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Are You a Screamer?

Chapter 31

Aina's clan was not happy to see her. They hurled stones and insults and wanted to punish her for running away from her duty as their princess. The only thing that restrained them was Nhlahla and the fact that they were too weak and injured from their recent ordeals.

Aina was heiress to a long line of tradition. It was because of their blood that she and her family could communicate with the great Ti'uu bird, a spirit who watched over the tribe provided that Aina's bloodline ruled it. In Aina's absence, it seemed the Ti'uu bird had flown, for misfortune plagued the tribe in a series of unfortunate events that seemed to begin and end with Aina's flight and return.

When Ukudlala died at the paws of a dog lord, the foxes mourned him. They gathered his body and carried him to the sacred stones, where they buried him with the ancestors and danced for the safe passage of his soul. As their song rose from the clearing, the dog lords came and set the forest ablaze. Gunshots rang, blasting life from the youth who danced. The foxes screamed as they watched husbands and wives, lovers and children coughing blood as their chests burst with holes. Many more foxes perished in the burrows, which were set ablaze and blocked off by the dogs. Those who had not attended the mourning ceremonies were trapped inside. Young cubs were especially high among the death toll.

The Ti'uu tribe was chased from their forest and fled along the river north, toward Kingdom Curith. They were banished from Kingdom Varimore by decree of King Bastian, who had heard a dear friend of his was "raped" and beaten by their kind. But Kingdom Curith was no kinder to the tribe. In fact, other tribes who had already established themselves in the area chased the Ti'uu foxes away with spears and stones, as did the dogs who hunted near the border. Thus they suffered even more loss, and by the time they had hidden themselves away in Homyn Willow Wood, they were a dwindling handful of the sheer masses they used to be.

Aina's heart was like lead as she looked around the miserable little camp. Her tribe had settled in the must of an old ruin, where the cracked pillars of an ancient structure rose to the stars, a silent testament of an empire now dust. The pillars were called "the stones" by the dog locals, because from a distance, they were so cracked and misshapen that they looked like nothing more than stones. Great statues of foxes clad in billowing robes loomed over the camp, some headless, some offering paws that had long since crumbled away. A dry fountain was at the heart of the ruin, tangled in moss and white flowers as the open ceiling bled moonlight upon it. Aina was sitting on the fountain basin as Nhlahla paced before her, bitterly recounting the last few months of horror the Ti'uu tribe had endured.

"It stopped raining the day you entered the wood," Nhlahla said, pacing back and forth. Her white mane and white-tipped tail swung at every turn. "Ti'uu Bird flew across the sun and the clouds dissolved. Just like that. And we knew you were near."

Aina said nothing and stared at the dirt. She looked at Nhlahla again and thought the young vixen beautiful still for all she had endured. There were lines of sorrow under her eyes and dirt on her cheek. Her mane was limp and had been cut short near her eye - a silent declaration that she was in mourning. The once lively white locks clung to her head now, as if the magic had flowed from her, taking with it her liveliness and joy. She wore a tattered deerskin dress and a black vest made of wolf hide was fastened tight around her shoulders. She walked with a staff that glowed softly around its gnarled branches. Aina recognized the staff. It was her father's. She did not have to ask if he was alive.

If Thandanani was dead and Aina gone, then the foxes had lost their magic. The royal bloodline was literally the lifeline of the tribe and the very reason the tribe had magic to begin with. It was no wonder, then, that the foxes had not been able to fight back. Aina looked around at the miserable, dirty faces and hated herself for her selfishness. In running away, she had all but killed her own.

"You knew I was near . . ." Aina said to her knees, trying to choke back the sudden rise of tears. "But you didn't come for me?"

Nhlahla halted and glared at her. "No."

Aina let the sting of that glare cut her heart. She glanced around. Other foxes were glaring at her as well as they sat around their fires, cooking supper, whispering, hushing the confused sobs of little cubs. A filthy vixen in a singed deerskin dress was breastfeeding her cub with a trembling lip. The cub was dead. But no one had been able to take it from her.

An elderly fox hobbled up to Aina. His face was so twisted with fury, she was not surprised when he halted and suddenly spit. She closed her eyes just in time as the wet slap hit her cheek and eye. As she miserably wiped it off, a young fox came and dragged the elder away, who was now glaring and shouting as his thin chest heaved.

"Sel ney ma'atu! Sel ney ma'atu!"

Die, worthless whore.

Nhlahla watched with flat eyes as the elder was dragged back to his fire. She looked at Aina coldly. "You see what your absence has wrought? If you had taken your duties seriously, none of this would have happened." She swallowed hard. "Ukudlala would be alive."

Aina glared at her. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe he deserved to die?"

Nhlahla stiffened. "Shut up."

"He raped me!" Aina shrilled angrily, sadly.

Nhlahla closed her eyes and flattened her ears, as if to push Aina's outrage away. "No. That's a lie."

"He raped me and still you defend --!"

"That's a motherfucking LIE!" Nhlahla practically roared and heads turned. She narrowed vicious eyes on Aina. "I will not have your filthy lies --!"

"You haven't told them," Aina whispered as it dawned on her. "You haven't told them the truth!" She scowled. "They think the dogs attacked them out of sheer spite and have no idea that it was because of you --!"

"I said hada!" Nhlahla growled.

Aina stared at her, caught somewhere between pity and amazement. She slowly shook her head. "Will you let grief blind you to the truth? Nhlah, he beat me and raped me. Perhaps he would have beaten me every night! Ukudlala was not a good male --"

"Hada!" Nhlahla's chest heaved, and banging the staff in the dirt, she took a halting step. Her eyes were bright and menacing. "Y-You will not sully his memory with your lies. You will not take that from me!"

Seeing the tears start to Nhlahla's eyes, Aina swallowed and was silent.

Nhlahla's face darkened as the tears coursed down her cheeks. "As you have taken everything else," she whispered.

Aina stared at her boots, unable to stand the hurt in those eyes.

At another fire, a child complained that he was hungry. Aina saw Evelyn rise from the fire where she and the escort of mastiffs had been made to sit. Everyone fell still, and the foxes tensed. Lenard put a wary paw on Evelyn's arm and whispered for her to sit back down. Evelyn insisted it was "alright." The foxes watched the exchange intently. Paws went to bows and daggers, males glared and jerked to their feet. But Evelyn only rummaged through her pack, and with her eyes fixed on the hungry child, she went to him and gave him her food.

The little boy hesitated, and behind him, his mother made a grab for his tail. But he twisted his tail out of reach, and looking cautiously at Evelyn, he snatched the offered food. Evelyn smiled as he tore into the package, which contained a ham sandwich Aina knew Evelyn had been saving from the tavern in Loxney. The boy couldn't get enough and his cheeks bunched into his eyes as he munched loudly. Evelyn's eyes softened with sympathy and she touched his head. With a sudden sob, he threw his arms around her and hugged her tight.

"Thank you!" the boy whispered.

"You are welcome," Evelyn whispered back.

"I'm frightened," he sobbed against her. "We're going to die!"

Evelyn frowned sadly. She gathered the boy in her arms, and sitting with him on her lap, she began to sing. The boy's sobs quieted as Evelyn's sweet voice rang through the silence. Crickets chirruped as if to join the song, and somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled.

Aina felt calm flowing through the camp as if on a breeze. She watched, ears pricked forward, as the foxes slowly gravitated toward Evelyn. The mastiffs were still tense and frightened and looked around them in stiff alarm as the foxes drew near. But not a fox was carrying bow or dagger. They came to Evelyn with empty paws, and as if enthralled, they sank before her, ears forward as they listened to her song.

With one paw on her breasts, Aina listened as well, moved to tears by the beauty of her love's gentle spirit.

After the first night when Evelyn sang, a subtle content seemed to fall over the camp. The foxes still mourned those they had lost and the sound of bitter weeping in the night was not uncommon, but the fear and tension were gone. Aina could not decide if it was the presence of the great Ti'uu bird or if it was Evelyn and her gentle compassion.

For the Ti'uu bird had returned to the tribe, that much was clear. It had not spoken to Elder Thandanani nor made an appearance in over a hundred years, but the tribe had always been able to feel its presence and know it was there, watching and protecting, if not from a distance. Now for the first time in over a century, it had actually shown itself. Why, Aina could not say. Perhaps because it was needed so desperately.

Great Ti'uu flew across the moon each night, and in the morning when they awoke, the rain had come and fish were brimming in the lakes and little rivers, deer were in abundance, and even more fruits and vegetables were ripening in the forest. The Ti'uu foxes were thriving once again, and before long, there was even talk of digging out a burrow. If Great Ti'uu Bird favored Homyn Willow Wood, then perhaps it was a sign that they should settle.

The foxes could not be certain until someone spoke to Great Ti'uu. To claim any land as their home without permission from the spirit world was an affront - an affront that could land the tribe with more chaos and despair. It was then that the foxes looked to Aina, and Nhlahla grudgingly asked her to speak to Great Ti'uu. "You are the only one who can," she said bitterly.

Aina could not resent Nhlahla for her anger. Nhlahla had been put in charge, had remained loyal to her tribe and had steadfastly guided them through danger after danger, and yet still, Aina was the only one Ti'uu Bird would speak to. No doubt Nhlahla had tried in vain to summon the great protector, but her rituals and cries for help had only gone ignored.

"I will speak to him," Aina said and swallowed hard. She had never spoken to Ti'uu Bird before. Her father had spoken to Ti'uu over a century ago and once described the encounter as intense. But he would say no more and seemed to become nervous just thinking about it.

Aina knew the ritual to summon Ti'uu Bird and that it would require that she do it alone. Ti'uu would come for the first encounter only if she made a show of respecting the traditions he had set for her tribe. So leaving Evelyn behind in confusion and concern, Aina took a dagger and went alone into the trees.

She went naked. Because Ti'uu would want her sky-clad and tail bare. Her long red mane curved to the rise of her buttocks and tail as she moved solemnly through the trees, dagger in paw.

She knew just where to go. It was pulling at her like a thread. Her feet carried her down the steep earth, down the incline, and at the bottom, she found a tree stump. It was large enough to serve as a table, and the many rings spoke of a being that had stood in silence for centuries before the dogs failed it. The stump was a remnant of pain echoing through the wood, and for Aina, seemed only too appropriate a place to cry out in appeal from an aching heart.

Aina climbed onto the tree stump and knelt, tail curling tight around her. With trembling breasts, she gathered the long tresses of her mane and held them at bay. The blade of the dagger gleamed as she pressed it to her red locks, and after taking a miserable breath, she cut her mane away.

The loose strands curled on the breeze and spiraled away in clumps. She gathered more and cut again. The tears coursed down her face as she thought of her father, who had died because of her actions. As she thought of Ukudlala, who had died because of his own. So much death and despair in so little time. And it all happened because she decided she was more important than her duty.

As her cropped mane fell in spikes around her ears, Aina let the dagger drop and bowed her head. She closed her eyes and felt the shame settle over her like the gnarled claws of a beast, and nails pinched her shoulders as the feeling squeezed.

"You come," whispered a voice.

Aina opened her eyes with a start and realized the fingers on her shoulders were real. She glanced at her shoulder and gasped: wrinkled talons were squeezing her, gentle and questioning. She could feel the heat of someone behind her, could feel the brush of a ripping belly . . . and downy soft feathers.

Heart thudding in her ears, Aina bowed her head and whispered reverently, "I come, Great Ti'uu Bird."

"Why?" he whispered behind her.

Aina's lashes fluttered. She was surprised by how soft and lilting his voice was. She had expected anger from him, perhaps some form of punishment for having run in defiance from sacred duty. But he was calm. Even sympathetic. He spoke so few words, and yet she could hear it. A part of her could feel it. Like she could feel the wind.

"My tribe needs you," Aina said to her knees. She swallowed hard. "They suffer because of me."

"I can not alleviate their suffering," he answered calmly, and Aina heard the soft ruffle of feathers.

Blue fog rolled in around her, touching her knees, sweeping through the trees. She knew that if she tried to leave, she would be walking blind. She would never find her way through such a fog. He was conjuring it to keep her in place, but why? Because he wanted something she was not going to want? Because he wished to punish her after all? Her heart quickened in her chest but she remained still as a frightened mouse. He was still standing behind her, though the strong fingers of his talons had long since let go. She felt his finger trace from the back of her neck to her tail and she tensed.

"G-Great Ti'uu Bird," she whispered nervously. "They wish to settle on this land. They w-wish . . ." She trembled and fell silent when his talon slid around and cupped her breast. He weighed it carefully, and she heard him sigh.

"I know what they wish," he answered in the same calm voice.

"W-Will you . . .?"

"They will die," he said softly and dropped his talon away.

Aina stiffened with shock. She blinked at the distant trees and didn't know what to say.

"I have known it for centuries," he went on. "I have watched their suffering - and the suffering of all foxes -- their cries for mercy, for deliverance. I have watched the dogs drag them through the mud. Those who needed eradicating are now gone."

Aina felt the sudden tears rise to hear his words. Those who needed eradicating? Their great protector had simply watched? Allowing those to die who he deemed unworthy? She choked back the tears. Was her father unworthy?

"The time has now come. I will raise them up, and they will own the land once more. But those you call your tribe . . . they will perish." Aina's lashes fluttered when he touched the back of his fingers to her cheek and whispered, "I am sorry."

"W-Was my father unworthy?" she asked, hating the sob in her voice.

He rubbed her shoulders soothingly. "Do not cry. Your father was a worthy leader, but it was better he die than witness what is to come. You, however, must live and endure. You now carry the fate of all foxes. The F'nnec'een."

The F'nnec'een. It was the name the ancient foxes had proudly gone by. Aina had seen it any number of times in various ruins. She blinked as Ti'uu's words sank in. She wanted to turn, to look at him, but she was afraid. And she also knew better than to do so.

"Your father told stories of noble foxes slain by savage dogs," Ti'uu Bird said to her. "A part of it is true. It is a half-truth spun by foxes bitter and resentful toward those who conquered them." He waited.

". . . what's the whole truth?" Aina whispered.

"The whole truth? Many of your ancestors were corrupt. The blood that trailed from their thrones soaked the land. When the dogs came and slaughtered them, I and my kin allowed it to happen."

Aina closed her eyes. So it was true. When Red Mane told her his story about foxes drinking cub blood, she'd thought it a drunken lie. She hugged herself sadly.

"Unfortunately," Ti'uu Bird continued, "the dogs also extended their wrath to innocents. Peaceful kingdoms were torn asunder and fell with those already rent by violence. I guided my innocent children through the chaos and despair as best I was able. And now, I will lift them up again."

"What do you will?" Aina whispered. "I throw myself at your mercy, Great Ti'uu Bird. Nothing will take away my shame for having fled you, but I wish now to honor and obey . . ."

"So you shall," he whispered, and she could hear the smile in his voice. He smoothed his fingers through her cropped mane in a loving massage, and she felt herself relaxing in spite of her fear. "Your father's name means Water Lily. I gave it to him. Do you know why?"

Aina kept her eyes on her knees. She could feel him pressing close, could feel his breath on her neck as his talons smoothed over her curves, exploring her. She closed her eyes when his talon slid up her neck and under her chin, forcing her head back against him. His other talon squeezed and massaged her breast, slowly, rolling the pink nipple in skilled fingers. She felt her sex moisten and went very still. It suddenly hit her that he was going to have his way with her. Right there. Over the tree stump.

"Your grandmother Nokomis cried to me for a child," Ti'uu whispered. "She was barren and could not continue the bloodline I have stood guardian to for thousands of years. I told her to go home, to make love to her husband once more. When she returned home, I possessed her husband, and I made love to her. The child she bore was Thandanani, a result of the throes of passion and magic. I named him Water Lily. Because his soul was calm as the stillest pond."

Ti'uu took Aina by the neck and slowly bent her forward. She heard his soft sigh of delight and felt her heart quicken when his careful talons pried her thighs apart. She was now kneeling on the tree stump, legs spread, and high breasts trembling as they swung down. He was appraising her, exploring her before the inevitable submission she would endure. He smoothed his talons along the curves of her small body and touched her clitoris. She saw light seep from his fingers and sobbed with sudden arousal. She could feel the hungry throbbing between her thighs and her arms trembled to support her.

"Your grandmother did not know it was a tradition, that she was supposed to remain barren until I came for her, that I always possess the mate of each generation and create an heir," he whispered. "When it came time for your father to marry, I possessed his wife . . . and I made love to him. I made you. I gave you your name . . . and now I will give you the deepest pleasures you will ever know."

Aina swallowed hard. Her legs were spread and her throbbing sex slapped by the cold air. She felt the soft head of his hard penis brush against the moist lips of her sex and tensed with anticipation.

"Your grandmother was a screamer," he said. "I wonder if you are . . ."

His thumb pealed apart the swollen lips of her sex, then she felt his knee knock her thighs wide. Kneeling there with legs wide and buttocks pointed out, she felt helpless and exposed. The fog was curling against her fur now, chilling her, bringing her nipples out hard.

With a sigh and a rustle of his feathers, he sank himself slowly between the swollen lips of her sex. She choked to feel the size of him. The enormity of his passion pulled her lips taunt and her eyes flew open wide. His talon clutched her hip as he slowly slid himself through her moisture, pressing so deliciously deep that she twisted her back, pushing her buttocks toward him.

"Oh, yes . . ." he whispered as he slowly began to thrust.

She rocked gently with his thrusts and felt her moisture seeping down her thighs. Soft cries escaped her and she trembled from the pleasure of it. So deep. So thick and strong. Her sex clenched on him, and he rubbed his talon along the deep line of her narrow back, silently encouraging. She clenched her sex again, harder, hungrier, and he moaned. As he carefully rode her, her lashes fluttered, and she realized he was being taken . . . by her god.

"Mmph . . ." he grunted, and without warning, wrapped his arms around her and humped deeper, harder. Her lashes fluttered as the immense wings enfolded her. The wings spanned from his muscular arms, and trapped in that loving wall, she could feel the press of his rippling belly and hard chest. He was hard-bodied and fit, powerful and strong, and yet his feathers were so incredibly soft. They fluttered blue across the air, spiraling away as he made desperate love to her. He gasped and sighed in her ear, and his beak nibbled her neck as he punched in harder, deeper.

Aina's lashes fluttered and she began to scream. The faster he thrust, the bigger he became. She could feel her clitoris throbbing hard against his thrusting organ, and her stretched little sex heaved to contain him. He knocked her knees even further apart and pulled her upright. Breasts flapping, she shrilled helplessly as she watched her hips snapping with every stab of that thick erection. That she was able to take such a huge thing shocked her. His careful fingers massaged her clitoris as his erection stabbed up and in, snapping her hips with every thrust.

"Ah . . . ah . . . ah . . . ah . . . ah . . .!" Aina wanted to die. Surely, they could hear her screams back at the camp. His grunts also echoed through the trees. Without thinking, she reached back and found the strong line of his jaw, his thick neck, the cascade of feathers that fell like a mane around his face. His beak clacked near her cheek and his tongue affectionately licked her. She shivered when he grabbed her breasts in fistfuls and brought them to his face as he humped her from behind. His tongue found her nipple and flicked it as his erection continued stabbing up and in, hard, fast, until her juices were flying from his thrusts.

"Ah . . . ah . . . ah . . . ah . . . AHHHHH!" Aina squirted. She sagged in Ti'uu's great wings as he lovingly caressed her breasts. He grunted in her ear, and with a cry, released his seed. She felt it rush hot to fill her, felt his muscular body tensing as it happened. He let her slump forward on the stump, where she caught herself and knelt panting. His enormous penis pulled free with a soft suck, and she felt the lips of her sex shrinking up, battered and defeated.

"The child will unite the foxes once more," he said behind her. "And it will rule alongside the dogs. In long awaited peace."

"Y-Yes," Aina panted. "G-Great Ti'uu Bird . . ."

"You will die giving birth to it."

Aina went still, staring at the rings in the stump. "A-As you will, Great Ti'uu Bird."

"Yes. I will," he whispered, and she felt his finger brush her tail. "Serve me faithfully, child, and your reward will be the dog bitch."

Aina kept still as she tried to imagine what he meant. If she was just going to die, how could Evelyn possibly be her reward? Mortals did not become spirits. Mortals simply died. She squeezed her thighs shut and knelt on the stump again, head bowed as Ti'uu came around to face her. She felt his cold shadow fall over her and knew she could have looked at him had she wanted. But she was still afraid to. She closed her eyes. His affectionate fingers touched her cheek.

"Name it Azrian," he whispered. And just like that . . . he was gone.