted. In Graham's mind, he saw how each feeling rose and swelled. Anger, guilt, despair. No longer could the paladin blame everything that had happened to him on the fact that it was done against his will. All of those strong feelings continued to feed Xerio and his power further and further, but the paladin's fall wasn't all that Xerio had been planning to enjoy. There was even more to be gained from this whole turn of events.

Regaining his focus in the world, Xerio registered that the lion prince had indeed been found. On the mirror off to the side, the sight coming from his other tail showed everyone how one of the prince's big guards had pulled the lion prince out of the food sack he had been hiding into, or at least pulled him out enough so that his ass was exposed out to the world, and now his guard was fucking the mewling prince with almost as much roughness and lust as Graham himself had shown. The bell attached to the prince's hanging balls swung back and forth, ringing non-stop as the guard thrust into him again and again.

Normally Xerio would have said words about the game ending, prodded at the prince and his family's humiliation over him losing and milked that to its best, but at that moment? Nah. He had his adventurers, so Xerio's other tail simply stood there watching the guard fuck the prince as he yelled for it to stop. The other contestants had gathered there as well and, on the back of his mind, Xerio registered their burning desire to fuck the prince after the winner was done as well. It was something they would definitely do if allowed and, though Xerio shouldn't, he didn't care enough at the time to stop it. He could always choose new guards to edge and deny for a few hours for the next day's contest.

Instead, the kitsune's focus went back to and remained on the adventurers. As Graham started to come to terms with what he had done new thoughts came to the wolf. Of grabbing Xerio, who was so close and tied to him, by the throat to try to strangle him. Of lunging forward to bite and rip his neck open. The kitsune chuckled. Xerio was ready to easily stop and punish the paladin should any of those silly ideas prevail, but Graham was no longer the sole focus of his new thoughts. Instead, the kitsune looked to the side and met the dragon's eyes who, in turn, stared at him intently.

In a sudden move, Xerio grasped at his own neck.

"Hngh-!" The kitsune made a choking sound then coughed. The dragon took a step forward with his eyes widening. All the other four adventurers turned their eyes to the kitsune as well.

"Hnnnnngh-! My maaaagic!" Xerio exclaimed in such a loud manner. He continued to cough and twist under the wolf tied to him which in turn made Graham wince in overstimulation, but he too looked stunned by what was happening.

"Master?" Wayne said, approaching from the side. There was genuine worry in the fox's eyes, Xerio saw, but then the kitsune's hands went from gripping his neck to covering his heart. He whimpered and closed his eyes as if in deep pain.

"AAARGH!" Xerio continued. The kitsune opened his eyes which were now wet with small tears just in time to see Dreviren smile.

"It's working," the dragon announced and then all eyes went to him.

"You- you TRICKED me?!" Xerio said with difficulty. He was panting, his voice rasp and rough and the grunts of pain never stopped.

"What's happening?" Graham asked, looking at Dreviren. Xerio saw the wolf's thoughts of seizing the opportunity to attack him growing and expanding. Graham tried to pull back from the kitsune squirming over the throne, but his knot was too firmly lodged for him to do so just yet.

"What did you do, Drev?!" Wayne asked with more concern, coming to the throne's side and going as far as placing a paw on Xerio's as he squirmed in obvious pain.

"Is this what I think it is...?" Velven asked, approaching as well. The hyena looked downright incredulous.

"His magic is overflowing. It will consume him." The dragon, controlled as always, merely smirked while Xerio stared at him with wide eyes.

Even the tiger stood up on his own two feet to approach and see what was going on. "Does that mean...?!" Jevier asked. Prying into their minds, Xerio could see hope starting to swell within each of them.

"You... YOU-!" Xerio said but had to stop to go through a coughing fit. He clutched at his chest, grit his teeth and let out a groan of pain! "You...!"

But then Xerio put a halt to his whole show. His pained expression gave way to a full-fledged grin. "You naive little fools."

Their hope gave way to panic. Oh, it was such a delight. The shadow that overcame the cocky dragon's expression as he took a step back felt incredibly satisfying for the kitsune.

"You really, really thought your little plan to defeat me would work, didn't you? That you could trick me, a God, just like that? HAH!" The kitsune broke into laughter while all of them just stared in utter and complete confusion. It was understandable, of course, because they did have a plan, and it was exceedingly smart, but Xerio had, of course, figured it all out quite a while ago.

"It can't be..." Dreviren said, gritting his teeth. Xerio didn't bother going through his scales to peer into his mind because it was so plain in his face how he realized that his plan had failed and he would have to deal with the consequences.

"I have to admit though: it was quite the clever plan! Your dear friends sound confused, dragon, so why don't you explain to them what is it exactly that you tried to pull out here?" Xerio's toothy grin didn't waver one bit. The dragon simply grunted and looked away, as expected.

"Oh? You don't want to? Why, then let me do the honors," the kitsune continued turning towards the others. "It was quite cunning. He instructed you all to avoid thinking about the things he had you do so that I wouldn't catch wind of it and, I must say, the dragon did a pretty neat job at doing that himself, but my incredible powers go way beyond thought!"

The dragon still didn't dare look at him but the attention of the other four adventurers was with him. Good.

"Every night for... how long has it been? Three weeks? Four? I don't really know, but does it matter? He told you, tiger, who is oh-so-incredibly proficient with poisons, to grind my own flowers of influence into a mix and create a potent infusion of them."

Jevier's eyes widened with worry. He looked genuinely surprised that Xerio knew what he had been doing. As if the kitsune wouldn't know!

"Then you, bard, would take the infusion of my influence and have the bound wolf drink it, isn't that right?"

The hyena looked away already dreading future punishment.

Xerio had too much fun going through each of them. And the wolf, right above him? He just frowned heavily.

Xerio, with much pleasure, continued. "Yet the dragon was even more clever. Not one of you knew of his plan. The hunter made the infusion, the bard gave it to the wolf and the paladin drank it every single night without even knowing what it was. All so that you would reveal nothing but pieces of the grand scheme to me by accident in your minds... Such a touching display of companionship to trust the dragon without knowing anything!"

The kitsune could feel the surprise coming to each of the adventurers as they heard about the plan put together for the first time. All save Wayne. His pet was blissfully unaware of all that had been happening and, in that, Xerio could also feel a little sting of betrayal. They didn't trust him now that he was loyal to the kitsune, of course.

"And, of course, as the wolf drank an infusion of my influence, my power started running through him in a way that is much more potent than anything my flowers' pollen could do through breathing. It became easier and easier to control the wolf, to torture him, to push his arousal to new limits and hammer at his will with all of my might until he broke. But... you planned for that too, didn't you? I admit it took me a while to puzzle that piece out of your minds!"

"What?" Graham asked looking shocked. His eyes focused on Dreviren who didn't dare meet them.

"Yes, my lupine friend. Your companion was counting on you breaking down and submitting to me as part of his plan! It was, after all, the only way that I would allow you to fuck me, wasn't it? And yet still... to throw your own companion to the fire like this just to seek freedom? Make him humiliate himself, break his vows? That's just diabolical, dragon! I am almost proud."

Graham growled. "Is this true, Drev? All this torture was because of the thing you made me drink every night?"

The seriousness in the paladin's tone was delightful. Seeding mistrust between them was something Xerio had been trying to accomplish in a while, but their companionship was annoyingly strong. Yet this...

"But why?" Velven asked. "Wayne has... uhh... fucked you plenty of times and nothing happened! Why Graham?" The bard looked as confused as the rest of them.

Xerio hummed with pleasure. "Why oh why indeed..." The kitsune was loving every moment of that.

"The infusion..." Dreviren finally said. "The kitsune of legends. A story passed down to my people. He was a powerful demon that used rain and water as his catalyst. The ancients defeated him by making him consume his own influence and overloading his magic within itself."

Every eye turned to the dragon, Xerio's included.

"The infusion of his flowers is his influence concentrated. By making Graham drink it for a long period of time I had hoped that it would become a part of him. Then, when the kitsune allowed him to... ejaculate... within him, he would have his own influence within his body just as the kitsune of old had..."

Xerio clapped. All eyes turned to him again, much to his delight. "Bravo! A grand plan indeed! You got it almost right! Yes, my own influence and catalyst are coursing through my body as we speak, coming from this big wolf's manly seed..." Xerio trailed a hand over Graham's arm, but the wolf growled and pulled away. Such delightful shame he was feeling for being reminded of that.

"Yet your plan has but one tiny little flaw! Yes, my influence can overload my magic, maybe, but that's not all that is required. This kitsune of your stories, whose name was Xaynar by the way, did very well on his conquest! Yet the sneaky little mortals somehow indeed tricked him into drinking a mix of the water of his own catalyst... mixed in with his essence. That means blood. The catalyst alone coursing through my body does nothing, but if it were to be mixed with my essence..."

The reveal was even more delightful than Xerio had hoped for. He went through the extra effort of drilling into the dragon's mind just to see the deep realization that he had missed a piece in his perfectly crafted plan and now, because of it, it had all come crumbling down.

"So you see? My influence is coursing through me right now but in a day or two? It will be completely gone. After that, do you really think that I will allow you to inject me with my own influence again? And that you will somehow manage to mix it with my own blood? HAH! Even in your prime all these months ago none of you could lay a finger on me. The fox was the only one that got close and look at him now! So long gone you don't even trust him anymore! You will never get close enough to draw even a single droplet! Your plan has failed, your opportunity is lost and now, all that is left is for me to think up a proper punishment to all who participated in this useless attempt."

Xerio's wide grin returned. The bard took a step back. The beastmaster and even the dragon joined him in the terrifying realization of the consequences of their failure. Not even his pet knew what to say. Graham, on the other hand... As Xerio already expected, the paladin that was so very close to him raised his paw in an attempt to use that opportunity to strike him for his blood. With his influence still coursing through the wolf as it was, Xerio had such control over the wolf that he allowed that hand to come down at him until his fist stopped an inch away from his muzzle. Then, the wolf stood paralyzed.

"Such helpless foolishness..." the kitsune said, shaking his head. Usually, he'd need more of his tails with him to take control of a full, sentient and unwilling mind but with the way his catalyst flowed through Graham? The wolf's eyes became glassy and his blue, translucent fire burned within the paladin's eyes as Xerio took control.

"The puppy thinks he can hurt me, see? None of you can touch me. I'm far beyond your mortal capabilities now and, over time, I'm only going to get stronger." To exemplify that, Xerio beckoned Graham closer. It was just for show, of course, since Xerio had full control of the paladin's mind as he made Graham's tail behind him start wagging. He forced the paladin to smile wide, then had the wolf lean forward to start lapping up at Xerio's own cum that had splattered over his chest. The sight of the proud wolf's tongue creamy with his cum was a delight.

"Master... Please go easy on them? They didn't know what they were doing..." It was his pet that spoke. Wayne approached him from the side and leaned in against the throne. The fox was so sweet. Admittedly, Xerio did dive into Wayne's mind to gauge if he had any intention of hurting him by approaching him like that, but Xerio quickly realized that it was foolish to think ill of his pet. Wayne, broken down as he was, had nothing but concern for him and his companions inside his head.

The wolf was almost getting down at his cock as he cleaned up the cum from his fur. Xerio waved a hand and had Graham stop, then made the paladin tug back at his knot. It prompted grunts from both of them, but with enough time having passed, the wolf's large cock dislodged itself from the kitsune with a pop, leaving him free to sit on his throne properly. Just for fun, he made Graham get down on all fours to lap up the droplets of cum that had fallen to the floor.

"I'm sorry, my pet," Xerio said, pulling Wayne close to him to sit on his lap again. "They tried to undermine their king and now they must suffer for it. They must learn their lessons just as you have."

"But-" Wayne started to say, but Xerio silenced him by pulling his pet into a kiss. The kitsune kissed him with the same passion he always showed, taking pleasure in shoving his tongue past the smaller fox's muzzle and taking full control of the kiss. His pet was such a delight. The way he blushed when Xerio did that. The kitsune automatically got into Wayne's head and felt the growing embarrassment of sitting on the kitsune's lap and kissing him like that while all of his companions watched. The kitsune fed off of that. Everything was marvelous, until...

Suddenly, Xerio caught a glimpse of an intention coming from his side. The kitsune's eyes shot that way immediately just in time to see Velven of all people lunging for him. The bard's paw reached for his muzzle, but instead of grabbing at his muzzle, that paw clamped down at Wayne's. It only had a split second to do so, because Xerio didn't need anything other than his mind to control his magic into sending the bard flying away. With incredible speed, the myriad of rope that had been sitting idle on Graham's pedestal enveloped the fallen bard until he was tied up from head to toe on the floor, squirming.

Xerio broke off his kiss and smiled.

"Really? Bravery? You haven't learned anything from watching the paladin, the mightiest, most strong-willed member of your little band fall to his knees before me?" Just for show, Xerio made Graham stop licking the floor to move up and lick his footpaws. He had had rope envelop the hyena's muzzle as well so answering was impossible. The kitsune started laughing, but then...

Xerio tasted blood. With a small wince, the kitsune realized that Wayne's fangs had prickled at his tongue when the bard had clamped down on the fox's muzzle while they kissed. He felt the tiny sting of its pain on his tongue, then he swallowed again and the taste of blood was there again.

The kitsune's eyes went wide. He opened his muzzle and placed a paw over his tongue. When he looked at it, he saw just a small red drop resting on his paw pad, but that was enough for-

"HNGH!"

It happened much faster than how Xerio had acted it. He felt the magic within him, his own essence, react with his influence just as it did when he controlled it on the outside, except that this time the chain reaction within him could not be contained. It swelled within his chest, causing pain that made Xerio heave forward.

The kitsune's scream echoed through the throne room as a burst of light came from within him. His blue fire burst with a shockwave that sent all of the adventurers stumbling back. Xerio could feel the magic within him swelling, growing exponentially in a way that could not be controlled. Desperately, he tried to contain it, willing his tails to come back to him but through his mind link he could glimpse that they too were falling as he was. The power was too much, exploding within him, growing and growing and growing until it hurt, threatening to consume him in its entirety.

"HNGH- no... ARGH!" Xerio yelled. He quickly found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't contain it, couldn't stop it. There was a burst of light coming from the kitsune's chest, from his inside, and then his blue, translucent fire erupted from him to engulf him, the fox he held onto and the throne. The adventurers around him all recoiled back as the energy spread. Xerio heard Wayne, who was still sitting on his lap, say something, but he couldn't make it out through the overload his mind was going through. The fox tried to stand up, but Xerio held on to his pet. Then someone tried to pull the fox away from him, but Xerio held on tighter. Panic rose within him. He was going to be consumed by his own power. He was going to die.

Unless...

Xerio did the only thing he could possibly do to survive. In a desperate attempt, Xerio focused on Wayne and, molding the uncontainable magic overloading around him, he did the unthinkable: he let go of the power.

As he did, the blue fire burst forth again into a blinding light. All the magic, all the power Xerio had collected over the hundreds of years of his life ran rampant out of his body as he allowed it. It felt like a flood, rushing out of him with immense speed. His mind link vanished. Around the castle, each of his tails fell down and screamed as they vanished in thin air no longer able to keep form through magic he could no longer control. Around the throne room, Xerio's flowers that had been put up as adornments withered, losing its color and then turning to dust and, within his mind, Xerio could feel all the flowers taking over the forest, the roads, everywhere disappearing from his vision as they suffered the same fate.

Just as quickly as it had begun, the blinding light of his magic disappeared as all the magic left the kitsune's body. The blue fire vanished and, for Xerio, the world grew dark as he fell back against his throne. He finally let go of Wayne who in turn fell forward to the floor, unconscious.

The kitsune opened his eyes. The pain was gone. He looked around and saw the four adventurers staring at him but keeping a reasonable distance. A new wave of fear rose within the kitsune. All the power he had grown so used to feeling coursing inside him was gone with barely anything left. It was as if he had a void inside him in the place where the pool of his magical might used to be.

"No..." The kitsune stood up, but he found himself rather weak and, instead, Xerio just stumbled forward and fell on his knees right beside the fallen thief. He couldn't use magic to strengthen himself. The burden of his physical body felt heavy. Xerio brought a paw up to his muzzle. There was still a small sting on his tongue but he was done tasting blood. A few drops of it swallowed had been enough of his essence to overload with the heavy infusion of his own catalyst that he had playfully let Graham put inside him with. And now...

"NO! You... Do you have ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!" The kitsune's ears folded back. He actually snarled at the adventurers who just watched him with surprise. They looked so foolish!

"Hundreds of years! Hundreds of years gathering power, feeding off souls, one by one, HUNDREDS! All of it gone, all of that power, gone! Turned into nothing! All my work, all my effort... GONE!" Xerio pounded a fist on the ground to show his rage towards them, but as it turned out, it hurt. It hurt quite a bit!

"So it did work," Dreviren said from the side.

"Did it really work? We're... free?" Velven asked.

"Work? Free?" Xerio asked, directing his furious glare towards the hyena, then towards the dragon. "Nothing worked! You got one lucky move while I was distracted and now you've RUINED EVERYTHING!" The kitsune moved to stand up, but he needed to use the throne to support himself to do so. "I will... I will put each and every one of you through absolute nightmare for this. You think you have suffered? You think you've SEEN what I'm capable of?! I will make each and every one of you wish you hadn't been BORN!"

Desperately, Xerio turned his eyes towards Graham. The paladin's eyes that were looking down at Wayne with concern set themselves instead upon him and narrowed. Since he must still have his influence within his body or something, Xerio tried to focus on him. He reached out for the wolf's mind just as he had done so many times before, but there was nothing. He couldn't reach past the wolf's eyes, couldn't so much as glimpse into his thoughts. Xerio tried the bard. The tiger. Even the dragon! The kitsune took a step back towards the throne, trying to manipulate magic around him as he did so naturally before, but he couldn't. There was no power to tap into, nothing to use.

To survive, Xerio had let go of his power and now, if he focused hard enough, he could feel a tiny little spark of it deep within him and nothing else. He hadn't felt this powerless since he was a kit so long ago that he could barely remember. The loss was catastrophic! Looking up at the wolf again, the kitsune felt blind. He was limited to just guessing what they were thinking from their expressions like a moron! Like... like a mortal!

"How do we know this isn't one of his tricks?" the paladin asked with a serious tone.

"We can't know," Dreviren said from the side. The dragon started stepping towards him.

"Don't get close! Stay away!" Xerio warned him with a growl. Again, the kitsune felt fear and a plethora of other bad feelings swell inside him. The dragon did not obey him, which angered Xerio further, and with his defiant eyes meeting his, continued to walk up to him. Xerio raised a paw towards the dragon, but there was nothing he could do. No magic, no illusions, nothing! It was so frustrating, so infuriating! His single bushy tail that had been left behind him might as well be nothing.

When the dragon got close enough, Xerio stumbled back and fell sitting on his throne. Dreviren watched him with care, but instead of jumping at him or anything, the dragon kneeled down to take Wayne into his arms and then leaned down to listen to his heart.

"He's alive. He seems unharmed," the dragon announced. All the other adventurers watched the interaction. Xerio's eyes scanned them. They looked... anxious? Fearful? Happy? How the fuck was he supposed to know?!

Xerio saw the wolf coming. His eyes turned towards the paladin and then, when he reacted, it was already too late. Xerio pressed his back against the throne and tried to get away, but Graham was faster and suddenly there was a paw grabbing his neck. It hurt too and, most importantly, it cut off the kitsune's breathing. With widening eyes, Xerio reached up to grab at the wrist holding his neck to try to pull it away, but the grip was solid as steel. His mind reflexively tried to employ several different sets of magic to get away from the threatening paw holding his neck, but of course, that none of them manifested.

"Hngh- gh!" Xerio gasped. His ears folded back again and the outrage of being touched like that plain in his expression quickly turned to fear as he realized that there was indeed nothing he could do to get away from the paladin. Graham growled at him, showing teeth, and then the grip on his neck grew even tighter.

"You demon. It was about time you paid for your sins..." The wolf's voice was seething with hatred, that much Xerio could tell. In Graham's eyes, Xerio saw the real, genuine threat of death and thus, terror grew within him. Desperate, Xerio's mind reached further out and, when he felt something, the kitsune's eyes darted down... to Wayne. Yes! He remembered what he had done.

"W-wait!" Xerio managed to say in a raspy voice. His lungs started asking for air with more urgency. The kitsune's hand grasping Graham's wrist helplessly instead pointed down at the unconscious fox. "Wai-t! If you k-kill me, he dies! Hhe dies!"

That only seemed to anger Graham further. "Is that a THREAT?!" the wolf asked leaning in so that his snarling muzzle and sharp teeth were an inch away from Xerio's own. The kitsune quickly shook his head. His need to breathe was growing larger by the second.

Xerio only managed to gasp one word. "M... magic!"

"I can feel magic around him, Graham. Let him speak," Dreviren said with a frown. He held Wayne close to his chest. The wolf looked back at the dragon and then his eyes full of hatred focused on Xerio again before his grip on the kitsune's neck finally lightened. Xerio finally gasped for much-needed air.

Through his teary eyes, Xerio saw that Jevier was kneeling next to the thief looking worried as well while the hyena was standing right beside Graham. When had they approached? Feeling obnoxiously helpless, the kitsune's large ears remained low. The wolf growled at him again.

"Speak! What is wrong with Wayne?" The wolf's grip on his neck tightened just a bit. It was enough to make Xerio let out an undignified whine of fear.

"He's soulbound!" Xerio quickly said through his raspy breathing. "I was forced to place some of my power in him to anchor myself into not letting go of too much when it was overwhelming me! It was the only way I could survive!" The kitsune spoke a little too fast. He had to stop to cough and gasp for more air, but Graham wasn't the patient sort.

"What does that mean?" the wolf asked towards the dragon.

"I've never heard of anything like it," Dreviren said. He placed a hand on Wayne's chest. "There is a tingle of magic here, though."

"It sounds pretty damn convenient," Jevier said. The tiger, with his three dogs surrounding him, had found a piece of cloth to cover himself with.

Graham glared at Xerio again. "It does." The wolf's grip on his neck tightened just a little more again.

The kitsune grit his teeth and lowered his ears again. "I can prove it! I can wake him up!"

This got the attention of the bastards. All four of them looked at him, but the damn wolf didn't even let go of his neck. They all looked at the dragon who seemed to be considering it.

"It's worth a shot," Dreviren said, albeit carefully.

Velven quickly jumped in. "Are you sure about this, Drev? We obviously can't trust him!"

"If he tries anything, he'll regret it," Graham said in a snarl right to Xerio's face. Before the kitsune even had the chance to answer in a civilized manner, the wolf's paw got a good grip of his scruff and pulled him to stumble forward.

"Ow! Ouch!" Xerio complained as he was roughly guided until he was shoved forward to kneel right in front of the unconscious fox. Graham crouched behind him and kept a solid, choking grip on his neck with his arm. Xerio tried to struggle out of the very uncomfortable position for a moment, but a hard jerk and threatening growl from the wolf stopped him.

"Do it," the wolf ordered. The dragon and the others kept their eyes on him. Xerio's ears remained lowered.

When Xerio put a paw over Wayne, all of them stiffened. The kitsune expected it to be easy for, after all, he could feel the twin spark of magic within the fox, so much like his own. Xerio had, however, to close his eyes, to focus hard and even grunt with effort to reach forward to that spark with his mind. When he did, he prodded it to awaken and gasped at the same time as Wayne did.

Why had it been so hard? Before, Xerio would've instigated magic that was twin to his in the blink of an eye from a mile away. The state of his power was yet even direr than he had thought.

Wayne blinked and opened his eyes. The fox looked up at Dreviren with confusion, then his eyes met Xerio's.

"...Master? What happened?"

The kitsune smiled. The impression he had dug into his pet's mind lingered! Before they could discuss the subject, however, the large doors to the throne room were thrown open. A few lions burst in with the king and his son, who was now wearing pants but still wobbled in his walk and had dry cum all over his mane, following right behind them.

"The demon screamed and disappeared!" the king said. "What did you do?"

Xerio's ears lowered themselves further when the king's eyes met his and swelled with surprise. Dreviren let go of Wayne who sat up. The dragon stood between the kitsune and king and sighed.

"There is much to be discussed."

With a sinking feeling of powerlessness, Xerio was forced to sit there as they talked, argued and yelled even over his own fate. Held down by the paladin with ease, the kitsune kept desperately and stubbornly trying to tap into his power again and again, but it just wasn't there. He didn't want to admit it, but it was gone. How could such a disgrace happen? While the kitsune sat there with the paladin's arm around his neck and the voices roaring through the throne room in discussion, Xerio looked up to see Graham look at the bard standing next to him.

"Hey, Velven?"

The bard glanced back at him. "Yeah?"

"Nice job. For... you know."

The bard opened up a wide smile. Xerio let out a grunt of distaste and looked away.

____________________________________________________________________________

One month later

"How much further until we stop?" Xerio asked. He could barely breathe. His legs hurt, his heart felt like it would explode out of his chest. The road they'd been trudging through for so long felt hard beneath the kitsune's exhausted footpaws and the mortal clothes he was wearing felt itchy against his fur, too.

All five adventurers walking further ahead of him looked back at the kitsune.

"And I thought Velven complained too much," the tiger said with a sneer.

"Hey! I complain just enough," the bard quickly retorted with his usual hint of playfulness.

"I suppose we might as well make camp for the night," the dragon weighed in.

Graham growled. "We are stopping because he wants it?"

Xerio was used to the glares the paladin always gave him, but it still made his ears fold back just a little.

"We've been walkin' all day, Graham. We deserve it." Wayne, on the other hand, smiled at the kitsune with his support. It did make Xerio feel a little bit better.

"Fine," the wolf finally grumbled, which was the final approval they all needed to lay down their things and start setting up camp. Xerio just let himself fall forward on his knees then back sitting on the cool earth below. It was hell. The physical exertion of mortals... it felt like his body was ready to fall apart.

It had already been one month. An entire month since that ragged band of adventurers put an end to his glorious plans and stripped him of all the power he had worked so hard to gather. The simple thought brought hints of anger back to Xerio, but he was too tired to dwell on it. He had done it too many times anyway. Now his existence had been reduced to... that.

At least he was still alive...

The lions had been very stout on executing him. The king, the prince, and every other dumb feline in that castle wanted to see his blood. It frustrated Xerio to no end that he would have been powerless to stop the mortals from getting it too if it wasn't for those same cursed adventurers. They had negotiated with the lions, pointing out that not only had they saved them from the 'evil demon', but also at how the lions had sent them to their doom with full knowledge it was a trap and paid the price for it. Honor-bound to his debt, the king had no choice but to accept letting the adventurers take Xerio with them under the promise of keeping him in tight check so that his threat would not arise against the kingdom again.

As if they could! It infuriated Xerio that he had no say in anything. They treated him as a common prisoner and, with his power reduced to a bare minimum, the worst part was that he was a common prisoner. The adventurers expected him to be thankful for them for sparing his life and keeping the lions from killing him as well, but the kitsune knew all too well that his soulbind to their companion was the sole reason they had done so.

Xerio didn't like having his life tied to a weak mortal's any more than they did. Several times they had tried to coerce him into undoing what he did, but they didn't understand that it was pretty much impossible. If he had his six tails of power he could try, though he doubted he would be able to withdraw his power from the fox without killing him, but as he was? Impossible. Just one more thing to add to the infinite pile of Xerio's frustrations.

"Hey, wizard," Jevier called out. Xerio looked up to see the tiger kneeling next to his dogs. "Light the fire, will you?"

The wolfdogs bounced up around the tiger while he tried to calm them down. The beastmaster's control over his pets had returned, but it did please Xerio somewhat to see that it wasn't the same as it had been after all they had been through together.

"I can't with my hands tied," Xerio complained. He struggled to stand up with his wrists tied up in front of him.

"Yes you can," Graham growled at him from the side. Xerio lowered his ears and avoided his gaze, but grumbling a few complaints under his breath he approached the circle of stones and wood they had made for the fire. Kneeling next to it, it still took a ridiculous amount of focus and time for Xerio to do something as simple as creating an igniting spark.

With the tents raised, the adventurers soon sat around the fire, but Xerio withdrew from it. They didn't want his company and he didn't want theirs. The last month had been tense, but after a while things had... stabilized. Part of Xerio wanted to find a way to run from them, but he couldn't stray too far from Wayne either or he feared his magic might grow even weaker. Again, the thought of the pathetic situation these bastards had put him in enraged the kitsune from within to the point where he found himself growling softly while they talked and shared food by the fire.

"Master?"

Xerio looked up. Wayne was standing in front of him. Always quiet on his feet, that small fox was. Wayne kept his voice low, but having him sit next to the kitsune made Xerio smile despite everything.

"Pet," Xerio said in a playful way. A delightful little glimmer of what he had before. Wayne smiled with his tail swishing back and forth behind him.

"Here's your share," the fox said, extending a piece of that awful-tasting ration towards Xerio. Even with his hands bound, the kitsune grabbed it and despite the taste, he bit down and ate it with fervor. Demons didn't need to eat... if they could feed off other things. Xerio couldn't.

Wayne watched him eat. The kitsune was glad he had bent and conditioned the fox's mind into that devotion for him. Even losing his position of absolute power, the affection his pet had for him lingered past it. Or perhaps it was the soulbind that drew them to be closer? Xerio wasn't sure, but as much as he hated to admit it, Wayne's affection was the only hint of a good thing about traveling with them in their adventures. Chasing jobs, traveling without stopping, fighting for a fleeting mortal notion of peace and little pieces of shiny metal. Truly a foolish endeavor.

"Hey! Wayne! Don't linger too close to the demon," Graham growled from afar. Wayne looked back at the wolf, nodded, but then still winked at Xerio before getting up and returning to the fire. Little did the paladin know who was going to sneak between tents at night to lay with who.

Xerio sighed. The adventurers talked among each other around the fire, but the kitsune didn't need his mind powers to detect the small, little hint of awkwardness that lingered between them. All the things they had done to and with each other! It pleased Xerio to feel that unspoken little weight in the air. Would they recover from it? Probably. Their companionship was so strong that the kitsune felt repulsed by it. He had underestimated it. Xerio could barely believe that those five misfits had defeated him, the most powerful of demons.

The kitsune scoffed and looked away with distaste.

Though they had accomplished something that hardly any mortal had ever managed to do... Well, the bard did not write a song about that quest.