FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A sneering laugh bellowed from Allocer, the second lieutenant of abyssal legions, before it descended into a hacking cough. Before him, the adventurers that had dared to delve deep into the sanctum of the dungeon that had been his base of operations lay worn and beaten. The half-elf rogue lay motionless on the other end of the room, and their human cleric lay hunched over her, eyes scrunched as he gasped out a healing prayer to whatever god would only be listening a little longer. The only one upright now was the half-orc fighter, who struggled now to stay so as he knelt on one knee. Barely a challenge.

His own champion, a great ogre, corrupted by the demonic energies infused in his sword, lay dead before him. He sniffed; a recoverable loss. And after all he had done his job well, but his usefulness had reached its end as the ritual neared completion. Soon the entire area would be a bed of demonic energy, fit to draw upon the depths of hell in making a terrible demonic horde to further his lord Pazuzu's conquest. His replacement would be swift.

His eyes narrowed towards the weakened party. One way or another.

But looking again, he noticed something; a combatant was missing. A gnoll he'd initially confused with one of his own grunts, though that error was corrected as a massive fireball had been lobbed in his direction. Upon examination, they lacked the corruption his own hordes possessed, and would be frailer without it. Overall, a pittance to kill.

He dismissed the survivor; It didn't matter.They were no Alpha, and he could easily counter some meager wizard, even in his own weakened state. And now, as the portal behind him, tied to his soul by contract, bubbling and whispering with the great power of the abyss, he could feel his own power return to him, albeit slowly. Allocer fixed his eyes solely on the party, the only visible threats left. Yes, it was time for the crowning achievement, the coup de grace of it all. Yes, it was time for the victory monologue.

Perhaps if he had eschewed that he would've noticed the prestidigitation slowly pulling the unassuming sword from where it lay discarded.

"Foolish adventurers..." he hissed "I told you none would stand in the way of my lord's conquest. Try as you might, it was destiny that led you to this fate."

He cackled wildly. "Now, as the ritual reaches completion I suppose I shall grant a mote of mercy to you pitiful wretches! One of you may live to serve my king. Though the rest..." He sneered an awful smile. "...Well, I suppose I can leave the choice to you. But decide quickly! The portal will open soon after all. And once the great legions of Pazuzu descend I don't think I can guarantee your safety~" He cackled again, spreading his arms to his captive audience.

The cleric ignored him, whispering fervent prayers in a more rushed tone. Allocer looked to the fighter, panting out strained breaths on one knee. The warrior took a large gasp before he responded, locking eyes with the cultist.

"Pazuzu's a fuckin' stupid name." he wheezed, looking the old goat in the eyes.

Allocer scoffed. "And yet it will be the name that grants your eternal damnation. Goodbye then, you idiotic blasphemers, may the abyssal depths grant you-" His breath hitched, suddenly.

Possibly having to do with the sword that was now protruding from his chest.

A grunt sounded behind him, as the blade hitched upwards. He turned his head, choking on the metal severing his windpipe. He turned his head to see his assailant.

It was the gnoll. The wizard that had stabbed him in- or rather through- the back. "Shut up-" she snarled and pressed the blade further "-you old hack!"

The gnoll had snuck up behind him without him knowing. It was impossible, with his power, he should have-

A boot kicked him forward, knocking him onto his hands as he instinctively tried to catch a breath that would never be there. His mouth mouthed the words to a spell that couldn't voice itself without the air to do so. By all means his face should have beheld desperation, but as she raised the blade high to finish the job, between hacking coughs she could see his awful grin. That smile contorted into one of pain in the next second though, as the blade came down a final time, burying its edge in the space between his eyes. The force cleaving his skull in two, a mix of gray matter and blood seeping through the new orifice.

The gnoll huffed steadily, re-setting her grip on the blade as she pulled it back from the corpse, the weapon unsteady, shaking in her hands from the adrenaline and violence of the moment. She wasn't used to having a martial weapon in her hands, unlike most of her kind, but he had been so preoccupied with his blathering it hadn't mattered in the end.

Behind her the portal sputtered, lightning cracking as the soul that gave it form dissipated from its body by the second. The gnoll gasped, limping forward, dropping the sword and limping away from the unstable gateway. It whined, and the energy in the room crackled as the hordes beyond the pale roared that their entry was denied. Desperate claws along with misshapen paws and hands grasped through the collapsing portal.

Next to the warrior down below, the cleric stood to his feet. "Cassie, get down here- I can protect us!"

The gnoll, Cassie winced in pain as she limped toward the edge of the platform away from where the cultist had stood. It was then the fighter found the strength to stand, extending his arms outward toward his friend. "I've got you! Jump!"

The hyena threw herself from the top of the platform. She could feel the wind rush behind her as the portal exploded behind her, eyes focused on her friends at the bottom. Her faith was rewarded as she collided into the outstretched form of her friend. The cleric closed his eyes, and immediately a translucent white barrier enclosed the squad as the destruction of the gateway ravaged the dungeon. After a solid minute of sustained focus, the dust settled.

The pulpit now lay in shambles, a pile of rubble as the explosion tore it apart at its very core. The walls of the dungeon somehow lay standing, though the dust of the blast coated every wall of the grand room they were in. The only noise now was the moaning of the rogue on the ground as she slowly got to her feet.

"W- did we do it? Did-did we stop him?" she asked, bracing against the cleric as she slowly stood up.

The cleric looked in awe at the ruin. "I think- I think we did." He looked at the gnoll, grinning. "Cassie did." His grin faltered, seeing her distracted.

"Cassie?"

She was busy looking into the ruin, overwhelmed by the finale of the fight, but his voice knocked her out of her trance, making her blush with the praise. "Aw, c'mon guys, group effort and all. I'm just glad he didn't see me before I could get him."

Maria poked her wizard's coat, managing to just get her in the ribs. "Coming for my job next, lass?" She yelped, making the rogue smile as she fumed at her. "And more importantly...think any loot survived under all that?"

The warrior behind her laughed as their cleric finished restoring the wound. "I hope so!"

"Oh, really~?"

Their cleric, Frederick interrupted him. He was usually one of their more upbeat members, but his expression was more solemn now. "I don't see why you'd want anything the bastard would have. I'd bet most anything he owned would be laced with some kind of evil."

The warrior, Urhan grinned. "Well, not any cult shit, nah. But the old bastard had to have some gold hoarded up somewhere, right? Speakin' of which-" he snapped his fingers. "Where'd you find that sword? I didn't think there was much lying around to use fer killing the bastard."

She shrugged. "I found it lying on the ground earlier. I think one of the corrupted we were fighting earlier looted it off someone or something.

He looked at her for a second before he shrugged. "Fair enough, I suppose. Did its job well enough." He moved out of the cleric's healing, waving off Frederick as he protested, and jogged over to where the rogue had moved over to a toppled column. "Maria, wait up!"

"I- damn it, Urhan!" the cleric swore. He turned to Cassie "Cass, you sure you're okay? No injuries? No secret curses? I don't wanna know if that evil fuck some kind of magic dead mans switch somewhere."

She smiled up at the cleric, him still a head higher than her, blushing under the attention. Despite the differences between them she...enjoyed...conversing with him more than the other members of the party. He never seemed to treat her worse despite her race or his religious belief in the gods that her demonic peers despised, and for all intents and purposes, despised them. He'd always treated her with the same kindness he'd given Urhan and Maria, a welcome change from the snobbery of the academy. He wasn't afraid to hold an intelligent conversation about the gods, magic, and the politics of the land under demonic siege they roamed either. More than "Just kill-em-all" Urhan and "Do they have any gold?" Maria anyway. "I'm fine, I told you! I drank a healing pot' before I went in for the kill. Just in case." She sighed. "I think I'm just gonna...take in the moment, y'know? Let the fact that this battle's over sink in."

He sheepishly looked away, and then turned back to her with an honest smile. "I- alright. Just let me know if you feel anything alright? I'll be there for ya."

She nodded. "Thanks Frederick. I...promise I'll let you know."

As he sprinted toward the duo looting the stones that were the pulpit, Cassie felt a...pull. An urge towards the ruin now at the center of the dungeon. She would've ignored it, but before she knew it, she was already at the foot of the rubble. Something glinted, and almost immediately, she knelt down, her hand shooting towards where the urge was emanating from.

It was a sword. THE sword she had used to slay the insane warlock. A long blade with a black hilt with a diamond-shaped knob at the end, and a shimmering ruby at the center. She smiled, and her misgivings about the urge disappeared. It was beautiful in the way carved marble could line a room. Simple, yet beautiful. She had wanted to come back for it anyway as a trophy, but she didn't think she'd have the luck to find it this fast within the rubble. At first glance on examining the make, she wondered what it could sell for, but she immediately discarded the thought. This was a trophy of one of her best moments, and even if swords weren't her thing necessarily as a caster, she could keep it as a backup or something.

She turned it over in her hands. Cassidy hadn't noticed it then with the adrenaline, but there was a feeling of power that came with holding it. Maybe it was the feeling of pride of getting the kill on the eldritch cultist, but she felt... stronger, now. Like just by holding it breathed strength into her form. Probably the memories of her first big moment on the adventure.

"AY CASS, WE'RE LEAAAAVIN'!" Her head turned, shocked out of her fascination as Urhan bellowed by the exit. The rest of the party stood by the entrance to the great hall. Had she really spent this long examining the blade? Something stirred in her, upset by that realization.

She shrugged and stowed the blade with her gear. Maybe it was just her imagination.

---

Her dreams that night were turbulent. The kill replayed itself over and over in her mind, but each time it seemed a little grander, and the urgency of why she was moving urgency was forgotten more each iteration. At first the cultist had more fight, slinging a few haphazard spells before the final blow, then there were more minions left over, then it was getting to him all the way from the champion. Eventually it became a blur as more and more energy seemed to course through her each time, the thought and careful steps giving away to clouded bloodlust. The only recognizable thing was the cracking and rending of flesh as she tore her sword through the mass of bodies. The horde that had taken everything from her, that had imposed suffering on her town, the people she loved-

It all hazed, and in the fog slowly drifted awake. Her vision was filled with the glinting light of the sun through the treetops, reflected by the sword laying idly by. The sounds of leather rustling brought her attention. Rogue, already awake, sifting through a pack she had discovered from looting the bodies of the dungeon henchmen. Cassie sat up, unsure how to feel about the... dream? Nightmare? It was a blur of emotions, but for all she felt, nightmare would suffice for now. She dug around in her own pack and retrieved her academy spellbook, flipping through some pages. She contented herself with adding her most recent notes from the dungeon regarding the efficiency of each spell's use until the rest of the group awoke. After everyone had been situated, a quick breakfast was eaten, and the group packed up camp to move onto the road again as the sun rose high into the sky.

"Hey Cass... is that the sword you used in the dungeon? Never seen it before." She turned to Frederick, pointing to the sword as it was tied to the gear on her back.

"Yeah..." she shrugged. "Figured I'd take it as a trophy for our first big fight, you know?"

He nodded. "Right on! Maybe Uhran could show you the technique for it or something. It's safe right? With it just laying in there with all that abyssal energy flowing around in there?"

Her mouth moved before her mind really thought about it. "Yeah! It's fine." She remembered the dream. "...I'm pretty sure at least?"

He shrugged before he looked back to the trail the group plodded on, Maria and Uhran busy haggling with each other for loot just a couple feet ahead. "You're smart, and I trust your judgment. Just let me know if you do need-Urhan don't touch that!" He ran ahead to the other duo as Urhan looked like he was about to poke a very poison-oak shaped leaf, egged on by Maria.

She blushed from the compliment, quickly looking away while listening to their bickering. He was right! She was an academy graduate after all, and the top of her class despite her... race. She'd know better than to just pick up a cursed object. And she could just deal with it herself once it began to manifest.

She'd just need to focus on her and the group's mission right now: Stopping the hordes decimating the towns and cities along the countryside and-

Her grip tightened on her spellbook.

-Killing the monsters responsible for the destruction of her own town.

Becoming strong enough to do so.

Unseen, the ruby of the sword glowed just a little brighter, only for a moment.

---

The bandits sword fell just short, slicing into the ground just before it could strike her. A quick utterance and a fireball shot into the sellswords breastplate, burning itself into his chest as he fell shrieking to the ground.

A couple days later, on the trek back to the capital, they had been ambushed. The wizard looked around her. Frederick was fending off a brigand a couple feet away with a mace. She heard a meaty 'thwack' as the metal bulb collided with the head of an aggressor. Off to the side she could hear Maria struggling with someone, and she saw a body fly as Uhran engaged with more of the assumed bandits.

How many were there, anyway?

That thought was interrupted, as a wild swing from a new bandit took her by surprise. Using her spellbook as a shield, she felt his handaxe carve into it, getting lodged an inch or two before the spellbook was torn out of her hands. She took some wary steps, looking between the magical tome a couple feet away and the brigand dangerously close to her. She'd memorized spells for this exact occasion, but now, in the moment no incantations came to her. The brigand, whether aware of her pause or not, lunged forward, and time seemed to slow down. She had only one other option then. She reached behind her, drawing the blade from the dungeon.

How her aggressor had missed it, she didn't know. Maybe he had assumed the wizard would rather desperately sling another spell than simply take a swing at him, but either way he was caught in the swing as he lunged forward, impaling himself on the edge of the sword.

She grunted, wrenching the blade out from the dead...human? Elf? It didn't matter. She beheld that same feeling of power again, her frail-er musculature almost thrumming with new life as she grasped it fully with both hands. A new feeling of confidence invigorated her, despite her inexperience. She raised the blade from hanging limply downward into a forward position she had seen Urhan use.

Behind Frederick, a bandit quietly moved in to stab him in the back, using his preoccupation with the one in front of him as a distraction.

"HEY!"

The raider barely brought up his sword in time to see the wizard his friend had been so sure he could kill, colliding her own blade upon his.

"Get away!" she snarled in a tone so close to a growl it surprised her. She pushed them onto the back foot, and her and the cleric fought back to back as the battle continued.

Eventually the conflict subsided, and the last of the stragglers fled into the bush, away from the prey much too strong for their tastes. Despite this, she held the stance she had emulated from the fighter, looking around wildly; Her heat still pounding in her chest at the idea of another fight.

"Cass-"

She whirled around, rearing the blade before she realized who it was. Frederick was behind her, arms raised in mock surrender.

He smiled sheepishly. "Just makin' sure everyone's okay. Maria and Urhan only got light wounds, how about you?"

The thumping of her heart subsided, and she slowly lowered the sword. "Fine. I'm-uh. I'm fine. Nothing big."

"Good. Here-" He offered something to her. It took a second before she could recognize it. Her spellbook, almost cut cleanly in two from the bandits axe, and some pages missing. She let out a frustrated 'tch' as she leafed through the torn pages.

He shrugged, offering an apologetic expression. "Sorry about your book."

Despite its damage, she honestly wasn't as distraught as she could have been, all things considered. She shrugged. "It'll be a pain to buy a new one, but I'll survive."

"Yeah- and I saw you do pretty well for yourself with that sword back there! Urhan actually showed you some moves?"

"No-" she thought about the haze, almost the rage she entered into. "I-I guess it was mostly...instinct." Some part of her felt ashamed admitting that.

"I-I'm sorry-" she managed to utter before Freddy clapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey! What's with that? You saved my life back there, and we were just defending ourselves-" he reassured her warmly. "You got nothin' to feel bad about, okay?"

Her gaze lingered toward the blade at her side. The confidence it filled her with clashed with the shame of feeling so...brutish, but his kind words were helping ease that weight on her psyche. She shook her head carefully, in affirmative.

"O-okay."

He smiled warmly at her. "I'm gonna go make sure Urhan's alright. I think Maria found something you might be interested in-" his gloved hand pointed to the edge of the woods, where the elfs lithe form stood over one of the bodies. Her gaze was fixed towards something on the front, from what she could see. Before she could say anything else, he trotted off to take care of their warrior, currently nesting a gash on his shoulder.

She looked over at herself. Some scratches, sure, but as she observed over the coat she wore, she felt an odd sensation along her arms. She felt over the part of her velvet sleeves covering her bicep, feeling the sensation of flexed muscle actually rise to the limit of her small robe. She let the sword fall down completely, confused by the new sensation. She'd never had that before, always having the more wiry arms of the group on account of her profession. Mages didn't really tend to hit the gym after all. Now though, her bicep bulged against the hem of the cloth she'd worn since she was a sophomore at the magic academy. Perhaps she'd finally need to get a larger size?

Then again perhaps some leather armor would be more fitting with all the fighting they had been doing recently.

Upon walking over to her, Cassie finally saw what had enraptured her friend. A coat of arms, and one she recognized. A boar head with demonic horns jutting out from the top of the skull, and a mouth dripping blood.

"...I figured you'd want to see this." Maria waved her hand over the emblem. "These are the bastards you're looking for, right?"

Anger filled every part of Cassie's being. It was them- the legion horde that had killed her family, razed her town, taken the survivors and...

The screams echoed in her memories as she remembered how their spirits had been broken as spirits were broken. Women and men, raped and tortured.

She closed her eyes, taken by silent fury and grief. And she'd survived. Not because she'd put up a fight and gotten away, but because the demonic raiders had recognized their own kind. She remembered the gnoll alpha now, scar over one eye and covered in blood, jeering at her for being domesticated, not that she understood the word at that age yet. Monstrous, as was any being corrupted by demonic energies, with jagged rows of teeth and three other eyes in panopticon around the scar to make up for the loss of one. She'd escaped in the night, but not before she ran into the same bestial alpha, who let her go. But with a warning, "and a promise" the alpha had growled through gnarled teeth, still carrying the mangled form of one of the townsfolk.

"Ye'll come back here to join your brethren in service to your true nature. One that'll see the ruin of every weak race that stood to live against us. Too weak to live." She'd gotten close to her, rasping in her ear now as she stood frozen, realizing the form was of Fjord, one of the village boys, now headless in her grip. It was an awful feeling to realize who the bits of gore she could see between its teeth belonged to.

"Yer gnoll," the leader had menaced quietly while she trembled, wishing her legs could take her as far as she could run. "It's in yer blood."

She'd found the strength to move again, as the alpha had lumbered away. The sound of teeth ripping through flesh as she strode off had inspired her legs to work again, moving as fast as they could, for days in a row before she collapsed at the feet of a trading convoy. They had disbelieved her at first, thinking she was a trap to lure them towards some sort of ambush, but eventually she convinced them, and she'd been taken back to the capital. From there, she had been a ward of the state, and enrolled in the Laurenz Magic Academy, enduring taunting and jeers from her peers, but finding solace in what few friends she could. Her training and new friends had ignited new purpose. One that burned through the haze that she had felt before like a fire greater than any other.

For some reason, during her remembrance of her purpose, the sword's confidence seemingly sapped, retreating like an advisor subtly trying to remove himself from an argumentative war room. Perhaps a lingering sentiment of the original caster. However, her own fury's tendrils dragged the blade's confidence and energy back to her, albeit only for a moment before it receded again.

"Yeah." she snarled. "It's them."

Cassie looked at her compatriot, as she dug around the corpse's pack. "Did you find anything else?"

Maria raised a folded piece of paper up in two fingers, which she grabbed and unfolded immediately. Uhran ambled up to the two behind them, with Frederick not far behind.

"What's that?"

Cassie studied over the markings on the paper. A diagram of the landscape presented itself, with certain locations marked.

"It's a map." Maria muttered. "And I think it's the towns the bigger groups are going after next."

---

The tabaxi across from her hissed as it reared back to strike at her again. Behind her, the bell of the middle of town sat clanging in the clocktower. A warning to all unable to fight to lock their doors and stay out of the streets. She hefted her own weapon, feeling the strength of the blade course through her again. The haze that came with it covered all else, and she launched herself toward the tabaxi, beating his parry and cutting him from shoulder to stomach.

He fell to the ground, and she got her bearings. She tapped the new spellbook by her side, making sure it was there. It was an adequate replacement, but she found herself relying on the sword more as they traversed the locations on the map. It didn't have the notes she'd lost when that ambush had gotten her first spellbook destroyed, and over the last weeks she'd really picked up on using the blade with a combination of tips from Urhan and the instinctual, brutal, prowess that seemed to take over when that the fog of a fight set in. Still though, ranged options were important.

A bandit struck from the left side, his dagger slicing at her cheek. She yelped and the two arms tangled together as they fell to the ground. A few weeks ago, when all this started, she would've been overpowered by such an attack immediately, reliant on her friends to save her. But now?

Through her anger, she got the upper hand, rolling the skirmish onto the bandits back.

"Bastard-" she hissed, reeling her fist back to strike him in the face again and again, before pulling the dagger from his belt to bury in the stunned man's neck. Blood sprayed over her, and she squinted as she kept it from getting in her eye. He gurgled, the one arm not being used to keep her at bay flailing before both went limp.

She got up, then rolled her shoulders, cracking the muscles along her back beneath the sections of armor. She'd decided to just start wearing armor with how much close combat she was getting into nowadays. She'd also gone up two sizes now, and it seemed like she would have to start wearing Urhans sizes from now on if she got any bigger. Well-trained biceps stretched the sleeves, and the armor pads along her legs were starting to cut into her digitigrade legs. Her back had gotten much larger, traps and back swelling with actual muscle over time, stronger with each fight, and her middle toning into a well-trained six-pack. She felt some discomfort around her chest. Her breasts seemed like they had grown with her muscles, and she needed to think about upgrading bra sizes too. The feeling of getting stronger was...amazing. She really was getting to the point where Urhan would have competition. It wasn't like he was growing, getting stronger like she was anyway.

The rubies embedded in her blade shimmered alongside her.

Speaking of which, the blade had grown with her, the simple edge expanding into a full greatsword, and the hilt grew long enough to be wielded with two hands. The ruby that had sat placed was now split into two, one at the top of the hilt and one resting at the pommel, encased in the black guard. The 'wings' of the hilt were beginning to really resemble some, curving upwards and beginning to take a pointed edge. New scars from clashes with other blades had begun to make themselves visible across it, signs of struggle from battles before. Her and the blade had become somewhat inseparable, to the notice of the party. After all, it was easy to get attached to a weapon the more you used, but since that ambush she had been inseparable with it. Besides, swinging it was easier than remembering an incantation most of the time anyways.

She couldn't help but smile in the rush. There was almost something satisfying about the feeling of blood running through her fur in the last battles. The afterglow of standing over someone she'd just killed. Not just killed, brutalized. The rush of dopamine from that thought re-fueled her muscles and made her want to keep fighting. (The ruby shined and shimmered at its brightest.) To tear apart anyone that got in her way. She felt unstoppable. So what if the town might not have enough to pay them? She was the one on the front line. She was killing the most abyssal legion out of anyone these, even Urhan the "warrior", if that title meant anything any more. Sure the less fighting-inclined townsfolk needed protection, but maybe that was just an excuse now that he wasn't the only muscle on the team anymore.

She scoffed. And so what if she was getting an "attitude problem" like Maria said? She was getting stronger, soon maybe more than all of them. No more getting cheaped out on deals because they thought they could trick the 'stupid gnoll.' No more angry looks and judging glances. If people wanted to hate her for her race, fine. Maybe she'd give them a fuckin' reason to. Soon she'd be able to do anything she fuckin' wanted, and maybe she'd just take-

Her memory flickered through the fog of the sword. A gnoll cub-a little girl stood terrified as the dead of her loved ones sat around her. The monster responsible, a demon with her face, promised she'd return to join her when she'd realized how good the feeling of killing the weak was, and the feeling of the pillage afterwards.

She stopped smiling, the shock of her realizing the thought she'd just entertained breaking her out of the sword's grip. When had she started to think like that? That wasn't- that wasn't what she fought for. She may have killed but it was never for the rush of killing a weaker opponent. And yeah, she hated the xenophobic glances, but there were people who were kind to her as well, so she couldn't just-

"Cass! Are you-" Frederick yelled behind her, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Are you okay? Another wave is coming!"

"Fine!" She snapped, hesitating for only a moment before picking up the sword again.

Wait. "How're you holding up?!" she yelled, keeping her eyes on the gates of the town.

She could hear him grunt in effort, and she looked back to make sure. Sure enough, he was alright, his mace alongside a shield for additional protection. Behind him, Maria, Urhan and the other townsfolk continued the battle against the onslaught. She could see Maria directing a healer to the back where Urhan assisted a wounded elf. The fighting was taking a toll. But, she reminded herself, they were still contributing. They were covering the bases she wasn't; Not 'lesser' important.

And they were alive and safe. At least for now.

She looked ahead at the members of the abyssal legions that continued to swarm and step into her vision. Her hackles raised and despite her best efforts she couldn't stop the sheer joy bubbling inside her at the thought of another fight. She closed her eyes, and focused as the fog began to cover her mind again, quelling the bloodlust if only for a moment. She needed another purpose for fighting. It couldn't just be for domination.

She remembered her adopted family, kind and loving despite so many differences, who hadn't deserved the awful fate they'd had. The skeletons of towns she'd been to before she found the sword, burnt husks of buildings and charred remains being the only sign civilization had been there. She remembered her friends fighting behind her, who relied on her. Who trusted her. Some who might love her. Rage bubbled and spewed inside her at the thought of the coming corrupted warriors even coming within a meters length of them. She could feel the tendrils of the fog in her mind, reluctant now for some reason to fully embrace her. Cassie seized them herself, wrapping herself unknowingly in the haze of the sword as if it were a cloak keeping her warm in the freezing winter. Assuming it was being supplied for the corruption of its user, the eyeless curse obeyed the question, pumping the dark magic through her body. The haze of bloodlust that washed over was still blinding now, but she was aware of herself within its presence despite not knowing where it came from, no longer a passive rider to the emotions it fuelled.

Maybe she could enjoy the feeling of overpowering her opponent. More power meant she could do a better job keeping the one(s) she loved safe. If her strength was for protection, then this bloodlust was to punish. To make sure no one suffered like she did again, and to topple the "strong" that preyed on the weak. To rend them into meat, she giggled, almost uncontrollably. That was what the brutality that had blossomed within her was for.

"Alright!" she bellowed. "Then, let's just get these bastards out of here already!"

The rubies shimmered all the same. The need was primal enough, still sadistic enough. It was something it could reward.

An orc, only a head taller than her now well-built frame lumbered close, challenging her with spiked club; raising it as his nostrils flared. She smiled confidently in response, and were he perceptive enough, he would notice her incisors getting just a bit sharper, just a bit more pointed as she took a fools stance with her greatsword. She was just lucid enough to hear the clanking steps behind , and saw Frederick take up a defensive stance next to her in the lighter armor he wore.

"I've got your back." He said solemnly, and offered her a reassuring smile.

It had a dual effect. The purpose she'd crafted before to fight was ironclad, but now she also felt heat stirring in her loins, the combination of comradery and the adrenaline of battle. She chided herself.

Later, later.

She gave one back, before she goaded the corrupted brute. "Cmon then, you big fuck!" He roared, lumbering towards them, and the fog of war fully hazed around them.

Eventually, the battle wore down as more reinforcements from the capital arrived. The coming weeks and months were filled with battle after battle that would wear down a normal man, but after each her power only seemed to grow, fuelled by her new drive to fight.

---

"You need to talk to her about it. The sword."

Frederick met the stern glare of the two across from him, shifted onto his back foot. "I know. With all the fighting, we've just been so busy, and we just got back-" he trailed off, thinking about their teammate. Cassie's growth wasn't noticeable at first, but over time she'd gotten bigger, stronger, and...rougher? Then anyone had any right to be over time, no matter how many real fights they'd been in. People didn't just swell up with muscle like that over such a short amount of time. "I haven't had the time to talk to her about it."

"Cause you two have been too busy going off and boning on the side, right?" Urhan remarked, nonplussed.

His face flushed, and he choked on his words. "Wh- How did you-?"

He crossed his arms. "Listen, I'm not especially perceptive, but Cass hasn't exactly been subtle recently. And she-eh-isn't quiet."

Frederick felt himself sink into his greaves. "Okay, that's a part of it. But I have been busy. I've been trying to research what kind of curse might be embedded into the blade itself."

"So what is it then?" Urhan asked sternly.

He felt his heart sink. He hadn't made much headway, and hinting to Cassie about it never seemed to hold her interest anymore, not like when they talked about magic before. When she wasn't out in the town doing who knows what, fighting, drinking, sleeping (in terms of rest and sexual pleasure) from what he knew, nothing seemed to be of interest.

"You know her the best. You need to talk to her." Maria stated firmly.

"'Bout what?" There was audible thumping as paw pads thumped across the wooden inn floor, and a large gnoll entered...no, really more ducked into the room. Taller than the fighter, what was once a tightly kept hawk-hairstyle had billowed out into the beginning of a mane that hung to one side. Her neck had grown thicker and longer, as muscle seemingly traveled upwards from her lats and back to support it. The lean muscle that was around her arms was now heavier and corded, made for battle. The armor covering her was a brassiere composed of a mix of leather and armor, certain parts no longer fitting her larger frame, and barely containing the burgeoning breasts sitting inside. He couldn't place a cup size, but large melons were a good comparison. In uncovered sections across her arms and torso, open parts were visible with scars he himself had healed, faded, but still well-carved, like invitations for anyone to try their hand at attacking her. A thicker (but still pillar-strong with the outline of muscle) set of abdominals from an abundance of a diet with more meat and beer lined her stomach, and below that a black skirt opening up around the front hung around her waist, legs covered by baggier pants with armor sown into the thigh and knee sections. Her forehead seemed almost in a constant furrow, with a scar separating one eyebrow, and her lip jutted slightly as small tusks had begun to poke out from underneath it, giving her an underbite and an almost terminally frustrated expression.

Were he less polite he would have described it as a permanent 'resting bitch face'. He'd mistook it several times for her being in an actual bad mood only to be corrected thereafter after amicable discussion. Whatever phase of vexation she had gone a few months ago had passed long ago; the scowl only ran skin-deep.

Now it was quirked in a curious expression as she observed the three. "...We talkin' about something? She grunted, eyeing each member. She slowly dropped a crate of something off to her side, rustling as it hit the floor. In that moment, her back was visible, as was the blade in question.

It had grown to become a large hunk of metal, shaped in the way an executioner's sword would if it had scaled to a larger, almost cumbersome size. Scars littered across the face of it, and it had become more jagged, almost like during each class bits of the edge had broken off, now resembling a sort of makeshift saw-blade. The ivory-black guard had curved more now, almost resembling horns, and the inky-edge of the guard bled into the blade, running up it like a sort of corrupted ivy. The upper ruby had traveled upward with it, settling into the middle almost like an eye, while the other sat contentedly back around the pommel.

He narrowed his eyes like the hunk of metal on her back was some sort of beast. How the hell (Tyr forgive him) had they not realized it was cursed sooner?

Before he could speak, Maria took the spotlight. "Frederick must speak to you about something important." She shot him a look. "Something we should've handled a while ago, when we realized this was an issue."

Her gaze settled on him, as the other two left the room. "Alright...what's the problem?"

"Uh..." He paused, trying to find the words, but few came. "I mean, Cassie, we've all been sort of...worried about..." He tried to think of the words that wouldn't invoke the flash or rage he'd witnessed a few months ago. It had...seemingly passed, but the sword might've still been a sore subject. If she was going to listen, it felt like he should very carefully pick his words. He couldn't accidentally push her away.

Eventually, impatient of his contemplation, she knelt over again and picked up the crate again, huffing as she tossed it up to get a better grip.

"Can this be a moving conversation? I got a delivery I gotta make."

"S-sure."He stammered, rubbed the back of his head, and tried to think about the best way to broach the subject.

...

"Oh no, she grunted heaving the box over her shoulder, "Knew the fuckin' thing's been cursed for a while now."

He sputtered. "What?! When-for how long?!"

She chuckled, before thinking about it. "Uhhh-" she looked upwards, her face settling into that faux-frustrated look again. "Haaad an inklin' fer a bit. But I only knew fer certain when I went to sell off my spellbook and the owner's detect-magic whatever blew up."

"Blew up?!"

"Exploded, yeah."

"I-" He looked at the ground as they walked, processing all this.

He faced her, concerned. "So you know what it's doing to you then?"

She didn't respond.

"Cass-"

"We're here."

He looked ahead. Across from them was a stall with an old man behind it. He stopped as she greeted him behind it, and then handed off the goods. He thanked her profusely, and the most she offered back was a shrug. The owner turned over to pick something up, and that was the time she chose to stomp away. He looked at her curiously as he stood back up, waving around a small bag of what was probably money.

"He was going to-"

"We get paid enough by the capital." She grunted simply, ushering him away.

The walk between the two was mostly quiet as they made their way back to the inn.

"The sword has a powerful curse of savagery on it." She said simply. "Y'know what that is? Cause uh...s'been a while since I looked in a spellbook. I could try and explain, but-"

"It gives the user immense strength and power, but reduces them to a more savage state over time." He answered quietly. "More reduced to their base wants; twisting them to their anger, desire, or bloodlust, lowering their intellect over time. Eventually turning them into monsters, like that orc we saw in the dungeon you found it in. That was one of my theories of what was on it, before."

"Yeah, so that's why I've been looking, eh- acting different too." She smirked. "Me with no filter, heh."

He stepped in front of her, concerned. "So you know you need to get rid of it, right?"

She grinned, almost ferally. "About that~" She hefted the blade up, and tossed it over in her hands. "Not gonna."

He almost shouted, before he calmed himself down, looking into her eyes.

"Why?! Cassie- Me, Urhan, Maria, we're worried about you, and from what you just said rightfully so! You've changed so much, in how you are already! We don't- you're our friend, Cass! And I l-" He kept himself steady. "I love you. And I don't want to lose you to this-" he gestured to the sword "-and whatever it's trying to do to you!"

She glowered down at him, before stowing away the blade, and reached out suddenly with a powerful arm. "Hey-"

He flinched back. She stopped, and her expression softened, before slowly but firmly setting it back on him again.

"Hey. I didn't say I was just gonna give in to it. I got a plan."

"There's no way to-"

"I know this thing is changing me." She interrupted. "But I'm already...different now. From the old Cass. It's too late to prevent what's already changed. I've known that for a bit now, and I've...made peace with that," she rumbled. "Have more trouble reading the bigger stuff, probably eat n' drink a lil more than I should, need a good fuck every now and then to keep th' head clear, get a little too into fights..."

He felt guilty with her admission. They-he really had caught this too late.

"...But I'm not gonna let this thing twist me into some evil bitch, alright? I've felt the corruption, and I've decided what my core is, and what my "true wants" are or whatever. And you know what?"

She put her paw under his chin, lifting it up to see her warm, bared-fang grin. "I like helpin' people, and kicking the asses of shitheads that try and hurt my friends. That ain't gonna change. I'm not planning on just becoming some mindless beast from ripping all the power this stupid thing will give me out of it."

She paused. "Well, not a mean 'un at least."

He protested. "I- so you're trying to- what? Outwit the curse? But do you even know when it's trying to manipulate you? How are you even sure you know when it's working?"

She frowned. "Cmon, I'm...kinda stupider. But I can still feel it. I've gotten to tellin' when it's powerin' me, an' I can tell when it's settling into my dome. I struggled with it first, but I got my own grip around it now. Gotten pretty good at forcing it to give me what I want from it whether it wants to or not." She shrugged. "It works pretty simply, I can fuck with it. Train it, kinda."

She shrugged a muscled shoulder back to the market. "Part of the reason I did that."

"How-?"

"I told ya before, base desires right? It's a powerful curse or whatever, but it's not exactly smart with the caster dead. If I can set off the emotional triggers or whatever from doing good shit for people, then it can't tell the difference for when it decides to release some power. It's like that fuckin'...pavlov whatever. Sure, ripping dumbasses apart feels good, and so does drinkin', eatin', fuckin' and fightin', but doing good for folks feels pretty goddamn great too." She showed him the blade again. The ruby shimmered in the broad daylight, a sign of its action as the magic inside it worked. "Plus, it's not like it can tell whenever it cuts into some evil bastard versus someone else."

Her explanation put him more at ease, but he still felt unsure. "Cass, I'm just... what if it doesn't work, and it figures out how to mess with you back? Still changes you to be like..."

He didn't finish that sentence. She'd told them the story.

Her expression fell at that. "Y'know, I used to worry about that a lot. Even before I found the sword. That my nature, what was as a gnoll, that it would just flare one day and I'd be just as bad as...her. Like she said. Just some fuckin'...monster. That killed, raped and took whatever she wanted."

He remembered the night she had shared the story of the tragedy with him. "You aren't that Cassie. You've never been."

She met his gaze, steadily. "I know. I'm what I'm making myself to be. I guess in a way the sword has kinda shown me that. And I might be a monster by the end of all this, who knows? But I can stomach that fine as long as I'm the big beast keeping people safe-" She smiled again. "But I ain't ever gonna be her. Never gonna let myself be."

Now Frederick was quiet.

He looked up at her again. "So I can't convince you to give it up now?"

She shrugged, looking away unconcerned. "In for a penny, eh?" You-" He could see her flinch, ever so slightly as she tried to hide it. "-still wanna love me once I get all big n' snarly?"

"As long as it's you," he said solemnly, taking her larger claws in his. "Always."

She chuckled, a sound resembling shrill hyenas laugh. Meeting her eyes, he could see a mischievous glint. In one smooth motion, her arms were underneath him, hefting him up in his plain clothes over her shoulder.

He blushed. "Cass!? What are you-?"

She smirked. "Can't just say that shit and not expect me to do somethin'!"

He couldn't help but sigh. "Fine, but you're explaining your plan to Urhan and Maria."

She shrugged and laughed, that wheezing sound of the gnolls mirth through the plaza. It drew a few looks, some even of fear, but it was nothing she paid attention to as her snout settled into a content sneer.

"Fair 'nuff."

---

Oros, a drow mage of the Abyssal Legion, Scourge of the Crystal Order, scrambled over himself as he fled from the carnage battle. This was supposed to be an easy target; A small little coastal town they could just ransack and use to build a base of operations before they hit the bigger towns. Sure they'd been getting completely fucked along the western front so far, but with how insignificant the village was, it didn't seem like they'd bother to send much defend it. He'd tried to tell the commander that maybe they should look into why they're targets were so much more prepared than just a year before, but he'd only been rewarded with a threat that he'd be fed to the gnolls at the camp if he 'expressed this concern again.' And whatever, he'd shut up. Killing some penniless fishermen was easier than trying to convince the chain of command of anything, especially when the chain of command was so hopped up on the hell-magic that they were either a mindless drone to the cultists or so full of themselves it was impossible to center a conversation on anything but the best way to flay a man.

It was supposed to be easy.

But when what had to be a fucking alpha gnoll- larger than the other ogre-sized ones, more akin to a boulder- rolled up and started slaughtering them all, left and right, that was when he knew to run. The captain was the only one who had even moderately challenged her.

And she had, quite literally, bitten his head off.

He swore. Monsters with overwhelming strength and brutality were supposed to be their thing! That was why he had sold out his own people in the first place. Victory was supposed to be assured. Where did some fucking- he remembered the other three warriors cleaning off the stragglers as it carved a warpath- some fucking adventurers of all people get off having one that big?!

He looked behind him, and his heart stopped as a huge gray-brown mass was very quickly approaching him. He tried to will his leather boots to move just a bit faster as he desperately spirited away. Unbeknownst to him, a small circle of light lit up under his next step, gluing his foot to the earth as he tried to take another step. He hit the ground hard, crying out as he heard his ankle twist.

He heard a male voice over the increasingly loud tremors from the beast that was approaching him, triumphant. "I got him, Cass!"

He scrambled to remember the counterspell as he pulled on the stuck foot, only sending more shooting pain up his leg. This problem was alleviated though, as enormous clawed hand wrapped itself his leg. Fireball suddenly came to him, and he ripped his hand back, throwing it point-blank into the face behind him. To his horror, there was no recoil from what had grabbed him, the smoke and cinders of the fire only making the beastly face focused on him more intimidating. Caught in his horror, the paw wrapped around his leg jerked him upward, where he dangled like a loose satchel.

"Oh my god! Th-No please!-" He sobbed, swinging back and forth like a doll. "Oh god, oh god-"

He was brought closer to the singed face of the enormous gnoll that had annihilated their siege. "Shuddup." She growled menacingly, as the grip around her his already ruined ankle tightened.

He winced as he got a better look at the beast that looked about as ready to tear into him as some of the dire wolves at camp did when they got a cut of meat.

She was a towering, hulking thing. Enormous paws bound with leather led to legs with thighs of tree trunks of muscle, all coming together to support a top-heavy, monstrous frame of fat and muscle that almost forced her onto her hands, like an animal. Her stomach was no longer a shapely six pack, now grown by the glut of rewarded food and drink into a soft boulder. Gashes and scrapes were visible, telltale signs from the battle earlier, but couldn't seem to penetrate the mix of fat and muscle, moreover in the fight seeming to act more as an additional slamming force for the great brute than anything else. Her breasts sloped down, massive heaves that seemed to be composed of a combination of fat and muscle. She had a heavy slouch, like all mutated gnolls he had seen before; to compensate for her ridiculous bulk, and from her thick, elongated neck she could see her heavy traps and laterals merge into the thick, sloping hunch. Her mane, now a wild shock of black, traced down the side of her neck similar to a horse; far removed from the short pixie-cut she had before. Two strong yellow tusks jutted out from her underbite, making her black lower lip peel over like someone had taken the fat, rubbery thing and just stretched it downward with both hands. Her eyes had slowly split into four predatory ones, two on each side of her snout, beadier with a carnivorous pupil as all of their black slits zeroed in on his form in what felt like an expression of pure hatred. Inside her mouth, beyond the sharp tusks, he could see serrated teeth lined her gums, and if he looked close enough he could swear he saw a second row forming behind them, like a shark. Her brow was sloped forward, primal and powerful, as her gaze fixated on his face.

There wasn't much she wore for clothes other than the chestplate containing her immense tits, just lightly riding over her powerful stomach, and a battle-skirt of chainmail opening up to her powerful, crushing legs. He could see the handle of the wicked blade that had cut apart his horde-members on her back, the crimson eye in the pommel almost staring at him.

"Now..." the beastly rumbled in front of him slowly, drool splattering onto the ground from where it ran down from a small pool under her tusks, "Sometin' tells lil ole' me ya know 'bout where da biggah camp is fer you cunts."

A claw flicked the badge over his coat. The signature boar head with demonic horns, the signal of the Ravagers Legion, led by Doszrahn. She rasped out a deep breath, and he could smell the captain on it.

Could see bits of him between her teeth, too.

"No, ye-yeah, sure! Whatever you want! Oh gods, please don't kill me, I'll tell you anything you want!" He sobbed, as her friends now fully stood beside her now, though the tallest only coming to her chest. She snarled, in response, and that sharks-mouth steadily crept open, and those razors-edge teeth got ever closer.

He heard cloth shift as the healer he had seen reached out, touching her lightly on her bare muscled thigh. Her gaze flicked quickly back to him, and he could swear he almost saw her sneer break for a second. She doubled back on him in the next.

"I'll t'ink 'bout it." she spat, the size of her tusks keeping her from enunciating correctly. "Buh' first? Ya tellin' me where ya buddies 're holed up at." Her beady eyes narrowed. "Cass gots an ole' friend she needs 'ta meet."

---

Doszrahn took another bit of the thigh-shank in her grip. She couldn't remember which meat it was, from which race she had torn it off of precisely, but it was good meat regardless. She could hear chaos from the edge of the camp, probably the rowdier ones playing "catch and release" with the slaves again.

She relaxed again on her pile of pelts, enjoying the laps of luxury that being a general of the abyssal hordes brought. She could conquer, take, and raped anything she'd wanted, and she'd only gotten promoted from it. It was only right; the gnoll culture following the abyss (unlike those heretics who thought they could live with the weaklings that tamed the land, she scoffed) dictated the strongest rule over all, and well she- the chieftess flexed a powerful, scar covered bicep, making a melon shaped round in the muscle- was. Might made right, and those too weak deserved to be crushed under foot. At least for her horde, but then again, that's all that mattered. The other leaders could do fuck all they wanted, but here, she was top of the pile for her region, and her gnolls would raze the defense of the allied kingdoms to shreds.

Though this last year had offered them some resistance. Failed a couple raids, when some nobodies she hadn't bothered to remember the names of got involved, and what was supposed to be an easy operation a week ago had gone awry when something wiped out the siege party that had gone to take a fishing town.

She scowled. Well, they'd be getting reinforcements soon enough. Not that they needed them, or anything. She tossed her war ax, a gnarled thing with an evil-looking serrated head, over in her hands by the handle, using the head to sharpen her tusks. Next charge she'd be the one leading, not some fuckhead archfiend, she thought squinting her uneven three eyes. She held it up, watching it reflect the light of the campfire, but also noticing how streaks of gray were beginning to etch its way into her pelt. She scoffed. As if age would bring her low now, she was as strong as she ever was, even when her hip gave her problems every now and again. She could still slaughter anyone she stood against. The hell-priests had made sure of that when she'd been promoted to general.

However, in her strength-obsessed-vanity, she'd failed to take notice of the screams from camp getting louder, and the sound of metal clashing as weapons met. Though what did finally get her attention was the bestial roar that echoed into her tent, startling her from her trance.

"What th' fuck-" she snarled, jumping to her feet and stepping outside of the tent as her subordinates engaged with something. A hulking behemoth of muscle like her, that was tearing her beta subordinates apart like they were flimsy paper. Gore was splattered across the campsite as the hulk, definitely at least a head taller than the esteemed alpha, ripped her blade through the midsection of the weaker gnolls and soldiers that stepped in front of her.

The blade that she swung was just as savage; a massive slab of steel, the forward edge curving over into a brutal bladed meathook, along edge of which chinks had been taken out like it had been used to break through rock. The guard was almost flesh-like with how the top melted into the blade, and a flurry of rubies that looked awfully similar to eyes embedded in the black hilt that wrapped up all the way around the sword like vines choking a tree. The hilt was jet black, with the hand-guard curved over with bone-like spikes protruding from it, and sitting comfortably in the spiked pommel, another ruby eye.

Her expression was pure savagery, and as she finished another one, she stood as tall as her slouched back would let her, panting like a feral dog as she searched for another opponent. though when her eyes eventually settled on her, it was like a switch was flipped.

"You." it whispered at first.

"YOU." it yelled into the open night air.

"Wh-"

"YOU!" The hulk roared as it used one massive arm as a counter-balance for its top combination of frame and sword, and lunged forward-ripping upward with a serrated, wicked blade. Doszrahn could barely dodge out of the way as it ripped forward into her tent, severing the stake immediately and sending it tumbling to the ground.

She was supposed to be the strongest. Out of any of the tribes, she had risen to be the strongest. Fought her way from the pits to become the biggest and the baddest. She'd eaten her fellow kin, for Pazuzu's sake. And the hell-priests had given her even more, enhanced her with even more, so she could kill any paladin that stood against her horde, her corruption such that she could shrug off even holy magic. But this was no paladin, empowered by false gods, this was simply a bigger gnoll.

She lunged forward, but as the brute across from her made a wide swing, she was forced to her back, not able to overpower the opponent in front of her. It-she, snarled. "I 'been waitin' for 'dis. Whazzat 'cha said t'me? "Killin' weaklings was my na~ture" she spat, and Doszrahn could hear the spittle fleck across her. "Ah'm gonna make ya eat 'dat."

Bells rang in the back of Doszrahn's head. She recognized this...beast from somewhere. Suddenly, recognition flashed. One of her raids, that runt she'd found...

"Naw..." she whispered. "You can't be that half-pint. No way." She snarled, trying to retain what feeble intimidation factor she had, calling upon the power imbued in her by the hell-priests to give her more power. "And just 'cause yer a lil bigger don't mean yer better!"

The gnoll monster across from her grinned, revealing her own rows of jagged teeth behind her awful tusks.

"Then come kill me."

Their battle raged as the horde forces were preoccupied with Cass's party. It was a one on one between the two hulking brutes. Occasionally, an underling leapt in as a distraction, but one quick blow from either as punishment for the interruption and they were in pieces on the floor. While the ruby eyes on Cass's blade shined, the markings and tattoos on Doszrahn glowed in equal, both drawing power from the depths.

Cass won out, eventually. It was a tough battle, but while her size limited her speed, she was a pure fortress, and one the raider general couldn't just overpower with her own. The cursed blade shimmered all the time. The battle ended as Cass slugged the other, and then in one motion brought her blade up to rip across the horde chieftess's stomach.

Doszrahn collapsed back, her back hitting the ground as she panted her dying breaths, feeling her life-blood drain from her middle. Her tongue flicked up to wipe the blood from her snout. The adrenaline of the battle faded as her essence drained onto the ground.

"Fuckin'...so this is it."

Cass loomed overhead, raising up her titanic greatsword. "Y'deserve worse."

"But this is th' way it is, ain't it?" she laughed a barking, hysterical laugh. "Yer takin' yer proper place, as ya sh-."

The sword came down without warning, anticlimactically splitting the dying hyena's skull in a manner not dissimilar to the cultist in the cave so long ago, killing the laugh in her throat. Cass couldn't bother herself to hear the speech, especially if it was shaping up to be a "You and I aren't so different" kind of thing.

"Nah. Just rootin' out yer filth." she said to the corpse of the monster that had haunted her for most of her life.

And they weren't. She didn't need to bother debating that with her. There were similarities, of course. She was changed, a great beast now. A monstrous wall of muscle, claws and flesh that reflected the most primal gnoll form, and an IQ approaching freezing temperatures. A lust for the feeling of the raw, unfiltered bloodshed of a battle.

There was a critical difference though. She knew that could take anything she wanted, force anyone to give her what she wanted, but she didn't. That wasn't the shape of her soul. She helped keep the weaker people from getting hurt, and killed the evil people doing the hurting in the first place. Didn't take much thought beyond that.

As she released her mental grip on the snakelike tendrils of the sword surrounding her consciousness, she suddenly felt more tired than any battle before. It was like months of fighting suddenly caught up to her at once. Behind her, the din of battle had died down, the horde disorganized and caught off guard without their leader present.

"Cass-!" she turned her powerful neck down to where the rest of her part stood, surrounded by their own piles of bodies. It was Frederick who called out to her, his expression a figurative light among the piles of bodies. She could hear clashes as their reinforcements dealt with the remaining edges of the encampment, but for the most part their frontal assault had broken the back of the horde completely.

Eventually, they'd need to hunt down the rest. Of course the other abyssal generals would notice this loss, mount an offensive to regain their territory, do any number of things to regain the lost land from the allied kingdoms. For Cass now, in this moment, there was a weight lifted from shoulders as the defiler of her loved ones, and butcher of an unknown number of innocents sat dead before her.

Proof of whether or not she was a changed Cassie, her oath had been fulfilled. That her core hadn't changed, despite everything else doing so to a much larger degree. But Gods, now she was tired. Emotionally, but also physically. And kinda hungry. And thirsty. And a little horny? But she practically felt like that all the time these days anyway. She went to join with her friends and their reinforcements at the center of the broken encampment, that simple resting menace settling back onto her face as she lumbered towards her team, victorious.

---

"Are you sure you don't want to see if I can work something out with the owner, Cass?"

His voice was reluctant as she made herself comfortable in the hay, her dense body somehow managing to find a comfortable position within the bale stack.

"Nah, bit too big fer most rooms now," She grunted. "Don't wanna...uh...."

"Impose?"

"Yeh, that." She grinned. "Y'jest don't wanna smell like a barn, eh? Like me?"

He smiled. "I think by the end of tonight I'm gonna smell like you regardless."

She howled with raucous laughter. "Damn right!" With a smooth motion, she cleared a space next to her in the hay, motioning to her. He got in slowly, making sure to find a comfortable position, while she wrapped her arms around him. He was practically buried in her bulk; thick, powerful arms around his back while the softness of her breasts and stomach dominated him, and her titanic thighs kept his legs locked in, reducing any slim chance of escape.

She took the initiative, her powerful tongue gently dominating his mouth as she kissed him deeply, passionately. She could feel her cool, rubbery lower lip brush the bottom of his chin and her tusks brushed against his skin, careful to not let the tips scratch him. She pulled back, snaking a large paw down his pants, and fondling his groin with two meaty fingers. He could already feel himself getting hard as she felt and stroked him down below. Looking into her eyes, her gaze- usually a brutish and predatory combination that was betrayed by her spirit, paired with that bestial want for satisfaction now, as all four slitted eyes focused on him. "Hope yer ready~" she purred, like an earthquake. "M' a big girl 'dese days...but Ah'ma try'n be gentle."

Fredrick gulped nervously as he felt a gob of her saliva drop on his shoulder, but still smiled anyway, trusting her. Were it anyone else, he would be terrified of just being crushed under her weight, but just knowing it was Cass. Knowing that it was her all the way down, driving the powerful beast over top of him-

Well, of course he was ready.