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To Light the Darkness

Phase 2

I exit slipstream just ahead of an ion storm, engaging my 'burners, just managing to stay just ahead of it for several minutes, long enough to find a captured asteroid with a deep enough depression to shield me from the ion storm, from the readings I've been able to gather with my fighter's sensors, this system seems to receives a fairly predictable ionic storm cycle and from the looks of things, I arrived at the start of the storm season, noting also the strength of the planet's magnetic field, I realize that the planet has a natural defense shield against such lethal storms, being somewhat cigar-shaped, it acts like a submarine whenever an ion storm cycles up to full fury...

What a way to start a quest...from easy street to hard knocks in a snap...

Swearing as my asteroid shield takes yet another pound from the ion storm, grateful that its titanium deposits kept it from breaking up, then sudden silence, I look up and see the storm dissipate rapidly, realizing that the storms here are of the fast and viciously powerful but don't last long category, I launch one of the mini-sat Dumbfires and readied a flash message to the 1st Fleet, informing of the system's astro-physical conditions and to put a science vessel with a long-range sensor and analysis package and escorts to monitor the system for how long the storm season will last and how long the clear season will last as well as strength and magnitude of the storms themselves.

The second the sats deploy from their carrier and indicate readiness to transmit, I fire off the message and receive a confirmed transmission message just as my sensors picked up another ion storm waiting on the wings, deciding not to push my luck, I jet out of my asteroid cover and made full speed for the planet, leaving the dorsal FTL pod in low geo-sync orbit above the planet where its magnetic field should be able to protect it, in the meantime, I head down to the planet only to exit re-entry in a lightning storm, and just my luck, I do get hit by lightning but the VF19's avionics protection system keeps the core systems intact long enough for me to find a landing site, unfortunately I take another lightning bolt in the rear, causing a full systems shutdown but I was already in a landing position, though without the gear down, the fighter already aimed at a thick mesh of vines hanging between several medium sized trees; to my surprise though, the vines easily take the roughly 38 metric tons of starfighter that lands on it with a few vines breaking from being cut by the forward winglets and bringing it to a halt almost immediately, oddly enough the weapons on the nose had a clear view on what looked like a primitive but well-used road, the way the fighter is left hanging looks so natural that a simple camo-scheme will effectively break up it outline, with a little dragon magic and some camo paint; I ensure that any uninvited guests will get vaped before they know what hit them, as soon as that was done, I set to work repairing and replacing the damaged avionics system as best I can to bring the fighter to some semblance of working order but luck is with me, the only things that I have to replace are the burnt out protection circuits and breakers that shielded the more sensitive circuits from any electrical damage.

I finish the repairs in a few minutes, then walked all over the fighter to check for anymore damage, aside from the scraped off paint, there's no damage at all, night fell and I conferred with the dragon spirits regarding the dress code of this planet, and the answer bothers me, it seems that the dress code here is medieval, meaning rough linen pants, shirts and vests though it varies from a person's social status, for me that means that I've to wear something both inconspicuous and slightly intimidating, the silver dragon suggesting that I wear the garb of a traveling warrior, one who works odd jobs involving protecting, guarding and killing, as it also suits my own nature; I also work long term contracts with right amount of gold or incentives, my primary armaments and equipment are two leather gauntlets, sixteen throwing stars stored within the gauntlets, two tritanium katanas honed to a razor's edge, two leather greaves (internally reinforced with plasteel) and an open helm with leather padding, sun shield and a ultra transparent visor with everything just in case; my belt's electronic nature is covered by a belt of leather, festooned with pouches, a large bag camouflaging my power suit's power core and storage pack.

My clothes is comprised of a soft cotton shirt, a leather vest also festooned with pouches, a pair of knee-length leather shorts equipped with two large pockets, you never know when you'll need those extra pockets, a pair of sturdy leather boots and a backpack lightly loaded with food, water, disguised med kit, some secondary weapons, a camo-cloak/poncho and my two force lances just in case, disguised as short metal rods.

The dragon spirits suggest that I work my from south to north but rather than heading straight for the earth crystal, instead I work to create a reputation as a traveling warrior for hire and it seems that I'll be able to build a reputation fairly quickly in wolf territory rather than feline territory due to the contentious nature of the wolves and since the bunch of them then to be rather gossipy, my rep can spread far and wide even into feline territory; and from what they were able to sense, there is also a small human population here as well but are not considered a threat by the other races and are scattered hither and yon, thankfully enough.

I step on the road, turning to the left, to begin my adventure and my quest, it maybe a long hard road but what was time to me especially when you're superhuman and besides, from a certain point of view, this is long overdue vacation for an old warhorse like me. Heh, heh, heh.

Two weeks in and I already bag my first job as a temporary bodyguard to the local lord, needless to say, this wolf really needs to go to obedience school, his manners and etiquette are atrocious but he does pay well, one of his regular bodyguards came down with a major fever and will be bedridden for a week or two, it seemed that he accidentally ate some bad meat and came down with a classic case of food poisoning, so the local lord set up a small contest to find a temporary replacement and you can guess who won hands down.

His family, at least, had some form of decency or another, especially the eldest son, besides my regular duties as a bodyguard; I also had the extra job of being the son's combat instructor, he got talent, I'll give him that, good with the sword and dagger, a natural with the staff and bow, excellent ability to learn my hard-won hand-to-hand skill; he'll make an excellent fighter someday when he gets older and enthusiastic to learn all I have, its because of this kid that I stayed when I would have left long ago, he's a hope for the future of this people and I have no intention of missing a chance to positively shape him.

Pretty soon, it was time for me to leave but the son begged his father to let me stay as his instructor for another three weeks, at first the father was adverse to the idea, seems that he strongly dislikes humans but after some effort, was convinced to let me stay longer but I won't be paid as much, wasn't a problem for me though, I was happy to train and refine the kid further anyway.

The three weeks quickly past and after a somewhat teary farewell, made my way farther south, deeper into wolf territory, to its capital city where I found plenty of potential employers but few openings for a traveling warrior-for-hire, a week later, I hit pay dirt, a high ranking wolf needing a bodyguard for his eldest daughter whose going on a trip to see her fiancé, a knight-in-training at a training castle in the forests roughly 58 or so miles northeast of here, a trip at least three to six weeks long and that's a round trip, my job is to provide close-in security to her at all times, luckily he wasn't specific on how close-in and either did his daughter; half way to our destination, we were ambushed by roughly a dozen bandits but accurate fire from my longbow took down the four on the left before they even got close, the other guards engaging the rest while I provided accurate sniper fire when the opportunity arose, then two more approached us from the left where I had taken the first four, realizing the situation, I leap of the carriage top and draw my katanas, facing the two new ones, they look at each other, clearly not expecting a bodyguard who can use two swords, trade nods with each other and charge me.

Fools.

I counter-charge them and, with a deft block and slash, decapitate them without losing a step, their blood spraying in a fountain of gore behind when I hear a feminine gasp of surprise behind me; I spin towards my back, ready for any attack, but all I see is the young wolfess, her dress and face splattered by the bandits' blood, eyes wide with shock, sighing to myself at the naiveté of the young lady, I pull out a water bag and a clean rag from my back pack and gently guided her back to the carriage where I dampen the rag and gently began cleaning her up, fur firstly then the regions of her clothes, and her body where I could touch without permission but to my surprise, she took my hand and guided it to the remaining stains, mostly over her ample bosom, and since they're still somewhat fresh, come off easily and with little remaining to remember to their source, she smiled at me and quietly said, "Thank you...and I'm sorry."

I jerk back slightly in surprise but smiled back and, just as quietly, reply, "You're welcome...and learn these lessons well, young one, life's lessons will be quite harsh for those unprepared for it."

She nods, and then surprises me with her next sentence, "Will you teach me how to defend myself?"

This really took me by surprise, normally pampered young ladies like her would be adverse to any high-grade physical activity but now that I'm observing her closely, certain telltales became obvious to me, her thin arms aren't liked those of a spoiled pampered female but are those of a runner or swimmer, her breathing is strong and even, indicative of a strong respiratory system, her movement is balanced and lithe, also indicative of a runner or swimmer; her maids also look to be in better shape than most too, I realized.

I suddenly realize that her maids are also her bodyguards, most bandits would think twice before attack a traveling noblewoman with big tough male bodyguards but a noblewoman traveling only with female maids, all too easy a target for kidnapping and ransom but also for more baser crimes; it seems this is precisely what she wants to be seen until its too late, I was just insurance in case something went wrong, which nearly did, the girls are good but need some extensive refining on their tactics and skills, probably where I come in; all-in-all, this job might turn into a long term contract, one that I'll probably enjoy.

"Nathan?" her soft voice brought me back to reality, "now do you understand?"

I grin slightly at her as I answer, "Yes, I understand, young lady, I completely understand."

She apparently knew that I was a lot more experienced than I looked so didn't take my words the wrong way, I step out of the carriage with her in tow and came face to face with her maids/bodyguards, all whom are looking at her expectantly, she smiled and made her announcement, "Girls, I've made my choice, Nathan here, will be our teacher and trainer; of all the males we have been tossed with, only he has passed with honor and integrity thus our testing is done, now our training begins..."

I turn and arch an eyebrow at her in surprise, "I'm to train all of you?"

She nods eagerly, "We want to learn what you have been trained with, to fight and win decisively, to strike with speed and precision with little waste of effort, to use the strength of your foes against them. You demonstrate a way of battle unlike anything we know, one that involves speed, agility, strength, power and decisiveness, this way of battle is what we wish to learn from you."

"How long a contract does your father have in mind?"

"Oh no, Father has left that all to me but mostly it will be a standard five-month contract with the usual payments and benefits plus a little extra..."

"What little extra?" She merely smirked at me, "You'll find out sooner or later..."

I shrug nonchalantly, "Make it six months and you have a deal."

"Why six months?"

"Because sooner or later, someone will get cocky and sloppy that only a master can get them out of the situation, the extra month will be my time to further refine and sharpen the skills and techniques I will have taught you all."

It seems that they got the gist of what I mean, because they nod eagerly at my words, I got up and remove most of my gear and clothing until all I'm wear are my shorts, my two katanas strapped to my sides and my boots, "Now ladies, I'll need you all to change into your tops and shorts..."

They look at me curiously. "So I can judge where your talents and possible skills lie and also to determine your flexibility, dexterity and range-of-movement, I can't train you all properly if can't determine what you can and can not do."

Their eyes widen in realization, that I nothing naughty in mind but simply a physical evaluation, they quickly got up and went to change.

Ten minutes later, as they presented themselves again, I had to keep myself from going slack-jawed, I knew the girls were good looking but now, in more comfortable clothing, forced me to revise from good looking to absolutely gorgeous, as all their tops are very filled out, leaving me in a pickle since my personal tastes fall on tall, strong and busty, and all twelve snugly fit that category...

This is going to be a long day...

Lushara murred quietly as she took off her bulky and stuffy dress, pulling on her favorite hunting clothes, a light green top that showed off her ample bosom, a strong leather vest, and a gray-colored pair of shorts that hugged her firm rear quite nicely; she pads out happily, eager for her lessons to begin, her tail wagging happily, but then two of her bodyguards emerge from behind a bush and beckon her to quietly follow, she shrugs nonchalantly and follows, to find herself in a hunter's blind overlooking the clearing where they have set up camp, she looks back at the other in curiosity, her voice low, "What's going on?"

Nesharu, the eldest of them all, aside from Nathan, and also the bustiest, sly points towards me, "We have a genuine tit-lover here, little sister."

"Nathan?"

"He's quite good at keeping himself under control but it's quite obvious from here..."

Lushara watches Nathan carefully, and then realizes that Nesharu is correct, he's surreptitiously ogling her bodyguards' ample bosoms...and also getting rather tight in the shorts despite his attempts to control himself.

"Hmm...you know, I don't care! Nathan's a good person, he'll try to behave as much as possible but I want to see how far we can push him before he succumbs to his lusts and desires; spread the word to the girls, tempt and tease him as much as we can, if he makes a move, watch how he does it, I get the feeling that he's going to be fun to have around." She grins evilly.

Nesharu smiles back just as evilly, "What if he is the gentleman sort?"

"Then we all have some fun with him, besides something tells me that he's a furry lover, from the way he's looking the others over."

"And if he is?"

"Then I say that we learn all that he can teach us..." They all grin at each other in giddy anticipation.

For the next three weeks, the girls do all they can to tease me, from accidentally emerging topless from their tents to letting me catch them in rather intimate positions and poses, often blushing in both embarrassment and arousal as I made hasty retreats.

However Nesharu would be my first conquest, for lack of a better word, though to be honest, I really care didn't whom I bag first but Nesharu seemed to be begging for it first and far from me from denying a lady's wishes.

It was when I was taking a bath in the nearby waterfall where the sound of the rushing water cloaked all but the loudest sounds, when a pair of paws and arms wrapping themselves around me, a pair of large breasts pressing themselves against my back and a soft whimper/giggle of triumph at my ear, looking down at the paws on my chest, recognizing them as belonging to Nesharu, I sigh lightly, "What do want, Nesharu?"

She murrs quietly, "I've been wondering...just how much longer can you withstand all of our temptations," as one paw rubs my chest while the other strokes my hardening manhood.

"Our?" I ask quietly as I suddenly make sense of why the girls have been acting the way they have for the past three weeks, especially Lushara; they've been trying their hardest to lure me into bed with them! But due to my sense of honor and civility, I resisted not knowing at the time that they really did want me to be in bed with them and there was another factor, during my stay at the city inn, I've been on the receiving end of hostile but non-threatening looks and gestures, though that disappeared completely after I, without using lethal force, disarm a gang of drunken teenagers and let them go with just a word of warning and a hard, ice-cold look at sent them running, sighing at their idiocy, I gave their weapons to the inn-keeper to be sold, and then order some ale and two apples which were brought to my booth by a buxom wolfess, who quietly, but not quietly enough for a wolf's hearing, asked, "Why did you do that?"

My answer was a simple snort, followed by a quiet reply, "They're just kids who don't know anything better to do, and I simply taught them a lesson of 'looking before leaping.'"

It seemed that my answer surprised everyone, especially her, as her comment suggests, "You're not like most humans, are you?"

"I don't follow you."

"Well, you see, most humans hate furs like us..."

"Ah, I see. No, I'm not. How could I when my late master is a furry as well."

"Oh...I'm sorry." Her voice strongly subdued.

"It's all right."

"Sorry to have bothered you."

"No trouble at all." She returns to the kitchen, looking rather thoughtful.

I return to my room after awhile and fell asleep, suddenly the end of the week, I land this job, leading me to wonder if that buxom wolfess had anything to do with it. Nesharu and I made most of the time we had by the falls and came back hand-in-paw, apparently the signal that it's open season for me and that their suspicions had been correct, that I am indeed a furry lover...

It wasn't long before I totally succumbed to the girls but it wasn't long either that I slept regularly with one or two partners, namely Lushara and Nesharu, so for the next three months, the three of us would always look for some secluded spot and yiff each other senseless but only after training and definitely before meals, lately though, I begin to develop feelings about Lushara, my instincts telling me that she's the one for me but my objective side of me says to put romance on hold and concentrate on my primary mission, to retrieve the earth elemental crystal and from there find the last one with the help of the four other elemental crystals but both my heart and my instincts say otherwise, this I contemplated on one night when I found myself alone in a secluded clearing, however, I also began to wonder about my friends back with the fleet and the Galactic Federation, with the ion storms ravaging all over the system, thereby blocking all forms of communications come off and onto the planet but I was able to receive an on-station message from the science vessel I asked for, at the tail end of a ion storm, and only that message, I didn't receive any other for the past 3 months but my long experience tells me not to worry and enjoy this working vacation, then my datapad with the advanced message transceiver attachment beeped in my ear, I select it from my stores and it materializes in my hands.

Opening it, the holographic interface shimmers to life, revealing a blinking new message symbol at the center of the holo, tapping it, the message opens, revealing its contents, it's a message to me from the FGV Alexander Bell informing me of the nature of the ion storms ravaging over the planet and their cycle of quiet and fury...it seems that the ion storms originate from the interaction of several very rare and unique gases and solar energy from the system's sun, creating powerful but short-lived ion storms driven by the solar wind and depending on the concentrations of the gases, the more ferocious and powerful the storm but it seems that the gases themselves disperse too quickly thus the short life-span of the storms but the storms affect all levels of the electro-magnetic spectrum except a very narrow bandwidth which very few Federal ships are capable of detecting or using, also the energy released by the storms are lethal to both ships and personnel, strangely though, the protective magnetic field of this planet is not only resistant to the storms; it actually repels the storms, thereby protecting its inhabitants!

The Alex Bell will be remaining on-station to study the field and work out how the magnetic field is structured and how it is capable of repelling the ion storms; its escorts will also remain on station with it to allow uninterrupted work and analysis, they've also left a relay satellite within the planet's protective field to allow me to communicate with them, albeit delayed but at least its better than none at all.

I snap the pad closed as my enhanced hearing picks up the rustle of leaves, indicating that someone's approaching me, the datapad instantly dematerializes and I return to my original pose, lying on my back just watching the star as they shine overhead, then suddenly someone pounces on me, causing me to woof out my breath, I roll and pin my attacker underneath me, the distinctive smell of lavender oil and aloe tell me who it is, I nuzzle Lushara's neck as I caress her, her murr of pleasure tells me how much she likes this particular position; I roll off of her, she instantly pounces and straddles my hips, grinding against me playfully.

I grin at her and was pulling her down for a kiss when a shrill scream broke the silence of the forest, we look at each other and quickly leapt to our feet but I stop Lushara with a look and said, "I'm sorry dear but I get the feeling that you should stay here where I know you are safe, my instincts tell me that our foe this time is something supernatural..."

I never got to finish as she puts two fingers on my mouth to silence me, she shining with both happiness and, disturbingly, love, "No, Nathan, no matter what, my fate will the same as yours...I love you and nothing will ever change that, not even death. I know you have secrets but I feel you keep those secrets to protect those around, not out of distrust or malice..."

She never finished as I kiss fully for the first time as her love as I break the kiss temporarily to say, "I love you too, my lovely wolfess...and yes, I do have secrets but I keep them to protect you from the repercussions of knowing my secrets."

"Why? What makes them so dangerous?"

"To be honest, I really have no idea how you or anyone on this planet, er, world would react if any of you know what I know..."

That little slip told Lushara that I'm not from any of the human enclaves, she quickly turned and stopped me in my tracks, her right paw flat on my chest, "Nathan, what aren't you telling me? I've met humans before but your scent's distinctively different; the base scents are fine, the more subtle ones are different, very different from the humans on this world; and the way you say things, most people are fooled by your mannerisms but there's something in your accent that tells me that you're an educated human, the word you just used, planet, is it, does not exist in the common tongue, are you from another world? Are you a traveler of the stars?"

I arch an eyebrow at her in surprise, it seems that she has good observational skills as well as intuitive skill that allowed her to piece together some of the clues I had inadvertently revealed to show her an incomplete picture of who I am, and my answer only partially satisfy her, "Yes, Lushara, I am indeed a traveler of the stars, my mission here, though, is strictly personal but your observations and conclusions are mostly correct and on target."

Her jaw drops in surprise and shock, surprised that the conclusions she had worked out are correct and shocked that I had openly admitted to the truth, expecting me to lie about it instead. "But..."

I gently silence her, saying, "All will be revealed when the time is right but not before...for now we have to go help the others."

That effectively ended our talk as we both sprinted away at top speed, taking separate paths in order to surprise our enemy from an unanticipated direction, back towards the camp, hoping against hope it wasn't something that even I couldn't handle...

I enter the camp proper, my eyes widening in utter horror as a multi-tentacled dual-gendered sex-demon, in the guise of a busty wolfess, is busily ravaging the girls, I breath a sigh of relief that Lushara is not amongst them, then the beast turned its head towards me and, to my surprise as well as the beast's, recognized whom we are facing.

"You?!" We both exclaim in surprise and shock.

"I thought I've finally gotten rid of you, Me'lishFA: "

"I should say the same thing about you, Nathan, I thought you lost in space and finally out of my fur!"

"Well, can I help it if I was accidentally tossed into the future, only to find my beloved Galactic Federation completely destroyed?"

"Well, in my case, I've had to endure three centuries of little sexual activity just to regenerate all the damage you have done to me on this backwater planet, finally emerging to begin anew my reign of sexual terror but then you had to show up and ruin the moment!"

"Well, I guess our feelings of hatred for each other are still mutual then, eh, bitch?"

"I guess they still are...prepare yourself, fool, I've learned much how to fight against you over the last three centuries and I will finally have you in my tentacled embrace and send you to the highest levels of ecstasies before consuming your life force."

I drop into a fighting pose, "We'll just see about that..."

Little did we know that Lushara, hiding in the hunter's blind nearby, heard every single word of our argument and opted to stay as quiet as possible, since she was no match for a sex-demon but what puzzled her was how did I encounter hir/it before and defeat it effectively as well as why did we refer to each other 'in the past' so to speak.

The answer would unravel itself to her as we fought. I charge like I did before when I first encountered and fought it, only to have several tentacles burrow into the earth in front of me but instead of dodging around, I opted to jump backwards several meters just as several other tentacles, tipped with lethal spines, stab into the air where I would have been; I grin ruefully, it had figured out how I had defeated it the first time, deciding to finish this fast, I reach down to my belt buckle and trigger the deployment sequence of my power suit, which surprised Me'lishfa as well as Lushara, though I didn't know at the time, the suit fully deploys as an ultra-flexible jet black body-suit that covered all of my body except for my head, hands and feet, then the activation symbol deployed itself on the left side of my chest; I roar out...

"Power On!"

...as I used my right fist to activate the suit's electro-transformational system, in the very short interval between activation and armor materialization, I mentally selected the Blade Liger armor system with augmenting weapons boosters, meaning the armor that will encase me is based and designed to be as similar in design and function as its larger Zoid counterpart; the paws becoming slashing claw weapons, the two weapons pods being remounted on the forearms and back, the body and legs becoming chest, abdominal, leg and arm armor, the tail never changed position though, and the long energy-encased yellow blades becoming swords strapped to my back.

Me'lishfa recomposes herself and makes hir move but is staggered by a barrage of pulse-laser cannon fire from my left arm as I dodge right, boosters flaring, then my sensors detects Lushara's presence but I push it to the back of my mind as irrelevant and concentrated on Me'lishfa but the blasted demon keeps regenerating the damage I'm inflicting, I deploy the Liger Blades, grasping both blades as their energy sheath comes to deadly life, adjusting the boosters' thrust forward, I charge hir at full speed, deftly evading hir attacks and connected with both blades in a X-shaped slash, shi screams loudly as the plasma-energized blades sear and burn hir flesh, one thing that never seems to change is that all sex-beasts/demons/monsters are all vulnerable to flame and cannot regenerate the flesh in the affected areas, however, my attack is only isolated to one area not in a more general style, so I realize that I would need to use my dragon form to destroy hir, I quickly deactivate my armor, that move surprised and stunned hir long enough for me to transform; I drew my left arm back, bent at the elbow, and with two right fingers touching the fire crystal, I roar out, "Dragon Storm!" I bring my left up to form a cross with my right, "Dragon form!" And spread my arms down, my hands now encased in flame, "Power Up!"

In that instant, flames engulf my entire body but instead of consuming me, it swirls into a vortex that takes the shape of a mighty dragon, then as the flames move up my body, the body of a flaming red dragon takes my place, the flames pull up and over my body only to end at the tip of my snout and disappear with a poof, leaving a 45 foot red dragon grinning smugly at the sex-demon, who promptly drops hir jaw in both in awe and terror as it finally dawns upon hir that this time, there can only be one victor; I never gave hir the chance to react as I open my mouth and summon the fire within, blasting hir into oblivion with my fiery breath, shi screams helplessly as I finally put hir down, ensuring that does not become a danger to anyone else again. I sustain my fire upon the ashes until I'm sure that no biological matter remains, and then with a sweep of my tail, scatters the ashes into the winds, finally ending the threat of the demon for all eternity.

I was looking at the scattering ashes smugly when my sensitive ears pick up a slight cough, instantly I look down and to my left, only to look into Lushara's sad eyes, I sigh audibly and mutter, "Power Down."

I shrink back down to my original form, she approaches me slowly, her mannerism suggesting that she's unsure how to best approach me but I decide that for her when I pull her into a gentle hug and some quiet words, she then pushes us apart just enough for our eyes to meet, "Nathan, I think its time for you to tell me the truth." Her eyes tell me that she won't put up with anymore delays.

I acknowledge her request with a nod, then I look at the others, she does the same, "We'd better get them into their tents first so they won't be vulnerable."

She nods in agreement, we work quickly and as gentle as we could, just before I had shifted back to normal, I had quietly casted a healing spell that will remove and destroy any traces of the demon's seed from the girls while repairing any damage done to their bodies, thankfully, the only side-effects to the spell is that it put the recipient into a state of deep healing sleep so no matter what happens, they'll be completely oblivious to the outside world until early morning.

After we finish putting the girls into their tents, Lushara and I sat by the camp fire, we snuggle together under a blanket, laid our head together, wrap an arm around each other and sigh in relief, then after a moment's silence, I ask Lushara, "Do you really want to learn the truth?"

She answers softly, "Yes, my love, I trust you and I don't think the truth will kill me."

"I've seen some people die in front of me when the truth is revealed to them..." I mutter quietly.

"Were they old or young?"

"Well, most of the time they simply died of physical problem like a weak heart or something like that, and the mere shock of discovery is sometimes enough to kill them."

"Well, I'm still young, I'll take that chance." She answers me playfully.

I chuckle appreciatively as I hug her closely, "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you..."

"Oh, you'll never know..."

"Right...here we go...my real name is Nathan Dragos L. Night..." And so I told Lushara the whole truth that night and needless to say, we didn't get much sleep that night.

Morning came but since we were both facing in the same direction as the rising sun, it gradually warmed our bodies, and woke us from our vigil by the fire, now quietly smoldering in front of us as we just sat there, enjoying in each other's presence. Then we heard the stirrings of the girls as the healing spell finally ran its course and had just dissipated, allowing them to rise on their own accord but it seems that last night's attack took a lot out of them, soon enough, the camp became quiet again, then Lushara surprises me with a lick on my cheek, I look at her in surprise, "What was that for?"

"Oh, just my way of saying 'thank you' for being honest with me last night, love."

"My pleasure, dear. But what do we do now?"

"We push on with our original training but let's see if we can draw some lessons from our recent experience with the demon, you obviously don't need to due to your previous experiences but do you think that you can at least teach us how to fight demons like that?"

"I'm afraid that might be a bit of an impossibility there, as you know I'm superhuman, therefore my speed, senses, reflexes and strength have been enhanced to a level where even felines are out-classed, giving me the edge I needed to defeat the demon but even back then, it was a close thing; I succeeded now because of the aid of the elemental dragons. Come to think about it however, I think there are some lessons we can draw from this encounter but give me some time to think on this though."

She smiled that special smile meant only for me, "I know you will, my love, I know you will."

I went to my tent and grabbed my bow and quiver, moving at a fast trot into the forest, intent on using the hunt to work off my frustrations and anger at having that damn demon ruin our moment together.

I came back after an hour of hunting, carrying two young bucks on my shoulders, it was still early in the morning though so the none of the girls bar Lushara saw me carrying in the load normally shared by four hunters, it seemed that she was busy while I was out hunting, having readied all the necessary utensils and ingredients for our breakfast and stroking up the fire to a more intense level, I set the bucks down near the fire and proceeded to skin and gut them then tear the meat into chunks for the stew meant for the girls while the two of us had a simple breakfast of venison and fruits.

It didn't take long for the smell of the cooking stew to wake the girls from their sleep as several noses poked out their tents, sniffing intently for the source of the smell, closely followed by the rest their heads and then, after a brief moment of hesitation, the rest of their bodies.

Many looked around furtively as they vividly recall the danger they were in last night but unable to remember anything else after they simply fainted from the intense amount of pleasure they were forcibly subjected to...young Lur'ina though, the youngest of us, looked the worse for wear, from what I've seen last night as I had charged into the camp, she'd been the first to receive the demon's attentions, and also the one to scream loud enough to catch both mine and Lushara's attention in the forest, and was already nearing her third climax which would have been the signal for the demon to drain her life-force, would have been anyway if I hadn't appear and ruined it for the demon, whom I made sure this time to send into the next world, or whatever afterlife demons have.

I got up and gave her a reassuring hug but the next thing I know, she drags me back into her tent and undresses me, after which she drops the blanket covering her body, revealing just how much she had blossomed during adolescence, then she jumps on top of me, my manhood rubbing against her nether lips, she pushes me down and kisses me passionately, from that point on, we both release our inhibitions and made wild passionate sex with unbridled passion...

After several hours of unbridled passion, Lur'ina finally settles down and relaxes on top of me, her body language hinting at she finally excised the feeling of violation from her psyche, I murmur into her ear, gently soothing her, only did she break into tears, as she cried on my shoulder, I passively scanned her mind for her current emotional state through dragon telepathy, from what I've seen, she's well on her way to emotional recovery, the others though will probably need some soothing and guidance for the next few days before their psyche can settle down to anywhere near normal.

I let her cry herself to sleep, got up slowly so as not to wake her, tentatively poke my head out of the tent and encounter a pair of paws in front of the tent, the faint smell of lavender and aloe a dead giveaway, I glance up and into the grinning visage of my lover, whom I smiled back at; she crouched down and whispered, "How is she?"

I answer just as quietly, "She'll be fine; all she needed was some physical activity to help her exorcise the feelings of helplessness and weakness."

"And I bet you had fun while doing it too. All the girls are back in their tents eating each other out, thanks to all the noise you two were making." She grinned even more broadly.

"Then why are you out here and not with the others?"

"I wasn't in the mood and besides, I'm saving up my strength for when we go and yiff each other senseless for several hours, though I'm guessing that you can yiff me nonstop if you wanted to anyway...and leave me in bed completely insensible."

I grin at her lewdly, "Now that is one of my personal fantasies..."

Her tail wagged eagerly, "then help the others first, they're the only family I've ever had ever since my father died in a hunting accident...and you're the very first one to ever win my heart."

"Come to think about it, you're an only child, aren't you?"

She nods sadly, "Two of my siblings died while they were still cubs, then my mother died soon after I was born but not before she named me, my father never sought another mate after she died but he never blamed me for her death though, and after my twentieth birthday, my father died in a hunting accident when he and his horse fell into a snow-covered crevasse, chasing the rare and elusive shadow-tiger. He died of a broken neck."

A single tear rolls from her eye, down her muzzle and onto my nose. I got up and hug her assuringly, "Don't worry, I'm much harder to get rid of, you know."

She smiled lightly, "I know, I know..."

Just then, my ears pick up the whistling of incoming off-planet mail, I flatten on top of Lushara, shielding her from the blast as the meteorite crashes into the forest near camp, the girls poke their heads out of their tents asking what was that, I wave them back to their activities as Lushara and I arm ourselves to investigate the impact site but I had recognized, from the 'meteorite's' burn pattern, that as really being a re-entry pod, either carrying personnel or equipment, we hurried over there but before we expose ourselves, I call up my DC20x multi-purpose assault weapon and hid it in the small of my back, we peek around the trunk of a tree and looked, I instantly recognized it as a Cx-800 series equipment drop pod, capable of carrying up to three tons of equipment and two people down to the surface of a planet safely, and marked with the alphanumeric code of the Alex Bell, the pod then deploys its ramps, revealing the interior and its payload, two Whirlpool-class airspeeders, both of the long range variety and armed with a trio of laser cannons, and its passengers, both whom I recognized, I step out from behind the tree and the two instantly turned, crouched and raised their weapons, both of the Firebolt-class of plasma rifles, long sleek weapons capable of melting through a foot thick sheet of duratium alloy without losing stopping power yet also capable of a fast firing rate that would put blasters to shame, the two furs wielding them are some of the personnel whom I had personally trained to utilize these strengths, Captains Vortex Hunt, a burly wolf-morph, and Velasco ap He'kire na Jagar'is, a buxom Rakshani who's fur colors came in metallic hues, giving her a steely almost armored look, both quickly lowered their weapons as they recognized me even in my native garb.

They both salute me and I return it, then quickly went back to work as they ready their speeders for their mission, I call out to Velasco, "Velasco, what's your mission here?" She turns to me and answers, "Captain Hunt and I are to make our way to the capital cities of both races, sir. We also are to set up scientific sensors to monitor and analyze the planet's geomagnetic and electromagnetic fields, the data will be relayed to the Alex Bell for further analysis and study." Then she walks up to me and hugs me into her well-padded chest, a growl of anger came from Lushara and she steps out from behind another tree, an arrow nocked on her bow and ready to fire, Velasco and Vortex raise their weapons at her as she puts me behind her.

I growl out, "Lushara, put that bow down, they're friends of mine, and the same goes for you two as well."

Both parties reluctantly lower their weapons; I move up to stand between them, "Lushara, this is Captain Velasco and this is Vortex Hunt, also a Captain; Velasco is a good friend of mine and so is Vortex, I'm also their former instructor and teacher. Velasco, Vortex, this is Princess Lushara, my current employer and...lover."

Both captains arch their brows at the same time and intensely scrutinized her, Vortex was the first to comment, "She's quite the looker, boss, quite the catch I'd say, though the rest of fleet haven't voted about her." He finishes with a playful grin.

Velasco quips, "Quite possessive about her love, decently sized and well-built, she's the kind of girl we recommend about, boss."

I look at Lushara lovingly, "I think so too..."

They both look at each other at my tone of voice, "You don't think...?"

"I think this one's a keeper..."

"And she knows who I am..."

"What?!"

"I ran into a complication that forced me to reveal who I am."

Velasco arches an eyebrow, "Complication?"

"A sex-demon that I thought I killed some years back before we ended up here."

"A what?" Both asked together.

"A sex-demon," I state matter-of-factly, "One I had banished with copious amounts of flamethrower and plasma fire, or so I thought, turned out that shi had merely retreated and came to this planet to regenerate but due to the firepower I dished out, it took hir roughly three hundred years to fully regenerate, shi emerges with the intention of restarting hir career only to run into me, catching hir in the act of ravaging Lushara's bodyguards, shi intends to have hir revenge on me by ravishing me senseless and drain off my life force but this time, I equipped with my power suit and Andragos and permanently banish hir to what afterlife shi has waiting for hir."

"Sweet, boss. Now if don't mind...?"

"Right, get on with your mission, but monitor channel 523 in case I need backup."

"Yes, sir!"

We left them to their work and made our way back to camp, and then the almost inaudible whine of repulsorlift drives powering up slightly overwhelms the background noise of the forest, 'bu-whoosh', the subsonic pulse of ionic impulse drives firing up, and silence dominates the forest as the airspeeders head out, the normal sounds of the forest quickly regaining their rightful place.

Lushara and I check the tents and found the girls sound asleep, we smile at each other and head for our tent, stopping at the fire and made sure that it had enough fuel to last the night, then we jump in and cuddled together warmly but before we went to sleep, I whisper in her ear, "We can yiff nonstop some other time, love. I want to finish my mission first, and then you can have your way with me."

She replies, "Alright, but before you leave for feline territory, can you give me a taste of what you can do in bed?"

"Sure, love, you can count on it," I answer, followed by a swift lick of her right ear, causing her to giggle slightly. She nuzzles into my neck and is soon asleep; I fall asleep a few minutes later.

The following day was spent counseling the girls; we help them get it out of their emotional and psychological systems, by mid-afternoon, everyone has finally come to terms with what has happened, we both noted that that they never saw me use my power suit or my dragon form, which we both were thankful for.

We let them rest and set out to hunt for dinner, taking a detour into a cave for some overdue intimacy, then finished the hunt with enough light to spare. We resume training the next day, the girls were tougher than I had initially thought and a lot smarter than I gave them credit for, even Lushara's a quick study; pretty soon, we were back in the city, the girls moving with a new confidence that seemed to attract the eyes of many a male, all but Lushara anyway, as she remained hidden behind the traditional veils of her carriage, I inwardly grin at the thought that while there weren't obvious signs that the girls are tougher now than they were before, many males will discover that they are no longer as helpless as they look, which why I prefer female apprentices over male one as their bodies tend to look the same, unlike their male counterparts whose muscles bulge and grow.

We make it back to her estate where, as soon as the doors are closed behind us, we lose a sigh of relief; I stretch languidly as the carriage comes to a stop, I slip on ahead and check every nook and cranny on the route Lushara will take to her office/solar, I finish checking the room as she comes in, then she locks the door behind her and poses suggestively, I realize that she's coming into heat, my nose picking up the telltale pheromones, and, as humans and furs can't get each other pregnant, proceed to mate with me, she knew this but didn't care, our love is far more important; during our 'exertions', I was able to light the fireplace and we warmly cuddle by the fire to rest, sometimes falling asleep after a few minutes but ever since becoming superhuman, thanks to C24, my body's sleeping requirements are no longer the mandatory 8-to-10 hrs. of sleep, these days it's been 4-to-6 hrs. of mandatory sleep, meaning in most hours where both humans and furs are most vulnerable, I'm not as vulnerable as my enhanced vision allows me to see in the infrared and part of the monochromatic spectrum, my hearing is so sensitive that I could literally hear a pin fall on the floor, my sense of smell is better than that of a bloodhound's and my sense of touch allows me to move more sure-footedly through unstable terrain, even better than that of a cat's.

The next morning saw Lushara and me mate repeatedly throughout the day with a few breaks for food, water and rest, every door on this planet seemed to be equipped with food flaps but at least they're there for a reason, it took us a five local days of this routine before Lushara's heat finally abated, by then we both looked like that we've been hit by a tornado or three; we both cleaned each other in the bath the girls had readied for us, taking our time in there until we're both fresh as a spring blossom.

Due to the high rank of her father and being an only child, Lushara has the distinction of being the only female in the entirely male wolf hierarchy, meaning that her opponents have no idea what to expect, now add my own experiences in politics, which to most doesn't amount to much but were quite insightful in depth on how politics works, it means that I also act as her political advisor as well as bodyguard; with me by her side, she develops a strong alliance of like-minded wolves who favored peace over war against the felines, thus leading to the creation of a peace treaty between both races for the next 50 years but already I see dissent and revolt brewing on the horizon, as the wolves leaders with ties to the military simmer in anger against the treaty, I knew that the time is ripe for me to make my way into feline territory as my 'contract' comes to an end, two weeks after the treaty signing.

Of course, Lushara is against this, "But, Nathan..."

I hug her closely, "I'm sorry, love, but I don't think that I have much time before this world is plunged into war again; I need you to keep the other wolves in check for as long as possible while I track down the Earth crystal, somewhere in feline territory."

"Are you sure about the crystal's general location?"

"Yes, very."

"Then you should know that felines don't trust humans very well."

"Don't worry, I'll make do when the situation calls for it, and besides, you're forgetting my superhuman abilities."

She gives me an angry look, "You know you rely on those abilities too much."

"This is why I'm also wearing my power-suit just in case."

She sighs, "Alright, you win but I'm making a letter of recommendation to the feline leader's daughter, Princess Nesha're of the Tiger clan, the current ruling family; she the second born of their leader's first litter, and a good friend of mine."

I arch an eyebrow about that, "how did you do that?"

She smiles at me, "We met each other when we were still youngsters during an armistice meeting for the last war, I had gone with my father so I could experience history in the making but during a lull, I had gone down to the garden to explore when I ran into Nesha're; we hit it off right away and play together, from that moment on, we never forgot each other; over the years, we kept each other updated about each other's lives as often as possible, the foxes' neutrality and efficient postal service allowing us to keep in touch, she was here for me during my father's funeral, turns out that he was well respected by the felines as a great warrior and an even greater peacemaker, her father promised me that anyone bearing my family crest and/or coat-of-arms will be well-treated by the felines and allowed free travel to any part of their empire."

"So that's why you had my hand tattooed with your crest."

She nods, "To keep you safe once you're inside feline territory and outside my influence."

I cup her chin and gently guide her head up, kissing her fully on the lips, I say, "You don't have to worry about that, love. Don't forget Velasco is over there too, she'll be able to watch my back for me."

She gives me a cold look, "But do you know where she is staying or where she is taking her observations?"

"Point."

She grins, "Well, anyway, this letter will get you hired much more quickly and besides, Nesha're just wrote to me recently, says that she just lost another bodyguard, he had tried to rape her during her heat, now in this area, you won't have a problem with since humans are not..."

She looks up embarrassed as she realized that I would be affected by the heat scent due to my superhuman senses. I grin at her, "Don't worry about me taking advantage of her, the worst that I could do is have a boner in my pants."

She presses against me and I reciprocate by wrapping my arm around her, "So, basically, you wrote back and inadvertently mentioned how great a bodyguard I am as well as my abilities as a combat trainer plus what I can do in combat, is that about it?"

She looked sheepish, leaving a rather cold spot at the bottom of my stomach, "I..."

"Did you tell her anything discriminating?"

"Just your personality and your physical attributes. Don't forget when I responded to her letter, we were just leaving for the forest where you would train us."

"I see...if that's the case, then there should be no problems."

She hugs me tightly, "Then can you send your last few nights here in my bed, making passionate love to me?"

I cup her chin, before kissing her, saying softly, "I wouldn't spend them any other way...Mraa-t'hi..."

"What does that mean?"

"It means...treasure of my heart..." I kiss her, there and then.

My enhanced hearing pick up the girls' "Aww..." coming from around the corner of the hall we're standing in; I let them enjoy the two of us kissing, knowing that they've had no idea what I am truly capable of.

We break for air, the two of us panting slightly, then I ask her, "We need to talk, hon, alone and someplace secret."

I roll my eyes towards the corner, Lushara understands and acknowledges with a nod, she grabs my hand and leads me out into the garden, to a spot covered by hedges and fragrant flowers which would make our scent, there she reaches into the hedge and triggers a hidden switch, causing a very well camouflaged door to open, I instantly realize that this is the entrance to the 'inner' garden, a walled off section within the garden with very high walls and covered completely with ivy and slippery moss; once the door closed behind us, Lushara led me to the center, a clearing where a tall oak tree stood alone.

I look at her questioningly, she answers, "This is where I was conceived, Nathan, Mother and Father made love here under the branches of this very oak tree; it's been a secret tradition within my family for the children to be conceived here...and I hope that...when the time is right, I hope to continue that tradition with you."

I smile at her, "I promise, the first chance we get..." and sealed that promise with a kiss.

She wags her tail and wraps it around my waist, saying quietly, "Then make love to me, right here and right now." And I did!

A week later, I'm on the road to feline territory, little did I know that my adventures on this world are only just beginning...