FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Seduction of Seleste

From the world of the mating season

Nontikmah's Lie

Chapter 71

They crossed the sea of ice with Kitari bitterly leading the way. The fox's paws were still bound by the glowing rope, and looking at his stiff back, Keme realized that the rope left Kitari no choice but to do as they told him. He didn't seem able to free himself, and with all his power drained, he was helpless to do anything except lead them on. He picked his way across the ice, and they followed in a line. Nahimana had insisted that they travel in such a way, for their spread weight allowed them to avoid breaking the ice.

Indeed, there was one horrible moment where Mio actually fell through. Frantic, Inden tossed his spear aside and pulled him out by the scruff. Nahimana guided a shivering, shaking Mio to stand beside Kitari, and they watched in amazement and Mio's wet fur fluffed up, cool and dry.

"The foxes have a natural resistance to all this," Nahimana said to their incredulous stares, and she waved her white paw over the ice to indicate.

They continued on, and the faceless gray sea rolled before them, ever stretching, ever reaching for the blank horizon as the ice plates bumped softly. The plates slowly became less of a phenomenon as the ice smoothed into one hard sheet. In the distance, shapes became apparent - jagged forms that towered against the white sky.

Walking behind Seleste, Keme marveled that he couldn't feel the cold at all. He had to wonder if it was Kitari's contagious resistance or his own shemale blood. He had never been susceptible to cold long before now. He remembered the way Avi had never once flinched in the rain and decided it must be the shemale in him. But the others, they needed Kitari there. With Sylas unable to help them, it was probably a good thing that Kitari had tried to kill them. Heh.

When the ice seemed solid enough, they pulled closer together, walking side bye side, until the first crystal came into the view. It rose out of the mist, a near-transparent white rock that pointed its jagged fingers to the heavens. It was huge. The ice was indeed thick here.

They looked around when Kitari began to laugh: Nahimana was shifting unsteadily from foot to foot. She put a paw to her drowsy face and frowned.

"No!" Seleste cried. She grabbed Nahimana's arm and they slowly sank together. Seleste helped the sorceress lie down on the ice. "Please, Nah," she whispered miserably. "You have to fight it!"

Nahimana didn't look inclined to fight it. She smiled at Seleste from under heavy eyelids. "Take me . . ." she whispered. "To . . . to Wichahpi. You will know him."

Seleste shook her head. "No," she said stubbornly. "I need your help - I can't do this alone!"

Nahimana smiled. "You aren't_alone._" Her silver eyes turned to Keme to indicate, then they closed, and she drifted away.

"No!" Seleste cried angrily, and coming up beside her, Avi rubbed her shoulder.

Keme moved in close. Nahimana looked beautiful lying there, her mane spreading around her, her white fur blending almost seamlessly with the ice. He knelt and carefully gathered her sleeping body to his chest. He stood again and looked down at her. She was so slender and tall that she felt quite long in his arms. Her head lolled on her neck. He folded her close until her cheek dully slapped his shoulder. She slept on, her gentle breaths ruffling his fur.

"Who is Wichahpi?" Kilyan asked Seleste.

"Her mate," Seleste answered miserably. She stood and turned away. "Come on."

Keme was surprised when Seleste shoved Kitari on and led the way at his side. The others followed her quietly, but Kitari kept glancing over his shoulder at Kilyan. He suddenly smirked, and looking at him, Keme thought What is that bastard up to?

_ _

"You knew her," Kitari said after a while, and somehow or other, everyone knew he was talking to Kilyan.

Kilyan's face darkened but he said nothing.

"Shut up and lead!" Zee warned. He prodded Kitari threateningly in the back with his spear. Kitari stumbled forward from the prod, but the smirk didn't leave his lips. Keme frowned: he wasn't finished yet.

"And I mean you knew_her," Kitari said delicately. His sly eyes slid to their corners and fixed on Kilyan, whose lips had tightened. "You know you aren't the first wolf she seduced? And after that night, you certainly weren't the last. She had a hunger for mortal cock, rode it day in, day out - and with Sylas right in the other room listening." Kitari paused, waiting for Kilyan - or someone - to respond. When everyone ignored him, he went on: "She told you how I fucked her, didn't she? Half of that was a lie. But then, with Nontikmah, it was _always a lie."

Walking near his father as he carried Nahimana, Keme's ears pricked forward. He looked quickly at his father to see if there was an ounce of truth in the fox's words: had Kilyan really slept with Sylas' mother? Kilyan avoided even looking at Keme, and Keme looked away again, blinking in shock and not knowing what to think.

"Dyzere and I fought over Nontikmah for centuries," Kitari went on in a reminiscing sort of voice. Gazing ahead, he grinned at the distant crystals that were becoming apparent in the mist. "The moment Dyzere brought her home with him as wife . . . I wanted_her. She wanted me too. That's the part they leave out of the stories. She _wanted it. And I gave it to her. I gave it to her in every position fathomable, and they heard her screams in the furthest reaches of the jungle." Kitari laughed and fell silent.

". . . Grandfather," Mio said slowly. "What is he talking about?" He stared at Kilyan in amazement.

LiAnh and Zee looked just as perplexed, but glancing at the others, Keme knew they were fully aware of what Kitari was talking about. Avi looked angry enough to punch Kitari's lights out, Keeno passed Kilyan several worried glances as he limped along, and Inden quivered with silent rage.

"The poor thing loved us both, my brother and I," Kitari said darkly. "She told us to go ahead and kill each other, then she fled with Sylas. So we did. I killed Dyzere. In cold blood, I slew him for her." He glanced at Kilyan as if to make sure he was listening. He was. "Afterward, I went in search of her. When I found her, she already knew of Dyzere's death. No doubt she felt it when he died. I knew I wouldn't be able to convince her to come back with me. I tricked her. I fucked her all night, and as I came inside, I changed from the crazy wolf wanderer to her lover. I became Kitari. She threw me out. She was so ashamed," he said, as if he couldn't understand it, even now.

"I thought about stealing Sylas away that night," Kitari went on thoughtfully. "For all I know, he might be mine." He laughed coldly. "But I let the boy be. And I watched him from a distance. I watched for centuries as his mother fucked everything that moved to dull her pain. But you . . . you were something to her, Kilyan," Kitari said quietly. "You awoke feelings in her she hadn't known since . . . since me."

"Shut up," Kilyan warned, as if those words had been the last straw. "Stop talking about her - it wasn't - she knew I was married." He blinked miserably.

Kitari lifted his brows in amusement. "Look how sad you are," he said with sincere sympathy. "Don't tell me the bitch got you. Don't tell me you actually cared about her too. Do you know after you left, I came back and fucked her again? And this time, she knew it was me. She embraced me readily. She used me to bite back her sorrow. You really hurt her when you left, Kilyan. You really broke her. But that's what he does to females, doesn't he, Avi? He fucks them and leaves them . . . broken."

Keme sneered as he realized: Kitari was talking about hymens, not hearts. He was suddenly so angry, he wanted to drop Nahimana and punch Kitari himself. Kilyan had never hurt his mother like --! Had he? Keme glanced miserably at Avi. His mother's ears flattened and she tensed.

"I said shut up," Kilyan warned again.

"And you left her pregnant too?" Kitari went on in disgust. "Another nasty habit of yours, leaving your fucking pups in the wombs of others' females. First the little shemale princess, then my Nontikmah. Makes you wonder just how many little squirts of his are running around out there in the vast, vast world, doesn't it, Avi?"

Avi glowered, and Kitari went on.

"You left my Tikmah with an ugly, scrubby mortal child," he sneered. "Didn't even have the decency to pull out, just busted inside her. And what was the end result? A piece of wolf filth completely unworthy of the fox dynasty its mother hailed from. A weak little bastard child, whose death was a mercy to say the lea --"

"SHUT UP!" Kilyan roared. He lunged at Kitari, and Seleste screamed as she was knocked aside. They went down together, and everyone scrambled as Kilyan's shouts roared above the mayhem. He managed to straddle Kitari and punched him over and over in the face. Kitari was laughing uproariously - even as the blood flew and stained his teeth.

Keme didn't know what to do. In the sudden chaos, he had almost dropped Nahimana's sleeping body to get out of his father's lunging path. Mio and Zee were also knocked down, and Keeno teetered before miraculously regaining his balance. Seleste was on her face, and LiAnh ran to help her up. Avi merely stood, watching what was happening in grim silence, as if she couldn't move.

It was finally Inden who managed to pry Kilyan away. Kilyan twisted and fought to get back to Kitari, and he didn't stop until Keeno limped over and started whispering for him to calm down. Kilyan sagged breathlessly in Inden's strong grasp, and he reminded Keme a great deal of LiAnh in that moment.

A furious Mio and Zee hauled Kitari to his feet. Without hesitating, Zee gave the fox a backslap that sent him to one knee and warned him to keep his mouth shut the rest of the journey. Kneeling there, his mouth dripping blood, Kitari only looked up at Zee and smiled mischievously.

Avi and Keeno closed in around Kilyan, whispering soothing words to him as Inden continued to hold his arm.

"He trying to make Kilyan angry," Avi said and rubbed Kilyan's chest to calm him. "He want Kilyan to get mad and kill him. Because if he die, we all die."

Kilyan snorted angrily. "You aren't affected by the cold. You'd be fine if he died, Avi," he said at once. Chest heaving, he glared at Kitari, and he looked as if he just might lose his wits and lunge again.

Avi cupped Kilyan's face and made him look at her: "Avi won't be fine without Kilyan."

Her words seemed to bring Kilyan back to earth. His eyes softened to see the worry in her face. He nodded apologetically and they kissed.

When everyone had regained their composure, they continued on, but not before Mio insisted upon putting a gag in the fox's mouth. They stuffed a rag in his mouth and tied a bit of cloth back in his lips. But Kitari didn't seem to care. Now bound and gagged, he stood watching Kilyan, his eyes twinkling triumph. He had successfully angered what had been a rival for his lover's heart. Nothing brought his spirits down after that, and when they continued on, his mischievous eyes continued to smile.

It took a long time for Kilyan's shuddering breaths to finally stop. Walking behind his father with Nahimana in his arms, Keme watched anxiously as his mother smoothed her small paw over Kilyan's muscular back, as Keeno whispered words of comfort that Keme could not hear.

Something in the fox's words had also infuriated Inden, who insisted on walking with his spear at Kitari's back in place of Zee.

Watching Inden, Keme supposed his anger had everything to do with Avi. Over the weeks that they had traveled together, it had become apparent that Inden viewed Avi as a mother much the way LiAnh did. Whenever he looked at the little shemale, there was a tender light in his eye. The grim disposition, the solemnity left him whenever she spoke to him, and he became the earnest gentleman, spreading his wings over her in the rain, catching her when she stumbled.

Inden's anger alone seemed to confirm for Keme that the fox's words were true. At some point in time, Kilyan had slept with Avi and . . . had broken her heart. But was his father really a despicable heartbreaker? He had spent the past weeks building up this golden image of Kilyan - Kilyan, who seemed so strong and good - only to discover that . . . his father had his faults like everyone else. His parents had ultimately come together through heartache and pain. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

The crystals appeared more frequently now. They passed through the silent monoliths, and each time Seleste drew near one, it would glow. When Seleste had passed far from reach, the crystal would dull again . . . almost in disappointment, Keme thought. Many of the crystals were cracked and crumbling from neglect. Some of them hummed softly . . . sadly. Were the crystals alive?

The further in they walked, the more the feeling of sadness overcame Keme. He could feel it coming from Nahimana as well now. The frost wolves were pushing this sadness out, silently calling for aid as they slept. The group halted when they came upon the first one.

Like Nahimana, the wolf was white as the ice around her. She hovered in midair beside a crystal, her mane floating gently around her, her slender arms folded over her breasts. Her nails were incredibly long, and Keme could tell from the shape of her mouth that her fangs were long as well. She floated there peacefully as she slept, but her brows were pressed together in sorrow. The woe seemed to radiate from her in waves.

"How many of them are around here?" Keeno wondered.

"Nah said there were seven," Seleste told him.

Mio raised his brows. "Seven? Only seven?"

"Seven," Seleste confirmed and smiled at him over her shoulder. She glanced around at the crystals, which spread away in all directions. "I only hope we find Wichahpi. Nah said I would know him when I saw him, but . . ."

"We'll find him," LiAnh assured her and rubbed her shoulder.

LiAnh was right. They passed two more sleeping frost wolves - both female - before they came to a male. He hovered before a great crystal, muscular and big and quite handsome, Keme thought. His toned arms were folded across his bulging pectorals, and his floating mane was so long around his thick neck, it practically fell to his feet. The sorrow was overwhelming here.

"That's him," Seleste whispered. She looked at Keme, as if she wasn't sure what they should do.

Keme didn't know either. He stepped forward and carefully lay Nahimana on the ice. After a moment, they gasped when her sleeping body rose into the air. She hovered for a pause, then her slender arms folded over her breasts, and with her mane billowing about her, she hovered at her lover's side. The sadness seemed to ebb away a little when this happened.

Keme smiled, and coming to Seleste, he put his arm around her. He was glad when she nuzzled her head against him. Together, they gazed up at Nahimana and Wichahpi, who seemed to be at peace. The two lovers were united at last.

As if sickened by this display, Kitari moved on. The others followed.

They continued in silence, and the further they went, the more it occurred to Keme . . . the frost wolves had no houses! No, there was nothing but the crystals. When he questioned Seleste, she confirmed that the frost wolves had only been allowed inside the kingdom during the wars. At all other times, they remained on the ice, guarding the crystals. They didn't have homes or possessions. They didn't eat because they didn't need to. And they didn't sleep. It was simply endless toil: growing the crystals, healing them, being with them. There was nothing more to their lives than that. If they slept now, it was because Wynn had drained the magic.

Keme's heart burned to hear such a thing. That . . . that was no life at all! How could Sylas allow this to go on in his own kingdom? Surely the foxes could care for their own damn crystals! But no, the frost wolves were forced to these dull, unfulfilling lives for the sake of helping the foxes keep their magic. Ugh!

Eventually, the crystals began to thin, like the trees at the end of a forest. Keme's heart pounded as he realized they were almost out. He could see a great wall taking shape in the distance, and at its center, a gate. How long had they been walking? It felt like hours, but for all he knew, time was different in Miras Eii: they could have been walking for days.

The ice began to disappear, and in its place, slushy snow, then earth, then grass. Plant life began sprouting everywhere as the landscape underwent its drastic transformation. The closer they drew to the distant wall, the thicker the abundance of plant life. The trees rose white to the sky, and the sky itself became a bright, pale blue. More trees leaned over the white wall as they drew near, bushes and foliage pressed from the gate, and vines snaked up the wall's sides. Flowers also draped over the wall, purple and white and orange. Their petals cascaded to the grass, spiraling in the wind and sprinkling the ground in a sea of color.

This was it. This was the fox kingdom.

The group stopped at the gates. They were golden and towered away twenty, thirty feet. Keme was gazing up at them with Mio and LiAnh when he heard his father speak.

"What did you do to my daughter?" Kilyan said. He still sounded very angry, and Keme turned to see he was facing Kitari. Kilyan ripped Kitari's gag out and pressed his spear to his throat. "Answer me," he said through his fangs.

Keme went very still. He had never seen Kilyan so livid - not even back when he tackled Kitari. Kilyan's green eyes shone bright with rage, and he only had eyes for Kitari: it was as if the rest of them weren't there.

Kitari licked away the dried blood on his lip, but he didn't hesitate to answer, "I fucked her."

Kilyan punched him at once.

Kitari sank to a knee and laughed, but he lifted his face and went on, "I came into her dreams as she slept, and I fucked her. She resisted at first, but I held her down . . ." He laughed when Kilyan tensed. "It was like Nontikmah all over again -- she became_obsessed_ with me. Her spirit followed me through the dreams of others, searching for me, hungry for me. She doesn't know how to get back. She'd probably be _ashamed_to come back --"

"Enough!" Kilyan looked down at him in disgust. "Get up and take us to her!"

Very satisfied with himself, Kitari smirked and rose to his feet.

Without warning, Inden stepped forward and sank his spear in his belly.