{"sf1_id":650420,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Turning Point","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2970,"posted_at":"2014-01-17T18:41:00.000Z","tags":["Human","M/F","Story Progression","Violence"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/650420-turning-point","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/650420","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=650420\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#29 of Robbin Red","content":"The next few hours passed too quickly to suit her. After\nall of the time she had spent building up her anger, this release of it was\ntherapeutic ways no one could understand. His method was straight forward; he\noverwhelmed her feelings and emotions, not her body. His tenderness and caring\nwere much more erotic to her than any antics he could have performed in the\nbed. He must have known precisely what she needed.\nHowever, the more she let go of her emotions, the more she\nrealized how she had wronged an entire town. It wasn't something she was proud\nof. Worse yet, the men she had put into place were still there. Again, she\npushed the thought to the back of her mind. Punishment would come soon enough.\nOnly now, that idea didn't bring the muted joy it once did. She was finding a\nnew lease on life just when it was about to end.\nHe was pushing in his power now, tipping the sensuality\nfactor over the edge. With a burst of pent up pressure, she shuddered with both\necstasy and the thought of the impending doom he would wreck upon her. She clung\nto him like that poor soul she had set adrift had clung to the false hope she\nhad given him. The only difference was that he had found an answer to his\nprayers. So had she, but it was an answer she no longer wanted. With a final\nwash of heat, she lost her grip around his body and fell back to the bed,\nexhausted. \nShe lay there, eyes open, staring up at the ceiling. She\nclosed them again, not wishing to see the final blow coming. She had no idea\nhow it would come and had no desire to know. It was then that she felt a pluck\nat that invisible string that connected them. It vibrated with a whole new\nlife. Before, it was like the thinnest wire on a violin, now it rumbled like\nthe thickest one on a bass. She could feel him grip it tightly and she winced.\nOnce it was broken, she would forever be free of this body. She could feel him\ntoying with her, setting it to vibrating. It was like a musician playing any\ninstrument; one beat, another beat, with a smaller back beat. He was playing\nsome kind of song. Try as she might, she couldn't place the tune.\nShe sighed. He was toying with her before she died. It was\nonly fair after the cruel things she had done. Whatever the song was supposed\nto be, she considered it her dirge. It was really too lively for a dirge, or\nperhaps her present mood wouldn't accept it. But she was hardly in a position\nto grouse about her swan song. She opened her eyes to see him smiling down at\nher. Either he was being exceptionally cruel or something was going on that she\ndidn't understand.\n\"What's up Jon-Tom? It's not like you to be indecisive.\nPlease kill me and get it over with.\"\nHe got a quirky grin. \"Hell no! Like you said, you've done\nsome bad things. Many of us do. What we don't get is a chance to make up for\nthem. I'm not going to kill you, as much as you might think you deserve it.\nMany die who deserve to live. I don't lightly make than decision. Your men have\nearned my wrath, as have you. But as far as I see it, you haven't personally\ndone anything to these people. That doesn't make you innocent; it simply means\nthat your punishment will be different.\"\n\"Punishment? I think I'd rather die. Any punishment fit\nfor me would be too unbearable to withstand.\"\nHe had the nerve to laugh. \"Yes it is. It will try your\npatience like nothing else, it will keep you sleepless at night, and it will\noccupy your days with endless, nerve wracking discomfort. And I guarantee you\nit will be the best time of your life\"\nShe growled. \"What the hell does that mean?\"\n \"A child you idiot.\nI have given you a child. Our child. I didn't do his lightly. There are several\ncatches. One of them I will not tell you, for it is no sure thing. But know\nthis; this child will require constant attention. It will come in nine months\nsince you are human now. What it grows up to be is up to you. There is no\nleeway in this. Therefore, I would suggest that you have that precise amount of\ntime to correct the damage you have done here. As it is, it's already\nunderway.\"\nShe was too stunned to speak. A child? She had been barren\nfor centuries. Why now? It was indeed a form of punishment. Yet, somehow she\nwas on cloud nine. A child? Even Pike and Arthur had been unable to do that. Her\nheart began to race in time to that beat. Then it struck her; the back beat\nbelonged to her child! The second beat was his! They had become one!\nBut just as quickly, she remembered that he was already\nspoken for. She would be doing this alone. Still, it was better than nothing.\n\"I will never be able to thank you for this, you wonderful man. After all I\ndid, I deserve...\"\n\"A second chance. You've done a lot of good in addition to\nthe evil you've done. I'm giving you one last chance at happiness. I may or may\nnot be around. Therefore, this is up to you. Your life from now is what you\nmake of it.\"\nShe broke down in tears. \"I don't deserve this!\"\n\"Maybe not. Now go fix what you've broken.\"\n\"Yes, I will!\"\nThey went out into the town. A few of the brigands could be\nseen on the wall. Alma guided them to the jail. Once inside, she was startled\nto find the fossa not in his place. The door to the cells was closed, but\nunlocked. She looked at Jon-Tom. \"My heart sinks at the thought of what he\ncould be doing.\" She gave the door a mighty heave. Light spilled down the\nstairs. Within this illumination a scraggly group of children came running up\nthe stair. The girl in the lead was brandishing a wicked blade tipped with\nblood.\nShe saw the tall human and dropped it. She ran and threw\nher arms around his waist. \"I did it! When he came to get me from the cell, I\nused the knife just like you said to!\"\nAlma looked horrified. \"You had a child commit murder?\nThat's so unlike you Jon-tom!\"\n                The\ngirl stuck out her tongue. \"I didn't kill him. I just got even for what he did\nto me, to us. I removed his will to live.\"\n                Jon-Tom\npatted her on the head \"Good girl! Now, with the help of this nice lady, we're\ngoing to get the rest.\"\n                Alma\nleaned in to her lover. \"What does she mean she took his will to live?\"\n                He\ntilted his head to indicate the cells behind them. \"I told her that if she had\na chance, she should cut off his balls and make him eat them. I don't like\nbeing dark and disturbing, but sometimes I'm not left with much choice. Just\nlike with you. Death would be too easy. You'll find out what suffering is all\nabout. You see, I'm condemning you to spend your days here in this city. You\nwill work to wipe out every bad thing that you have caused. Trust me, it won't\nbe easy.  As for the girl, sometimes\nrevenge is best served hot. The entire town will rally behind us in an attempt\nto remove these thugs from the town. Knowing that one little girl could take\ndown one of the intruders will give them the will to fight.\"\n                Alma\nwas still appalled. But she kept her mouth shut. This was all her fault after\nall. If it weren't for her, none of this would have happened. She could hardly\nraise a voice in complaint over anything that happened now.\n                \"Pick\nyour knife back up, Lashana. And we'll grab something nice and sharp from the\nweapons room for everyone else, even you Malco. If you want your town back,\nyou're going to have to fight for it. Then he turned back to Alma. \"Slash said\nsomething about having a weapon that could destroy the entire town. What is\nit?\"\n                She\nblanched. \"A folly. Something I dragged back from your world. Something dangerous\nand deadly that I didn't care if I unleashed it or not. Now I feel sick just thinking\nabout it. It once decimated a portion of your world.\"\n                For\nsome reason, all he could think of was an atomic bomb. He had dealt with that\nonce, here, on this world. That was when he had fought the Plated Folk. Their\nchief wizard had managed to conjure up a military computer from his world. He\nhad somehow managed to break into its files and tried all kinds of things\nbefore stumbling upon the requirement for making an atomic bomb. If that's what\nshe had, it would be enough to eradicate everything for several miles in all\ndirections. There was no way he could evacuate everyone in time\n                \"What\nis it?\"\n                \"I\nbelieve you will know it best as the Black Plague.\" \n                He\nsighed a breath of relief for only a second before he tensed up again. The bomb\nwould have killed only those here; the disease she brought back could decimate\nthe entire planet! However, he remembered that it was spread by fleas. It might\nnot be a problem after all.\n                \"Alma,\nthat was reckless and stupid. No one here has any immunity to that disease. It\nkilled a large population of Europe before it subsided!\"\n                She\nnodded. \"I know. I was still there when it hit. I managed to procure some of\nthe contagion and it was with me when I was thrown back here. When my magic\nreturned to me, I used it to make a flask of the stuff that bypassed the need\nof such things as bugs to transmit it. All anyone needs to do is to break it\nopen, and it will creep out across the land and consume everything in its path.\"\n                Jon-Tom\nwas reconsidering his choice in letting her live. His anger was getting out of control.\n\"You're a stupid, selfish person Alma. I feel bad for you on so many levels\nright now. However, that hardly matters right now. We need to get this stuff\nsecured and safely hidden away before Slash or anyone else sets it loose. An\nepidemic now would likely alter the time line irreparably, not to mention kill\noff nearly everyone alive.\" He suddenly went quiet.\n                She\nbroke down in tears again. \"I know I am. I just couldn't see it before. But\nyou're right. If we don't stop him, I know he'll do it. He had little live for\nbefore I found him and now he'll have nothing. He'd rather kill the world than\npart with his slice of it. I know, because he was just like me.\"\n                Magic.\nIt just dawned on him that the only time she had shown her abilities was back\nin jolly old England. \"Alma, what are your abilities?\"\n                She was\nstumped for a moment. \"What kind of question is that? You know what I like in\nbed.\"\n                \"No\ndammit! What are your magical abilities?\"\n                \"Oh.\nSorry! My specialty, outside of my normal unicorn power, was to transform one\nthing to another. That's why we were able to create that sword. How else could\nwe have put so much metal into one object?\"\n                Transformation.\nThat sounded a lot like a certain female orangutan from the future. She could\ncreate things of exquisite beauty out of stone and wood. She had also turned\nhis one cock into two, and then three smaller ones. That had been quite the\nexperience. But neither his memories nor her magic were going to help them\nright now. Neither was Alma's. The mad often created havoc without planning\nahead for some way of disarming it. \n                Lashana\npulled on his cloak. \"Sir, what are you talking about?\"\n                He was\ntempted to skirt the issue, what with her recent trauma and new-found freedom.\nBut he wasn't in the coddling mood. \"My dear, this lady did a bad thing. Now\nshe's trying to fix it. She has a flask that has in it some very bad stuff. If\nwe don't find it and Slash breaks it open, it will mean the end of most of us\non the planet.\"\n                Her\neyes went wide, then narrowed. \"A wine flask? \nAlma nodded. \"Yes child, an\nordinary wine flask. I didn't want to draw attention to it. I gave it to Slash\nfor safe keeping.\"\nThe girl nodded. \"Yes, I believe I\nknow the one. I have been forced to spend many nights in his room. I wondered\nwhy he had an unopened bottle of wine. Now it makes sense.\"\n                Jon-Tom\nstepped into the conversation. \"In his room? Can you show us where it's at?\"\nAlma put up a halting hand. \"That\nchild should look for cover. I know where his room is!\"\n                Lashana\npulled out her knife. \"Fine, you stop Slash while I go around and rid us of a\nfew more assho...errr...thugs.\" She turned and skipped off towards the wall.\nJon-Tom sighed.\n                \"They\ngrow up so fast when they're forced to.\" His irony wasn't lost on his\ncompanion. She wisely bit her tongue.\nSlash's room was in the old mayor's\nquarters. The door to it was locked, and it wasn't until Jo-Tom thought to\nconvert to unicorn form were they able to get it open. A swift kick from his\nhind legs turned it to so many splinters. Slash heard the commotion and stood\nat the ready, a sword in one hand and a flask in the other. He was neither\nscared nor cowed. \n\"So mistress of the white cloak, I\nsee you've had a change of heart. No matter to me, of course. But you promised\nme this town and I claim it as mine. If I cannot have it, no one shall. Is this\nwhat you want? I can shatter this without another thought.\" He made as if to\ndrop it.\nJon-Tom was thinking furiously.\nAlma was originally a unicorn, and he could become one. Could their healing\npower combined stop this insidious disease before it could claim any victims?\nIt would be a bad thing if they\ncouldn't. They could become patients zero and never die from the contagion.\nNeither of them was likely fast enough to catch the flask before it hit the\nfloor. He had no magic that could help, and neither did she. His only hope was to\ntalk the mongoose down. That seemed unlikely.\n\"Look Slash, we don't want any\ntrouble. I can, if you like, heal your old wound and set you to rights again.\nIt would give you a chance to live out a normal life.\"\nHis laughter was horrible to listen\nto. \"Normal? I'm living an extraordinary life right now. Why would I want to\nlive a normal one? Either you're a fool or you think I am. Either way I don't\nintend...\"\nHe never finished his speech. He\ncoughed up a spittle of blood. His hands opened, dropping both the sword and\nthe flask to the floor. It broke open, spilling out its dark contents onto the\nfloor. Alma screamed. Slash fell to his knees in slow motion. As he did, a face\nappeared behind him. It was Lashana. Her knife had entered his back without an\nounce of warning. It had been a brave thing to do, but her bravery had just\ndoomed them all!\nJon-Tom ran forward to the puddle\non the floor. He stuck his hand in it and willed it to be harmless. Nothing\nhappened, leastwise anything he could tell with his eyes. Lashana stepped over\nthe corpse of her oppressor and stooped down with the tall human.\"\n\"Watcha doing sir? Wine is hardly\nworth drinking once it's hit the floor!\"\nHe choked. \"Wine?\" He stuck his\nfinger in his mouth. It was wine!\" Then he caught on. \"Dammit little one, you\nnearly gave me a heart attack!\"\nAlma wasn't quite as quick to catch\non. \"Wine? But that flask had the plague in it!\"\nThe girl held up a different one.\n\"This one has the plague in it. They all look alike, you know. I didn't bother going\nto the wall. I figured you might need some help, so I snuck up the back stairs\nahead of you and switched them out. I owed that pervert more than what he got,\nbut I assume that a knife in the back was sufficient.\" She handed the flask to\nJon-Tom, who carefully handed it to Alma.\nShe grasped it and concentrated.\nAfter what seemed like an hour, during which time no one spoke, she held it up\nin the air. Without warning she dropped it. It hit the floor with a thud. It\nremained intact. \"I didn't think opening it to destroy the contents a wise\nidea, so I've turned the container impervious to destruction. I hope that will\ndo.\"\nJon-Tom picked it up. \"Maybe, but\nthat won't stop people from trying.\" He took off his cloak and opened the top,\ndropping it inside.\" \"This way, I'll always know where it's at.\" He turned to\ngo back outside, clicking the hidden blade inside his staff. \"I think we have\nmore work to do.\""}