FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Frank's Vendetta

I’ve briefly touched upon the sorts of things that Frank has undertaken in Virgo’s name and while I cannot claim to know them all, I can list what I know. One of the most heinous that I recall is Frank's vengeance on both his former police precinct, the commissioner of police for his hometown and his gang.

While a small group dedicated to sneaking past the law, the Gli Incubi were nevertheless prominent enough to garner attention from the local police force. They were the ones that betrayed Frank after his four-year-tenure with them. Six months after he had been inducted into the Valentino Family, Frank began to systematically disassemble their organization. He knew their operations and knew that they knew he could give up these secrets. Instead of establishing new routes and bases of operation, the Incubi instead sought to have Frank assassinated through dirty police officers in the jail that he was being held.

Virgo rescued him before then and through the Celestial’s influence, the Incubi believed him to be dead. This played to Frank’s advantage as he began using his own abilities to go to each Incubi safe house and intercept every route that he could to dismantle the gang’s operations. When they grew frustrated enough, he put out the word that he was still alive. Naturally, a hit was ordered and top members of the Gli Incubi came looking for him.

He surprised them all when reinforcements from the commissioner of police himself came to arrest them. At that time, Frank had already converted the commissioner and key members of the police into loyal pawns for Virgo.

Now, it was the Gli Incubi’s turn.

Thus, Frank Valentino gained control of both the forces of law and chaos in not only his hometown but also in a large swathe of his hometown.

_ _

********

November 24th, 5:30 PM, The Riding Angel Truck Stop

The roar of the big, black motorbike was a thunderstorm rolling into Angelton. Few would ever consciously stop in the sleepy town and of those that did were never rough, burly bikers with flowing, dark brown hair like liquid chocolate. The gaze of the few people milling about the lone bar gawked as the enormous man pulled right up to the parking lot, pulled off his helmet and tucked it beneath his enormous arms. The titan of a man didn’t remove his aviator sunglasses even though it was the middle of the night and simply strode with purpose towards the bar entrance.

Being little more than a convenient, enclosed stop with few natural highlights, Angelton didn’t have much of a bar scene. A few lone truckers were milling about in a booth by themselves, smoking despite the ‘no smoking’ signs. The lone bartender rubbed down his bar until it was polished enough to see his own reflection. The few barmaids on duty milled about near the kitchen, chatting quietly before falling silent as the titan strode into the facility.

The nutty brown leather jacket he wore with a rather suggestive image of a female angel emblazoned on the back strode squeaked softly with each movement of his broad, muscles. Each of his powerful strides preceded by his enormous chest barely covered by the black shirt that left his hairy midriff exposed. Powerful abdominals were barely visible beneath the copious amount of body hair that was meticulously shaved to keep his obliques fully exposed and hairless. Heavy, light blue denim jeans groaned with each, booming step, audibly straining as he took up residence at the bar right next to the only other stranger there.

Without taking off his sunglasses, he waved down the bartender. In a deep, voice that was more of a growl than human speech, he demanded, “Beer.”

The bartender, all too used to his kind, deftly filled up a glass to the brim with an amber brew and slid it across the bar to the stranger. He caught it in one, big hairy hand and downed half of it in one, smooth motion.

“Fuck, I needed that,” he grunted, slamming the glass onto the table. He nodded at the man sitting next to him. “Can I get you one?”

The much smaller but no less strange figure waved a meticulously manicured hand in his direction. “No thank you, Frank,” he answered in a light, musical tone somehow befitting his rather pristine appearance.

Not for the first time, Frank Valentino was taken aback but the breathtaking view of his patron and ‘father’. Virgo or ‘Vincent Valentino’ as was his current alias was absolutely stunning, a literal star admit the dark, drab surroundings of this truck stop bar on the outskirts of Angelton. The silvery hair that was tussled in an organized disarray gave the impression that Vincent had just gotten out of bed. The bronzed skin was perfect, natural and a distant cousin to the olive tones of Frank’s own flesh. Dazzling blue eyes watched his surroundings with a casual curiosity as his supple fingers traced the rim of a shot glass.

Dressed in the loose fitting dress shirt with the top two buttons undone, Virgo seemed out of place in dark, dirty bar especially given the loose, brown slacks he wore and similarly colored loafers. His athletic frame was only teasingly visible beneath all those clothes; the whisper of pectorals pressing up against his shirt, the faintest vein visible on his forearms and the subtlest curves of his shapely rump pressed against the seat.

The image of this divine vision was burned forever into his memory especially that first meeting three years ago.

“You felt the Rule placed around this place, right?” came the words from those luscious, full lips.

Frank licked his own lips, longing to feel the touch of that tongue against his own. “Yeah,” he grunted. “Whoever set it up made a huge-ass Domain. I scouted its limits. It stretches from this crappy town all the way west to a place called Starwalk Valley and up north to Devil’s Peak. It felt like it stretched out into the ocean too. And that Rule…”

“It’s why I called you here,” agreed Virgo, lifting the shot glass and absently swirling the untouched, clear liquid inside. “It is clear that the wizard who set up this Domain doesn’t want to attract too much attention from unaffiliated people while still restricting our abilities.” Only then did he take the shot, knocking his head back and shaking it a moment later. “I met the arrogant bastard. Calls himself a ‘defense lawyer’.”

“His defenses are formidable,” grunted Frank. “But it’s not like he outright forbade us from entering. Well, unless you’re a woman.”

“Which is what concerns me.” Virgo rested an arm on the table and turned fully towards Frank, his brilliant eyes shining like diamonds. “Think about it, Frank. Why implement a Rule that only prevents females from crossing the threshold? Why make such a vast Domain and leave this place out of it when it is barely a few minutes from the limit of the farthest town?” Virgo shook his head and gazed balefully out the window towards the small, sleepy town that was just waking up. “No. It is clearly a trap.”

That was why he loved working for the divine entity. Virgo was as brilliant as the stars in the sky that represented him.

“I met him, you know,” laughed the Celestial bitterly. “The bastard has some power behind him. Feels like he’s holding back. I have this feeling that he’s been preparing for a long time for this confrontation.”

“So what do we do?” asked Frank. “You want me to hunt him down and fuck him over?”

Virgo shook his head and turned his gaze towards the three truckers who were trying to pretend that they weren’t staring at the two. “No. There is no telling what power this wizard has. He might even get desperate enough to open the Cradle and use it if we attack head on. For all we know, he is the one that opened the Cradle and is a Celestial now. What we need to do is gather our strength, investigate the town and learn what we can.”

Subtly wasn’t exactly Frank’s forte. His other ‘brothers’ were better suited for espionage. But he could understand the need for caution. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The Celestial Cradle was within their grasp and if they didn’t act fast enough, the other Celestials could very well pounce and snatch it from them.

“What do you need me to do?” he grunted.

A dark smirk touched Virgo’s lips. “We have no presence here. We need to establish our power and our own Domain.” He nodded towards the three men who just started laughing loudly. “Start with them.”

Frank flashed a grin and slowly rose from his seat. “With pleasure, father. But I’ll need your help.”

“Of course you do.”

Without hesitation, he leaned down and planted his lips against his patriarch’s lip, tongue diving for the Celestial’s tonsils. The effect was instantaneous. A rush of power and strength filled him and his eyes behind the sunglasses flashed briefly with a divine, golden light.

“Oh hell no!” came a shout from behind them.

One of the bigger men came storming over and seized Frank’s shoulder, forcibly turning him around and tearing his lips away from Virgo’s.

“Listen here, gaybo,” snarled the rotund trucker. Frank was unimpressed by the thick beard, short hair and ‘Mom’ tattoo plastered on the man’s neck. Most would be intimidated by the guy’s 6’5’’ height or his large physique even if most of that size was given to fat. Still, there was some decent strength in the trucker’s arms and chest. “You can be all queer wherever you want but in this here bar, you keep it in your fucking pants!”

“Don’t fucking tell me how and where to stick my dick,” Frank growled back. “Hell, a real man would be able to suck cock and take it as a badge of honor. You haven’t even touched another dick except to wax that toothpick hanging between those grapes you call balls.”

The man’s cheeks immediately grew red in fury as his fellow truckers hooted and hollered at him. “You say that again!”

And there it was. This man was already in Frank’s power.

“Gladly.” Frank leaned forward, lips hovering right over the man’s ears. In the softest of whispers that only his prey could hear, he said, “Back of this place. Ten minutes.”

Most men would’ve shoved Frank away or even dared a punch but a seed had already been planted in this man’s very soul; a seed that had taken root and was now snaking its way throughout the solid defenses of this mere mortal. Frank knew this trucker had never even thought about sucking cock let alone being fucked. That alone was the catalyst.

Over the centuries, Virgo had perfected his techniques to prey upon mortals’ virginity. Just the slightest whisper, the softest touch, the faintest scent or even just being around the living constellation was enough to implant thoughts into a person’s mind. The smallest spark would immediately ignite the fuel of inexperience and new sensations and suddenly, this brash, homophobic trucker was genuinely wondering what it would be like to be on his hands and knees, sucking Frank’s dick or lifting his ass to be penetrated.

Even though he had only been in Virgo’s presence for three years, Frank had already perfected his own brand of power given to him by his patron. Taking the virginity of someone willing and needy was his bread and butter. His was the Sphere of the Ripe Harvest. The moment he identified something - anything - that his target had never experienced before, he knew where to strike. This man’s cherry was ripe for the plucking.

Confident that his suggestion had taken root, Frank straightened. A quick glance over his shoulder already confirmed his suspicions. Vincent had left while everyone’s attention had been directed at him. Smart. If something were to happen and if that wizard’s attention were to be drawn, the Maiden would not be caught.

Loudly, Frank shouted, “Fuck you! Who needs this?” He pulled out a bunch of bills and slammed it onto the bar before storming out in a huff, making sure to slam the door hard enough that it shook the bar but not so hard that he reduced it to splinters. His raging caused the smokers standing outside to immediately give him a wide berth.

He jumped on his bike and made sure to rev the engine loud enough that anyone in the bar would hear him leaving. That would leave enough of a question and a tantalizing tease to his victim as he veered away from the parking lot and towards Angelton itself. A good five minutes of riding, he stopped and parked his vehicle off on the side of wide road flanked by towering trees. That made it easy to gently guide his bike off the road and hide it amongst the underbrush.

Five minutes of driving would have at least been twenty minutes of walking but for a man blessed by a Celestial like him, it would be a pittance. He cracked his knuckles and, keeping his helmet on, dashed back towards the bar. The forest melded into a blur but his reaction speeds were fast enough that he could avoid any tree, underbrush or startled squirrel that suddenly had this three-hundred pound Italian man charging towards it. Not two minutes later, he was coming to a halt behind the bar where the large trucks had been parked.

Right on time, that same trucker rounded the corner and immediately caught sight of him. The man’s dark brown eyes were glazed over with the awe of a man enchanted by the presence of a god. The seed within him had already grown, moving his limbs beyond his conscious control. There was still some hesitation in the man’s steps but as he approached, the lump in his groin grew more and more pronounced and his cheeks started to become flushed.

“I… I…” began the man.

Frank didn’t let any hesitation creep into him and just grabbed the back of the man’s head and pushed their lips together. There was a second of hesitation - or was it shock? - from the trucker. Then their lips were gliding over one another in a messy dance of unbridled passion and fiery arousal.

Such a simple creature. Probably a man who never thought more than two steps ahead and lived on the assumption he would never amount to anything while living in the delusion that the world would always need truckers like him. Perpetually stuck in the same state he was a decade ago, this man hadn’t grown in wisdom or intelligence despite the flecks of gray hair in his beard.

That was made him so perfect for Frank.

They broke the kiss and the man, dazed with lust and almost reduced to a sexualized stupor, barely mumbled, “I’m Steve…”

“I don’t care,” growled Frank and he dove for Steve’s neck, suckling at the flesh there, letting his teeth gently gnaw against the tightened, pulsating veins right beneath the skin without causing any bleeding. The trucker barely managed to hold back a moan and thrust his erect cock against Frank’s thigh.

Mere contact was enough to cause that seed within to flourish and become a full on flower eagerly suckling the brilliant radiance of Frank’s mere presence. Like sunshine to a plant, Frank’s aura and touch fed this plant, causing it to grow bigger, stronger and to feed the gnawing hunger within Steve, to accelerate that mild curiosity to a full-on need.

A soft rattling caused them both to freeze momentarily. Someone in the kitchen of the bar was working away. Strange to think that there was barely a few inches of brick separating the two men from being exposed.

“I know a place,” whispered Steve and he grabbed Frank by the hand and pulled him towards one of the trucks. The trucker easily opened the rear of one of the containers he was no doubt shipping to reveal walls of furniture tied securely to the walls.

Frank’s heart pounded with excitement as he jumped into the back of the truck even though it was difficult for Steve to hoist himself up. He shut the door behind them, plunging them into darkness. Rough, chapped lips pressed against his own again and a hungry tongue dove into his. Frank used his weight to pull them both to the bed of the container.

“Fuck…” mumbled Steve between kisses. “I… I don’t know what I’m doing… I’m not… this isn’t…” Yet despite all of his protests, he kept diving for the irresistible taste of Frank’s lips. A deep, alien yearning was building inside of the confused and extremely aroused trucker; a desire to explore the unknown, a wish for an eye-opening experience. It brought back memories of when he was just in high school and starting to come to terms with his hormones.

All of those emotions, memories and desires were fed to the roaring fire by Frank. Every time their lips made contact, every time his big, hairy hands grasped the trucker’s flabby flesh or even every second he spent in the presence of the hulking biker, more and more of Steve’s thoughts were twisted into this deep yearning to lose a different kind of virginity. The bearded man was partially drunk so there was only a slight bit of resistance to the manipulations; resistance that was quickly crumbling against the might of a demigod. Within moments, Steven Marovico’s entire being was open to Frank.

Steve was one of those men that had bloomed early, puberty hitting him like a truck and easily making him bigger than most of the other kids in school. Horrible acne plagued him throughout high school with acne scars that he now hid beneath his beard. His sheer size had guided him to play football and bully other kids, constantly throwing the ‘gay’ card everywhere as an insult as was the trend back then.

“You were such a big man back then,” cooed Frank, tongue sliding around the rims of Steve’s ears. He slammed the portly trucker against a nearby wardrobe, the trucker barely managing to keep his footing as his knees buckled beneath the sheer divine assault of mind and body. “You were always around other bigger men. You competed against them. Saw their muscles. Saw their cocks.”

Steve could only moan in acknowledgment. This was all true. He saw other guys’ cocks but he never thought about sucking them let alone getting fucked by them. Yet as those memories swirled around his head, the growing desire within him twisted them, turning fantasies of big-breasted women into big, sweaty, bukkake parties with him being right in the middle.

“38 years of age,” Frank continued, reaching down towards the man’s sweaty shirt and gently tugging at the rims. “Half your life gone. And you haven’t tasted even half of what the world has to offer.”

Men. Steve had only ever thought of women sexually before. He had never tasted a man’s lips. Felt a cock slide in and out of his mouth. Glide into his ass. There was so much he hadn’t experienced yet.

“I’m so stupid…” mumbled Steve.

This was all too easy. This bigoted, narrow-minded man had been so enclosed in his simply life that he had purposefully refused to experience anything outside of his comfort zone. This was truly a ripe harvest that would feed Frank’s powers for a prolonged assault.

“I… I need more…” moaned the trucker. “But… I never wanted to be fucked…”

Frank seized the man’s chin, forcing him to lock gazes. “Not back then. But now…” He leaned down, sliding his tongue from the base of the man’s neck, up his cheeks and all the way to his earlobes. “… now you can’t wait to have my cock in you.”

Unprompted, the trucker bucked his hips and that corruptive plant within him wound itself tighter and tighter against his soul. “Oh fuck, I so want it! Give it to me! Fuck! Please give it to me!”

Frank smirked and pulled the man’s shirt over his head, tossing it aside. In response, Steve seemed to crumble win his grasp, almost falling limp against his arms as the demigod ran his tongue up the man’s barrel chest, avoiding the sweat-stained undershirt that carried hours of sitting in a truck.

The truck.

That was his next target. There was so much more that Steve had to experience and Frank was hungry. He needed it all.

“So many stories about picking up hitchhikers and getting some tail,” he rumbled. “But that’s all it is. Just stories. Never happened to you.”

One of the fantasies that Steve did have was to pickup a hitchhiker during one of his routes and get a decent blowjob. Just him and his right hand could be lonely many times. Having a wet pair of lips around his dick was always welcome not to mention if he got to stick it in some hole.

“Didn’t matter which hole,” Frank prompted.

No. Though Steve always preferred girls, his balls were growing so blue that he didn’t care what he stuck it in even if it was another guy. He just needed to get off. He really needed to get off.

Somehow, Steve managed to muster his strength to undo his belt buckle, the heavy, silver oval falling to his sides as his straining cock pulsated against his jeans. That strength quickly faded. Mind already crumbling against Frank’s assault, the trucker was twitching and spasming, a glazed look on his features while a stupid grin was plastered on his face like he was having some sort of euphoric divine vision.

Frank scoffed a little in disappointment as the trucker’s defenses fell away so quickly. A challenge would have been far more delectable, making the fruit of the harvest so much sweeter. But quantity would have to outdo quality in this scenario. He grabbed the trucker’s jeans and pulled them down in one swift motion, taking the boxers down with it. The average six-inch cock throbbing and drooling pre was impressively girthy but appeared much smaller given the thick, unkempt bush.

“You need to get off,” commanded Frank.

“I need to get off,” Steve repeated, hips thrusting involuntarily into the air.

“Doesn’t matter how you get off.”

“Doesn’t matter,” agreed the trucker.

“You’re going to get fucked.”

There was a second of hesitation before a broad grin cut through the thick beard of the man. “I’m gonna get fucked!” he shouted enthusiastically.

Frank smirked. It was always so satisfying when a mortal completely fell under his power. Now, everything about Steven Marovico was open to him. No words needed to be exchanged, not anymore. The metaphorical seed had blossomed into a full-on tree that was now bearing fruit. No longer did it need Frank’s powers to help it grow; it was feeding on Marovico’s countless missed experiences. Scenarios of sexual experiences, friendships that could have been more, one-night stands with another man in a myriad of cities all fed the tree. The plant was quickly engorged with nutrients, pushing up against Steve’s very being as it corrupted it soul, becoming the very core of his being.

The trucker immediately fell to his knees and lifted his hairy ass into the air, panting like a bitch in heat. Frank shook his head, marveling at how easy his prey had fallen. He moved behind the man, dropping his pants and releasing his monster of a nine-inch, uncut cock. He spat on his palms and lubed up his tool. With all the precision of a surgeon, he angled his member down into the needy ass, tracing the rim of the pucker and sending chills right down Steve’s body.

“Oh fuck…” moaned the entranced trucker. “Oh fuck… this is happening… it’s really happening!”

“Yes, Steven Marovico,” chortled Frank. “It really is.”

There was a instant when Steve realized he had never given his full name, a flash of rebellion and a spark of free will; an ember in the darkened ash that fed the parasitic tree currently writhing within him. A flame that was quickly extinguished when Frank pushed the first inch of his cock right into the awaiting hole.

Steve cried out in ecstasy and the tree bloomed, its fruit perfectly ripe for the harvest. Frank moaned, as this new experience fed him, the energies of all the sensations and emotions from Steve funneling into him and feeding his godly powers. The tattoo of Virgo’s emblem glowed brightly beneath his shirt, even glowing beyond the thick brown leather of his jacket. In response, a similar emblem appeared against Steven’s skin, burning against his back with a loud, sizzling sensation.

“You are mine!” Frank roared. He pushed another inch into the waiting ass and his prey let out another euphoric cry. A hard cock splattered precum beneath him and his body began responding even as his mind was left reeling from all the stimulation burning throughout his body.

It wasn’t only the mix of pleasure and pain from his ass being penetrated for the first time or the soft, gentle, sizzling sensation of being branded as a spawn of Virgo but also the immense pressure that was building inside of him. The tree that had been planted within him was still growing, still feeding on his rapidly shrinking essence. It pressed up against his body from deep within, branches seeping into his muscles, roots merging with his bones and its trunk growing and growing throughout his entire body, filling him with a sense of being engorged.

“Accept the blessing of our Lord and Master, Virgo!” Frank roared, pushing another inch deep into the man beneath him and only then proceeding to start rhythmic thrusting.

“I feel it!” cried Steve, throwing his head back, his face split into a stupor. “I feel it in me!”

The brand on both men grew brighter and brighter with wisps of golden light sliding up from the one burning against Steve’s back, swirling through the air and funneling straight into Frank’s throat. The biker consumed the energies, devouring the power generated from this man losing his anal virginity.

He pushed another inch into Steve and the trucker’s eyes squeezed shut for a moment. The energy generated from this beautiful union threatened to overwhelm the poor man; that tree about to grow wild like a weed. Thankfully, Frank was there to trim it back like a beautiful bonsai. Through the power of the brand that now burned against Steve’s back, he used some of the might he had devoured to craft Steve’s new, soul into something befitting their master.

Steve’s eyes thrashed beneath his eyelids, his mind quickly being filled with love and devotion to the god that he had never met yet whose divinity he felt through Frank’s throbbing member. He let out another cry while still keeping his eyes shut. A sound like wood breaking erupted from his forehead. Something white burst from his skin, not a drop of blood appearing from the breach. The noise grew louder and that foreign object pushed itself out further and further from his forehead. Steve’s brain was wracked with a mixture of relief and strength like he was just stretching a muscle. His eyes sprang open, golden light spilling from them as the long, pointed horn burst from his forehead in all of its glory.

Just as Frank managed to shove another inch into the man.

“Fuck!” the hirsute trucker roared. “Fuck me! Fuck me hard and deep!”

Frank was more than eager to comply as he shaped the new soul within the man before him. As he had witnessed many times before, when the soul changed, the body quickly followed and when the body was fully changed, the mind had no choice but to adapt.

Steve’s face was wracked with more sounds like tree branches breaking. Cheekbones popped and jerked forward, pulling his face away from the rest of his skull. Nostrils flared with every heavy breath, broadening and widening as his lips were pulled forward into a long snout. Dark, brown fur burst from the base of his horn, spreading like wildfire all over his new, equine features with a sensation like a gentle breeze against his skin. The short, almost buzz-cut brown hair on his head was narrowed down to a single streak between two, pointed, leaf-like ears. The same golden light burst from his lips as his muzzle took its full shape and his crooked teeth straightened into its new home.

The trucker threw his head back, letting out a loud whinny that pulled his neck further away from his body even as it thickened in preparation to support his new, horned head. That tattoo on his neck remained but the black ink that made the word ‘Mom’ morphed and shifted to transform into the ‘M’ emblem of Virgo.

Frank released his grip on Steve’s soul. He no longer needed to trim the tree. It knew what shape it would take. Now he could focus on the pleasure of fucking his new Thrall and feasting on the power that was generated from this union.

He shoved his sixth inch into the man beneath him.

The undershirt Steve barely wore strained against rapidly inflating shoulders. First the right trap flared out, followed quickly by the right. Both deltoids ballooned out into two, scalloped teardrops that looked like they were about to burst from beneath his skin. The brown fur quickly smoothened that out, transforming his soft, human flesh into a thicker hide. Triceps on both arms surged outwards to the melody of crumbling wood, each becoming as thick as watermelons. Each bicep quickly followed suit, their explosion of mass and strength celebrated by the snapping of the two straps of Steve’s undershirt. Just before the brown fur could completely cover his upper arms, Frank shoved his seventh inch of dick into the man’s hole, each thrust growing more and more fevered.

“Fuck me!” bellowed Steve. “Fuck me for our Lord Virgo!”

Mind already becoming fully centered around their master, Steve embraced his new role in life with open arms; arms that flared out and stacked muscle upon muscle. His forearms in particular looked like thick sausages pressed against one a nother, tapering to a point of his wrist. His hands dug into the metal beneath him, twisting the steel as his fingernails darkened into the same material as horse’s hooves. The fur along his forearms turned a stark white, leaving him with alabaster, fur ‘gloves’.

The brand on his back burned even brighter, its light being sucked into Frank as the brown fur rapidly made its way down the growing mounds and valleys along the emerging beast’s spine. Lats flared out, giving way for Steve’s chest to shrug off the remnants of his undershirt as two, huge pectorals with erect, pink nipples made an immense shelf on his chest. The belly that had slowed him down bubbled away, all that mass being sucked into pure energy for Frank to devour. Solid abdominals were stacked beside one another, flaring obliques framing them like the perfect portrait to masculinity.

Frank shoved his eighth and penultimate inch into the corrupted man just as the fur surged down Steve’s ass. A long strands of wispy, white hairs erupted from just above the trucker’s ass, multiplying by the second and forming a long, waterfall of ivory that flared and flicked with each of Frank’s thrusts. Despite the broadening of that asscheeks, the hole between them remained pleasingly tight, serving to bring Frank closer and closer to orgasm.

This was helped by the fact that new strength entered Steve’s thighs. Quads twitched and with the sound of snapping wood, inflated beneath the compact, brown fur. His hamstrings pressed up against the soft coat, forming two clear ‘V’s at the back of his legs. This strength allowed him to thrust back against Frank’s cock with renewed vigor, pushing the ninth and final inch into his hungry ass.

The intense pleasure of having his god’s chosen’s cock all the way into him caused his own member to erupt. Each testicle filled with the remnants of Steven Marovico’s soul that could not be used or just wasted, turning each one into enormous, orange-sized organs that hung low within a pitch-black sack. With each on of Frank’s dominating thrusts, his six inch member flared out in both length and girth. Inch by glorious inch stacked upon one another, each one filling the addled equine with a sensation of growing erect all over again and needing to attend to that arousal. The mushroom-shaped helmet that was his glands was quickly consumed by the growth, flattening into a solid flat circle that quickly developed a ring of circular lumps around its broad rim. Black and mottled with flecks of pink, the monstrous fifteen-inch member slapped against his rock-hard abdominals, the medial ring marking the halfway mark of the beast.

“For Lord Virgo!” cried Steve. “I give you my ass! I give you my virginity! I give you my everything!”

Frank didn’t need to say anything. He was riding his own high as he felt his balls push up against the base of his dick and his own orgasm rapidly approached. Drunk on his own growing power, he stamped his foot, causing a sizable dent in the steel floor. As if sensing his urgency, Steven’s feet exploded out of his shoes, each toe lengthening but merging towards one another into a single, powerful hoof. His feet crackled and snapped, taking on a more digitigrade shape that would have him towering over most men. The brown fur turned white an inch below his knees and thick calves, covering the rest of his feet in the snowy fur.

Release quickly approached but Frank hesitated for a second.

He smelled something in the air. A grin crossed his features as he gave Steve one last thrust and allowed the dam to break. Though he bit his tongue and held back from screaming in orgasm, there was no stopping the new unicorn that had been formed beneath him. Steve threw his head back, a primal scream erupting from his throat and the golden light from his eyes and mouth filling the entire trailer. Hot seed exploded out of his cock, the first of what would be many, many orgasms. There was enough force that his cum blasted the far end of the container and there was so much that even with the stacks of furniture, he still managed to soak the rear wall. At the same time, Frank’s own divine seed pumped into the beast beneath him, filling the equine’s ass and claiming him once and for all for Lord Virgo.

Just in time.

Two concerned truckers, the men who had been with Steve, pushed open the shutters of the trailer. At first, they only saw Frank’s broad, clothed back and his bare ass. The bigger of the two was already halfway up the trailer, shouting about rape when he stopped. Steve looked over his shoulder and grinned at the two.

“Gary,” rumbled the frown-furred unicorn. “Ernest.” He slipped off Frank’s dick, rising to his full height of 7’9’’. “You’ve got to try this, man. It’s fucking great.”

Both men retreated a step.

“S - S - Steve!? Is that you!?”

“Holy shit! Y - Y - You’re -!”

Without even any verbal commands from Frank, Steven Marovico lunged forward, seizing both men by their collars and immediately yanking them into the trailer. Frank strode past the struggling trio as Steve easily caught them both in a headlock, his huge arms pinning them in place with ease. Frank shut the trailer doors, momentarily stopping when he caught a silver-haired figure standing in the parking lot.

Virgo gave him a nod.

The Ripe Harvester

By now, you may be questioning what exactly makes Frank Valentino so powerful. Apart from his intimidating physique, his divine powers grant him substantial supernatural strength, speed and endurance proportionate to his physical strength. I can only assume he has been developing his body since I last saw him so he must be incredibly strong by the time you no doubt face him.

However, that only scratches the surface. This is typical of most Astrals and Celestials.

Frank’s vengeful nature contributes to what makes him dangerous but what truly makes him a danger is his Mantle and Sphere of Influence.

Like those under Virgo’s command, Frank has the Mantle of the Virgin but he is one of those who relishes in the taking of virginity. This matches well with his vindictive nature. The more new experiences he forces upon people, whether they like it or not, the more powerful he gets.

He can then deploy this power through his Sphere of the Ripe Harvest. The moment he learns of your greatest weakness - whether it is through subterfuge, combat or some other means - he will be able to exploit it to crippling degrees, heightening its effect on you. A man who suffers from arachnophobia will be reduced to a quivering, sobbing mess at the mere mention of a spider. Someone who has suffered a knee injury decades ago will suddenly have it flare up to the point where they cannot walk. In this way, he prepares you to be ‘harvested’; making you ‘ripe for the picking’.

Just remember, my dearest Dante, this is all a mental illusion. He does not actually manifest a spider or cause decades of healing to be undone with a single strike. It is all an illusion.

Much like society_’s self-imposed importance on the idea of virginity. _

_ _

********

November 24th, 7:30 PM, Goldman Residence

After a hard morning of running the obstacle course and then a hearty lunch prepared by Jacob, Dante was glad when they retired to the mansion and finally got a chance to call not only his dad but Zeke as well. Holding a phone was awkward as his physiology had changed so much that his ears were much farther away from his muzzle. So he had to speak to them both on speaker phone. It was hard lying to both of his loved ones but he knew he had to keep them in the dark to protect them - just like every superhero. Once he was done with his calls, he went to the upstairs game room where Jacob had asked them to gather.

“Now that we’re all here,” said began the dark blue-eyed lawyer, “we can start. I’ll be going over the basics of magic.”

Dante’s heart leaped to his throat and he eagerly sat down on one of the big cushions in front of the large TV for the active players. He still recalled many nights spent with Flash after their sessions munching on pizza in this very room playing some racing game or fighting game against one another. Those controllers were likely much too small now for their paws. Thinking about Flash compelled him to glance to his left where the red wolf was still looking somewhat dejected. Flash’s tail was wagging and his ears were perked but there was just… something about him that told Dante his friend wasn’t really feeling up to the upcoming lesson.

“When a god dies,” Jacob began, taking out a Popsicle stick from his long, blue coat, “all the knowledge they had accumulated throughout their tenure changes the very substance of reality. You can say that when a Celestial is created, they get the cheat codes to reality and they have their entire time existing to change and manipulate those codes. When they die, those modified codes go back into the world via the leylines, ready for anyone else to use them if they know how.”

He pointed at the emblem on the Popsicle. It looked like a lion’s head in profile with a particularly fiery mane. “All you really need to do when it comes to magic is to know those codes, have something to fuel the magic and then trigger it. In this case, I took great pains to disguise the runes for this particular spell into this nondescript emblem. The fuel is the Popsicle itself. As for the trigger…”

Jacob snapped the Popsicle in two between his fingers. Blue flames immediately consumed the small piece of wood to produce a dancing ball of flame hovering over his palms.

“That is so cool!” exclaimed Dante. “But… what if someone just snaps those sticks? I mean, those have to be everywhere, right?”

“Not quite,” Jacob said. “I’ve been in this reality for ten years and during that time, I’ve been using my connections to commission various designers, artists and manufacturers in various industries to disguise runes and magical symbols in mundane objects specifically for me. These Popsicle sticks aren’t in normal circulation. They’re made just for me. In fact…”

He gestured at the long, double-breasted, blue coat he wore, holding out one of the long tails that nearly reached the floor. “I actually had a clothes designer help put this whole thing together. Each layer of clothing has runes stitched into its very structure. It offers protection from excessive force of any kind and it’s tailor made just for me.”

“You’ve been ready for this for a while, huh?” Flash stated, a slightly dejected tone in his voice. It was almost indistinguishable but Dante thought he at least knew Flash enough to detect it.

“I had to,” Jacob responded. Straightening, he produced another Popsicle stick. Dante noticed that there were sliding out of the sleeves of his coat so he must have had some sort of release mechanism somewhere in his coat. “I started out with the barest of knowledge about this world and I had to spend some time establishing my presence. Virgil had some resources to set up my identity but the rest was on me. I had to research spells, techniques and history so that I could get up to speed. That was a lot to cram into ten years.”

Compared to the Celestials who had centuries to prepare their defenses even if they were languishing in stagnation, ten years was nothing. Dante couldn’t help but feel that even with all of Jacob’s preparation, they were still woefully unprepared.

“Magic isn’t just about hidden symbols either,” the lawyer lectured. “You need to have active knowledge of the magic you are using. You have to consciously know the rune, feel it within you and understand that particular spell to activate it.” He handed Dante the stick. “Go on, snap that.” He gave Flash one as well.

Both boys broke the sticks but, much to their disappointment, nothing happened.

“See?” Jacob said. “You need to know the spell in order to activate it. We’ll go through basic spells and runes and develop more as they come up.”

“Question!” Dante exclaimed, thrusting a paw through the air. “When you say you have to ‘know’ the spell, is it like some sort of translation thing or is it something more… I dunno… spiritual.”

“Good question. The answer is no. You just need to know and understand what the runes mean to activate it. It’s very picky though. If you don’t invoke the right rune correctly, it won’t work. And before you ask, yes, there are incantations but they tend to be tricky especially with pronunciations.” Jacob threw his hands into the air. “People could be saying actual magical words but without knowing their true meaning, they won’t do anything. You know abra kadabra alakazam?”

The boys nodded.

“They’re actual spells but, believe it or not, they were designed to get rid of persistent acne.”

Flash frowned at that. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Russ agreed. “Why do you think you’ve never seen a pimply wizard?”

Dante’s brow furrowed. “Wizards? There are wizards around?”

“Not anymore,” Russ grunted. “Used to be they were a faction of their own. Called themselves the ‘Circle’. Could call them the Illuminati or the Stone Masons or whatever shit you want. They tried to control the world through what little magic they could figure out an’ even went so far as to try an’ force anyone who learned about magic to join up with them.”

“They hoarded all known magical artifacts and magical knowledge for themselves,” Jacob added. “They claimed it was to protect mankind from itself but really, they just wanted the power for themselves.” Reaper let out a short laugh. “I suppose we do owe them some thanks, however. They were responsible for more than their fair share of Celestial deaths. They fully understood that the death of a Celestial meant there would be more magic available to mankind so they actively sought out Celestials and tried to assassinate them.”

“Where are they now?” Dante asked.

Russ stretched, popping his shoulders loudly. “All dead. Assholes wanted to know the Godhunter’s psionics techniques and were threatening us. Went into all-out war. When they found out that we had the Celestial Cradle, they went even more crazy. We wiped them out. You know the Great Depression? Yeah, that was because the Illuminati died out and they couldn’t keep magically creating wealth.”

“Shit…” Flash whispered softly. “So all their magical knowledge?”

“Gone,” Jacob confirmed. “Thankfully, you’ve got me.” He tapped the little table in front of them where he had arranged some pieces of papers and pens. “I’ll teach you a very basic rune. Just a simple light spell. Something to generate some light. So follow my lead.”

Jacob showed them by picking up a piece of paper and drew a perfect circle. This was followed by drawing a cross pattern perfectly at the center of the page followed by four triangles all pointing inwards towards the joints of the cross. He finished this by drawing one more circle that connected each of the points of the triangles pointing towards the cross. He then gently tapped the page.

The rune glowed, letting out a soft, blue light before the page crumpled up as if sucked into a black hole with its center as the rune. The ball of paper turned into a shimmering orb of blue light that hovered just above Jacob’s palm.

Dante’s eyes shimmered in awe and he grabbed a pen, excited to start. Jacob stopped him, however.

“Before you start drawing,” said the lawyer, “you need to understand the meeting of the rune.” Once again he started drawing, first starting with the circle. “The circle represents the shape the light will take.” Then came the cross. “This cross is the light.” Next came each of the triangles. “These…”

“Is the intensity of the light,” Flash suddenly concluded. Dante and Jacob regarded the crimson wolf with surprise. “Am I wrong?”

“Not at all,” Jacob said with a smile. “That’s exactly right. Care to guess what the last circle is?”

“The circuit that finishes it off?”

“Exactly.”

Dante was in awe. “You’ve seen this before?”

Flash shook his head and gave Dante a sheepish grin. “I’ve always been good at this abstract stuff, remember? I took a shit tonne of art classes because it was easier to draw stuff and get credit for it than actually learning stuff. Plus, it kind of looks a little like my old football playbooks in a way.”

With that explained, Jacob encouraged both boys to start their own drawing. While drawing a perfect circle was nearly impossible - they had to use protractors - Dante found himself struggling to draw each aspect as perfectly as Flash or Jacob. Flash had a surprisingly still hand and was able to make the rune perfectly after a few tries. He was able to generate a red ball of light in a few short minutes.

“Well look at that,” Russ grunted softly with a grin. “Looks like we’ve actually got a wizard. I knew a few Godhunters who would’ve taken years to do what you just did.”

That brightened Flash’s mood though Dante felt the ugly green monster of jealousy bubbling up in his chest. He brushed it aside and kept trying.

“Hey, why is my light red?” Flash asked.

“Magic still takes some leads from your soul even if it doesn’t directly drain from it,” Jacob explained. “When you cast a spell, it takes an imprint of your soul and aesthetically changes itself to match the contours of your soul. When I throw lightning bolts or fireballs, they’re always blue because that’s how my soul shines. Yours is likely that deep crimson.”

“Just like my fur?”

“Right.”

Dante had to wonder if the balls of light he would conjure - if he ever managed it - would be jet black and wondered exactly what that meant about the ‘contours of his soul’. Shaking it from his mind, he continued trying to draw the same symbol over and over again, slamming his palm against the page to get it to try and activate. Frustration grew when, after several attempts and what seemed like an hour, he had yet to manifest a single orb of light and Flash was already experimenting with different intensities of his light.

Seeing this, Jacob said, “Maybe we should start focusing on psionics…?”

“No, I got this,” Dante growled, trying to draw the circles once more. “A circle for the shape of the light… The cross for the light itself… Triangles for its intensity and the last circle to complete the circuit.” Satisfied with his drawing, he slammed his palm against the page…

… only for nothing to happen again.

“Goddamnit!” he snarled. “Why can’t I get it!?”

“Everyone learns at their own pace,” Jacob encouraged gently. “If you’re after why this particular symbol didn’t work…” He pointed at the vertical line of the cross. “This is off center. The lines of the cross have to intersect the at the center of the circle perfectly.”

“That’s dumb!”

“So was the Celestial who made it,” the lawyer said with a shrug. “He was an ancient human being who was scared of the dark and became a Celestial of Light. Didn’t contribute much to the field and didn’t last that long. He generated a lot of light for his tribe but then wild animals noticed it, saw the undefended humans who thought they were safe and then killed them all.”

Dante regarded the rune with a bit of disgust. It just hit him that every magic spell he’d ever cast is made possible because a Celestial died sometime in the past. It was morbid but a necessity.

Suddenly, he heard a soft roaring sound coming from the distance. His ears perked in the direction of the front gate. It was strange… like thunder rolling in but it had this… mechanical rattling edge to it that he couldn’t quite describe. He got to his feet and seeing this, Flash and Russ did the same. They both glanced in the direction that he was looking, swiveling their ears to face the approaching rumbling.

“We’ve got company,” snarled Russ. He took a deep, long whiff of the air. Then his lips peeled apart in a snarl. “Fuck. An Astral and he’s got two… no…” Another sniff. “Three complete Thralls with him.” He glanced over at Jacob. “I thought you said we’d be undetectable with your wards.”

“I said the mansion would look empty,” answered the wizard-slash-lawyer. With a flick of his wrist, Jacob produced what looked like a specially crafted playing card from his left sleeve. He slammed it into the ground, bringing brilliant blue light erupting from the card. From the light, he pulled what looked like a long, shaft of wood that was broken up into two sections. It was a staff with the top looking to be the tip of a fountain pen. “Against the senses of Celestials or Astrals, though… there’s only so much I can do.”

“Can your wards keep them away?” Flash asked.

A loud crash quickly caught all of their attention and this was followed by the bending of metal.

“Clearly not,” Jacob sighed, clearly frustrated. “Damn, I honestly thought we had more time than this.” He grabbed his staff in both hands and started heading towards the front door. “You boys get to safety. Russ, keep an eye on them. I’ll hold them back.”

“Hell no,” snarled Russ, cracking his knuckles ominously. “I’ve been sitting in that goddamn box for fifty fucking years. I need some action.”

“Yeah!” Flash exclaimed, leaping up and flexing a bicep. “Enough theory, coach! Time to put it into practice.”

Jacob shot them all a piercing look just as Dante was about to get to his feet. Those dark blue eyes were like lasers that sapped all the strength from the sable wolf’s knees. “This is an Astral we’re talking about. Not a Thrall. Not even a common school bully. An actual Astral. Someone with a subset of their Celestial’s Mantle but their own, unique Sphere. We haven’t even covered them in class!”

Finding his strength, Dante managed to straighten and and steeled himself, puffing out his chest. “And if we just run, they’ll just hunt us down and hurt those we love. We have to make a stand here. Besides, they’re driving up with three eighteen-wheeler trucks and one motorbike! We’ll never outrun them.”

There was a moment of surprise on Jacob’s features. “Wait, really? You can tell by just hearing that?” He glanced off in the direction of the noises. “Damn…” With a shake of his head, Reaper turned back towards them. “Okay, fine. But leave the majority of the fighting to me. Focus on support.”

“We gotchu,” Russ said with a grin. “Besides, we’ve got to teach these pups their roles in this whole thing.” He winked at Dante in particular. “Pup, I hope you’re used to making your boyfriend cum.”

Dante’s ears folded back against his head. “Uhm… Why…?” Jacob started marching towards the front door with a steely gaze on his face. Russ just had this smirk on his features that formed a pit of fear in Dante’s belly while Flash stormed forward, tail tucked between his legs.

“Why does it matter if I make my boyfriend cum?” Dante repeated. “Why!?”

Bad Harvest

I had only one encounter with Frank Valentino and this was just a few months ago. I was on my final tour of the world, preparing my assets and final entries for this very same diary when I saw him riding that extremely loud motorcycle of his through Rome. Up until that point, I had only read of him from what reports I had gathered and had yet to fully confirm his role amongst the Valentinos; was he a Thrall or an Astral? How far up the chain was he?

I followed him into a bar deep within the bowels of the city. In retrospect, I should have known that with death breathing down my neck, I was not as stealthy or as spry as I pretended to be. He cornered me and dragged me off to the back of the bar. There, he tried to seduce me.

He explained, in no uncertain terms, that men of my age gave him the greatest taste for any man who had lived for so long as I and still had things I had yet to experience were rare and far between. He tempted me with acts that I am sure would have stopped my heart there and then and I am ashamed to admit that I was not in the least bit tempted. One last hurrah before my death, to go out with a bang, as it were.

But I resisted and used one of Jacob’s handy Popsicle sticks to repel him and his temptations. He was surprised to find another ‘wizard’ but when I started employing some of the techniques I had learned as a Godhunter, he recognized me for who I was.

I was not scared, however. He knew I was the Last Godhunter and though he threatened to kill me, I reminded him that only I knew where the Celestial Cradle was. My death would mean it would forever be lost to the world or someone would stumble upon it and become the new Supreme God which his patron would be forced to kneel to.

Better to have no ruler than one tyrant, was my reasoning.

He still threatened to take me to Virgo for he knew first hand how the Virgin’s powers could easily give me something he had no doubt I craved - a fresh body, my youth. Again, I am ashamed to admit that I felt the tug of temptation but in order to make this world safe for not only you, my dearest Dante, but my son as well, I had to refuse.

We found ourselves in a stalemate but I was not without my own tricks.

I invited him to drinks and there, I learned much about him. He took twenty-seven whole pints of beer before passing out. Given my age, there was no way I could maintain that level of alcohol but I learned many ways to make it appear that I had drunk something when in reality, I had not. Of those twenty-seven pints, fifteen of them were mine. Needless to say, I garnered much information about him and gave him the slip.

I do not believe Frank Valentino is a bad man.

Just lost his virginity to the wrong person.

_ _

********

November 24th, 8:00 PM, Goldman Residence

“Fuck yes!”

The cry of this former trucker was music to Frank’s ears. The newly transformed unicorn came over and over again, his hips bucking against Frank’s cock while streams of his pearly cum pooled beneath him. There was no need for the secrecy of the truck trailer. All three of the working men were now his and this little truck stop was clearly used to people fucking behind the establishment. No one came to check on them even after the first scream of orgasm from the parking lot. Admittedly, they were hidden between the trailers of the three trucks so they weren’t completely out in the open.

The two other freshly made Thralls moaned their own ways to orgasm, showering their newly minted brother with their own seed. Frank pulled out of the new, furry ass, still very much appearing human himself and absorbing all the power from his new Thrall. This man - whatever his name was - had never experienced being a unicorn before and that alone was ambrosia. As he was, he could probably lift all three of these trucks and hurl them into the ocean in one hand.

But he had to conserve his strength. Remaining human for the moment, he waved a hairy hand in the direction of the unicorn. The cum that had covered the caramel fur hardened, transforming into a big, black leather jacket emblazoned with Virgo’s mark and a few spiked studs. Leather belts sprang from the creamy seed, wrapping around the taut, tree-trunk thighs of the equine while leaving his cock and balls fully exposed. A big, silver nose ring appeared against the horse’s features. Just to finish the look, a pair of big aviators sprang up and shielded the glazed eyes of the Thrall.

Now he looked like a real biker and a mindless thug for Frank Valentino, Astral of Virgo.

The other two former truckers were dressed the same. Apart from their differing fur colors and degrees of bodyhair, they were almost completely identical. Just how Thralls should be.

“Roll out,” he growled.

The Thralls let out loud whoops and nickers before jumping straight into their trucks. Frank jumped into the cabin of one of his Thralls. As they navigated their rigs expertly out of the parking lot, he leaned down towards the still-erect crotch of the driver. He could smell that this soul had never received road-head from a man before let alone one while in the Thralldom of an Astral. The cock was as delicious as it was filling and by the time they had reached where he had stashed his bike, he was full of seed and strength once more.

His ride remained completely undisturbed. It only took a few minutes before he cleaned up, kissed his Thrall as thanks and was revving up the engine. His Thralls instinctively knew what he wanted and as he started his bike and veered out into the street, they remained in formation behind him, blocking the entire road.

The little convoy drew little attention as it was well into the evening and most of the town had already retreated to the confines of their home. The sun was far from setting but the constantly overcast skyline threw them into a gray, drab twilight that sapped most living beings of the desire to be outside.

Not Frank.

No, this would be his moment of triumph. The moment when he finally managed to prove himself above the rest of his brothers and sisters and claimed the Celestial Cradle for Virgo. This excitement made him erect, reminding him that he hadn’t bothered to zip up his pants after fucking the last of his new Thralls.

It didn’t matter. He was sure he’d be fucking someone else soon.

Brimming with power and juiced up on excitement, he wore a broad grin all the way to the more opulent part of town where each of the mansions had aches of space between them. His eyes were drawn to the big, red brick home. They stopped at the iron-wrought gates and made sure to rev their engines to let the occupants know that they had arrived.

A few moments later, four figures stepped out of the mansion, positioning them on the bright, white steps in a defensive position in front of the house. Frank didn’t wait more than a minute before he reared back on his bike like a true horse and charged right through the gates, the metal twisting and bending against the force of his own divinity. The trucks followed him, barreling up the lawn and forming a barricade around the four figures.

Frank ground his bike to a halt a good distance from his foes, taking a moment to appraise them. The one standing at the lead was what he expected from a modern-day wizard. A long, flowing blue coat with black lining, neatly dressed in black slacks and wielding a staff that was just about his height. The guy couldn’t be more than thirty years old and had these piercing, sapphire-blue eyes that burned with a laser-like intensity.

Directly to the right of the wizard was this enormous dog. The man was easily eight feet tall and very thick. Though sporting a rather impressive belly, that belly was lined with a thick set of abdominal muscles. The size of the canine’s chest, arms and legs spoke of incredible strength. A powerlifter, Frank concluded. Bright red eyes burned with a hunger that Frank could only describe as predatory.

Behind the two were these two other canines, wolves from their appearance. One was red and the other was black. They looked younger and leaner. Their bodies were sculpted from furry marble with the red one appearing bigger than the black one. Though they stood bravely behind what could only be their seniors, their tucked tails clearly spoke of their fear and inexperience.

Good. Frank could play with that.

Never shutting off the engine of his beastly ride, Frank stepped off his motorcycle, kicking down the stand and approaching the group, cock still out and partially erect. His Thralls emerged from their trucks, now having boxed the four men in.

“My name is Frank Valentino!” roared the Astral. “You have something that belongs to my god.”

The wizard’s expression suddenly turned to one of exasperation. “Here we go with the posturing. Sometimes I wish we’d just skip the foreplay and get to the meat of the content. But since we’re doing this. Fine…” He gave an exaggerated bow towards Frank. “My name is Jacob Samuel Reaper. I’m a defense lawyer here in town and it is my solemn duty to inform you that the ‘something’ that your god lays claim to is the rightful property of my clients behind me. Their grandfather bequeathed it to them at the moment of his passing a week or so ago. If you would like to contest the will, my office hours are from nine-to-five, Monday through to Friday.”

Frank gave a snort of derision and shook his head. “Clever. But you’re meddling in matters that are beyond you, human. Step aside and you just might get out of this without being fucked.”

Reaper looked up at Frank from his bowing position. “Trust me, Mr. Valentino, I’m exactly where I want to be.”

“Your funeral,” the biker growled. Without even a single command on his part, one of his Thralls let out a trumpeting bellow and charged horn-first at the wizard. Frank had to smirk at himself. His control over his Thralls were absolute.

As expected, the big brute of a dog beside Reaper moved to defend his master. He grabbed the charging Thrall by the horn and with an equally loud roar, lifted the unicorn over his head with both hands. That alone was an impressive feat. Then the canine had to go ahead and bend his back and slam the Thrall back against the ground in a bone-crunching suplex.

Everyone winced at that, even Frank.

But a Thrall of Virgo’s youngest Astral would not be defeated so easily. The unicorn planted both his feet in the ground and with one, powerful movement that highlighted his rippling abs and core strength, the Thrall was suddenly on his feet and bucking backwards, slamming both of his hoofed feet into the dog’s back.

“Russ!” cried the black wolf.

‘Russ’, the big canine, was sent flying and slammed hard against one of the truck’s trailers with enough force that the metal bent around him. Strangely, the beast let out a barking, loud, ‘dad laugh’ as he peeled himself off the side of the truck.

“Well shit,” exclaimed the hound, dropping onto the ground. “I didn’t expect this kind of a workout after just waking up. Now you’ve got my blood pumping!” He faced the Thrall, crouching down, bending his back in a wrestler’s stance. “Come on, you dumbass pony! Come at me!”

The Thrall let out a roar and charged forward but Frank had diverted his attention back to Reaper. Another of the Thralls came barreling forward. The red wolf intercepted him, flicking out a piece of paper of all things and slamming it between his palms. The paper seemed to vanish between his fingers. The wolf turned both his palms towards the charging Thrall and a blinding, red light burst out. Even Frank was momentarily dazzled but he still heard the wet crunching sound of a fist striking a face as his Thrall was sent crashing to the ground.

“Surprise, bitch!” the red wolf laughed. “You just got Flashed!”

Frank had to assume the wolf’s name was Flash or some variant of the word. No matter. Only to more to go. The last of his Thralls charged at Reaper from the right and this time, the black wolf lunged forward, crash-tackling the unicorn into the ground. Nothing so spectacular as the other two but that served Frank’s purpose. Now, the wizard was all alone. He would deal with these Thralls and the budding Celestials later.

All other pawns off the board, Frank stepped forward, rolling his shoulders ominously. “It’s only you and me now, spell slut.”

“That’s unique,” Reaper responded with a shrug, eyes half-closed in a lazy exasperation. “So what? Were you expecting me to be utterly helpless now that my tank and support are gone? Poor lonely DPS left to fend for himself?”

Frank grinned, stalking forward with every step of his causing the ground to crack beneath his feet. “Fuck no. I know you wizards need to prepare your spells before hand. The only thing I’ve got to do is make sure you exhaust your spells until you’re completely defenseless!”

Reaper rolled his eyes and waved his free hand tauntingly at him. “Oh no. All I’ve got are my spells. Otherwise I’d just be a squishy wizard with a negative modifier to my constitution and dexterity. Woe is me. My intelligence won’t save me in a long-term brawl when all of my spell slots are exhausted.” He gave Frank a tired look. “First of all, cantrips were a thing way back in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and there are feats that can make cantrips just as powerful as fireball. And secondly…”

The lawyer then reached into his jacket and pulled out a…

Frank’s eyes went wide in horror as he suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol.

“… here’s my favorite cantrip. It’s called Glock.”

BANG!

Frank’s instincts kicked in and he immediately dove to the side, avoiding the gunfire. Any normal man would never have been able to dodge the projectile from such a short range but Frank was an Astral, imbued with the magical essences of Virgo. In reality, he probably could have stood there and took a normal bullet without flinching but there was no telling what kind of bullet or gun Reaper was wielding.

The sound of the gunshot caused everyone on the battlefield to immediately freeze and jerk towards the lawyer.

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” Frank barked. “How is that fair!?”

Reaper pointed his staff accusingly with a look of incredulity on his face. “You’re the one that literally reached into three innocent people’s souls and reshaped them from the inside out and you’re preaching to me about fair!?”

Feeling defensive, Frank barked back with, “How do you know they didn’t give themselves to me willingly?” He rose back to his feet, pushing his shoulders back confidently. “Who wouldn’t want a piece of this?”

Reaper was unimpressed and gave him a pointed stare. “Did they?”

The pause Frank gave was answer enough. Goddamn lawyers.

“That’s what I thought,” said the human, holstering his gun. “But if it makes you feel any better, I’ll put away my gun. I’ll fight you without it. Easy mode is on.”

That sparked Frank’s competitive side as he curled his hands into fists once more. “Fuck you! I don’t need your pity! Take that fucking thing out and shoot me with it!” He slapped his chest aggressively. “Bring it on!”

Reaper flicked a wrist in his direction dismissively. “Sorry. Once you downgrade the difficulty of the game, there’s no bumping it back up until you start a new game.”

Baring his teeth, Frank demanded. “Fine! Let’s reset then!”

“Great!” Reaper exclaimed hopefully. “Come back in… say… a week? Then we can try again?”

It only took Frank a second to realize what this was. The lawyer was stalling for time. The Cradle had just been opened and that meant that these budding Celestials were just coming to their powers. They would likely not have had time to even come to terms with their situation let alone learn about their Mantle or Sphere. Chances were, they had no idea how to even generate a Domain. A quick glance around him confirmed his suspicions.

The two wolves were struggling against the bigger, brawnier unicorns. Especially that black-furred one. Pinned to the ground, the black wolf scratched and bit desperately to find some way to escape from the unicorn that was currently straddling his hips. The red one could only send flashes of light at his opponent who was now slowly approaching while shielding his eyes. Even the big, chubbier one was panting in exhaustion, sweat dripping from his brow and soaking into his fur while he squared off against his opponent, circling each other cautiously for their next engagement.

This filled him with confidence, compelling him to puff out his chest all the more. “Counter offer,” he declared, hiking a thumb over his shoulder. “You beat me as fast as you can with all your might or my boys fuck yours over. They don’t look so good.”

Reaper glowered, lips twisting in agitation. “And that concludes the part of the encounter where we try to talk our way out of fighting. My persuasion checks clearly failed. I’ll have to put more points into it when I next level up.” The lawyer spun his staff artfully in one hand before letting it rest across his shoulders. “Fine, Mr. Valentino. You called my bluff. Cue the boss battle.”

Pleased that the lawyer was finally taking him seriously, he straightened and removed the thick, black, biker’s jacket from his shoulders, revealing his huge, broad shoulders and chest covered in curly, black chest hair. “I’ll be your final boss battle, spell slut.”

A sardonic smile touched Reaper’s lips. “Aww. That’s cute. You think you’re the boss.”

Without warning, the human’s form suddenly flashed blue, his entire body becoming light blue and transparent. Something struck the back of Frank’s knees and he was suddenly sent toppling backwards. He saw that staff come crashing down on his diaphragm before he could even lift his arms. Air was blasted out of his lungs and -

WHAM!

… the ground struck his back with enough force to crack the concrete beneath him.

Spluttering and winded, he found himself staring up at Reaper above him.

The lawyer cocked an eyebrow at him. “Bitch, this isn’t even my final form.”

Danger senses screaming, Frank rolled off to his side, barely dodging that staff as it swept upwards in a spinning windmill of pain. He managed to roll onto his feet only to find the butt of that staff come slamming right into his forehead with incredible force. Stars flashed before his eyes, disorienting him.

Crack!

Pain exploded from the left side of his face, the thick shaft of that staff striking his left cheek. He made a grab for the weapon only for Reaper to pull away and -

Crack!

… slam it into his right cheek. This time, he was ready, however and he had fully expected the follow up strike. The moment the staff hit his skull, his hand lashed out, faster than any human could manage, and seized the weapon.

Click.

Just as his vision was clearing, he saw Reaper detach half of the staff from the part he was gripping. There was only time to register that, somehow, this weapon could have half of its shaft broken into two components before the second half of the weapon was being slammed rapidly against his chest like a thousand rubber bullets. With a growl, he seized the remaining staff.

Frank grinned. Now, Reaper was within arm’s length and both his hands were occupied.

That was when the lawyer jumped into the air, planting both his feet against Frank’s face while using the same staff halves that the human-shaped Astral was holding as a pivot.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

Frank got four full kicks to the face before he threw aside the wooden batons and tried to make a grab for Reaper. The lawyer gave one last kick and launched off his face, somersaulting in the air and landing deftly on his feet, barely making a sound as his loafers kissed the concrete.

The Astral spat, a little bit of blood mixed with is saliva. He rose to his feet, glowering at the shorter man. “What kind of anime bullshit is this?”

“Not anime,” Reaper replied with a shrug. “I’m just a wizard that sub-classed into a monk.”

The snide comment made him snarl.

“Nerd!” Russ roared from his own battle.

Reaper’s shoulders sagged at the insult. “Keep an eye on your own battle!”

“I fight this guy and still call out your nerdy bullshit from where I am!”

Frank took the opportunity of distraction and dashed forward, speed enhanced by his power as an Astral. Reaper had the advantage of surprise and Frank was not about to underestimate him. Without his weapon, the lawyer was defenseless and he was just a human. Frank found it surprisingly easy to close the gap between himself and the black-haired man, bringing his fist down in a blow that would have broken every rib in the wizard’s body.

BAM!

The blow connected and he heard a satisfying smack as Reaper was hurled back several feet. What he didn’t expect was the sound of shattering glass and the tiny little blue filaments dancing around him like pieces of glowing, blue threads.

Reaper uncrossed his arms from in front of his face, completely unharmed. The expression on his face was a mix of surprise and frustration.

“What the fuck?” Frank snarled.

“Come on, Mr. Valentino,” said the wizard, flicking his wrists and producing what looked like a couple of Popsicle sticks from his sleeves. “I’m a defense lawyer. You didn’t think I would have some form of defense strategy going into this, did you?”

Now he was getting mad. “You know I was a cop once upon a time?” he sneered. “The one thing I absolutely hated in this world were goddamn defense lawyers!” He stormed forward just as Reaper snapped the sticks in his hands. Blue flames immediately took the place of the sticks and just as Frank got in close, Reaper hurled the fireballs at him. Frank took both blasts straight to the face but he was undeterred. His fist collided with Reaper’s face, sending the lawyer crashing back another several feet.

There was again a small burst of light-blue strings drifting around him from the site of the impact and Reaper was physically unharmed. The lawyer danced back, now looking more focused than every.

“Really?” spat the wizard-slash-monk. “Why did you hate lawyers who were merely trying to prove people innocent?”

“Innocent!?” barked Frank charging again. This time, Reaper’s body flashed blue again, slipping away supernaturally fast as he swiped at the lawyer. “We had proof! Motive! Opportunity! And you and your kind would poke holes in everything just to get your paycheck!”

Every punch and kick he threw was no longer making contact. Reaper was actively dodging him now. That meant whatever defenses the wily human had erected was limited. Good. He just had to keep attacking and eventually, Reaper would tire our before he did. The lawyer was only human.

“You questioned our credibility!” he roar, throwing a quick right hook. Reaper dodged the blow, gently pressing his forearm against Frank’s thrusting arm to guide it away from himself. “You nitpicked at everything!”

Still with his right arm extended, he thrust forward with his left. As expected, Reaper ducked the beneath the blow. Now, with both arms out, he pulled his hands back, seizing the back of Reaper’s head and pulling the man towards his forehead.

WHAM!

Those blue filaments again… following by the dizzying headache that came from hitting what felt like fifty feet of reinforced steel.

“Maybe you were just a shitty cop,” Reaper answered after a second of reorienting himself. The lawyer pressed something against Frank’s bare chest. It looked like a playing card of some sort. The card itself glowed. Silver chains exploded from the card, wrapping around Frank like steel snakes seeking to constrict him. The Astral staggered back, inadvertently releasing Reaper as his arms and legs were forced together. He slammed into the ground.

“I did my job right!” bellowed Frank. With a simple flex of his muscles, the metal began to bend. “All my arrests were justified no matter how your kind spun the truth!”

A bitter laugh escaped his opponent as he pulled out what appeared to be a… a little sticker. “I just love how you’re generalizing every defense lawyer like we all have a single hive mind and are actively working to sabotage you.” Reaper leaned down and pressed the sticker right against Frank’s forehead. “But I bet when you’re on the other side of those bars, you’ll wish you had someone like me defending you.”

Frank sneered, gnashing his teeth as the metal bent against his muscles. “Fuck you!”

“You wish.”

Jacob took a step back and with a snap of his fingers, lightning cascaded from the thick, gray clouds overhead. Frank roared as every nerve in his body was set afire by the sudden onset of thousands of volts. His mind sizzled with utter hatred for the man who had not only bound him but electrocuted. Images of the electric chair formed seething, hateful associations in his mind, fueling his rage. Fury funneled into his muscles, pumping through his veins and bending the metal even more. With one, triumphant shout, he shattered the chains holding him down and sprang to his feet, the smell of singed hair filling the air and lightning crackling between his fingertips. He searched the battlefield for Reaper.

The big black and tan dog with the belly, ‘Russ’, was grappling with his Thrall, the two of them fighting atop one of the trailers. A short distance away, that red wolf and his second Thrall were throwing punches and kicks at one another. It was a testament to the endurance of these new Celestials that they could take blows from powerful Thralls and barely show any injuries. The black wolf wasn’t doing so well. He had managed to escape the grip of his aggressor but now he was running away frantically from the unicorn chasing him, leaping upon the truck trailer and desperately backing away. In between them all, Reaper picked up the two components of his staff, linking them together once more and watching the black wolf for an opening.

Frank grinned wanly. Now he had him.

“Do you know what my Mantle is,” he boomed, stalking towards the wizard.

The blue-clad spellcaster jumped a little and glanced over his shoulder at Frank. Reaper turned, lifting the staff defensively. “I assume it is some aspect of virginity,” Reaper responded, watching him carefully.

“Yeah.” Frank placed a hand on the side of his neck and gave it a light twist, popping the bones there. “I gain power whenever someone loses some sort of virginity. Thanks to the enlightened view of my lord and god, I now gain strength from any time someone experiences anything new.” He took a deep breath, smelling the strong, lemony scent of lost virginity around him. “I can tell your boys have never fought my Thralls before. That alone gives me a shit tonne of strength. All your fancy spells and ninjutsu barely scratched me.”

Reaper gave a offended noise. “My skin crawled when you referred it to ninjutsu.”

“Point is,” Frank said, lifting a bicep and flexing a hairy muscle. “Nothing you did hurt me. But now, I know exactly what will hurt you.” He turned that flexed arm to point directly at the black wolf standing atop the truck trailer, paws up and slowly backing away from the advancing unicorn. “My Sphere is called the Sphere of the Ripe Harvest. Whenever I detect a weakness is someone, I can make it hurt more than it normally would. And I can tell, that kid there is your weakness.”

Frank lunged towards the ground, digging his fingers into the concrete and tearing out a large slab of the ground about three feet wide. With a roar, he hurled it straight at the black wolf whose eyes were still firmly fixed at his aggressor.

The grin on his face grew wide.

Only to feel another sticker press against his left nipple followed by the snap of one of Reaper’s fingers. A painful, burning sensation exploded from the sensitive flesh some force compelling him to jerk his nipple in the direction of the projectile he had just hurled. Sizzling, blue lightning suddenly exploded from his nub, the hair all around it burning to a crisp while feeling like someone was individually plucking each hair out with rusty tweezers. The bolt of sapphire lightning wasn’t too long but it was enough to shatter his concrete projectile and reduce it to a quick gray cloud.

“You think Dante is my weakness?” Reaper whispered in his ear as Frank doubled over, clutching in injured nipple. “Why? Just because he’s physically the smallest of the wolves? Because in the opening salvo, he was very basic and just tackled the Thrall going after me?” Reaper flicked his staff up so that its butt was forcing Frank to lift his chin so their gazes met. “That’s where you’ve got it completely wrong. Dante isn’t my weakness. He is my strength. My inspiration. Because if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t even be part of this story.”

Lightning fast, Reaper spun his staff away from Frank’s chin, spinning it in one hand and bringing it crashing down on top of the Astral’s head.

Crack!

“So I’ll do anything to protect him.”

Suddenly, the lawyer scrambled several feet back, leaving Frank to fight off the disorientation that came from a blow to the head. The pain emanating from his right chest was a good focal point. Focusing upon it, he looked down at his injured chest. He winced at the sight of the blackened, charred flesh. The bastard had actually managed to hurt him.

How though? What was on that damn sticker?

Sounds like fireworks being lit and sailing into the air brought his attention back to Reaper. The wizard had jammed his staff into the ground and was rapidly snapping Popsicle sticks and sending them sailing off into the three other fights. Russ was suddenly offered some relief as the Thrall he was facing got slammed by five, small fireballs to the flank.

“I didn’t need your help, Reaper!” barked the dog.

“Take what you can get, Russ!” Jacob shouted back with a wave and flung fireballs at the red wolf’s direction.

The crimson wolf took notice of the bolts and immediately grabbed his Thrall in a submission hold, spinning the unicorn around and forcing him to face the incoming fireballs. The equine tried to struggle but the four balls of searing fire that struck his face and chest became an immediate concern. His fur caught on fire, making him scream. The red wolf grinned, releasing the Thrall before kicking him down onto the ground. As a finisher, he jumped into the air and brought his elbow crashing right down on the Thrall’s spine.

“Thanks, Jake!”

“It’s Jacob, Flash! Jay-Koh-Buh!”

Lastly, he sent seven blasts of flame right into the unicorn currently blinded by the cloud of concrete. These fireballs unbalanced the Thrall, sending him teetering over the edge of the trailer. The black wolf regarded his foe hesitantly.

“Dante! Do it!” Reaper roared.

Empowered by the cry, the smallest of the Celestials charged forward, knelt down and swung his leg out in a wide sweep, kicking the Thrall’s legs right out from underneath him and sending the Thrall over the edge of the trailer and crashing to the ground.

Frank snarled in frustration and got to his feet again. “You think you’re so smart,” he growled. “All you fucking lawyers think the same.” He pulled back his fist. “I’ll show you!”

He charged forward, preparing to pummel Reaper’s face. Just three feet from the wizard, a bright blue glow erupted from the ground beneath him. There was a playing card on the ground. In fact, several were scattered all over the ground around the wizard.

“Shi -”

BOOM!

A pillar of earth exploded from the ground, slamming right into his jaw and hurling him high into the air. He crashed back down to the ground on his back, pain erupting from the impact. A sound like a cannon going off fueled his muscled to prop him up on his elbows. That pillar abruptly shattered, forming craggy bowling balls hovering ominously around Reaper.

The defense lawyer suddenly spun his staff around, turning the fountain-pen-like end towards the ground. He began swinging the staff in odd directions, pressing the pen against the ground. Frank took all of five second to realize what it was that the wizard was doing.

The son-of-a-bitch was writing a spell there and then!

Blue light suddenly erupted from beneath the human, likely in the shape of the rune he had just drawn. Sapphire flames engulfed the floating rocks around him before suddenly shooting straight at Frank. The Astral could only lift his arms up to defend himself as the superheated earth slammed into his flesh. The impact was bad enough but the searing heat melted the earth and forced it to cling to his skin, burning even his divinely blessed body.

This strategy clearly wasn’t going to work. He was not going to just exhaust Reaper’s supply of spells especially when it seemed the wizard could quickly prepare spells on the fly.

“Wizards shouldn’t be able to just craft spells like that!” he shouted, his arms growing heavy with molten earth. “That’s cheating!”

“You want to know what’s ‘cheating’?” Reaper yelled back. “Brainwashing three innocent people and reshaping their souls into your own harem of hung unicorns! That’s cheating!” He thrust a fist forward, directing a ball of fiery earth right into the one place that Frank had left exposed - his genitals.

WHAM!

Frank’s scream was unusually high as the pain brought water to his eyes. As an Astral, there would be no lasting damage but any male would such a blow regardless of their level of immortality. In a split-second decision, he rolled onto his belly, letting his back take the brunt of the fiery blasts while he clawed the burning earth from his junk.

“Right in the divine jewels!” shouted the wizard tauntingly.

Rage building, Frank had finally had enough of this game. He hunched forward, covering his head with both his arms as the rain of melted, molten earth smothered him, sliding over his body and rapidly cooling to form a heavy cocoon over his form. In the dark expanse of the dome, he drew upon all of his divine strength, reaching into his own soul and unlocking the chains that he had wrapped around it to allow him to stand upon mortals.

His fury exploded out of his body, muscles, bone and ever cell erupting rapidly as he shrugged off his mortal guise and burst from the little shell. Every muscle was immediately pumped and inflated, his bones stretching with a sensation of freeing himself from a tight, plastic bag rippling through his skin. Fur sprouted all over his body, shredding the remnants of his pants. Hooves burst from his heavy, steel-capped boots just as his spiraling horn shot out of his forehead in tandem with his elongating features.

The roar he unleashed reinvigorated his Thralls. The true Frank Valentino stood, stomping the remnants of the shell beneath his mighty hoof. The black-furred, ten-foot-tall unicorn loomed over the battlefield, Virgo’s mark glowing brightly against his back.

“I will crush you!” Frank bellowed. “But first, I’ll make you watch as my Thralls crush your men!”

Invigorated by his emergence, each of his Thralls renewed their assaults on the three canines. Instead of him just drawing power from them for each new experience they endured, he funneled some of his own purified, more potent Astral energies into them. Each glowed with an unearthly white aura, their muscles bulging, veins popping all over their bodies and eyes glowing with an unreal light.

The one wrestling with the dog known as ‘Russ’ charged, horn first. Russ grabbed the horn and again tried to flip the unicorn on his back with a suplex. The empowered Thrall maintained his foot and charged Russ right off the trailer of the truck and slammed him into the nearby wall of the mansion, making a sizable dent in the structure. A short distance away, Flash was thrown to the ground, head pressed down by a powerful hand while a huge, horse cock loomed ominously over his virgin ass. Dante was on his knees, cowering against the trailer while the unicorn loomed over him, cock erect and dripping with seed.

“Can you save them all while keeping your ass safe?” boomed Frank with a malicious grin.

That smile, however, wavered a little when he noticed that Reaper maintained that calm smirk.

“You never answered my question,” said the lawyer calmly. “Why did you think Dante was my weakness?”

The question caught Frank off guard and he glanced over at the black wolf whose jaw was wide open in horror, letting out a soft, terrified cry for help as his Thrall seized the back of his head and shoved that long, horse cock down his throat.

“Are you telling me you don’t care about these three, these fledgling Celestials that opened the Cradle and became gods? What? Did you get the Cradle yourself and are going to use it?”

Reaper swung his staff over his shoulders, striking a casual pose. “I always wondered why people are so obsessed with that damn thing. But you’ve still avoided answering my question. So let me answer for you. You think that Dante needs protecting. He physically appears the weakest, his entire approach to this battle has been lackluster and he doesn’t seem to have done any damage to his opponent, merely doing whatever he can to escape. So let me ask you this, knowing what you know about lawyers…”

The devilish lawyer’s grin grew broader, his dark blue eyes glinting with a look that made Frank’s heart sink.

“… why would I even put him out on the field if I knew all this?”

The cry of ecstasy from his Thrall immediately brought his attention back to that one unicorn that was currently face-fucking the black wolf. That orgasm came far too quickly for any one of his unicorns no matter how new they were. And yet, there it was, plain as day, his Thrall throwing his head back, eyes rolled into the back of his head, cum flowing for his gigantic balls, through that hose of a cock and right down into that wolf’s throat. There was no look of defeat in Dante’s eyes, instead there was a glare of fierce concentration. Frank actually watched the pup drink and swallow the seed being given to him.

But there was more than unicorn cum going down his throat.

Too late did he realize that the very divinity that made the Thrall so majestic was being drained out of him.

“What the fuck!?” he bellowed.

He could only watch for a whole ten seconds as his Thrall let out a choking gasp, muzzle wide open thrusting orgasms as he clutched the sides of Dante’s head. It seemed that the Thrall was both trying to pull the wolf off him while simultaneously fighting the urge to thrust his cock deeper down that offered throat to spill more of his semen. The white aura surrounding him flickered, faded and completely vanished. Fur all over the man’s body began to fall away like tawny snow, that horn on his head visibly shrinking back into his skull. The features of a horse melted back into the average features of a bearded human. Hooves that stamped with every burst of seed form that cock flattened into five flat toes.

“This is impossible!” Frank boomed. “Get off him!”

He charged towards the two only to suddenly find himself blocked by a wall of searing blue flames. Metal chains exploded from several cards that had been thrown at his feet, all of them lashing around his limbs and pulling him down to his knees. The earth shook when his shins slammed against the concrete. The air suddenly grew cold and he let out a cry of genuine fear when ice exploded from the ground and hugged his form, wrapping around his legs, sealing his back and leaving only his neck and head unbound.

“This was your plan all along!” he accused as Reaper strode into view. “You tricked me!”

Reaper lifted a single eyebrow at him. “No. I just played on your preconceived biases. Is that how demigods and even Celestials see the world? Through a biased lens? Little wonder you’re all really just mortals with beefed up egos.”

He waved a hand over to where Dante continued to suck the almost completely human Thrall. “The point was always to make Dante the target. I told you, I would protect him with everything I had but that also didn’t mean I didn’t have faith in him. You were meant to target him. Because out of the three hounds, he is the one with the power to drain divinity from the likes of you.”

Frank’s eyes widened in horror. “His Mantle…”

“Not really. He doesn’t have a Mantle. It’s just his role to play. The problem, of course, was getting you riled up enough that you’d unleash your true form and try to hurt me in the most humiliating way possible. Dante could probably bite and scratch and drain as much divinity as if he could from an extended blowjob but that didn’t solve the problem of your divine energies. It was actually Russ’ insight that solved that problem.” He cupped a hand around his lips and turned towards where the chubby dog was fighting. “Isn’t that right, Russ?”

Much to Frank’s horror, he realized that the other wolves had all been hiding their strength. With no need to maintain the pretense, Russ grabbed the back of the Thrall’s head and slammed their foreheads together. The unicorn staggered for a moment, allowing Russ to seize him by the horn and -

Crack!

Snap the horn in half. A stunned Thrall staggered back, running a hand over his broken pride before -

WHAM!

A massive fist slammed right into his face, sending him crumpling to the ground.

“You would not believe how long I’ve been wanting to do that!” roared the beast.

“Just an FYI,” Reaper said, glancing over at Frank. “‘Russ’ is actually short of ‘Cerbe_rus_’. As in the legendary guardian dog of Hades. So… like… you know. A full blown Celestial. Yeah, he’s been dormant for fifty years but that still puts him leagues over a Thrall.”

Frank’s jaw dropped in horror. He had been played. Badly.

His eyes went over to the red wolf, Flash. Just like Russ, Flash no longer had to play the victim and had turned the tables. The wolf had slammed the unicorn’s face right into the ground, burying the horn into the asphalt and was now keeping him down. Jacob threw him a few playing cards and silver chains sprang from them, wrapping around the Thrall.

“You would always be the problem,” Jacob continued. “No way you’d just sit still and let Dante suck you off and I’ll admit, in a few minutes, you’re probably going to break out of those chains. Might even get to run off before we finish up. But now that you’ve revealed your true form, your connection with your Thralls is exposed.”

Frank lifted his gaze back towards the wizard. “What are you… urgh!”

A powerful tugging in his very soul interrupted his question. It was like someone had reached deep into his heart and was trying to pull it from his chest through his mouth. His eyes immediately went over to where the Thrall was now almost completely human, lying limp in Dante’s hands while the black wolf continued to suck him dry.

“You’re… You’re sucking my divinity out through my Thralls!” he gasped.

“Bingo,” Reaper said with a soft click of his tongue and a wink. “Russ mentioned that Thralls are basically extensions of your souls. You plant a bit of your soul to hold together their broken souls and that fragment reshapes their bodies to mimic yours. But like with any soul, those fragments are still yours, connected to you. No matter where in the world they are, you have that connection. As an Astral, though, that connection is mostly one-sided. You’re just draining your Thralls for more power. But…”

And thus the trap. When Frank had unleashed his true form, he began pumping his energies into his Thralls whether intentionally or inadvertently. Now the streams of power went both ways… and now Dante was taking advantage of that to drain him of his power!

“You bastards!” he roared.

In desperation, he tried to focus and cut off the links with his Thralls but that was like cutting off your own arm; possible in theory but absolutely painful. This was all against the backdrop of the incredibly draining sensation of having the power that made him an Astral being sapped from him.

“This one’s done!” Dante suddenly shouted, gently resting the naked man in his arms on the ground. “Flash! Heading over to you!”

“Take your time!” exclaimed the red wolf. “He’s not going anywhere.”

Frank realized he wasn’t going to cut off his Thralls in the short time he had. His only hope was to escape. Gritting his teeth together, he flexed his muscles just like when he first broke free of Reaper’s chains. Cracks began appearing against the ice and hope shone through the desperate situation.

“Yeah, if you think I’m just going to sit here and let you do that…” Reaper said. With a flick of his wrist, he produced a few more cards and threw them onto the ice that held down Frank. The freezing cell only grew stronger, each crack healing immediately and the mass of the ice doubling in size.

Frank let out a scream of despair as Dante knelt down next to the struggling Thrall that Flash had restrained.

“Don’t get hard, you idiot!” shouted the Astral.

“That’s going to be a very tall order,” Jacob said, absently leaning on his staff. “See, Cerberus’ Mantle is actually three very primal drives of mankind.” The wizard held up three fingers. “Fear, Anger and Lust. Three things the dead would never have to worry about again upon crossing the threshold into Hades. His Sphere is likewise the Sphere of Cerberus. He can inflict these things upon people. Never at the same time, though. While he can drain people of Anger, he can inflict others with Fear or Lust. Likewise, he can’t inflict people with Lust if he’s also draining people of Lust. You can guess which one you were hit with.”

“Fuck you!”

His cry devolved into a soft choking noise as he felt Dante go to work. He bowed his head, trying to focus his might and break out of his chains. But with every passing second, that draining sensation grew stronger and stronger. He could feel himself growing weaker. Quietly, he prayed to Virgo, prayed to his god to save him.

Surely his lord would answer a prayer from his youngest son?

“Remember when I told you that, one day, you’ll be grateful for the help of guys like me?” Reaper said.

“I’m not going to beg for your help!” snapped Frank.

“I don’t expect you to. But I’m offering it.”

The loyal soldier to the Virgin stared daggers at Reaper. “And why would I take your help?”

Reaper’s cockiness was gone and he was regarding Frank with the most serious expression he had worn since the fight started. The lawyer plucked another sticker from somewhere in his coat and gently pressed it against Frank’s forehead, right beneath his horn.

“Because you’re no better than a Thrall.”

A blinding blue light exploded from the sticker, washing over Frank and burning his retinas. He tried closing his eyes but the searing heat became so intense, it felt like his eyelids were being burned off just so that his pupils could continue to stare into the scintillating brilliance.

A loud, cacophony of sounds blared in his ears; thousands of air horns all going off at the same time but at different pitches and tones. It rattled his brain, shook his skull and brought tears to his forcibly opened eyes. One sound made rose past the others. To his horror, he realized these were not just simple noises in his ears.

It was a scream.

A scream of a young woman who had been seduced by Virgo and transformed into a Thrall.

All of these noises were similar screams. He could almost see them all in the light. Thousands of voices, corrupted throughout the centuries to feed Virgo’s immortality and power. Worse yet, they weren’t just Thralls. There were Astrals amongst them as well and they were all screaming at him to do the same.

“Get out!”

It was an illusion, he told himself, a trick from the wizard. He tried to block them out, tried to mentally ignore the noises assaulting his ears. But it wasn’t working… because the sounds weren’t coming from the outside and into his ears.

They were coming from deep within him… within his soul.

It was his soul that was screaming at him.

“No!” he howled, throwing his head back in anguish, tears streaming down his equine face. “Fuck no!”

Firm hands suddenly gripped the sides of his face, lifting his features back up. “Hey, hey,” Reaper soothed, the light fading and allowing him to focus on the lawyer’s human face. “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”

A sense of weightlessness filled him, like his chest was suddenly filled with helium and slowly lifting him off the ground. Invisible hands that had been gripping his soul slowly loosened their grip, leaving him feeling both lost and alone… but at the same time free.

Frank sneered. This was a common interrogation tactic against criminals. Seem like you’re on their side or at least sympathetic. It rarely ever worked unless the perp was young or really scared.

“What did you do to me?”

“Nothing you weren’t already aware of,” Reaper answered gently. “When you became an Astral, you became more conscious about your own soul. But as an Astral, Virgo blocked out certain… voices. I just got you to listen to them a little. ”

Frank gasped as he felt another significant part of him get drained off as Dante finished his second Thrall. The third and final one was still unconscious by Russ’ hand, allowing Dante to trot over and lean down. With Russ’ influence over Lust, the slumbering unicorn quickly grew hard and the black wolf had to massage his jaw a little to prepare himself for taking on the erect monster.

“Virgo… Virgo…” panted Frank, gnashing his teeth together. “… this feeling. This feeling of being drained. He’s done it to me before, hasn’t he?”

“Definitely,” Russ growled, padding over and giving him a half-lidded gaze. “Celestials jus’ can’t make Astrals out of nothing. If a Celestial were just to try an’ convert a normal person into an Astral they’ll just end up with a Thrall. That’s why to make an Astral, Celestials purposefully hunt down those individuals who have fragments of a reincarnated soul that had once been a Thrall or a previous Astral.”

When a mortal died, their soul dissolved into the leyline network. Fragments of those souls would mix and mesh together before eventually feeding back into newborn souls. The cycle would continue with new souls being forged from the tiny little sparks that every mortal gave up when they passed.

But when there was a Celestial involved…

“So… I’ve got the soul of another Thrall in me?” he asked.

“No.” Reaper straightened, looming over him again with a dark expression on his face. “You’ve got the fragments of hundreds if not thousands of both Thralls and Astrals that were previously touched by Virgo. That blind devotion to their god carries through the leyline network when the Thralls or Astrals die. Eventually, through the infinite permutations and combinations of the souls in the network, fragments of those souls will come together and act like a beacon to their chosen Celestials. Those Celestials can then -”

“Turn them into an Astral,” snarled Frank. “Thralls are made and disposed off when they’ve outlived their usefulness. Celestials just make Thralls so that they can die and eventually be reborn as Astrals! Even when other Astrals die, they just repeat the same process! We’re nothing more than cattle to them!”

The lawyer nodded grimly. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”

Frank shook his head and spat a fat wad to the right, away from Reaper. “Fuck him! Fuck Virgo and everything that he stood for! He’s just going to kill me, isn’t he?”

“You still carry a lot of his power. The soul doesn’t remain intact when you die so he could just find the fragments that are useful to him and cultivate it to become another Astral. No soul is ever aware of its previous lives and the best I could really do for you is give them the smallest of voices. Only made possible because you can already manipulate your own soul.”

And that was another trap created by the Celestials. Because he had been granted this admittedly magnificent, equine form, he was forcibly reshaping his own soul into the image that Virgo wanted for him. He was inadvertently muzzling the thousands of memories and soul fragments that made up his own existence, twisting them into a shape that Virgo found pleasing. Probably part of the entire deranged cycle.”

“I’m just a tool for him…” Frank growled in fury. “Just part of a cycle that’ll keep him immortal.”

“When you think about it, it’s entirely possible that Virgo could have taught you how to maintain your own youth,” Reaper said with a shrug. “I mean, think about it, the only thing separating a Celestial from a Thrall is the levels of power and, I guess, in which direction the devotion goes. If Virgo taught you how he uses his own power to maintain his physical body, you could be immortal, just like him.”

The deep rumble of that brown and tan canine, the biggest of the hounds, came from behind him. “That’s why I turned against the Olympians when I had a chance.” Russ tauntingly patted the top of Frank’s head before stepping into view. The two lupines were right behind him. The one in red regarded his horn with awe and looked about ready to reach out and touch it. He shot the boy a foul look, causing the pup to retreat.

Dante wiped his muzzle with the back of his paw. “All done, Jacob. Should we… uh…?”

Now it was his turn. Soon, Russ would use his powers to make him hard against his will and that sable wolf would drink his seed, turning him once more into a useless mortal. Still, that would be better than living a life in servitude for an uncaring god that expected him to die.

“The technique to harvest souls like that from the leylines actually came from well before my time,” Russ continued. “Created by ancient deities. I just learned about it from Hades when I was his guard dog. Bastard would not shut up about how Zeus and Poseidon got to live up in Olympus while he had to keep watch on the leylines to make sure their ‘power plant’ kept running.”

“Why did you turn against your god?” rumbled Frank.

The legendary hound held up a finger. “First of all,” Russ said, “I wasn’t an Astral or Thrall. I was a full-blown Celestial. It just so happens that everyone in the Olympian Pantheon had their jobs and mine was as a guard dog. Secondly, I turned on the Olympians because I realized what you just realized right now.”

“And yet you remained immortal, drinking off others and turning these pups into your Astrals.”

Russ let out a loud laugh and shook his head. “Fuck no.” He wrapped his arms around both Flash and Dante, pulling them close to his chest and startling the two pups. “These boys look like these because that’s the shape their souls took. They ain’t my Astrals. They’re pretty much Celestials!”

A bitter laugh left Frank’s lips and his head fell, weighed down the revelations that had hit him. “So I never stood a chance. Not against three Celestials even if they are green.”

Suddenly, he found Reaper’s hand on his chin, lifting him up to look into those eyes.

“No,” said the lawyer. “You do have a chance. A chance to finally get out from under Virgo’s grip and end his tyranny over your soul. Help us bring him down. Work alongside us instead of against us.”

Frank pulled his chin away from Reaper’s admittedly gentle grip. These were some serious mind games the lawyer was playing but seeing as he was restrained and with no where to go, he indulged the thought.

When was the last time he had ever worked with someone instead of for them?

For most of his life, he had been serving others. During his tenure as a police officer, he was working for the police force and ‘serving the community’. During his marriage, he was always wrapped around his ex-wife’s finger. When he ran with the Gli Incubo, he was working for some unseen gang leader.

Even now, everything he did was for Virgo’s glory.

The restraints holding him suddenly loosened, the ice that had hardened around his muscles shattering and dissolving into a gentle flurry of blue-white sparks. Even the chains holding him down fragmented and disappeared into the aether.

“What are you doing!?” Flash demanded.

“He’s freeing him so we can get to his cock and ass,” growled Russ hungrily. “Seeing Dante go down on all those guys has made me hungry.”

Reaper held up a hand, silencing his hounds. “No. I’m letting him go.”

Frank did a double-take. In unison with the others, they all shouted, “What?”

“You’re not going back to Virgo,” Reaper said casually, “Not after what you’ve learned. I can’t promise fighting alongside us won’t be without it’s pain but if you don’t want that, you’re free to go. We can fake your death. Cover it up. When we bring down Virgo, no one will be hunting you down.”

Frank massaged his wrists, still remaining on his knees. “You’re confident. What makes you think you can kill a Celestial. Even with three Celestials and a wizard, he’s got resources and an army of Astrals behind him.”

He saw the nervous looks the three canines were throwing him, the fear in their eyes. Yet he was the one being unnerved by the breezy stance Reaper was taking.

“Because they still think we’ve got the Cradle,” answered the wizard casually.

Frank’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? Did you lose it?”

“Actually…” Reaper turned and grinned towards the three canines. “They are the Cradle now.”