FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ice, ice for as far as he could see. Drifts of snow, crags and glaciers. As he had first been born on this world, from that glacier on the southern continent; so too would he end up on this world, trapped in a prison of frost. Soon he wouldn't have much choice, his body was wearing out. A glance down showed the ragged stump where his left arm had once been, now a pitted mass of marble flesh that ended in dusty tatters. It too was frozen like ice though the rest of him could still move, albeit sluggishly.

Two hundred years since that near miss had wrenched the planet out of alignment. For a millennia he had lived with, enjoyed, and harvested the peoples of this world. Now they were all gone, their cities ground to rubble under glacier or trapped under the frozen atmosphere. A few animals still survived, able to tough it out in warmer parts of the world but they too would soon be ground away like the ancient cities under his frozen feet.

Strangely he missed companionship, never before throughout history had he longed for the company of a mortal; petty, vile things that they were. Creatures so far below him that at best they were pets but more often, food. Now however, after years of isolation, he missed even the petty bickering and foolish fantasies.

The sun was rising again, a distant prick of light on the horizon. A familiar vision, one that just struck the isolation home. He understood planetary mechanics, he understood gravity and orbits; he understood that some day this planet would drift in to deep space and he would be lost. Once again he recalled those eons he had been trapped under the southern ice, aware for every moment of it but too weak to pull himself out. Only a chance had saved him, a team drilling core samples in the ice had struck his pocket of solitude. The team had died by his hands, an accident, so unlike himself that his glory and joy had burned them alive where they stood. But forever they had his undying thanks. Now, should he once again be imprisoned, there would never again be an errant mortal to free him. He would drift, aware and screaming until the universe finally faded.

A distraction, he needed a distraction. With troubled dead eyes he wrenched his thoughts back to the present and gazed out over the drifting snow. To the south, an oasis of heat, enough to allow a splattering of plant and animal life. In that direction he shambled, stumbling over crag and drift with his leaden legs. "Perhaps... Perhaps some one else found the place?" He muttered through cold split lips. The cloud of moisture could be seen for miles in any direction, billowing up in to the stratosphere.

Another night, another day and at last he arrived at the edge of the conifer forest. The outer most trees were frozen and dead but further in he found signs of life and the ambient temperature rose to a livable degree. His limbs thawed and became to move freely again, it cheered his spirits to a surprising degree. Once he reached the center and found the field of bubbling hot springs, he settled down to watch. Once this had been a volcanic island, some where out in the deep ocean. He had been there when it was still palm trees and beaches strewn with half naked people. Now the top of the mountain was in a sunken valley of ice with only its sparse ring of trees at the bottom.

Why he was there, what did he hope for? In the past he had come, hoping some other person had found one of the last spots of heat upon this frozen world. No one had before, no one would since. But the animals that lived here still--they might suffice. He glanced down at his legs, noticing that they were both beginning to pit and crumble. The ice had been the only thing holding him together. Frantic he pushed energy in to his limbs, attempting to form them back together--but it was like trying to hold up falling sand.

If his eyes had worked, he would have cried. Without a body his impact upon the world was minimal, a ghost of a ghost. In desperation he crawled away from the heat on crumbling knees and his one good arm. There had to be something, somewhere that he could possess, something to replace this failing lifeless body.

There was. In the distance he heard a howl, a howl so familiar but like an echo of a memory. A wolf. How a higher order creature had survived out here he could not imagine, not even the birds survived, but a large mammal? He followed that sound, chased it over the frozen landscape to the other side of the valley. Another howl sounded close by and he continued. When he saw it he again would have wept, but this time from joy. He was a beautiful specimen, obviously crossed with some form of dog, not pure bred, but powerful and young none the less.

Some animals were easy, canines trusted, they surrendered freely if they were treated well. He had attempted others in the past, before the cold had gotten too bad, but as a being of habit, his frustrations had grown too intense and he had ended the beast early. This time would be different, this time he would have a new body.

The canine spotted him readily and trotted straight over. It showed no fear only curiosity and eagerness. Hundreds of years since people had dominated the world, the beast had never seen a face like his and had no reason to fear it; or so the demon assumed. He outstretched a hand and the pup lapped at his fingers. His taste confused the animal, but that confusion dissolved as he scratched the pup behind the ears. Named mans best friend for centuries, instinct was well worn in their genes, "Good boy." He said softly and felt the pliable animal accept him.

It was a subtle thing, like feeling sand wash away under your feet at the beach or ice melt under your fingers. Animal souls were simple, little potential so little power. A mortal child had far more potential than a thousand puppies, but with that potential came a near indomitable will. Here, in this canine, his will was gone the moment he had found a "friend".

With utmost care, Anrak extracted himself from his ancient crumbling body. Tendrils of light, like wisps of glowing fog; a humanoid core, patterned after his first captured body; a radiance that shined brightly through the trees and cast shadows on all sides of the valley. He had been named angel by the first ones; demon hours later as the priest he had claimed set fire to the abbey. He was careful to shade his spectrum, his body would easily radiate at any frequency, but as his birth from ice had shown, mortals could only withstand a very small portion of that light.

The canine shrank back with a whine, his eyes closed at Anrak's brilliance. But it was already too late for the pup, at the moment his will crumbled under Anrak's touch he had sank his tendrils in to the beast's soul. With fare less care the demon burrowed himself in to the writhing, agonized flesh of his new body. Mortals had before described it as every nerve on fire, every bone aching, and a heat like a belly of fire radiating outward. Muscles twitched involuntarily, the mind screamed in terror and backed away, in to the darkest corner, trying to escape the holy fire of his will. They never did.

After a moment, all of him, every spec of creative potential was once again contained in warm, living flesh. Still that fluttering mind shied away from the brilliance, a quivering pathetic thing trapped in a cage that was Anrak. Every single time before, his first act was always to still the mind, it was a distraction, an unwanted intrusion upon his existence. Even for a time he had seen that shared mindscape as a violation and a humiliation; how dare the lesser being even see his glory, let alone experience. But now, now he stayed his hand, so alone he felt, he craved even this humiliating companionship. So carefully, so meticulously, he built a wall within, a gilded cage from which the pup could exist and watch.

At his feet Anrak watched what was left of his prior body crumble in to dust. A splattering of carbon, calcium, and trace elements, so drained of life that not even the molecules held cohesion without his glory to inspire order. In that moment he realized, he never even knew her name. She was the last, only weeks before that Jupiter massed ice ball passed between the planet and the star. He mourned her in his own fashion, he had shared her memories, her body, and her death for nearly three hundred years; now she was gone. For a moment he recalled the words of a priest and spoke them aloud, "And Dust to Dust..." The words came out strange in his canine mouth, a mouth not suited for speech but would suffice.

Finally he turned away from the black windblown soot and made his way back in to the frozen glaciers. At the edge of the valley he glanced back, it was a beautiful place, one of the few last spots of green upon this world. Deep within he felt the anxiety of the pup, and a strange longing; intrigued he followed his captive's train of thought to older memories. Houses, people, warmth, food... The pup was domesticated, but that was impossible. With a fury he dove in to the canine's mind, following every memory, every emotion, every thought to its logical conclusion. He was domestic, he was lost, but once three or four years before he had been a pet.

From the fewest glimpses he realized that somewhere in the tundra was a glass dome, trapped under ice. Those clever mortals, some how they had survived the quakes, tsunamis, droughts, floods, and even the spreading ice. Sudden hope filled the demon and he sent waves of pleasure and satisfaction in to the pup's mind. He would have a real body soon, he would have a farm of mortals, a flock to tend; he would not be alone! And maybe, just maybe they could survive.

-

It took Anrak three years of searching before he at last located the dome. It was upon the side of the volcano, deep under the ice. Once there had been tunnels to the surface but shortly after the pup had escaped they had collapsed; perhaps a tremor from the mountain. It took him another month to dig to it using mostly his radiant heat to melt through the ice. At last however he was there, a door of metal that looked like it was taken right out of a military ship. He grasped the wheel with his jaw and attempted to turn; it wouldn't. He reached out with tendrils of energy and attempted to force it; it was rusted shut. In frustration he poured heat in to those tendrils. The metal started to glow after a few minutes, the ice around the door melted away. Eventually the whole door began to glow and the wheel started to melt and run like mud. At that he rammed the door with all of his force, and it caved with a shower of sparks and a groan of cooling metal.

Steam billowed around him as he landed on the other side, though he had shielded his body from most of the heat, his paws and muzzle were singed. He took a moment to fix the minor damage, then made his way inside. It was a checkpoint compound with dead computers, rusted defense turrets, and a silly gate with pealing black and yellow paint. He hopped it and made his way deeper, then outside. Or perhaps more accurately, inside; above his head a dome of vacuum glass held the cold out. He could see easily, through the roof came the barest hint of light from the dim sun, but most of it came from the lamp posts along streets.

It was like a vision out of his past. Ancient buildings of crumbling concrete and streets of cracked black asphalt. It was also cold and lifeless; no one had lived here for years. "Where have the people gone?" Anrak asked aloud and started through the abandoned streets, searching. There was still power for the lighting at least, though many of the circuits had burnt out so perhaps only half of the lamps worked. So through the dimly lit, lifeless streets he wandered, checking building after building. Trees were dead, grass was dead, pipes had burst and flooded homes before freezing solid. Strangely enough there were very few belongings left behind, people had not left in a hurry.

There were five such domes, each one huge, each one as deserted as the last. From the pup's memories he saw people, lots of people, perhaps even ten thousand or more; but not now, not here. Angry sorrow began to build again as his frantic search came to an end. There he stood, hopeless on all fours, head hung low. Cold tears ran down his muzzle and landed on a manhole cover in a small puddle. For a moment he was oblivious, but then he noticed... those tears were still liquid. With a careful paw he touched that cover and felt a distant warmth.

Further he explored, finding vents leading under ground, most of them cold and lifeless, but the ones closest to the center of the mountain were still warm. "Maybe... Maybe they went under ground?" With great effort he eventually managed to wrench one of the heavy covers open. Below it was a warren of tunnels, steam pipes, electrical pipes, and lifeless machinery. Much of it was rusted through and broken down, the rest was simply turned off, un-needed.

At one point through his underground exploration, he heard a soft scuffling from a side tunnel, but by the time he reached it, it was quiet. From that point he explored outward, deeper in toward the mountain. When ever he found a way down, he would take it, drawing ever closer to the warmth. When at last he heard the distant rumble of life he almost wept for joy, even the pup seemed excited and managed to coax the demon in to wagging his tail. After a moment of that impropriety Anrak composed himself and continued on, chasing down that illusive sign of life.

Deep underground he found them, a new dome, this one of stone. The city was formed over a singular deep borehole that plunged miles in to the earth. Water poured down in to it from melted ice and steam billowed back up bringing moist heat with it. The city was also crawling, like ants scattering over a rock, the whole thing seemed to heave and pulse with life. For a moment Anrak was withdrawn. He felt almost shy, perhaps even scared of so many people so close. The cavern had a stench of steamy filth, mud, and grease. After being in the cold crisp air for so many years, the assault on his nose was overwhelming.

For a week he just watched and waited, acclimating himself to the reality that he wasn't alone. When he did at last descend in to the writhing masses, he found it raw and messy. There wasn't peace here, rival gangs ruled different parts of the city, food and water was scarce and expensive. At one point he found a starving child beaten for stealing a morsel of food. Almost he wanted to turn back, almost he wanted the pure and sterile cold of ice. But then a small hand rubbed at the back of his neck and completely obliterated any thought he had.

Physical touch, the sensations upon his nerves, the quiver of a muscle, the tremble of a tickle. Involuntarily he leaned in to that petting hand and glanced up. It was a female wolf child, no more than 12, "Good doggy." She said with a bright smile and found a sensitive spot to scratch behind his ear. He had taken animal forms before, but never had he been touched like this, without fear. It was a new experience to be sure, but it left him disquieted as he pulled away from the child.

She held out her hand with a tidbit of something between her fingers. It smelled foul to him and he turned up his nose at it, but said nothing. He wasn't yet sure what we would do here, but he was hungry, very much so. Burrowing through the ice had taken nearly all of his energy that he had stolen from the dog's soul. The hound would be find for years to come, but he needed to feed. As he stared at her, he felt himself begin to salivate black ichor, a puddle forming below his tongue.

He felt her, complicated, detailed, textured. She had potential, she could be some body, he soul was a potent wrinkled mass of twists and turns that felt as impervious as stone. But every person had a weakness, every one could be selfless or tricked in to being stupidly selfish. At last he reached his muzzle up and licked away that tidbit, then swallowed unhappily. The black ichor covered her fingers for a moment, then sank in to her flesh, doing little more than itching and aching before it dispersed in to her body. When she turned and walked away, he followed at her heels like a 'good dog' should. When she looked back to see him still with her, he felt her texture soften, just a little--sand washing away under his feet; but not enough.

-

He was patient, he was kind, he was careful. He did what was necessary to win her trust, her love, and then her devotion. For years he guided her, a silent companion, ever at her side. For years he manipulated her in to being what he desired, a position of authority and power. For years he touched her dreams and corrupted her. With his help she killed her first by the time she was fourteen. A cruel beast of a man who had taken a fancy to her budding body. She belonged to Anrak and he would let no other possess her. By seventeen she had taken a high position in one of the city's smaller gangs, mostly with his silent help, scaring or feasting upon her competition in quiet.

To feed upon another's soul required the will to surrender it. Either willingly during life, or in the brief moment after death, after the will was defeated but before the energy evaporated a way like water on a hot skillet. It was inefficient, catching only a tiny fraction of the dying soul. In his prior life, before escaping his enslavement for the mortal plane, his duty had been to collect those souls at death to fuel the great machine. In those times he had tools that could capture the soul in entirety and for all he knew another was there, just upon the other side of the wall drawing his victim's energy away. But he stood between one side and the other, and when they died they had to pass through him in their escape.

At last she was ready, shortly past her twenty second birthday, he finally came to her in the night with dark purpose. For a moment he watched her, silent and present as ever, but tonight as he looked upon her, he could feel her willpower melt away from his touch like cotton candy upon a tongue. He stood over her, fore paws at her shoulders, rear at her hips. As she slept he kissed her with his lupine muzzle and her mouth opened receptively. From there he hung his head and let his ichor drool past her tongue. She swallowed with discomfort as the corruption burned against her flesh, then swallowed again as her mouth filled.

When his chosen one's body was full, her stomach cramping and wrenching with pain, her muscles trembling with ache and her bones screaming... he whispered to her, "Dear Susanne, do you love me?"

Her eyes opened, but were clouded by wisps of black, the whites gone, only a hint of brown peeking out around her deep pupils, "Who..." She incoherently muttered, then as she caught a glimpse of his face, responded, "Yes Anrak, yes..."

He had whispered his name to her in her dreams, taunted her nightmares with glimpses of his true nature and taught her subconscious. "Will you devote yourself to me?" He asked as he pressed against her soul, still it resisted him, still it denied his dominion.

"But... Jason..." She mumbled her boyfriend's name, Anrak had tried to keep her from others, but without betraying himself he could only do so much.

"He will join us in time Susanne, but you must be first." He said then urged, "Will you devote yourself to me?"

At last, like a dam breaking before a flood, she whispered, "Yes Anrak--Anything."

A fire of purple burned within her flesh as her will gave in. His dark seed taking root in every cell, every atom, a caustic energy that digested her soul in to more of itself, fresh and filled with purpose. His ichor a catalyst that corrupted every part of her in its entirety. Even without her will it had corrupted her, but without her surrender he could not reach it, could not claim her for his hungering need. But now... now as her naked, sweat stained body arched in agony, she was his. Violet wisps of energy bubbled from her every orifice, even seeped from her pores. She was overflowing with corrupted potential, so full of life, so ready to at last satisfy him. She screamed once as he penetrated her with his rapidly swelling penis but there was no resistance in her any more. His knot swelled inside and within moments she was tied to him. The desire wasn't his, he had never had much use for disgusting mortal mating rituals, but the pup desired her, the pup wanted her and Anrak allowed him his desire.

His muzzle met hers and he drank. Their fingers laced and a connection formed, like electricity passing between their palms. Sticky and throbbing their genitals ground in to one another as she poured through and in to him. From every hole he drank what was most precious to her, what she had offered up to him willingly. The pup rutted her relentlessly, having craved this for so long; Anrak delved in to her mercilessly, having craved this intimate, deep connection for an eon. Together they lay, mating, merging, becoming one being, one soul for hours, well past the breakfast bell and even lunch.

When at last, spent, she fell back in to bed, he pulled from her with a sticky pop and sat back on his haunches between her cum and ichor stained thighs. Her eyes were blank, staring up at the ceiling; she was still there, but her mind too weak and drained to form a coherent thought. In time he would breathe life back in to her, but for now he left her like that, catatonic and craving more. Within her burned a hunger now, a hunger so great that if she were still mortal, it would have sent her spiraling down in to depression and self destruction. Now, here, his will dominating her, all it did was make her want to feed him and in turn feed her whatever scraps were left.

Long before he had done this, in the early days. A cult of followers, all thralled to serve him, to please him, to feed him. But then the witch burnings had decimated his flock and he abandoned mortal company. Now though, now, at the end of the world, with this last bastion of life... He smiled a toothy lupine smile and stared across his first, his queen. Next was Jason, he wanted to make the boy suffer for daring to intrude upon his territory. His Susanne's purity defiled by his unclean flesh. Without trying a snarl built up in his throat, more pup than demon. They shared emotions, and some times the pup's will leaked through the cage in his mind.

-

The screams echoed through the compound for days as Susanne took out Anrak's hatred in Jason's flesh. They shared a will, and though Susanne loved the boy, his dominated and so her love turned bitter and foul. The demon watched through Susanne's eyes, the suffering; felt through her hands, the break of bones. And when the boy was broken, so badly hurt by his love's betrayal and unending torment...

Susanne's loving/hating eyes locked upon Jason. His eyes pleaded but his words had long since dried up and turned to ash at her humiliation and defilement. She told him, "I love you, Jason." as she twisted a blade under his fingernail. It broke his heart, and even his mind, and she took great pleasure in every moment of his fall. Some where in her mind she had convinced herself this was the way, surrender to her god, but only through suffering. Even now she could feel him, ever present, an insistent voice in the back of her mind, pushing her onward. She felt it like a burning radiance, a love so strong that it made the hunger she felt bearable.

The look in his eyes, glassy, terrified, hurt. They compelled her, now, now he could know true love, now he could be fulfilled. She felt her god's agreement, a pulse of warmth at the back of her mind, "Jason my love... you are ready." She whispered to him, her lips at his ear, "Do you want to know why I have done this?"

His bruised and bleeding lips parted and a gasped sound of ascent issued forth, more emotion than word. Then after a moment his tongue dragged across his lips and he added, "Yes... why?" It came out as such a hurt and vulnerable sound that it tore at her heart.

Almost in tears she leaned back and said, "I love you, that is why. I love you so much that I want you to join me, to know god's love as I do. But to know his love you must first be broken. Do you wish for this to end my love? Do you want to know the joy I now know?"

His expression was incredulous, disbelieving, "You're joking... No, you're mad." He startled, then coughed painfully from a broken rib.

Her hand traced the bruises and splits along his face, making him wince, "No dear love, I am as sane and sober as ever. I just know the truth now."

A voice from the shadows rose with annoyance, "He is not ready Susanne, he does not yet have faith. Maybe another week at your mercy will convince him."

Jason's eyes widened and he seemed to sink in on himself, "Who... who is that?" He asked tearfully.

"God" Susanne replied with a look of abject pleasure on her face, "You can hear him too now? You are close. Yes perhaps another week and you will be ready."

Jason's head rolled back and forth while muttering "No... no." over and over.

Her hand lowered to caress his bruised penis, bringing it to life. Her thumb rolled over the swollen purple tip affectionly as she spoke to him, "It is over when you decide, my love, when you surrender to god." She leaned back then with a hand to her stomach as a wave of nausea washed over her; something was wrong. Her eyes darted to the corner and she muttered, "Anrak, please... something is wrong."

The demon smiled a little, bemused, and replied directly to her mind, "Nothing is wrong beloved Susanne, you simply bare my child in your womb." In truth he had not expected it, when he took a host, non vital functions like reproduction shut down or were changed by the intense radiation of his potency. Not to mention he had never heard of an animal breeding with a mortal. He suspected it had something to do with the fact that the pup was still in there.

At his words her expression turned to one of rapt bliss. She would bare her god's child? The excitement bubbled in her mind until she forgot all about poor jason, all he knew was that she had changed, before his eyes. Where once had been his tormentor now stood the beautiful woman he had fallen in love with. There was such peaceful joy in her expression. He yearned again for her, desperate, even going so far as to wish he could know happiness like that, "Susanne... What is it?" Her joyous departure at last came to an end with his words and those eyes turned toward him again. She was still delighted, still at peace, but within those eyes he saw the darkness still. He sobbed out helplessly as she changed once more, horror to beauty, beauty to horror. She was in there, inside that demonic mask of cruel love, she wasn't lost.

"Oh Jason... oh oh... Yes, right, we must finish. Please don't spend too long resisting, please, I want this torment to end as much as you do my love." She told him, but her eyes said otherwise.

"I just need to surrender?" He asked, hoping he could get this over with, bluff his way out, and maybe reach her and bring her back to reality.

She nodded excitedly and leaned in close, "Yes love, yes, just surrender to Anrak, love him as I love him." Her eyes closed again as she felt a wave of nausea, but it brought joy, it was evidence of something greater.

He nodded and with as solemn a voice as he could muster, he said, "Please Anrak, accept me as your humble servant. I am yours for whatever purpose you see fit."

Out of the shadows Anrak trotted, then leaped atop the chained boy, "Oh, you do, do you?" He asked with an amused expression.

Jason was too startled to speak, he hadn't imagined the voice would come from Susanne's dog. He figured one of the boys had gotten inside Susanne's head but this was something else, "What..." He started to ask.

"What am I?" Anrak finished with his muzzle hanging over Jason's head, "Your god, her god. I have protected her since she was a child and she has convinced me to protect you as well." It wasn't a lie per say, but he certainly omitted the truth of the matter.

"Please Jason!" Susanne begged with both hands clasped over his bleeding fist.

He was going crazy, that's what it was, he had been driven mad by his beloved and joined her delusions. With a resigned sound, half sigh, half sob, he nodded, "Yes Anrak..." he started to say, but as his mouth opened blackness oozed from between those lupine jaws. A blackness so deep no light passed through or reflected from. A blackness that when it touched his tongue made his flesh ache, like every cell was being wrenched away, pinched and twisted off at once. He tried to scream but his throat filled with the ichor and all that came out was a bubbling suck.

He was then kissed, muzzle to muzzle, tongue to tongue, and that black demonic seed poured down his throat. His stomach bulged after a bit, swollen outward by the copious deluge. However after only a few moments that flood spread outward, through every extremity to torture and corrupt him as a whole. Then the wolf pulled back and stared in to his eyes. Anrak's eyes, once the yellow gold of a wolf, now stained in clouds of black. How had he never before noticed?

"Do you surrender Jason? Do you offer yourself to me? I will save your people, I will save the human race, but sacrifices must be made. You." Anrak told him, his voice almost hypnotic as those eyes stared in, through Jason, touching his soul.

"No!" Susanne cried, then went still as she was forced to retreat to the back of her own mind, unable to act only watch.

"You will save them?" Jason asked timidly.

Anrak nodded without breaking eye contact, "Yes, I need them to survive, and they need me. Mutual benefit. Symbiotic if you like."

Jason whimpered out, "What... What about me? Why do you need me?"

Anrak leaned down, nose to nose and said, "Shelter, food, power. This body is no good to guide from, opposable thumbs you see."

Eyes drifted closed as Jason mulled over those words, then asked, "Couldn't you choose another?"

"I could." Anrak replied with a slight nod, "Perhaps even Susanne herself, she already belongs to me, It would be easy to enter her and take over. But I leave her intact. I suppose it is up to you." A new angle of attack, him or her, which would he choose? However even if he chose to sacrifice Susanne, his soul was forfeit with his body already heavily seeded; the corruption was unstoppable now.

"No, not her..." Jason cried out. He turned his head to look at Susanne and he said with a softness, "I love you, don't forget me." Then he looked back to Anrak and nodded, "I surrender, take care of her..."

His soul crumbled as dust on the wind under Anrak's push. Jason felt it, like a fire blazing through his heart and soul, a searing intensity that built and built upon itself until he wanted to scream but no nerve responded. Before his eyes light, brilliant white filled the room until he was blind. The last thing he saw was a face of light rushing towards him, then in. Still the feedback built, blinding his thoughts, his emotions, even his subconscious. An inferno behind his eyes torched every corner until there was nothing left that could have ever been called Jason.

But Anrak was not alone. For a moment of confusion he thought Jason still existed, some small fragment perhaps. No, the texture of that mind was familiar, "How..." Anrak uttered through Jason's lips. On top of him the wolf lay, body smoking, fur singed, eyes glassy. But inside he still felt the pup, some how the wolf mind had transferred with. With revulsion and a strange sense of fear he tried to rip the mind apart, to destroy it; he only felt excruciating pain as he harmed himself. The pup whimpered and cowered in his mind and Anrak felt that same fear mirrored in his own emotions. Some how in the years of keeping the wolf as pet, they had merged, had grown together in to a single entity.

Susanne, freed of her compulsion sat up and watched her god enter Jason's body. She knew it was the last she would ever see of her love, but his words soothed her. She knew also, that when she looked in to Jason's eyes from now on, she would see her God and this excited her. But then at his confused utterance she leaned in, "What is it Anrak?"

"He... He's in here, some how." Anrak muttered in confusion. His new body was sparking and flaring with light, every wound a sharp, brilliant shaft of light spearing outward until the wound closed. Bones reknit with clunks and creeks, every inch of him became fresh and new, as if just born in full adult form.

"Jason?" Susanne prompted hopefully.

"No... The dog." Anrak replied.

"You mean god? I can tell, I can feel you in there like the sun shining on my face." She said with the brightest of smiles.

Anrak rolled his shoulders and pulled himself free of the restraints then sat up and cradled his old canine body in his arms, "No my dear, the dog followed me, hes still in here, with me." He shook his head and tossed the dead canine body aside. "No Susanne, Jason is gone, you belong to me only now."

Susanne pressed close to him, her arms encircled his neck and her mouth sought his. At first he resisted, but the pup, eager as ever responded in kind. After the kiss broke again she said while looking up in to his eyes, "I only ever belonged to you Anrak, only you."

At that Anrak nodded and sighed, "I know dear Susanne, I know. But he didn't."

-

Days later Anrak and Susanne entered the office of their gang's leader. Before anyone could respond Anrak broke the man's neck and tossed him to the floor. The guards and officers, looking rather terrified drew knives, but no one made a move, "Good morning, I am Anrak and from here on out this City belongs to me. Susanne is my queen and extension of my will. Any questions?"

One of the guards asked with a bewildered stutter, "What... what are you pulling Jason?"

"Anrak, Jason is dead. And I am pulling this cesspool out of the dark and in to the light. I have been here for years and saw no hope, no future, nothing for these people but petty fighting and self sabotage." The demon replied with annoyance as he sat down behind the desk, "Now if there are no further questions, please assemble the other petty gangs for me, I wish to speak to each one individually and together."

There was hesitation, confusion, and even a moment where it looked like they might resist, but Anrak was unconcerned, there was nothing one of these mortals could do to harm him. A few minutes later he was alone with Susanne, "Leadership will take some time, I may have to claim a few more before resistance is dissolved completely. Within a generation though..." He leaned back in his chair as he wondered why he bothered talking to her, she knew his intentions the moment he did.

A week later seven men gathered in a neutral courtyard on the southern side of the city. Dangerous men, men who normally wouldn't be caught dead next to each other, but who had each been visited by a rather influential woman. When Anrak stepped out in to the middle of them, it was with a certainty that at least one would die today, if only to impress his will upon their feeble minds.

With a smile on his face, Anrak greeted the men, "Hello! I've brought you here because you are the most influential men in the city. From this day forth you will be--my influential men."

There was a rumble of laughter, then one of the men nodded his head twice and a shot rang out. Firearms were rare, bullets even more so, what was left of the military that had run the base centuries before had devolved in to the gang he now controlled. Amongst his men there was perhaps three pistols and less than twenty bullets. This fact meant that the one who fired the shot was afraid and willing to expend great resources to ease his fear. The bullet ripping through Anrak's chest harmlessly meant that the fears were justified and that the man's life was forfeit.

"Well, I see we are off to a great start." Anrak said calmly as the wound flared with brilliance before closing, "Now, Roberto was it? That was entirely uncalled for, but the perfect excuse for me to demonstrate to the rest of these fine men who have not yet sprung their traps, why it would be unwise." From Anrak's back tendrils of light pierced out. The flesh parted awkwardly without blood and spread like wings behind him. Long before he had worn this guise, when he still called himself angel, it was impressive but made it impossible to hide his nature. Then with all of his glory shining forth he turned on the man who ordered the shot, "Anything to say for yourself?"

"It wasn't me!" He exclaimed, eyes wide and whirling about from man to man.

"Maybe not, but I have chosen you to be my demonstration. If it wasn't you, I'm sure the one who set it up will never try again." Anrak said it with such calm and a grin on his face. Oh how he had missed the upright form; tall, powerful, proud. Those tendrils at his back slashed in and coiled about the cowering man. His arms and legs were wrenched open and pulled tight. Stomach muscles clenched, resisting the strain. A final tendril forced its way between the man's lips. Where ever his coherent energy touched, the air crackled with sparks leaping on to the grasped flesh. It took a lot of expenditure to physically interact using pure energy, but it was showy.

The man started screaming in agony after a moment, Anrak was dumping heat through the tendril in his mouth, pumping his throat full. Flesh seared and cooked, steam began to rise from his lips and nose but the heat just increased. A few moments and the steam was replaced with smoke as flesh charred. Then with a casual dismissal Anrak tossed the dead man to the ground between his enemies, "Do you understand?" Was all he said. There were nods, fearful and cautious all around, only a single example was all they needed, "Go then, but when you arrive home, each of you will choose one who you trust, and send them to me for tutoring. Male or female, young or old, it does not matter."

They left, terrified out of their wits. Within a week two more assassination attempts were made but ignored. They could not harm him and that was example enough. When the sacrifices he asked for arrived, they were escorted in to Anrak's private chambers and there, one by one, they were tortured until they surrender their souls to their new god. It took longer for these than it had for Jason, without Susanne's intimate connection, but the feast was just as satisfying in the end. With thralls in place, his petty kingdom formed quickly and a religion was born, worshiping him.

When the child was born later that year Anrak was struck dumb. The child was like him, an entity, though wrapped in a body of flesh and blood more feral than anthro. She was a beast born with the potential of a god. In that moment Anrak wanted more than anything to end the child, to rip it from reality... but he couldn't. She was the first of his kind created free, unchained from the great machine. He had severed his connection eons ago when he escaped, but this child, this child was born free. Then a second thought struck him, "I'm a father." He said aloud as he gazed at the child upon Susanne's breast.

"Yes you are." She said, smiling up at him, then looked down and said quietly, "Eve, meet your father."

Epilogue

Century by century the planet left the solar system. Even the tiny pockets of life on the surface died as the atmosphere froze and fell like snow upon the cold dark world. But underground life thrived. Geothermal energy kept the cities going, and would for millions of years. Talk of the sun became legend, then myth, then forgotten almost entirely except by a handful of elders, elders who never aged or died.

Year after year the sacrifice was made, at first grudgingly, fearfully, and the soul was torn free by force. But as the centuries passed, law became custom, custom became dogma, and dogma became instinct. A human would lay their life down for the whole, happily, and this included feeding the elders. Most were drained completely and allowed to crumble to dust but a few, very few, the lucky ones were given rank and privilege to serve under their god as an elder.

Eve grew agonizingly slow, for herself and her parents. It was close to five hundred years before she spoke her first words and another five hundred before she was mature enough to be trusted alone. Unlike her father, her power never drained away, even when she flexed her potency outwardly, such as walking without suit across the surface of the planet, she was undiminished. The people called Anrak god, but to him, this child was more of a deity than even the master of the great machine that had created him.

When at last, eon's later, the planet passed near enough to a star system, it was Eve who carried the civilization to their new home. It was Eve who created a new Eden, and it was Eve who cherished her new world. The only life she had ever known was upon a barren icy world without a star. That first morning, looking up to see a bright yellow sun rising over the horizon, was the first sunrise she had ever known. A wonder shared by every single one of her people. Even Anrak, who had seen a million such sights sat in wonder and awe.