Caverns of The Slith

• Chapter 16 in the Chronicles of the DragonRider

The rain fell thickly over the highlands of Northern Schaelstaff. This was something that the locals were well accustomed to - the small nation's tall mountains, along with the prevailing winds, made it one of the wettest places on the continent. As a result, the entire country was mostly covered by thick, tough grass anywhere even remotely flat, and equally-thick moss everywhere else. The locals - both human and not - had adapted well to this, and the tough, water-resistant wool of the mountain-sheep raised by the natives was a popular trade-good everywhere short of the deserts.

Of course, the black dragon currently soaring sullenly through the water-choked air had just arrived FROM one such desert, as had the rider on his back - and going straight from the sapphire-blue desert skies to these slate-gray rain-clouds was pulling both of their moods straight towards the mossy ground beneath. Blake, in particular, was sullen - the water pounding down on his wings was making flight difficult, and he was spending a lot more time flapping his wings than he was used to, rather than just soaring on updrafts.

Anitra, however, was also less than overjoyed at the local weather - while the dragon between her legs only felt the pounding of the water as an annoying vibration in his wing-fabric, she was feeling it quite keenly on her mostly-exposed skin, chilling her to the point where even her hot, draconic blood was feeling it. A while back, she'd tried wearing the cloak she'd picked up in Mirage City, but it had clearly been designed to keep out the pounding sun, not a perpetual waterfall - within minutes, it had absorbed half a ton of water, and started clinging to her like an icy blanket. In the balance, she preferred it this way - at least the water was running off of her, instead of sticking around permanently.

Normally, they would've flown above weather like this - as they had on many other occasions during their travel. This torrential downpour would've been nothing but a slate floor beneath them as they joyfully flew through the sunlight above. But in this case, doing so would have rather defeated the purpose of their presence - they were, after all, searching for something, and not even draconic eyes could pierce clouds this thick. Just seeing through the rain was hard enough, forcing them to fly dangerously low considering the mountainous geography.

Still, they pressed on doggedly. Only one more tablet-fragment remained, and their eagerness had been redoubled by the sight of the finish-line ahead. Like a horse quickening its pace as it smelled the stable, they forged ahead with dreams of the Dragon Utopia - a refuge from the strife and intolerance of the world - bright in their minds. It would certainly take more than a bit of rain to stop them.

I think I see a cave-opening up ahead... could that be the entrance we're searching for? Blake asked hopefully over their mental link - the thunderous noise of rain hitting scale, wing and skin made any thought of direct conversation ridiculous. Anitra squinted and tried to mop some of the water out of her eyes.Could be. I can't chance looking at the map in this weather, so I'm going by memory. Still, even if it isn't, it's a cave - we could take shelter there for a while and wait for this rain to quiet down a bit. Blake mentally nodded, and she could feel that the idea of a nice, dry cave, with a nice, hot bonfire appealed to him immensely. Even if all the nearby vegetation was about as soaked-through as your average seaweed, she was fairly certain that a dragon's breath could make it burn.

Somewhat unsteadily, Blake dived towards the dark cave-mouth, the rain on his wings visibly hampering his flight-skills. Anitra winced slightly, remembering that one time near the Valley of Wonder where he'd gotten a bit too self-assured with regards to his aerial abilities and wound up running headfirst into an avalanche. If they crashed here, there was no snow to absorb the impact - they'd wind up pasted across half the mountainside.

But Blake's aim was true - perhaps the avalanche-incident had made him a more cautious flier in general, or maybe he was just being extra careful due to the conditions. Either way, they touched down outside the cave as gently as a feather and he quickly dashed inside on all fours, not waiting for Anitra to get down. The ceiling seemed high enough for it, albeit barely. They both sighed in relief as the pounding of the rain became a remote sound, rather than something driving directly into their flesh.

Then, they noticed that they were not alone. What seemed like a trade-caravan - a dozen or so men in thick traveling-cloaks along with half a dozen sturdy pack-donkeys - had taken shelter from the rain inside the cave already and had a cheery little fire going. Men and donkeys alike were looking up at their guests with undisguised, petrifying panic. Anitra, who could not help grinning at the looks on their faces, waved down from her perch on Blake's back. "Hello there, neighbors. Mind sharing your fire with a pair of weary - and wet - travelers?"

The men flinched visibly at the sound of her voice - apparently, Blake's fast-moving entrance had seized their attention to the point where they'd failed to notice his rider. A man wearing a golden clasp on his cloak - presumably their leader - shook himself out of his paralysis, swallowed, and raised his voice. "Certainly not. You are... most welcome." His voice cracked rather noticeably, but the fact that he'd managed to speak at all was somewhat impressive. He quickly shook the rest of the caravanners out of their daze, ordering some of them to secure the still-petrified donkeys before they bolted and others to fetch more wood for the fire.

Blake, moving with the lazy elegance of an experienced predator, walked over to the fire and laid down, gazing into the flickering flame as Anitra slid down his flank to land agilely on the cave's stony floor. She could feel his general disinterest in the terrified people and animals around him - he had gorged himself on mutton the day before when they spotted a herd of wild sheep. Well, PROBABLY wild. It was hard to tell up here. Either way, his belly was still full, and these humans were obviously no threat to him, so he was satisfied with ignoring them while waiting for his wings to dry out.

Anitra, meanwhile, walked dangerously close to the fire - enough so that the crimson gem set into the front of her breastplate flashed in response, shielding her from outright burns while she wrung about a gallon of water out of her hair. The traders were quickly throwing more fuel on the fire and as the flames rose closer to the cave's high ceiling, she felt the rainwater start to evaporate from her skin and armor, sighing in relief.

With the immediate concerns taken care of, she glanced towards the back of the cave. It seemed to continue a fair bit - deeper than her eyes could penetrate the darkness - without narrowing noticeably. Feeling hopeful, she turned towards the man with the golden clasp and beckoned him over. He and the rest of the traders had retreated from the fire, clustering around their donkeys, unwilling to get any closer to Blake than they had to. But the merchant was understandably reluctant to insult her by ignoring the gesture and walked - somewhat shakily - over to join her by the fireside.

She pointed towards the back of the cave. "Tell me, merchant - do you know how deep this cavern goes?" His eyes flickered towards the shadows back there, beyond the reach of the firelight, and cleared his throat a couple of times before answering. "Farther than any man has ever been able to tell. It leads into an immense, underground system of caverns which they say extends below half the continent, in some form or another. The area below this region is known as 'Exile'."

Anitra blinked. THAT name hadn't been on the papers that led her there. "Exile?" she queried. The merchant nodded. "Yes... well, I guess it's only around here that name is still remembered. It's an old story. Thousands of years ago, they say, the entire northern half of the continent was ruled by an immense Empire. They used to get rid of criminals, political dissidents, rebels and general misfits by throwing them down into those caves, counting on the monsters living down there to take care of the rest. Hence, the caves became known as 'Exile'."

The man's voice was growing steadier as he spoke - either he really liked that story, or he was just taking comfort in the fact that she was more interested in information than in feeding him to her steed. "Of course, it didn't work out so well. You'll notice that there's no such empire anymore. The people who were thrown into the caves survived - at least, some of them did. They built an entire society down there - villages and farms and a castle, even. The people who survived down there - whether exiles or local-born - were tough. And eventually, they rose up - emerging from the caverns to overthrow those who had exiled them. They assassinated the Emperor, and tore the empire apart."

Anitra lifted her eyebrows. "Fascinating story. Very... moralistic, I'm sure. But I'm more interested in what's back there NOW, than what was back there several thousand years ago." The merchant blinked nervously, and cleared his throat again. "Well... there are no people there anymore, that's for sure. Not for thousands of years. Well, an occasional group of adventurers venture down there, searching for old artifacts and such, but they rarely come back in one piece. The monsters have taken over the old cities, since all the exiles moved back to the surface-world. The Slith, in particular - nasty lizardfolk. Strong, tough, and good with magic to boot. They rarely come up to the surface, so it's usually safe to rest in these caves as long as you stay near the entrance..."

A grin spread across Anitra's face. They'd found the right place after all - by luck if not by skill. 'The Caverns of The Slith' was how this place was known elsewhere - apparently, only the locals remembered that it had ever been anything else. She nodded at the merchant. "Just what I was hoping to hear. I'll be heading in there, once I've dried off properly. Oh, and... don't worry about my pet. He just ate." The man glanced up at Blake, who paid no more attention to him than a cat would to a head of lettuce, and nodded nervously. "Good to know... please, warm yourself by the fire for as long as you'd like."

Half an hour later, Anitra climbed back onto Blake's back, and he started walking into the darkness that covered the back of the cave, leaving the visibly-relieved caravanners behind at the fire. Both of them had dried off, warmed up, and felt quite ready to brave whatever threats the caves might contain. The darkness soon grew pervasive enough that even the rapid adaption of their inhumanly-sharp eyes couldn't penetrate it and Anitra pulled a glow-crystal out of the saddlebags, handing it from one of Blake's horns to light their way. Its light was harsh and cold, spreading flickering shadows on the rough walls - it was the one she'd received from the Drow Elves, as a replacement for the one that their champion, Drazhar, had destroyed during their first fight. It shouldn't matter for something as simple as a light-spell, but she couldn't help feel like the glow of the crystal was somehow a tad more vicious than what had come from her old, human-made one.

The cavern sloped down quite sharply, the tunnel twisting and turning this way and that, but there were no side-passages to get lost in - yet - and they were definitely going down. Gradually, the passage widened, and soon they found themselves passing through a small cavern lined by the remnants of stonework - the crumbling walls and parapets of a long-since fallen castle. There was enough of it left that they could tell it had once covered the passage completely - a fortress guarding the exit of the caverns of Exile. Blake sniffed at the ground, and made a disgusted sound. "A dragon roosted here, once."

Anitra lifted an eyebrow. "What's wrong with that, love? Old castles make perfectly good nests." Blake shook his head. "The traces are older than that. The smell, long-gone. Only the magical residue lingers. Unless I miss my guess, he roosted here when this place was still standing, held by human hands. Together with what that guy back at the cave-entrance said... I'm guessing he was a guard-dog for this 'Empire' who once held this fortress." He shook his head. "No dragon should let himself fall to that. To become a dog is to weaken yourself. He must've been slain when the 'exiles' rose against their jailers. If he had remained strong and free, they would not have bested him so easily."

She leaned forwards, her breasts spilling across his neck, to playfully glance into his eyes. "You're talking a pretty good game for someone who's got a human riding around on his back, love." He gave her a chastising look. "That's different and you know it. For starters, you aren't human - at least, not ALL human. Half, maybe, if that. The other half is all dragon." Anitra lifted her eyebrows in mock shock. "So you would let just any dragon-maid ride on your back? You fiend, I thought I was special to you!" He gave her a disgusted look and grumbled something under his breath, before stomping onwards into the caves.

After a few more twists and turns of the tunnel - and what seemed like another mile of descent - they emerged into an immense cavern. It was lit by a soft, bluish glow that seemed to emerge from clusters of mushrooms growing throughout it - on the walls, the ceiling, and along the floor. Absently, Anitra extinguished the glow-crystal to take in the beauty of this natural cavern - stalactites and stalagmites were everywhere along with various kinds of moss, and mushrooms both normal-sized and giant. A chasm split the cave in two and from the bottom, the remote roar of a rushing river could be heard. If a bridge had ever spanned it, it must have collapsed centuries ago.

The chasm, of course, was no obstacle for a dragon - indeed, the cave was large enough that Blake could conceivably have flown through it, but with the many sharp stalactites that lined the ceiling, he chose to stick to the ground as much as possible. They still made good speed, soon passing from the natural cavern into another set of tunnels which were blessedly still lid - albeit dimly - by the occasional patch of glowing mushrooms. The map provided by Lezard has only rudimentary directions to these underground caves, and they quickly found themselves ever-so-slightly lost.

For hours, they explored the caves and tunnels - it was, indeed, an immense system of them. They encountered a not-insignificant number of hostile beasts, but most of them were wise enough to skitter out of the way when a dragon approached. The rest were swiftly disposed of by Blake's talons and fiery breath - the only time Anitra even felt it necessary to join the fray was when the ruins of an underground village - presumably a leftover of the human exiles - turned out to be teeming with undead, whose single-minded hunger for living flesh left them fearless even in the face of a vastly superior foe, threatening to mob Blake by sheer weight of numbers. BlackFire roared as its flame was lit, and Anitra carved a swift path through the zombies and ghouls even as Blake's fiery breath annihilated dozens at a time. It was invigorating exercise, if not particularly challenging.

They soon began to lose track of time, stopping to eat and rest when they felt the need rather than keeping any kind of schedule. Anitra had started drawing up a proper map of the caves as they explored, making sure that they at least didn't wind up walking in circles or doubling back unnecessarily. Slowly but surely, delayed only by the occasional fight, they approached the grand cavern that Lezard's notes had indicated as the heart of the Slith's underground kingdom.

The cave they found was immense - colossal! Even by the standards of this place. The ceiling was high enough that there seemed to be actual clouds forming up there - an underground weather-system. A huge, wide river bisected the cavern, surrounded on both sides by what looked like fertile farmland. Villages dotted the cavern's floor, and on a stony plateau rising near the center, a castle stood. And unlike most of the other human structures they had passed on their way, these villages - and the castle as well - seemed to be in a fine state of repair. They looked inhabited, particularly the places clustered around the great river, in which countless sleek shapes could be seen swimming around.

They were so flabbergasted by the immensity of the cavern that they barely noticed that they had been surrounded. By the time their attention refocused, a half-circle of at least a hundred lizardmen were standing around them, each leveling a sleek, vicious-looking spear at them, creating a particularly pointy wall. Behind them, a dozen or so other lizards were holding rods and staves, arcane energies curling lazily around their hands as they bent forces both magical and holy to their will.

They both jumped slightly at the speed and smoothness with which the lizardfolk had emerged to encircle them and Blake had to suppress a sudden urge to run for it - against this many well-trained warriors, backed by mages and clerics, he was in serious danger. But if they'd wanted him dead, they would've sprung a straight ambush rather than lining up in front of him like that. Hopefully that meant that Lezard's information about their worshipful attitude towards true dragons wasn't entirely wrong. Hopefully.

Drawing himself up, he roared, the sound shockingly loud in the general stillness of the cavern. "How dare you point your weapons at a dragon, lizards?!? What is the meaning of this? Explain yourselves!" The lizardfolk around him wavered, doubt suddenly visible in their eyes, and the spear-tips weaved as the hands of their wielders shook. The half-circle parted in the middle, and one of the lizardmen who had previously hid behind their lines came worth. Although, judging by the curves involved, it was probably a lizardWOMAN, he reasoned.

Her scales were faded into a sort of grey-green, and her eyes were wise - signs of age amongst these reptilians, no doubt. She was naked, as they all were, except for a thin chain around her neck form which hung a stylized image of a dragon with his wings spread wide, wrought from bright steel. The staff by her side - made from a dark wood that matched the grain of the gnarled, twisted cave-trees he had seen on his path - was crowned by the same image. The symbol of their dragon-worshiping religion, no doubt.

The lizardwoman bowed deeply before him, before straightening and looking him square in the eyes. "I apologize for this inhospitality, Great One, but we saw you appear with a human upon your back. Humans are our enemies - in ages past, they stole our lands and pushed us into the deepest and dankest caverns, killing thousands of our numbers in the process, slaughtering even our children. We have long feared that they would return to claim our lands again - so I hope you can understand why your arrival sparks somewhat... conflicted feelings in us. We have heard rumors of human mages committing grave heresies by stealing the will of Dragons, enslaving the very gods in their pride. We could not be sure..."

Her voice trailed off, as her eyes glanced up at Anitra, still perched on his back. Thinking fast, Blake opened the telepathic connection between them, and rapidly told her how they'd play this. In response, she quickly jumped off his back - causing the lizardfolk to take a step back and hiss menacingly - then quickly sunk to one knee before the old lizardwoman. "I am honored to be in the presence of one of the Priestesses of the Great Ones, o Wise One!" The priestess raised one reptilian eyebrow, and Blake grinned at her. "This girl, as you can see, is a worshipper of mine - even amongst the humans, there are some who have seen the truth and thrown themselves at our feet to beg forgiveness for the sins of their brethren. She is my personal servant and rides on my back merely as a convenience - her short, human legs can hardly keep up with my stride."

The lizard-priestess seemed somewhat mollified, but her sharp eyes scanned across Anitra's dragon-scale armor and the black sword upon her back. "She seems well-armed and armored for a servant." Blake just shrugged, while Anitra remained in her respectfully kneeling position, not meeting the priestess' eyes. "These are dangerous caverns. When we are attacked, she puts her life before mine, however unnecessary it might be - and I would rather she is able to do so competently. As for the armor, she has served me well for many years and I gave it to her as a gift - recognition for her faithfulness and determination."

The lizardfolk seemed to be mostly convinced at this point, and the warriors around them raised their spears, pointing them harmlessly at the cavern's ceiling before kneeling to bow before their god. The priestess glanced back at them in annoyance. She was not entirely convinced, but her flock had made up their minds, and she knew well that even a High Priestess was not immune to the brand of the heretic. The followed suit, and kneeled before the dragon.

"We are happy to hear that this woman is not the vanguard of another human incursion..." she intoned in a respectful voice. "But in that case, to what do we owe the honor of your illustrious presence, Great One? In ages past, several of the Gods dwelled amongst us, but we have not seen any for a thousand years..." Blake's nose twitched as he suppressed a grin, instead maintaining a severe expression. "A quest of great importance brings me here, my children." He rumbled. "In ages past, loyal human worshippers inscribed a clay tablet with tales of our glory and reign. But heretics and unbelievers struck out against them, seeking to erase the truth by destroying the tablet. But out power - the power of the very GODS! - was imbued in it, and they could not destroy it entirely. Instead, it was shattered and the pieces scattered, as they sought to hide every fragment of divine truth. We seek to reunite the pieces of the shattered tablet, so that all might know the past and present glory of the Dragons. One of the pieces, we believe, is here..."

He could tell from the feverish, fanatical looks on the lizardmen's faces that they were swallowing the story raw, and eagerly continued. "Thus - this is what I seek: A small, ordinary-looking fragment of a broken tablet, made from dark clay and protected by powerful magic, nigh-indestructible. Is such a thing known to you?" The priestess seemed to be considering his request for a moment, and then a slow smile spread across her reptilian lips. "Ahh... yes. I do believe I know of the thing you seek. It was an old keepsake of our wizards, taken from some human adventurer in ages past, shortly after the mainstay of the human forces had left our lands at long last. Every other new mage who came around would try to study it, attempting to unravel the secrets of the spells that bound it, though none ever managed... no wonder, I suppose, if it was truly the very power of the gods that suffused it."

Blake nodded eagerly, his godlier-than-thou character slipping. "Yes! That is the one, no doubt. So you have it in your keeping, then?" The priestess shook her head, trying to sound regretful though her smile widened. "Ah, no... it was taken, along with a few other artifacts, by an apostate who left our lands some years ago along with several followers. They have established a heretical cult in the depths of the caves, further back." Blake's voice took on an I-should-have-known sort of tone as he asked the obvious question. "A heretical cult, you say?" The priestess eagerly nodded. "Oh yes. They refuse to acknowledge the divine heritage of dragonkind. They eat of forbidden mushrooms that addle their minds, giving them unholy visions." Her voice took on a tragic note. "Long have we desired to end their heresy, but it is anathema to strike out against our own kind, for are we not all the children of the gods? Thus, they have been allowed to continue their heretical preaching..."

Her eyes glimmered ruthlessly. "But of course, none could protest if a divine Dragon rained holy fire upon their heads in righteous retribution... and I fear you will have to, if you intend to reclaim that tablet-fragment. The heretics actively defy your divinity and their apostate leader have outright stated that we, the Slith, are not children of dragonkind at all..." Blake rolled his eyes, but nodded. "Very well. Give me direction to the false temples of these heretics, and I shall deal with them." The priestess immediately called a Slith warrior - probably a scout, by the looks of his slender limbs - to her side and pulled a map inscribed on what looked like tanned lizardskin from his pack. Anitra took a good long look at it, while carefully maintaining her submissive demeanor, and when the priestess pointed out the heretics' compound on it, she felt fairly confident that she could match the location with her own, partially-finished map.

Minutes later, they were in the air - the immense cave's ceiling was high enough that Blake felt confident spreading his wings in there and besides, taking flight was the only appropriate exit for a dragon-god. Spread out beneath them were the old human villages that the Slith now inhabited, and both he and Anitra picked out a number of details from their wing-borne vantage. "Are those cows?" Anitra asked incredulously, her voice audible even over Blake's wingbeat in the windless cave-air. Blake narrowed his eyes, and then nodded. "Looks like it. Smells like it, too - mostly. They look_off_, though. Pale, sickly almost. The humans who used to live here must've brought cattle along - guess a few millennia without sunlight, living on a diet of mushrooms, must've done a bit of a job on them."

The pale cave-cattle grazed from mushroom-patches in paddocks made from gnarled cave-wood. Other paddocks contained large, green-scaled lizards the size of draft horses, who - judging by the blood-darkened ground and smell of their enclosures - were NOT herbivores. "The lizards eat other lizards? Weird..." Mumbled Blake. Anitra shook her head. "That's the only thing weirding you out? What about the fact that the lizard-priestess back there had BOOBS? I thought only mammals were supposed to have those..." Blake just shrugged, sending ripples down his spine. "Eh. Lots of monsters and demihumans are like that. Probably because many of them were created by magically fusing diverse species - like your friends back in the Valley of Wonder, y'know? Maybe these 'Slith' were created my mixing humans and lizards, and they inherited the curves of their human parents."

Anitra nodded absently, forgetting that Blake couldn't see her, her mind suddenly preoccupied trying to make some sort of connection. Then, she remembered, and gave a short laugh. "Hah! I just remembered - I've seen one of these Slith-people before. A girl, at that." Blake peered back at her as she grinned. "Really?I certainly haven't." She nodded, this time within his sights. "You weren't with me at the time. Actually, if I recall, you were busy banging some equine piece of ass at that point. It was back in the Lands of the Horse-People, remember? The chieftain of the tribe had a Slith concubine - I saw the two of them together when I snuck in to steal the tablet-piece from his trophy-collection. Darcian said that he'd purchased her from a slave-trader. Wonder how THEY got their hands on her... doesn't seem like these guys like to mix with humans much."

They pondered this mystery together as they sailed through the cavern on ebony wings, but soon they had to refocus on the matter at hand - they'd reached the other end of the huge cave and were about to enter a system of small caves and tunnels, similar to the one that had led them to this place. Landing, they took a brief break while Anitra pulled out her partially-finished map of the tunnels, and expanded it based on what she'd seen of the lizard-priestess' map. She marked their goal - an old human city far from the Slith heartlands, where a heretical cult of lizardmen awaited them. Who would, presumably, be less than eager to hand one of their magical artifacts over to one of the false gods they had abandoned.

The trip itself, however, was fairly boring. The area was well-policed by Slith patrols, who presumably kept the local creepie-crawlies from moving in. When they saw Blake, they invariably stepped swiftly aside, and bowed deeply as he passed. Either they were just less suspicious of Anitra's presence on his back than the ones back in the big cave had been, or the priestess who'd confronted them there had sent word ahead by magical means. Either way, there were no more encounters with monsters or undead to entertain them as they wandered through mile after mile of tunnels and caves.

Days later, as they neared their goal, they settled down to plan their approach. The tunnels were mostly abandoned by now - it had been a while since they last saw a Slith patrol. This, presumably, was their equivalent of a god-forsaken backwater. "Are we really sure that it's there?" Anitra wondered aloud, looking at her map. "That priestess had a nasty vibe to her. Maybe she'd just using us as a stalking horse to wipe out these 'heretics', seeing as they apparently can't do it themselves." Blake shrugged. "It's impossible to be completely certain, but I doubt she'd lie outright. If we burn the heretics and then return empty-handed, she'd have a hell of a time explaining herself to my 'worshippers'. Not that I disagree with you about the vibe she was giving off, mind..."

And either way, they'd come too far to just ignore the place by now. The 'plan', such as it was, was to simply charge the front gates and try to intimidate the local Slith into handing over the fragment. If that failed, they'd take to the skies - assuming the cave-ceiling was high enough to risk it - and burn out the compound. The tablet-fragments were basically indestructible, so hopefully a bit of fire wouldn't damage it. If they couldn't risk flying... well, then it was just the two of them, on foot, against whatever fanatical lizardmen inhabited the religious compound. At least they'd have the advantage of surprise this time. Probably.

The next day, they entered the cave that held the compound. It was large by any normal standard, but still quite puny compared to the huge cavern that had held the mainstay of the Slith civilization. The ceiling was high enough that Blake felt confident that he COULD fly there, but low enough that he really didn't want to unless it was absolutely necessary. From where the tunnel they'd gone through joined the cave, they could see out across most of it - the entire southern side was covered by an underground lake, and a number of old, human settlements dotted the cave. Most of them were in ruins, but one of them - a fairly large place, bordering the lake - seemed to be in good repair, and was surrounded by well-kept mushroom-fields and animal paddocks similar to the ones they'd seen at the Slith villages back in the huge cave. Their target, obviously.

All senses alert, they walked steadily towards the gates of the compound. Anitra, sitting on Blake's broad back, had her sword out - ready to leap down and get bloody at moment's notice. As they got closer, their ears picked up the sound of many lizardlike voices chanting in unison. The undulating sound was almost hypnotic in its cadence, and was backed up by the sound of drums and other, harder-to-identify instruments. Anitra's brow wrinkled. "This doesn't sound like your average heretical-cult-chanting. It's... almost beautiful."

There were no guards outside the broad gate of the compound's low outer wall, but on a walkway above the gate itself, two lizardmen were leaning on their spears, chatting amiably. Anitra blinked. The Slith they had encountered back in the Great Cave had been naked except for purely practical concessions - backpacks for carrying items and a few religious symbols hanging from simple, unadorned necklaces. These guards, however, wore several chains of colorful stones around their necks, and were draped - albeit in a rather haphazard fashion - in pale-colored cloth.

The guards were so absorbed in their conversation - the details of which Anitra couldn't pick out through the undulating song of the Slith cultists within the compound proper - that they did not notice Blake's approach 'till he was practically on top of them. Finally sensing his presence, they jumped, seizing their spears and turning to face them, mouths open to call a rallying-cry to their compatriots... then, the two of them grinned, split tongues lolling out of their sharp-toothed mouths. "Awesome! A dragon and a human, and they're together! This has gotta be a sign or somethin'! HEY, GUYS! WE GOT SOME MOST EXCELLENT VISITORS!"

Before Blake and Anitra could wrap their heads around the odd reaction - to say nothing of the odd language involved - the gates of the compound were flung open. Over a dozen colorfully-dressed Slith teemed out, surrounding them not with spears but with eager greetings and welcomes. Inside, past the now-open gate, they could see the singers they had been listening to so far. It certainly wasn't a blood-chant around a desecrated altar - rather, a number of particularly colorfully-dressed Slith were sitting in a circle, playing instruments both familiar and not while singing. In the middle of the circle, several female Slith were dancing - all naked, but their scales were dyed in a myriad of colors, far stronger and more clashing than the pale fabric worn by the rest of the lizardmen.

They didn't stop when Blake hesitantly stepped through the open gate, alert for any sign of a trap or an ambush, but the tune of the song changed, becoming even brighter than it had before - and the dancers now turned towards the new arrivals, their every move beckoning them closer. Anitra was beginning to pick up individual words from the song - difficult, due to its melodious nature, as well as a number of unfamiliar words they seemed to be using. But what she could make out sounded like... 'friendship', 'love', 'freedom', 'peace' and 'light'. And something about mushrooms. Her face twitched in confusion. Together with Blake, she had faced a great many things, but a reception like this? That was new. She had no idea how to react.

Neither did Blake. So they simply waited, standing in front of the circle of musicians and singers while the dancers cavorted before them and the rest of the Slith cheered - whether for the song-and-dance or for Blake and Anitra was unclear. Many of the Slith outside the circle were dancing as well, often closely together in pairs. There were more Slith visible in the windows of the compound's buildings, all of which were turned inwards towards the central plaza where the dance was taking place. Most of them seemed to just be listening. Others were making out. It was all very confusing.

Finally, the song died down, and one of the dancers moved away from the group in the center of the plaza. Nimbly, she leaped across the head of one of the musicians, to bow before Blake and Anitra. "Welcome, travelers! I am Mindora, High Priestess of our group, and you are most welcome in our home." Her smile was broad and sincere, and now that she was away from the rest, Anitra could see that she stood out in more ways than one. For starters, her feminine curves were noticeably more pronounced than those of the other Slith females - her hips were broad, her waist narrow, and her breasts were large enough that Anitra was forced to wonder how she'd been able to move so nimbly during the dance without tipping over from being so top-heavy. Her head, however, was a bit noticeable too - scale-covered ridges extended from the side of it, similar to the head of a Cobra. Normally, it would have made her look alien, but combined with her very humanlike body the shape just seemed to invoke a big head of hair - something that these reptilians were otherwise entirely devoid of.

Somewhat taken aback, Blake returned the bow with a nod, and cleared his throat. "Thank you... Mindora. I must admit that I am somewhat surprised at this warm welcome. We had been led to believe that your group did not like dragons." Mindora laughed heartily. "Led to believe... by those grouchy old stick-in-the-muds back in the Great Cave, right? They don't get us at all. We LOVE dragons. Just like we love all life. What we don't like is those who love ONLY the dragons, and think themselves better than others for being 'children of dragons'." She grinned, and spread her arms out in an inclusive gesture that seemed to envelop the entire compound with all its brightly-dressed Slith. "Dragons are gods, yes. We are all gods inside and we are all worthy of love. As are humans. That is what our brothers and sisters back there cannot understand. They just want to keep being angry about what humans did to us in the past. But being angry solves nothing. Revenge gets you nowhere. You have to forgive, y'know? Forgive all and love all - that is how the world is made into a better place."

Nimble as a cat, she danced around Blake, a seemingly spontaneous move that was immediately copied by the other dancers, and several other lizardfolk who just happened to be close enough to join the circle. Blake craned his neck in an awkward circle trying to follow Mindora with his eyes as she kept talking. "The brothers and sisters back in the Great Cave say that humans are our enemies and that dragons are our gods - but here is a dragon and a human traveling together! And..." She suddenly jumped out of the circle, swung herself around Blake's slick-scaled neck, and held on to his head long enough to look him in the eyes. "And I sense great love in you two. Am I wrong?" She released his head, dropping to the ground while he shook his head to clear it. "Well, no, you aren't... I guess we got a rather one-sided story about you."

Mindora's smile was beatific. "You did. And you realized it, rather than attacking us based on those false preconceptions. That makes you wise. You have wisdom, love and acceptance... you may have just arrived, black dragon, but you are already one of us." The cheer that went up from the Slith as she said this was deafening. Craning his neck again, Blake looked at Anitra. Lifted eyebrows and shrugs were exchanged. It didn't seem like they'd need to fight today. Somewhat shamefacedly, Anitra sheathed her sword, which had been dangling limp and forgotten from her hand during it all, hoping that nobody would notice she'd had it drawn in the first place. If they did, they certainly didn't care.

Anitra and Blake were soon pulled towards a number of long, stout tables ringing the yard, which were being decked with an underground feast at the same time. There didn't seem to be a 'head table' or anything of the sort. Mindora, Anitra and Blake - or, rather, his head - were simply mixed into the mob amongst more than a hundred smiling, colorfully-dressed Slith. The smells of the feast were somewhat alien - but far from unpleasant. Mushrooms were much in appearance, not surprisingly, but there were also generous cuts of well-roast meat and a surprising number of dairy-products. The butter and cheese, Anitra found, was extremely delicious even if it was spread on some rather green mushroom-bread - especially after weeks of living off of nonperishable travel-rations. Meanwhile, Blake was devouring entire haunches of roast meat - he was only half-hungry, having gorged himself before they headed underground, but the mouth-watering smell of the meat had brought his appetite to the forefront nonetheless.

Anitra, attempting polite conversation, brought up the delicious butter and cheese to a tall lizardman sitting next to her, and he responded by eagerly explaining to her how it was a gift, albeit unintentional, from the humans who had taken over the underground caverns for a while millennia ago. They had brought cattle with them, but found that a steady diet of mushrooms made their meat rancid and inedible. Their milk, however, was still just fine, so they'd raised them with that in mind. When they all returned to the surface, they left most of their cattle behind and the Slith had captured it. Their hatred for humanity only extended as far as their rumbling stomachs, the lizardman said with a giggle.

The meat on the table was, as Anitra had reasoned back in the Great Cave, from the large cave-lizards. "The cave-lizards can eat the cattle - and their meat is fine and tasty, isn't it? Nothing is wasted - it's the circle of life!" The Slith nodded sagely and after sampling some of the meat that Blake hadn't managed to devour yet, she found herself agreeing. However odd it was, the meat WAS pretty damn good. Especially when garnished with some of that creamy mushroom soup...

The feast carried on for hours, with food brought to the table as quickly as it was eaten. There were no servants bringing it, though - Anitra soon noticed that whenever one of the Slith noticed that a particular food-item was disappearing from the table, he or she would just jump up with a laugh, and head towards the nearby building which was, by the smell of it, the main kitchen - emerging soon or after a while with more food. Combined with the way the self-identified 'High Priestess' Mindora was sitting amongst the rest of them, chatting and handing out food, it all created a rather disorienting image of a group without any sort of pecking-order. They were, apparently, all equals. It was an odd thought - she had never seen or even HEARD of any sort of group or organization operating like that.

She queried Blake over their mental link to check with him and he confirmed that no, he'd never heard of anything like this before either. Neither one of them were entirely sure how to handle this, but Mindora HAD identified herself as a leader of sorts and according to the priests back in the Great Cave, she was also the one who'd stolen several magical artifacts from the vaults of the Slith Priesthood before coming her. Apparently, the simplest approach was to just... ask her for it. She seemed friendly enough. The idea of getting the last tablet-piece, after all the troubles and dangers they'd gone through to get the rest, simply by_asking nicely_ seemed downright insane, but there it was...

The feast finally started winding down and Anitra was hopeful that this would give her a chance to make a request of Mindora. But then, a few Slith disappeared into a small, thick-walled building that seemed like a storehouse, and returned carrying wooden trays of odd-looking dried mushrooms, which were quickly circulated amongst the revelers. Every Slith took one and EXACTLY one mushroom, she noted as the tray approached her. Just before it reached her hands, however, it was intercepted by Mindora, wearing an apologetic expression. "I am sorry, my dear friends... but these mushrooms are special. We do not know what effect they might have on humans, or on dragons for that matter. We do not wish to risk hurting you, even unintentionally. I hope you understand."

Anitra nodded and pulled her hand back from the tray, letting her eyes brush lightly across the segment of the crowd that had already eaten of the dried shrooms. They looked... relaxed. And they were all smiling, even more than they had before. Soon, they started drifting away from the table, usually in pairs or small groups. Invariably hugging. "What... do those mushrooms do to Slith, exactly?" She asked cautiously. Mindora smiled, even as she threw one of them into her own mouth, quickly devouring it. "They open your mind, my friend. They make you able to see the truths of existence. That we are all gods inside. That we are all worthy of love - and more importantly, that there is no greater purpose in this world than to love one another."

A slight shudder went through Mindora, and she blinked a couple of times. Apparently, the shrooms were fairly fast-acting - but while her movements took on a rather languid quality, she still seemed more 'together' than most of the other revelers. That might not last, however - so, deciding to hammer while the iron was hot, Anitra pressed forwards with her request. Maybe the relaxing properties of this odd drug would make her even more receptive to it. "Very interesting... but while I have your attention, my love and I came here looking for something specific." Mindora nodded, her expression absentminded. "We all seek something, though not all are lucky enough to know what it is. What do YOU seek?"

Anitra took a deep breath, wondering if it would really be this simple. "A piece of an old, broken clay tablet, protected by powerful magic. We heard that you took it from the Slith-Priests of the Great Cave." Mindora blinked, and seemed to suddenly become more aware, pushing back the drug-induced fog from her mind. "Yes... I know that thing you seek. The priests never understood its meaning. They just wanted to figure out its magic. But it's a symbol, y'see? I've read the old records. It was left by a human who came to our caves not long after the 'exiles' had left. He came to tell us that not all humans were evil, that there were some who would desire peace with us. Nobody believed him - they all through him just a spy. They imprisoned him, but you cannot hold a man who has a truly free mind - he vanished, leaving only the fragment behind. As a promise of peace and understanding between Slith and humans, y'know?"

Anitra nodded. "Yes - I understand that. And I know much of the man who brought it here. He was a great man who sought understanding amongst all living things. You would've liked him, I'm sure. But still... we REALLY need that fragment. It's very important." Mindora smiled. "Well... if it's that important, I suppose you can have it - the message it carries lives on in our hearts, y'know? We don't need any physical matter to tie it down. Yeah... you can have it. I'll go get it for you when the party's over." Anitra couldn't help but grin. It had actually worked! Just like that.

Then Mindora's face sharpened and her smile took on a sneaky quality. "...IF your big boyfriend there agrees to be my escort for the rest of the party." Blake and Anitra blinked at each other. Mindora just grinned wider. "You want a souvenir of a very important man. The least you can do is give us some nice memories in return. We love all living things - but none of us have ever had a chance to make love to a dragon. I'm eager to try... and I think my brothers and sisters are eager to watch." There were sounds of agreement coming from all around them, and Anitra suddenly realized that quite a few Slith had drawn close during their chat to listen in. Albeit with obviously split attention...

All around her, the Slith were having sex... on the tables, in the windows, in the middle of the plaza, against the gnarled cave-trees that dotted it. She'd tuned out the moaning and the slobbering sounds while focusing on her conversation with Mindora, but now she became aware of it. It made her face turn red, despite all she'd been through - the way they were doing it seemed a whole other order of PASSIONATE than most of the sex she'd encountered - they weren't just rutting beasts, they were_making love_. There was a lot of kissing going on, and both men and women were obvious having a good time - not necessarily with each other, but apparently the Slith didn't care about that either.

Despite all of that, a surprising number of Slith had their eyes focused on her and Blake, even as they moved against one another. She glanced up at Blake. He shrugged, then grinned at her. "Well, I suppose it's about time that shoe wound up on the other foot, huh?" Then he turned his glance to Mindora. "I'm game - but are you sure you're up for it? Most women your size has... some degree of trouble accommodating me." He lifted an eyebrow at her, but she just laughed - a joyful, not mocking sound. "I thank you for your concern - Blake, was it? - but we Slith are a most flexible people, and I more than most. I'm up for it."

She ran a slender hand along Blake's cheekbone and gestured for him to follow as she began to sinuously move towards the center of the Plaza, where a pair of Slith with more presence of mind than most of their shroomed-out brethren were setting up one of the sturdy, wooden tables. Blake gave Anitra a what-can-I-do sort of shrug, and followed along. She watched him go, somewhat bemused. It was, indeed, an odd sort of turnaround. She'd bartered sexual favors for more than one tablet-piece - actually, it seemed like something close to half of them, now that she thought about it - but this was the first time it was BLAKE'S services that were in request.

Mindora, she noticed, had lost most of her coloration during the feast. The bright, clashing dyes her scales had been slathered with had faded away to reveal the shiny, bright-green surface beneath. From the looks of it - and the now brightly-colored chairs that she and the other dancers had sat on - the dyes weren't proper paint, but just some sort of brightly-colored powder. Probably dried and powdered mushrooms. The loss of the colorful decorations, however, just made it even harder to miss Mindora's luscious curves as she climbed on top of the sturdy table and laid down on her back, spreading her legs invitingly. She went so far as to spread her reptilian pussy with two fingers when Blake momentarily hesitated and despite Anitra's angle of view being mostly from the side, she could see a flash of pink - apparently, lizardfolk were the same color inside as any old human.

With a somewhat-theatrical roar, Blake mounted her, his bulk looming over the table as his huge, bright-red cock emerged from its sheath. Spearing into the gap between the curvaceous lizard-lady's thighs, it found little resistance as her labia eagerly parted before it. Anitra couldn't hold back a gasp, and Blake also craned his neck to look below himself in amazement. The proportions were obviously off - his shaft was nearly as wide around as one of her thighs and yet she'd taken it with no signs of difficulty or discomfort - rather, she was moaning in pleasure already.

As Blake began to thrust deeper, finding no trouble in that direction either, Anitra recalled how her recent infiltration of Mirage City had used the fiction of a 'snake-princess' with an inhumanly stretchy physique derived from the ability of serpents to wholly devour prey significantly larger than themselves. How ironic that they had now, apparently, encountered the truth of it - at least, there was no other explanation for Mindora's sexual capacity that came to mind. As Anitra looked on in disbelief, she absorbed Blake's gigantic tool straight to the root, the scaly edges of his sheath rubbing up against her labia. Her stomach was visibly stretched, much like it was when Anitra rode a suitably huge cock, but like herself, Mindora seemed to thoroughly enjoy the feeling.

Repeated groans of pleasure resounded from the table (which was groaning quite a bit itself) as Blake cautiously began to thrust, still not entirely certain that the slender lizard-girl beneath him could really handle his size so easily. But soon he gained confidence and picked up speed, to Mindora's clearly audible joy. Anitra could feel herself getting wet as she watched, and with a conscious effort, she tore her eyes away from the display... only for them to land on a pair of Slith to her left. A female leaned over the table she was sitting at, while the large male who had given her a lengthy explanation of Slith farming-practices during the feast was driving into her from behind. Both of them had their eyes fixed on Blake and Mindora, the eager rhythm of their intercourse matching the one of the much-larger couple in the center of the plaza.

Anitra leaned back and let her eyes scan over the place where their groins met. The lizardman was well-hung, by human standards, but not much more than that. Clearly, the size of lizard-cocks wasn't the explanation for Mindora's seemingly-impossible flexibility. The girl seemed to notice her glance, and their eyes briefly met. The girl grinned at her, and spoke in a voice slurred slightly by the drug they'd all taken. "She's really somethin', isn't she? She's all kinds of stretchy. 's why they made her a priestess. That and the crown, y'know? They said she was a throwback or something... that she had traits we used to have way back when we were bigger and more like dragons. I think she's really happy to meet your boyfriend... there's nobody here who can really fill her out." Then her attention was pulled away by the highly-visible onrush of an impending orgasm, as the sex-show in the plaza became more feverish and the lizardman behind her picked up his pace to match.

Feeling desperately horny by now, Anitra tried to find something else to occupy her mind, or failing that, a willing partner... but everywhere she looked, the entire complex had descended into a lust-fueled sex-party. Every Slith she could see was having sex, often with several partners. Even the windows of the surrounding buildings usually had someone hanging out of them while being railed from behind. There were lots and lots of kissing going on, too. The lizardfolk seemed to be quite flexible in the spinal area, and even when they were getting it 'doggystyle', they didn't seem to find it difficult to twist their heads around to lock lips with whoever was behind them. That is, if their mouths weren't otherwise occupied.

Her eyes passing over Blake again, she saw that he, too, had let his head dip down, smooth, scale-covered lips locked tightly against Mindora's while his hips moved ceaselessly. Her eyes were rolled upwards, and she seemed near-catatonic from pleasure. A small, ugly sting of pain hit Anitra suddenly. She knew that Dragons were, by nature, incapable of jealousy. But they were also usually incapable of feeling empathy for lesser beings. She was still half-human, and her human side was showing its fangs now. Not so much that Blake was having sex with somebody else, but rather that both of them seemed to be ENJOYING it so bloody much, while she was left without a partner. The sting of jealousy, however, did nothing to retard the growing tide of lust that was rising from her loins, and a pool of thick, sweet-smelling juices were rapidly forming on the seat of her chair.

Wrenching her eyes away from the display, she pulled herself upright, and walked quickly through the mob of passionate lovers. She needed to get away from that sight. Outside the compound. No need to go far, just... a bit of fresh air. Yeah, that's what she needed. Maybe she could go take a closer look at those cave-lizards that had supplied the meat for the feast. Anything to take her mind off her desperate need for hot cock.

Emerging from the compound's walls, she found the paddocks spread out around her, filled with cattle and cave-lizards... and more of the reveling Slith. A few were having sex against the fences, but most of them were inside the paddocks - underneath the bulls and cave-lizards. Anitra blinked, walking over to the paddock mostly on autopilot, while her increasingly desperate pussy flared open of its own accord and started trying to devour her bright-red dragonscale panties.

The back half of one of the couples standing against the fencing noticed her approach, and grinned at her without slowing his thrusting into the Slith in front of him. "Greetings, honored guest! You needed to get away from the main party for a bit too? It can get pretty intense back there. Out here, there is more air. More room. And you can help with thanking the animals for the feast." Anitra blinked, leaning on the fence to steady her increasingly-shaky legs. "Thanking?" She wasn't so much asking as absentmindedly repeating the word while her eyes greedily took in the Slith women out in the fields, being eagerly ridden by the large animals. The lizardman nodded. "Yes - they give to us of their milk, and of their very flesh. It is only right that we show them, after the feast, that we love them too, as we love all living things. They are most enthusiastic to join in the free love, really... of course, they get to eat of the mushroom, too."

Anitra's foggy mind acknowledged the tidbit towards the end. It DID explain it, after all. She knew that most non-intelligent animals weren't all that eager to engage in interspecies sex unless trained - but if that mushroom had the same effect on them as it did on the Slith, it would make sense that they'd be more than ready to screw anything with an available orifice. A groaning sound from the Slith being fucked hard against the railing briefly refocused her attention, and she glanced down. "Yah... we thank 'em. But it helps that the cave-lizard studs are really well hung. And they have these ridges along the bottom of the shafts that just scratch you in all the right places." The voice told her what her lust-blurred eyes had missed, that the second Slith was male too. As she had noticed back in the main plaza, these drugged-up lizards clearly did not consider gender to be an important distinction. Nor, apparently, species. Well, she could relate to that.

Looking across the field, she noticed that there were several more big, green-scaled cave-lizards prowling around the ones currently mating, seemingly waiting their turn. Licking her lips, she made a quick decision - or rather, her achingly-empty pussy made it for her. "Well... I really liked the feast, too. Particularly the meat. I guess I should thank 'em properly, too." With a quick jump, she was across the fence, walking towards the circling cave-lizards as quickly as she could while at the same time stripping off all her armor.

The cave-lizards noticed her approach and hissed in her general direction, forked tongues flickering as they tasted her scent on the air. Normally, she'd be a tad nervous about approaching a lizard the size of a draft horse, especially since both its scent and the bloodstained ground beneath them testified that they were, indeed, predators. But she was too far gone in lust to care at this point and fortunately - thanks to the 'special' mushrooms - the lizards were of a similar mind. Normally, they WOULD have regarded her as a potential meal, but they could taste her arousal on the air, and years of conditioning meant that they knew that scent well - and how to respond to it properly.

She, meanwhile, swiveled around to turn her ass invitingly towards them, and dropped down on all fours, spreading her legs eagerly. They swarmed over her quickly, tongues flickering towards her sopping-wet pussy to taste the concentrated fluids. They were a bit confused by her not being a Slith - otherwise they would've leapt for her back right away - but the thick taste of arousal overcame any hesitation. The largest of the lizards snapped at a few of his peers to drive them back and then climbed onto her. His feet had long, thick gripping-toes that now wrapped solidly around her shoulders even as his rear legs were spread to find good purchase.

Her desire whipped to a fevered pitch by the ghostlike touch of the lizards' tongues on her wet mound, Anitra could only pant and lower her head to gaze between the swaying globes of her breasts to try and get a good view of the thing she was currently going crazy for. The lizard's cock was not QUITE in proportion to his body - not entirely horse-sized, let alone dragon-sized - but it was certainly bigger than any human she'd ever met, and like the Slith back at the fence had commented, it had a series of scale-like ridges along the bottom of it, almost like layered bone-plates. The head was pointy and slanted, not to mention widely flared - obviously, this big fellow had been aroused for a while.

She came the moment he thrust into her, the ridges stirring her labia and tickling her fully-erect and uncovered clit. It filled her like a comfortable warmth, granting her release from the sense of gaping emptiness she'd been struggling with since she saw the Slith begin their sexual celebration all around her. The big lizard was no slouch in the performance-department, though, and even if she HADN'T been half-mad with unreleased desire, she would've likely enjoyed the ride immensely. As it was, she seemed to climax from every other thrust.

To be fair, they were very impressive thrusts. The lizard had a good 15 inches to his name, and he used roughly 14.5 in each thrust. With his long tail acting like a stabilizer and a spine that couldn't be much more flexible if it was made from rubber, his cock would move from buried-to-the-absolute-hilt (which enabled the rough scales of his groin to make delicious contact with her outer labia and clit) to only-the-flared-crown-inside in every swift movement. The bony ridges along the bottom of the shaft redoubled the resulting stimulation, and the friction added delightfully to his body-heat. (The cave-lizards were not cold-blooded like their above-ground cousins, since there was a general shortage of sun to soak in down below.)

The lizard also had the sexual endurance of an apex predator. Prey animals often mated with a swift, frenzied pace in order to minimize the time they spent in such a vulnerable position, but there were few beasts in the caves that actively hunted cave-lizards, and a few centuries of well-protected domestication had done nothing to curtail this trait. On top of that, the last couple of generations had enjoyed some additional conditioning at the hands of the free-love Slith - while not too bright, the cave-lizards HAD noticed that performing well during the 'celebrations' led to lots of treats from their 'partners' between them, as well. Not to mention the occasional non-celebration visit for a bonus mating. With both sex and food in the balance - the two most effective behavioral spurs of the animal world - the lizards had learned FAST to put all their energy into pleasing their two-legged partners.

Still, with Anitra's well-trained snatch repeatedly clamping down on his cock like a steel vise, even the most well-motivated cave-lizard had his limits. Twenty minutes later he blew his load, hot cum pouring into her hungrily contracting womb, and after a few more half-hearted thrusts, he climbed off of her and went off into a corner to recover his strength. She, meanwhile, hardly noticed. She'd been climaxing nearly continuously during the entire thing and didn't move an inch even as the cum began to bubble from her pussy and dribble down her thighs, rejected by her picky uterus. Well, unless you count post-orgasmic muscle-spasms as moving.

Nor was there any particular REASON to move. There were still far more horny male cave-lizards in the paddock than there were partners for them, and within seconds another had taken the first's place - and the orgasms began to flow again as his thick cock generated obscene, slurping sounds from her already cum-filled pussy. The reduced friction caused by the generous quantities of slimy goo enabled this second one to last for nearly half an hour before the contents of his nuts were added to the mess. By then, Anitra was fully consumed by the orgasmic trance that seemed to come over her when she was sufficiently overstimulated.

Her arms had collapsed from the strain of carrying the heavy lizards while simultaneously being assaulted by orgasmic muscle-spasms every other minute, and by now her breasts were flattened against the dirt. Her chin was resting on the ground as well, her breath whistling heavily from between her teeth as she stared glassy-eyed across the paddock. The display ahead of her wasn't calculated to reduce her overflowing desire - there were more Slith groups hanging around the paddocks now, presumably as more and more began to drift away from the intensity of the party in the central plaza to get some fresh air. They were vigorously fucking, kissing, licking and sucking while watching the people in the paddocks - including her - being continuously mounted by the huge cave-lizards. And past that, in the neighboring enclosure, more Slith were being mounted by large, if cave-pale, bulls.

The third cave-lizard approached her from behind when the second cleared out, and this one deserved some additional introduction. He was the main Alpha of the pack, the biggest of the males. Seemingly-bottomless endurance sharpened by frequent battles for supremacy with younger males had made him quite the fuck-machine, and he also regarded the 'celebrations' as a good opportunity to remind all the younger males why HE was the Alpha. So while most of them needed to rest and recuperate a bit between partners, he rarely took a rest until he'd vigorously screwed at least four or five Slith into insensibility.

He'd just climbed off a now-exhausted Slith lady, and his cock was still glistening wet from a mix of reptilian pussy-juice and his own cum. It was also nearly an inch larger across than any of the lesser males, and a good two inches longer. Nonetheless, when his fully-engorged cockhead stabbed into her asshole, it spread open eagerly to welcome him in. Most of the Slith weren't too bothered about which hole the cave-lizards used, and between that and a number of males joining in the festivities the cave-lizards - by conditioning - didn't distinguish either. They just thrust into the first hole they could find.

The nearly horse-sized cock thrusting into her ass without hesitation would normally have been enough to jar her out of her trance, but between countless muscle-relaxing orgasms and a peak level of sheer horniness, her ass had been practically gaping of its own accord for the past quarter of an hour, her sphincter-muscles clenching and relaxing repeatedly as they begged for something to do. Now that they finally had it, her ass gobbled up the hard cock like a starving man offered a large sausage. The cave-lizard's powerful haunches easily pushed his shaft inside to the very limit, her gently-rounded butt-cheeks flattened against the hard scales of his groin.

Now, it perhaps deserves mentioning that Slith have wide, strong tails, being lizardfolk and all. When having sex - at least in the 'doggystyle' position - they'd generally curl their tails up along their backs where they wouldn't get in the way, but the broad base of the tail prevented the kind of buried-to-the-sheath penetration Anitra was enjoying right now. It also served as a buffer from the strength of the big cave-lizards' (and big bulls') thrusts and being used to that, the lizards had never had reason to moderate the strength of their thrusts.

Between the angle and length of the thrusts, the wide, flat, hard-scaled dimensions of the lizard's groin, the superior weight and strength of the Alpha-lizard, and the meaty spheres of Anitra's buttocks, the force hitting her ass was significant. Most of each thrust's kinetic energy wound up distributed across her suddenly-flattened ass-cheeks before his cockhead stopped deep inside her lower intestine. It was highly audible - a loud, sharp 'SMACK' with every impact - but the noise didn't bother the Alpha-lizard, who was mostly concerned with showing off his superior strength and stamina.

The pain spread across her rapidly-reddening ass, but along with it came the pleasure of having the huge, ridged cock playing across her sensitive insides. The pleasure was too great - she could not, would not stop it. Without flinching, she accepted the vigorous spanking as a necessary payment for the pleasure now radiating from deep inside her ass. The rhythmic pounding - inside and out - soon flowed together into a perfect fusion of pleasure of pain. While she was no stranger to that particular dish, it had never been so superbly mixed - each sensation separate and distinctive, yet perfectly in-sync and proportional. With the weight of the cave-lizard on her back driving her knees into the soft ground, her legs - and, by extension, ass - were solidly positioned, ensuring that she absorbed every drop of force the draft-horse-sized lizard could pour into her, instead of getting pushed across the field.

With the huge Alpha coming fresh from another lover, the stains of his recent climax now wetting Anitra's snatch and him sneering at the concept of resting between partners, he had unsurprisingly impressive staying-power. Even the instinctively skillful undulations of Anitra's well-practiced ass did little to hurry him towards spouting his cum - the Slith, his usual partners, were no slouches in that department either, so he was fairly used to it. Thus, for nearly 45 minutes, he pounded away at her with the kind of unquenchable endurance that only a truly experienced lover (who had already emptied his balls several times since the celebration started) could hope to posses.

By then, her buttocks were burning crimson-red throughout, except for the center of each meaty half-globe - those areas, having absorbed the brunt of each bone-shaking thrust, were well into the dark blue from the repeated bruising. The pain had escalated steadily over the duration of the punishment, but she was well past the point of caring - her legs were as widely-opened, her ass as rock-steady as when it had begun. The thought of shying away from the big lizard, calling for help, or otherwise trying to end the agonizing tenderization of her buttocks had never entered her mind - not while the lizard's bone-ridged cock was busy stimulating her to an orgasm every other minute.

The noise emerging from the repeated meeting of her tender ass-cheeks and the rock-hard, scale-covered groin of the cave-lizard, however, had attracted quite a bit of attention. Most of the Slith couples and groups hanging around the paddocks had their eyes fixed solely on her, while their own revelry continued. The implications of her lack of tail, and the source of the loud slaps, were not lost on them and the ecstatic expression on her face seemed very arousing indeed to the many onlookers. Several of them actively expressed regret that they were unable to try the same sort of ride she was getting, though quite a few males were doing their best to replicate it - scaly hands finding scaly buttocks in a hard rhythm matched to their thrusting.

But finally, the big cave-lizard did reach his climax, and his load - quite respectable, considering how many he had delivered that day - boiled into Anitra's battered ass. As the big Alpha stepped off of her, starting to feel the edge of exhaustion at last, she felt The Quickening flash through her nervous system like a bolt of lightning. The cave-lizard was a mundane creature, and thus his sperm carried no great power - in sufficient amounts, it might have given her toughened skin and increased endurance, but with a single rather sub-par load being rapidly absorbed by her innards, she 'only' got the main advantages - suddenly-boosted energy, enhanced physical characteristics, and accelerated regeneration. The regeneration, of course, quickly took hold of her battered buttocks, healing the deep bruising, though it did little to reduce the bright-red glow of her ass which was clearly visible to her entire audience.

The Quickening also did little to quell her feelings of lust - if anything, it merely drove away any desire she might have had to roll up in a corner somewhere and sleep off the aftereffects of the countless orgasms she'd experienced so far. She'd been thoroughly fucked by 3 big lizards over the last hour-and-a-half, but from the looks of the audience at the fence-line, the party wasn't over yet - and there were still more horny lizards swarming around her. Licking her lips, she spread her legs even wider than she had before, digging her knees into the ground anew. (The holes they'd made before had turned into short grooves thanks to the alpha-lizard's forceful blows.) Her groin, thus lowered, gave the lizards a better angle on her ass, and made it far less likely that they'd find her pussy instead. With The Quickening rapidly removing the deeper damage of the lizard-groin-spanking she had endured, all she could think of was the way the impacts had seemingly doubled the pleasure derived from their cocks. And sure enough, when the next lizard in line jumped on her back, fastening his front feet around her shoulders, he easily found her still-gaping asshole...

Meanwhile, back at the plaza, Blake was pushing his sexual skills to their limits, trying to please this seemingly-insatiable snake-woman. Mindora hadn't been satisfied with merely taking the entirety of his huge cock into her pussy - once he'd reached his orgasm, bloating her belly with his cum, she quickly flipped over and invited him into her ass as well. That, at least had been a tight fit - and he'd taken some small pleasure from the wincing look of pain on her face as he drilled into her from behind. Still... she'd taken it, and taken it all, with no sign of tearing inside or outside.

With his balls emptied by the first session, he was able to keep up a good rhythm for a long time - for over half an hour, he fucked her ass with as much strength and violence as he'd ever used. Her tail, curled along her back, acted as a springboard - it did little to curtail the depth of his thrusts, but helped push him back faster, forcing him into a swifter rhythm than he'd otherwise use. Meanwhile, the gallons of dragon-cum he'd poured into her pussy were being sucked out of her hot-pink pussy by a pair of Slith women who eagerly took turns sneaking in between his hind legs to drink from the High Priestess' cum-fountain.

Judging from the way her tight ass had repeatedly clamped down around his cock, the combined stimulation had certainly brought her to a heady pile of orgasms. She wasn't a screamer, fortunately - she grunted, moaned and sighed as he continued to pour thrusts into her (comparatively) tiny body with all of his mass behind it. The table beneath them was big, heavy, and made from thick slabs of sturdy cave-wood, but it was shaking more and more as the thrusts shook it apart. In the end, he only just managed to reach his climax - pumping another load of boiling-hot dragon-cum into her vise-tight ass - before the table collapsed underneath them.

Mindora hung in the air for several seconds, her weight suspended entirely on Blake's huge cock as her ass clamped down around it. Then, as the lubrication of his cumload spread back along the length of his shaft - after filling her stomach to overflowing and still being short on space - she lost her grip and slid forwards off of it with a squelching sound, landing in the wreckage of the table with cum leaking copiously from both holes. The other girls, who had merely stumbled back as the table collapsed, weren't late in diving in again - both of them, this time, with each gluing her lips to one of the High Priestess' holes to suck out the dragon-jam inside.

The Slith high priestess shook with pleasure as she felt the younger girls' long, reptilian tongues bore deep into both of her holes, licking the cum out - but she still had enough presence of mind left to grab hold of the wet, cum-flecked cock above her, and pull herself up to a half-sitting pose that allowed her to reach it with her mouth without cutting the two girls below her off from the source of their nectar. Eagerly, she licked across the huge shaft, cleaning off the stains left by her own ass as swiftly as the delicious dollops of cum stuck to it. Blake, glancing down between his legs, was rather impressed with the display before him - particularly the way Mindora's stomach bulged from the cumloads filling out both her stomach and womb - and he felt his cock harden anew. This priestess was clearly hard to impress, but he wasn't done yet.

Patiently, he waited until his cock had been thoroughly cleaned, gleaming with Mindora's spit. Then, with a flexing of his massive hind legs, he jumped forwards, before spinning around with an agility few would have attributed to a creature his size and curling his own tail back to sit down. Spreading his legs for stability, he leaned back to let his still-hard cock point skywards, challenging the horny priestess before him like a siege-tower challenged a city's walls. A come-hither gesture from one of his taloned hands snapped her out of the momentary paralysis that his sudden, violent movement had caused, and with a broad grin, she bounded after him, easily climbing on top of his lap to position herself above the huge member. Even with her legs fully stretched - her feet maintaining traction on the smooth scales of Blake's groin only thanks to the strong gripping-toes that were part of the Slith's natural equipment - the pointy tip of his huge dong brushed across her cum-stained labia.

This reminder of the kind of size she was dealing with only encouraged her further, of course, and she eagerly sank herself down on it, spreading her already well-used pussy once more. Once she was halfway down, however, the lowered center of gravity made it impossible for her toes to maintain their grip on the smooth, slanted surface around the base of the cock, and with a sudden flash of chagrin, she felt herself slip. One moment, she had her feet under her and was lowering herself down on the broad shaft, the next her feet touched only air and gravity did the lowering.

A second later, she found herself dangling fully-impaled on Blake's cock as his draconic face grinned above her. Her entire body-weight was resting on the point deep inside of her where the tip of his cock was straining against the back of her flexible womb. Even in Mindora's unnaturally-flexible body, this was enough to cause noticeable discomfort, and her pained grimace only made Blake's smile broader. He had predicted this result - indeed, that was why he'd sat back on his haunches instead of just lying down on his back. It was just the opening he needed to take charge of the situation again.

"Having a hard time maintaining your footing, my dear?" He asked, in a tone laced with mischief, while watching her legs spasm in the air as they desperately sought a foothold. But she was too high up to reach the ground, and his legs were spread too far for her to reach his thighs. The pressure inside of her was forcing jets of cum out of her asshole at impressive speeds, splattering across the plaza's stone floor to the regret of the other two Slith women, while the last remnants of his first load was squeezed thickly out around the base of his cock, oozing down to cover his scaly balls. "Don't worry - I'll lend you a helping hand..."

With great care, he wrapped one of his hands around her slim midsection - the inner edges of his talons were razor-sharp, but the scaly hides of the Slith were tough, and her felt fairly confident that he'd be able to handle her without drawing blood - as long as he was careful. With ease, he lifted her entire body up, revealing inch after inch of his cum-covered shaft, before - just as her labia began to pull together around his conical cockhead - plunging her down again with the combined force of gravity and his full, draconic strength.

Mindora's outer labia slapped wetly against his groin, and her neck craned backwards, mouth open yet silent as the sensation of the enormously powerful, full-length thrust tore through her. In neither of their previous two matings had Blake been able to deploy his full force, or even his full length (though it really hadn't been much more than an inch or two that had been left out due to tails and legs getting in the way) - now he was using it all and then some. Mindora was no stranger to womb-fucking - even with a general shortage of dragon-sized cocks in the area, a bit of artistic expression got you far, and she had a small collection of carved stone phalli that suited her taste for size. But this was pushing even her limits - even as her cervix opened easily to accommodate the rampaging cock, the back of her womb was harshly deformed to absorb the force of each thrust.

With her legs dangling uselessly, she had no choice but to let the big dragon use her as a sex-toy, thrusting her down on his huge member with an increasingly rapid rhythm - and the thought aroused her even further. Her gripping-toes curled as the first delicious orgasm rolled over her, and she knew there were many more to come. The flow of still-hot dragon-cum from her ass had stilled to the point where it oozed down her taint to further stain Blake's cock and balls instead of spraying across the plaza, and the rhythmic contractions that swept through her womb and birth-canal as she came repeatedly helped to force the last bits of the first load out in the same direction. A minor waterfall of cum was covering Blake's balls, before flowing further down.

The still-hungry Slith-girls weren't about to let it go to waste, though. They'd had their first taste of dragon-cum, and being still in the grips of the mind-altering mushrooms, they found it irresistibly erotic. Licking their chops, they dived in between Blake's widely-spread legs, ducking low to avoid Mindora's flailing legs. Even in the grip of repeated orgasms, however, the High Priestess was aware of her followers' plights - glancing behind her, she realized that her legs were in the way and with a grunt of effort, she lifted them to rest against Blake's groin again. It did nothing to slow the thrusts and in spreading her legs wide enough to make a gymnast jealous, it enabled him to add the last half-inch of his cock to each penetration. But it got her legs out of the way, and the Slith-girls weren't slow in taking advantage of it.

One lashing tongue danced across his balls, licking the constantly-flowing cum off of it - the strong, reptilian tongue easily felt through the thin scale covering. Another tongue dived lower, lapping up the cum that had pooled around his tailhole, near the ground - accessible only because he was mostly sitting on his tail. That, he most DEFINITELY felt, and it was something he'd learned to enjoy ever since Anitra first learned of that particular kink. But having this many willing females around him was new... a tight pussy around his cock, a strong tongue caressing his balls, and another digging into his asshole - each sensation was familiar on its own, but put together they pushed him to new levels of pleasure and lust.

His obvious enjoyment was not lost on the Slith-girls, either, and even after they had cleaned off every drop of cum, they persisted - the lower one, in particular, going well beyond the call of duty as her long, muscular tongue drilled directly into his asshole, stimulating it in all-new ways while her wide-open mouth closed a seal as tight as any kiss around his sphincter. Under such ministrations, however, his vaunted sexual endurance fled, and after just ten minutes of this three-way assault, he came again - yet another tremendous load of hot dragon-cum filling Mindora's battered womb.

He was too aroused to let that slow him down, however, and kept pounding Mindora's orgasm-wracked body down on his cock without slowing. The repeated impact, along with the increasingly loose conditions of Mindora's thoroughly-used cunt, ensured that the cum quickly started to flow, running down towards the hungry mouths of the girls below. Delighted to see their work so well rewarded, they redoubled their efforts - when not letting their nimble tongues chase down every stray drop of dragon-cum mixed with Mindora's copiously-flowing pussy-juice they could find.

The upper one would wrap her wide, reptilian mouth entirely around one of the testicular mounds, massaging it with suction and tongue-lashings before moving over to the other to repeat the performance, encouraging the hard-working nuts to deliver even more heavy loads of cum. Meanwhile, the one below was busy thrusting her tongue inside his ass to the very root, her mouth opened wide as only a reptile's could be as she fastidiously licked across every inch of ass she could reach. The taste did not concern her much - only the way she could feel his sphincter contract in pleasure around the root of her tongue and the moans she could hear above as he redoubled his efforts to fuck the High Priestess silly.

This sordid scene was maintained for nearly an hour - enough for Blake's balls to explode three more times. The Slith-girls carried on with drug-hardened resolve, their slender fingers buried between their legs as their tongues worked, their pleasure redoubling every time their labors brought Blake to another swift orgasm, rewarding them with rivulets of hot cum. Midway through, between orgasms, he'd flipped Mindora around and forced his rock-hard shaft into her ass instead - without breaking his stride for more than a split second, let alone reducing the violent intensity of the thrusts. This reversal was greeted with joy by the two girls between his legs, as the altered pressure sent bursts of cum shooting out of the High Priestess' still-gaping pussy, showering them. They paused their ministrations of his private parts momentarily to lick the cum-remnants off each other's bodies, but he did not begrudge them that.

After the final orgasm - the sixth he'd delivered into Mindora's eager body - he leaned back, feeling more than a little winded. The Slith priestess, he felt, had to be suitably impressed. At least, that was how he interpreted the boneless way she was hanging on his slowly-softening cock, head lolling as she panted for breath, limbs occasionally spasming with post-orgasmic jerks. The other two Slith-girls weren't slow in taking advantage of the High Priestess' stationary situation - the lower one, who'd spent the better part of an hour with her five-inch tongue buried entirely in his ass, feasting on what drops of cum slipped past her higher-placed sister, got the prime position this time. Her mouth now closed around Mindora's well-worn venus-mound, where she eagerly licked and sucked heaping mouthfuls of juicy cum out of the still-open orifice. The other girl, meanwhile, lodged her head between Mindora's ass and Blake's groin, letting her agile tongue lick endlessly around the half-inch of cock that wasn't buried in the hot embrace of the voluptuous Slith's lower intestine - eagerly drinking down the contents of his last orgasm as it bubbled out around the tight seal of the High Priestess' sphincter.

Their eager tongues stirred the near-catatonic High Priestess to several more orgasms, her ass squeezing reflexively around Blake's cock as best it could in its presently loosened state. The pressure was enough to keep him from softening entirely and with a tired sigh, he leaned back to put his hands on the ground, and simply watched the Slith-girls work while trying to catch his breath and regain some of his energy. A scanning glance around the periphery of the plaza revealed that the party was winding down somewhat, but there were still dozens of Slith hanging around, having sex and watching the stage-show. He wondered where the rest had gone.

Most of them were out by the paddocks, where Anitra's enthusiastic performance had drawn quite a crowd. Many were not satisfied with watching, however, and there were far more Slith in the cave-lizard enclosure than usual, their moans mingling with Anitra's as she was brought to yet another spanking-enhanced orgasm. Unfortunately, she soon found herself a victim of her own success - with so many eager partners servicing the cave-lizards, the horse-sized reptiles soon found their virility running low, with even the big Alpha lacking the strength to carry on. Most of them were snoring in the corners of the fenced-in field by now.

Suddenly finding herself without an eager, hard-cocked lizard riding her ass, Anitra glanced around despairingly. Her repeated climaxes somehow weren't really satisfying her - rather, they just seemed to egg her on, each stoking the flames of her lust and keeping her mind entirely focused on the NEXT orgasm. Her eyes fell on the large number of Slith assembled outside the paddock, and she leaped to her feet - her legs slightly shaky from her hour-long orgasmic ordeal, but still strong thanks to the soaring power of The Quickening. At least half a dozen cave-lizard cum-loads were churning in her stomach, being gradually absorbed to further fuel her lustful rampage.

In a few bounds, she was amongst the Slith, her fingers and lips seeking cocks and finding them. And while slightly taken aback, the Slith were true to their free-love philosophy, eagerly welcoming her amongst them. (Also, the mushrooms hadn't quite worn off yet.) Within a minute, she found herself surrounded by eager Slith males, and while their cocks were neither as big nor as deliciously ribbed as the cave-lizards had been, their agility and intelligence opened up new possibilities. Dicks still wet from whatever partner they had previously visited and still hard despite the by-now hour-long orgy, swiftly found their way into both of her lower orifices while a third found her more-than-willing mouth.

The Slith, having watched - and listened to - her clear enjoyment of the repeated ass-poundings she'd received from the cave-lizards, were also quick to start swinging their strong, scale-covered hands at her still bright-red butt-cheeks. The accelerated healing of her Quickening prevented any blackened bruises from forming, and in their lustful daze, it was unlikely that the lizardmen realized that her soft, human skin was far more sensitive than the scaly asses of their previous partners. Thus, even as she was passed from Slith to Slith, three hot cocks filling her at all times, she could also feel the by-now familiar pain radiating out from her heated buttocks to tingle around her sphincter and labia. Even if she'd had the use of her mouth, she would not have asked them to stop, and the hungry way she pushed her rear end back against the thrusting cocks every time a hand fell hard on one of the jiggling globes served to spur them to redouble their efforts. The bright-red handprints that were soon engraved upon her ass-cheeks would not fade for hours.

She bounced from orgasm to orgasm, loosing herself in the pleasure once more - but with Slith-cum now pouring frequently down her throat as well as up her ass, her level of energy did not decrease - and while there were dozens of lizardfolk gathered around her, eager to help, they had already been carousing for hours and even with the aid of the pleasure-enhancing mushroom, the men were coming up against their limits. Soon, the cocks disappeared from her mouth to focus on her lower holes, and she instead found wet pussies thrust into her face. They smelled and tasted like cum, for there was not a one amongst them that had not been visited by at least a dozen males of various species, so she dug in eagerly.

Her well-trained tongue parted the thin-scaled labia to dig into the pink, fleshy interior and almost unconsciously, she applied the cunnilingual tricks she'd recently picked up in the harems of the Immortal Sultan of Mirage City. Her lips sucked on their partially-hidden clits, the tip of her tongue caressed their sensitive urethras and when she dug all the way inside to feel their labia tighten around the root of her tongue, her lashing tongue easily found those hidden, sensitive spots that dot the insides of a pussy regardless of species. The effects were obvious and the female Slith hit swift orgasms at the hands of her practiced mouth. Even as the line of available males behind her dwindled, more females lined up before her head to test her skills.

But the party was winding down, and soon, none of the lizardmen had the strength to keep going. One observant fellow, however, noted that while Anitra's show-stopping performance had pulled many interested parties into the cave-lizards' paddock, the cattle-enclosure had seen comparatively few visitors. Several of the pale cave-bulls were still walking around, snorting as their erect members dangled between their legs. Anitra was too far gone in pleasure and desire to care as they guided her over to the paddock and helped stick her lower body through the fence. The eager bulls were soon upon her, their weight making the fence above her squeak as the lizard-women continued to push their wet pussies into her face. She felt the familiar size and shape of an oxen penis drill into her cum-leaking pussy, tasted the hot juices on her lips, and momentarily thought herself back on the Island of the Amazons, where another drug-fueled orgy had ended in much the same way.

Still, the Slith were much more hospitable hosts than the Amazons had been and while their open, well-used cunnies were thrust into her face and mouth without pause, they were not lazy about repaying her for her oral favors. Two of the women wrapped their mouths around her dangling tits, their long, agile tongues slipping through her large nipple-rings to wrap around the sensitive nubs, stimulating them even as she felt the featherlight touch of their many long, sharp fangs along the edges of her breasts. One particularly brave young lass even slipped below Anitra's body, dodging the stomping feet of the bull to wrap her tongue around the dragonrider's fully-erect clit. Whenever a bull found her ass instead of the pussy, the girl would climb higher than that, digging her tongue into Anitra's pussy to scoop out dollops of fresh bull-cum.

Under this tender treatment, Anitra found her haze of repeated orgasms and mind-bending pleasure extended for another half hour, during which a good dozen bulls made use of her - none of them lasting very long. Her tongue was repeatedly wetted by the juices of climaxing lizardwomen, but the bulls behind her found their way into her pussy more often than not, so while the Quickening was sustained, it was definitely winding down along with the celebration. The mushrooms had just about worn off, though mundane desire kept the Slith women lining up for another ride on Anitra's tongue.

But finally, the last of the bulls emptied his balls in her pussy, the thick, white goo joining the remnants of uncounted previous visitors. She did not move at first, despite her pussy and ass being achingly empty, but carried on with servicing the last few Slith women who had lined up to try her oral skills. The three who had serviced her from beneath had recently retreated, their tongues and bodies finally feeling the pangs of exhaustion and overuse as the mushrooms wore off. Around her, most of the Slith were sleeping or just sitting in a daze, often together in small groups, and before long her last 'customers' joined them.

Feeling somewhat abandoned she extricated herself from the fence and in a semi-daze, she walked amongst the sleeping Slith back towards the plaza, which she couldn't entirely remember why she'd left. In there, she found much the same display - there were unconscious and semi-conscious Slith everywhere, and in the wreckage of a table near the middle of the plaza, the High Priestess Mindora was slumbering with a young lizardwoman on either arm. Behind them, Blake was sitting as was his custom, not unlike the way a cat would sit, with his long tail wrapped around his legs. Upon seeing her, his eyes lit up.

"Ah, Anitra! I was starting to wonder where you'd gone off to. As you can see, I've fulfilled my duties towards our glorious host... and I think I managed to leave a lasting impression." His eyes scanned across her. Ass still reddened from the repeated spankings, through the handprints weren't visible from his angle. Cum dribbling freely from both holes, running down her inner thighs to create cum-lined footsteps where she walked. Quite naked, with her armor and sword nowhere to be seen. Her pussy-lips were red and puffy, her nipples rock-hard and erect and he could actually see her clit poking out from under its hood, vibrating in the still air. "I... see you've managed to keep yourself occupied in the meantime."

Her mind was clearing a bit, now that she wasn't being assailed by non-stop orgasms anymore, and though her brain was still roaring with desire, she at least had enough presence of mind to smile back at him. "Yeah... but it still wasn't the same." She bounded lightly over the sleeping pile of shapely Slith women lying in the ruins of the table and sauntered towards him. "I've still got one good fuck left in me..." Blake's eyebrows shot up, and he licked his chops. "Well, when you put it that way... I think I do too." There was no more need for words. In a flash, she was on all fours in front of him, and a split second later her body was shadowed by his bulk.

There were many different positions they could make love in, and they all had their own appeal. But when their desire was at its peak, there was no beating the simple, animalistic passion of the 'doggystyle'. Anitra could feel Blake's huge body above her, could feel his incredible strength through her back as his muscles bunched. His cock came out of its sheath with record speed, and found her pussy with practiced ease. The lubrication was more than plentiful, and a shower of cum that was part Slith, part cave-lizard and part bull emerged from around the edges of her labia as he thrust into her, scattering across the pavement.

They mated with silent passion, the quiet of the plaza broken only by their heavy breathing and the occasional gasp. Those Slith who still weren't completely unconscious looked on, astounded. These two, they knew, had not partaken of the sacred mushroom but they had nonetheless outlasted the entire settlement - and still, their love was possessed with a fiery passion that seemed to radiate out from them. Here and there, exhausted though they were, still-awake Slith came together, tired genitals rising to the occasion one last time as they engaged in slow, drawn-out lovemaking, spurred on by the energetic and passionate display before them.

With Blake's balls drained past their normal limits, his staying-power was significant and though his muscles were still aching somewhat from all the acrobatics he'd gone through to please the High Priestess, his determination was far stronger. He could feel Anitra's burning need, not through their normal telepathic link, but through something deeper - an emotional connection that had nothing to do with magic, and everything to do with their feelings. She needed him now, and he would not let her down.

It wasn't as if he was doing all the work, though. Anitra's body burned with lust as she felt her pussy hungrily wrapping around the subject of her desires, the pleasure she'd futilely tried to capture throughout the hour-long orgy now flowing easily through her. She wasn't cumming every other second - she didn't need to. This pleasure was different, deeper, more significant. Her mind was no longer addled by driving need - it was clear and sharp. Her body moved on its own, pushing back against every thrust, massaging her lover's overused cock with gentle flexes of her internal muscles. Her body was in constant motion, going back and forth in perfect sync with Blake's thrusts, their breathing matching up perfectly without either one of them fully realizing it.

In the shattered pile that had once been a sturdy wooden table, Mindora had stirred from her slumber, and now watched the passionate lovemaking from a first-row seat. She could feel their emotions wash over her - lust, passion and need, all swirled together in a sea of pure love. Not just a joining of bodies, but a joining of souls. It was the very ideal that she and her people worked towards - two very different creatures, flowing together to the point where you could barely distinguish between them, their physical differences insignificant in the face of their emotional bond. A single tear flowed down her scaly cheek, unseen by her sleeping daughters, by her still-awake followers whose attentions were focused on the unlikely couple or upon their own partners, and certainly by Blake and Anitra, for whom the world now consisted only of themselves. In watching them, she felt a sense of renewed hope that with time, she would be able to bring her people around, away from the path of hatred they had chosen. After all, if a dragon and a human could be so thoroughly in love, then should not humans and Slith be able to get along as well?

For the better part of an hour, Blake and Anitra moved against each other, sensing nothing else, seeing nothing else, caring for nothing else. Hungrily, insistently, their genitals rushed together again and again. It wasn't complicated or new, but it was everything they needed, everything they wanted. Finally, together, they reached a bone-shaking climax, and as Blake's last load of the day (small by most standards, but quite impressive considering the circumstances) filled her womb, both of them felt that their strength and endurance had reached their limits.

Within the space of a few breaths, they had rolled up together in the middle of the plaza, and closed their eyes to rest. Blake's cock was still lodged deep inside Anitra's pussy, refusing to soften as her insides continued to massage it even as she slept. Thus connected, with Blake's flexible body wrapped fully around Anitra in a tight, scaly embrace, they slept. Their dreams as intermingled as their bodies, they continued their lovemaking in that realm as their breathing grew heavy and long.

Many hours later, the Slith began to stir. They cleared the tables and other remnants of the feast from the plaza in absolute silence, making barely enough noise to rouse a particularly paranoid mouse. In the center of the plaza slumbered the dragon and rider, and they wished not to disturb their honored guests. At the prompting of their High Priestess, they went about their duties and routines in perfect silence - the only sounds that could be heard around the plaza was the sloshing, sticky sound of aroused genitals moving against one another. Normally, the Slith were less lustful for a while after a Feast, but with Anitra and Blake lying in the center of their compound as a living, breathing reminded of the unearthly passion that had possessed them the night before, many of the Slith found their desires rising swiftly again.

Their erotic dreams, mingled with the scents and sounds of the many Slith couples who made love around the periphery of the plaza during their rest served to further enhance their unslaked desires. Blake's cock was still hard inside Anitra and even as they slept, they moved against one another. That, needless to say, only served to further encourage the Slith to watch the sleeping couple as they mated. For ten hours, they slept, locked closely together, and Blake came three more times during that time. As for Anitra, how many orgasms she had would be difficult to reckon, for she found herself floating in an endless sea of dreaming pleasure.

But finally they woke up, in a slow, languid sort of way as their dreams of pleasure drifted into a reality where their genitals were still tightly locked together. Their movements grew faster again, as if the sex of the previous day had merely been suspended while they regained their strength, and now continued without missing a beat. With their desires still sharp from hours of wet dreams, it didn't take long for them to rise towards a renewed crescendo, their increasingly frenzied movements creating obscene, slurping sounds as the cumloads released during the night were stirred and forced from Anitra's soggy pussy to join the pool of mostly-dried jizz beneath them.

Once again, they came together, their desires perfectly in sync. It was less overwhelming, less powerful than the night before, but rather had the relaxed, drawn-out quality of early-morning sex. (Insofar as there was any 'night' or 'morning' in these deep caves where the sun was merely a whispered-of legend, anyway.) Then, with their immediate desires sated, they found themselves somewhat embarrassingly aware of the many eyes on them and shortly after, of the demands of their bodies. With a lingering touch, they pulled apart, Blake's cock finally leaving the tight embrace of Anitra's pussy after over 10 hours of simmering in the cum-filled heat of her insides. It started shriveling almost instantly, and Anitra quickly dove down to clean it before it retreated entirely into its sheath. Her full bladder, empty stomach and dry lips were all clamoring for attention, but she refused to let her duties slide.

The long shaft tasted strongly of his cum and her own juices, having soaked in both for so long. It had prevented the cum from drying up and encrusting, which was fortunate, but the cum was still... somewhat stale. It lacked the almost boiling heat of the initial ejaculation, merely hovering on body-heat level. The sensation was somewhat like drinking lukewarm water, and with her mouth dry and stomach empty, she tasted it more intensely than she otherwise would have. A slight grimace on her face showed her discomfort, but nothing else. Keeping Blake's huge cock clean and satisfied was her duty as a DragonRider, and it was a duty she would not trade for anything.

With a swift-moving tongue, she managed to clean off virtually all of the slimy mixture covering the shaft, before it softened completely and drew back beneath its scaly cover. She watched the tip disappear with a wistful sigh - she had a feeling that she wouldn't be seeing it for a bit. Her big black lover could output a sexual performance no mere mortal could hope to match, but even he had his limits - after everything that had happened he'd need some serious rest and recuperation. For now, meanwhile, there were other needs to see to.

Blake sought the nearby cave-lake to slake his thirst, while Anitra found herself surrounded by Slith who were only too eager to help her with anything she needed. Food, drink, and directions to the toilets topped her list, not necessarily in that order, but it didn't take her long after that to realize another driving need: A bath. The previous night's carousing had left her covered in dried cum and stale sweat, and she would rather not think about what she must smell like. Fortunately, the Slith had extensive bath-facilities - judging by the intricate pipework, the baths probably dated back to the compound's original, human owners, but they had been carefully maintained. Between the richly-appointed baths - complete with a magic-fueled water-heater - and the generally high quality of the housing, she was starting to suspect that this compound had once been the mansion of whatever had passed for a wealthy nobleman amongst the underground exiles.

Either way, she was happy for it and spent nearly an hour soaking in the warm water, washing off the grime of the night before while also taking the opportunity to wash her hair properly. Normally, her (infrequent) baths took the form of small lakes heated by a burst of dragon-breath, if she was lucky - or a cold river if she wasn't. But even when they lucked across a lake small enough to conveniently heat, the warmth would dissipate too quickly to allow her to linger, making her baths hurried affairs even at the best of times.

Well, the Harems of Mirage City had boasted some very nice baths too, but they had been... showy. Opulent. Seemingly designed more as status-symbols than anything else. All colorful mosaic tiles and golden spouts shaped like roaring lions, or something like that. This bath, however, while rich by the standards of a civilization of underground exiles, was small, well-used, and homey. She wasn't alone, either. Slith came and went, for quick showers or longer soaks. More than once, some amorous couple pleasured each other in one of the largest tubs - she could see them move from where she laid, marveling equally at their aquatic agility and their complete lack of anything even remotely resembling shame. She had assumed that their behavior the night before had been motivated mainly by the 'special' mushrooms, but it seemed that their eagerness to openly have sex with each other, at least, was simply part of the local culture.

Finally, however, she roused herself from her bath, dried off, and walked back out of the building. She was still quite naked, of course - but seeing as the Slith were mostly naked as well (their colorful fabrics clearly serving mainly as decorations and rarely covering anything important), she saw no reason to cover herself just for the sake of it - and besides, she wasn't entirely sure where her armor had wound up after last night anyway. That mystery, at least, was soon solved - a Slith woman that she thought she vaguely remembered seeing asleep in Mindora's arms the night before approached her, carrying the dragonscale armor as well as the still-sheathed sword, informing her with a smile that they'd picked it all up from the fields where she'd left it in her... 'eagerness'. While she pulled it on, she also told her that the High Priestess was waiting to speak with the Honored Guest in the chapel at their earliest convenience.

With a quick telepathic exchange, the found that Blake had long-since finished HIS morning rituals as well - having the metabolism of a predator, he was not hungry, so once he'd drunk his fill from the lake and emptied his aching bladder, he was pretty much done. Having sensed her enjoyment of the bathing over their link, however, he'd also taken the time to take a quick dip in the lake, washing off what travel-dust had managed to cling to his smooth scales. I can see the point in being clean, but frankly, I doubt I'll ever understand how you take pleasure in the act itself. Blake's thoughts were playful, and she returned the favor.The mysteries of womankind are not for any man to understand - not even one as ancient and wise as a dragon.

A few seconds later, they were together again, with no further need for telepathic conversation. They found the 'Chapel' easily - it was at the back of the compound, in the central building, and the doors were big and wide enough that Blake could slip through when he bent his knees a bit and kept his head low. The chapel itself was a humble affair - rows of simple, wooden benches were turned towards a central altar, behind which two statues could be seen, one clearly older than the other though both looked like they were well-maintained and cleaned regularly. The oldest was a human in a long robe, hands clasped in front and a halo blazing around his head. Anitra did not recognize him, but reasoned that it was most likely one of the gods worshipped by the humans that had inhabited this complex thousands of years ago. Facing this statue across the altar was... Mindora. Or rather, a 10-foot tall stone statue that looked quite a bit like her, right down to the voluptuous proportions and the come-hither look on her face.

"Please, don't look at it too much. I find it somewhat embarrassing, to be honest..." Mindora's voice came from a side-door, from which she now emerged carrying something wrapped in bright purple fabric. "I asked our stonecutters to fashion an idol that represented our beliefs in the sanctity and inclusivity of love, and they made a statue of ME. I'm flattered, of course, but it really wasn't what I had in mind." She sighed, glancing up at her huge granite twin. "I know that my brothers and sisters back in the Great Cave call us a cult and say that I have seduced away the children to serve me. But I never wished to be worshipped. Merely to teach them to worship something more worthy than any dragon. No offence." "None taken." Rumbled Blake automatically, his eyes fixed on the item in Mindora's hands.

She grinned at him. "Am I boring you? Well, have no worries. You more than earned this trinket during the celebration and the both of you have most certainly left us with memories far more valuable and important than this dusty old piece of clay." With a graceful bow, she handed the purple cloth to Anitra, who felt her heartbeat speed up as she accepted it. Carefully, she opened the cloth, and took a deep breath as she saw the tablet-piece lying dull and unassuming in her hand. The last tablet-piece. Now, they could reassemble Lutan's Tablet, and find the directions to the magically-concealed valley that hid the Dragon Utopia. Their quest was nearly over.

Well, they still needed to get out of these caves. Which meant going back through the Great Cave, where Mindora's less open-minded peers lived. Anitra grinned at the lizard-woman, a thought striking her. "Thank you, Mindora. You've been a splendid host, truly. Maybe when we go back through the Great Cave, His Exalted Dragonness here can tell your rivals to start listening to what you've got to say." These Slith were the first to have welcomed both her and Blake with open arms, and the thought of helping them appealed to her. But Mindora just gave her a sharp gaze, and then shook her head with regret.

"I thank you for the offer, but please, don't do that. The Dragon-Priests are not, themselves, true believers - they merely use the dragon-faith to control the masses. If you approach them as such, they will find some way to explain it away to their followers. Probably by claiming that I corrupted the Divine Dragon somehow. They might even use it as an excuse to finally attack us in force. And they'd almost certainly try to kill you to prevent you from saying more things that might endanger their power-base." A sudden smile shone through her regretful expression. "However... if you were to simply fly through the Great Cave, without stopping to talk to anyone... you'd almost certainly be seen. And the Priests will want to know if you have destroyed us as they no doubt hoped. They'll send scouts... and we will be ready to show them a proper welcome. Maybe gain a few more converts, yeah?"

It bugged Anitra somewhat that, in this rare case where she actively wanted to help someone, the best way for her to help was to do absolutely nothing. But she couldn't fault Mindora's logic, remembering the cold, calculating approach of the old Priestess they had encountered when first they arrived in the Great Cave. So she readily agreed on the plan and after exchanging a few more pleasantries - including a standing offer to come back for another 'Celebration' if they were ever in the neighborhood - they left the Chapel to find pretty much the entire population of the compound assembled outside to see them off.

The Slith greeted them with cheers and waves, many of them restating the hope that they'd come back again someday and both Anitra and Blake felt somewhat dazed as they walked past the cheering crowd to leave the compound through the thrown-wide front gates. The outpouring of love they'd been soaked in during their stay - both the physical and emotional kind - was something quite alien to both of them. They had become accustomed to doing their business either with stealth and deception, or with outright violence. The day and night they had spent in the warm embrace of Mindora's followers seemed more like a dream than any tangible reality to them.

Reality, however, soon reasserted itself. The trek back was no shorter than the trek out - lots of long, boring tunnels. When they reached the Great cave, days later, Blake kept his word and took to the air before they could be approached by any of the guardians of the cave and after flying through the length of the immense cavern, they soon found themselves back in a twisty little maze of passages, all alike. Fortunately, Anitra still had the map she'd worked out before - thus their path back to the entrance was swifter than the inroad had been, since they actually knew where to go now. They still found themselves embroiled in conflict a couple of times on the way, though, but both the pack of over-ambitious giant spiders and the swarm of blood-hungry cave-bats were swiftly dispatched.

More than a week after their initial descend, Blake and Anitra found themselves back in the open-mouthed cave where they'd encountered the caravan. The cave was empty right now, though, with only the ashes of a long-dead fire proving that anyone ever came by there at all. It was still raining outside, too, though it was really more of a drizzle when compared to the downpour that had driven them into the cave back then.

There, in the dim light filtering in from the rain-clouded sky outside the cave, they assembled Lutan's Tablet. The nine pieces fit neatly together along their jagged edges, forming a simple, square tablet. The moment the ninth and last piece was slotted into place, the tablet flashed and in a burst of white light, it was whole. The indecipherable inscriptions they had seen on the individual pieces flowed together before their eyes, and became dense, but still legible writing.

I am Lutan. I crafted this tablet and charged it with my magic so that one day, when all of the people of the world come together as one, they might find the path that leads to the Dragon Utopia - its secrecy no longer needed. However, I also knew that the pieces might be gathered under other circumstances and if you are reading this, the spells I wove into the fragments have sensed just that. At least half of the fragments were claimed by trickery or violence, rather than open exchange. The world is not ready. The secrecy of the Dragon Utopia must not be violated.

Blake and Anitra swore in unison as they read this. Had their entire quest been for naught? Had they been preemptively outwitted by an explorer who was by now a thousand years in his grave? And yet... it seemed as if a map was forming below the text. Perhaps all was not lost. Desperately, they read on.

However, it is possible that you had good cause to do what you did. That necessity rather than greed drives you to find the Dragon Utopia. It is a possibility I cannot in good conscience ignore. Thus, I wove my strongest spells into this tablet - by now released. Three Trials will appear before you. Follow the map to each. You must face your enemy, face your worst fear and finally, face yourself. If you survive all three trials, then your heart is pure and your cause is just - then, at last, the tablet will show you the way to the hidden valley and the Dragon Utopia within. But if you are driven by greed, hatred or blind fanaticism, these trials will spell an agonizing death for you - abandon your futile quest now, lest it claim your life.

Lutan

There was nothing else written on the tablet. Below it, a map could be seen, the lines of it glowing slightly in the murk of the cave. Blake and Anitra glanced at each other for a moment, then Anitra pulled the maps they had accumulated during their travels out of his saddlebags and began trying to figure out what, exactly, the map on the tablet was showing, matching out coastal contours and landmarks as best she could. "It would've been helpful if the oh-so-powerful Lutan had woven some measurements of scale into his magical map." Anitra groused, and Blake grinned, knowing that neither one of them were intimidated by the thought of additional challenges.

"Indeed... such an inconvenience. And three trials to beat, to boot! Not that they'll be any trouble for us, driven by love and honesty and general feel-good-ness as we are. They're only designed to weed out the BAD people, right?" He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, and Anitra returned his grin before returning to her analysis. It didn't take long, however, before she managed to match the mountains and rivers shown by the tablet up against an area on their large map of the continent. "I've got our destination!" she declared triumphantly, and Blake looked over her shoulder to see where she was pointing, only to wince as he recognized it. "THAT place? And here I thought the Great Desert was the most inhospitable place we'd need to visit..."

Anitra shrugged. "Apparently not. We'll just have to stock up on food and water before we head out... we'll find none of either in the hell-scorched wastes of the Blasted Lands. If we are to believe the tablet, however, we will 'face our enemy' there. Whatever that means. We've certainly made enough of those in our travels." Blake just laughed. "Yeah - and some of 'em are even still alive! But whatever - or WHOever - it is, I don't foresee much trouble. A straight-up fight is something we're well equipped to handle. The other trials sound like they might be harsh, in a philosophical sort of way, but facing your enemy? We've done that several times already..."

Even the continuing drizzle outside could not dampen their spirits as they took to the air, black wings carrying them towards the Blasted Lands. Three Trials stood in their way, but they'd weather them all - the dream of reaching the Dragon Utopia was still alive and well.

The End

Coming sooner than you think: Chapter 17 of the DragonRider Chronicles: Face Your Enemy! The end is now in sight...