Through the Iron Steppe: Capture
Rewritten three times, but, I'm comfortable again. Next story should come more quickly, and probably much better, but I actually still liked this one.
Fear was spreading through the trading class of the kingdom of Cain. The steppes to the north that had been used as clear cut routes to the settlements and kingdoms far past it were now feared. During the beginning of the use of these routes guards had to travel alongside caravans to stave off attacking gnolls, creatures considered barbaric and simple by the majority of the kingdom's occupants. King Reban was called to act, to secure the routes for the kingdom. A purging of the steppe was requested and the King answered in kind, sending what he considered enough to rid the trading routes of any danger. Of course no one had expected the gnolls to put up such a fight even going so far as driving the King's armies out of the land. Out of respect and fear, the King had called out to the beasts for peace and to give tribute. Cain would provide a small tribute in order for their routes to be secured and the gnolls who only cared for their own land accepted, but now the caravans were in danger again. During the day caravans would simply disappear without a trace, and at night, only ravaged corpses were ever found by scouts; and not a single sign of the gnolls. The king had decided to send his best scouts through the steppes to find the gnolls and bring answers from them. Each scout traveled alone, spreading across the land in search of a sign.
Fina had been to the steppe before in order to gauge the number of the beasts known as gnolls. Their kind was spread through the large steppe in several camps. Sometimes they were even found in the wetland when the drier seasons came around and enough ground was given that they could actually live there comfortable enough. They were hardy creatures that could weather any storm, so now then, where were they? Strands of fur were coiled around her finger and she brought it up to the sun, it was a small bit of fur from a gnoll she had met long ago, figuring tracking the beasts would come in handy. This was her territory, the other scouts were checking the mountains surrounding the steppe, with any luck she would be able to find the gnolls first and signal them to come along. With spell at the ready, she said a small chant and felt that bit of fur around her finger tug and pull in a direction. With a small smile she knelt before leaping into a sprint taking a bit of time before calling the wind to her back, sending her soaring just above the ground at brisk pace.
Occasionally she would stop to look around and let her lungs breath. Such magic was troublesome on the body if she sustained it for too long, but small breaks would give her body the time to recover before moving on, still, she took each opportunity to rest as a way of looking around. In the past she would have already spotted a gnoll or two hunting or at the very least patrolling their territory, but now she saw nothing. Her break was over though, and she needed to move again or else the tracking spell would lose its effect, however, when she attempted to move an arrow the size of her leg planted itself firmly before her. Eyes wide she paused for a moment before turning to see that a large gnoll clad in bone and black stood there, another arrow notched and aimed at her head. Chewing upon her lip she thought of simply dashing, but the spell would take some time to begin and that meant if the gnoll was a sure shot as most were she would be skewered upon the ground. More gnolls clad in similar ways began approaching her all with bows except for the largest of them which held a simple gnarled staff in hand. Her eyes fixated on that larger gnoll, eyes narrowing. She had never seen a mage of any sort among the gnolls. Typically they stuck to their archery and sometimes basic swordplay, she had thought that magic was a concept far too foreign for them to comprehend, then again it could have just been a bludgeon. Clearing her throat she began to speak hoping to reason with the beasts, "I mean no harm. I only wish to figure out the happenings within these steppes and with you who are our allies."
Before long the group of gnolls were near her, towering over her, the gnoll wielding a staff closing the distance wordlessly. The silence was killing her. The gnolls before her didn't even growl, they only stared at her. Fina cleared her throat to speak yet again, to protest their weapons being trained upon her, but was interrupted by the largest who began, "I am Rryter...necromancer of this tribe. The gnolls that you use are scattered and few in number. Your caravans suffer our rituals, your traders our prisoners."
Panic showed upon her face and flooded her body with a hot wash. She needed to act now, but the gnoll before her saw this. Raising his staff he brought it on the back of her head knocking her to the ground along with her senses her hand upon the sword at her belt that she had just been about to draw. Large, furred hands moved to grip at her arms, seizing her and tying her wrists together. She could barely keep her eyes open at this point, her world in a daze. At this point her mission was failed, and her life was forfeit. She had no way to find the stragglers of this defeated tribe, and the threat of the necromancer would go without notice. As she was being hefted up onto a strong shoulder, her mind finally darkened, her last thoughts being a hope for a quick end.
She woke up with a start. Sitting up only to regret her sudden movement. Her ears were ringing and her head felt like it was about to pop. With a small frown she blinked away the pain, looking around to see that she was trapped inside of a small cave-like room with nothing inside of it, torches upon the wall where a door had been fit in to most likely keep prisoners in. Testing her balance she began to get up slowly, gasping as she nearly fell over, her ears ringing the effort indicating she wasn't in any condition to move. It was then that she noticed she was entirely nude, not a single piece of clothing on her, and her equipment nowhere to be seen. It wasn't enough that they had captured her, they had indeed stripped her of anything that allowed her to keep her dignity. As she scowled the door creaked, a gnoll stepping through in only a loin cloth and wielding a butcher's cleaver in hand, his fur was stained with something black around his hands, and his maw was stretching into a toothy grin, a scar planted firmly over one eye, "I see you're awake. Lucky. The other prisoners are dead and the ritual for the day is finished so you can't hear the fun and we don't need you for now...I'll want to have some fun with you though....prep you for the night."
Fina's eyes narrowed as she watched the gnoll move closer, his hand tossing the cleaver behind him. That was her only chance, to grab the cleaver and cut him down before escaping. Unfortunately as she tried to move she fell on one knee, cursing herself and gasping. Her mind pulsed such pain that she could not even summon a small bit of magic to lend herself the strength to fell this foul creature. It was maddening, but rather than cower she looked up at the massive beast before her, glaring from the ground and scowling as he gripping onto her head, fingers digging through her red hair as his other hand tossed aside his loin cloth revealing something unlike anything she had ever seen. Never before had she had any interest in the anatomy of these beasts, and certainly the reveal didn't changed her mind. It was something much larger than any human she had seen and much more red. It twitched and dribbled pre from the tip, sticky pre which was pushed against her cheek as he taunted her, "Come on...service me...if you're an actual good girl, I'll make your death tonight quick, if not I can just break your jaw."
Fina as best as she could looked behind the beast to see where the cleaver was. Her head was promptly tugged and the gnoll jailer snarled, bringing her lips in line with that thick thing that was forcibly presented to her. With a frown she closed her eyes and opened her mouth, letting her tongue drag against it. She could hear the gnoll cackling now, his hand loosening its hold on her head. She figured if she could satisfy this beast she would be able to recover enough to be able to get that blade. She would need to play it right. Now her tongue moved low against that thick thing, wincing from the overly pungent salty flavor of the creature's member. She continued on lower and lower despite her entire body desiring to pull away from the smell and taste of the beast before her, but still she pressed on, her tongue moving under to lick at the beast’s orbs, receiving a groan from the beast, a noise that had her stomach in knots from disgust, she wanted no part in pleasuring this beast, this foul creature, but she had no choice. Frowning, she suckled upon each orb, giving them equal attention before moving back up the shaft. It was then that the gnoll gripped at her head again, forcing its member into her mouth. It seemed she would not be free from the beast's foul load, and so she bore with it, allowing the creature to pump its thick member into her mouth again and again, her tongue moved as best as it could while the gnoll gripped with both hands on to her head his hips moving to push faster and faster with every thrust. Fina could barely breathe at this point, but she had to endure, her hands moving to grip at the fur of his hips before finally she felt a flood of thick liquid that had her gagging. The gnoll snarled as that sticky stuff attached itself to her tongue, flooding her senses with strange tastes she thought she would have never experienced. Frowning she was forced to swallow the gunk before finally the creature pulled his thick cock out of her mouth, still twitching, still hard.
Once she was free from that foul piece of meat she opened her mouth wide to gasp in breath, coughing just a bit. Her head was becoming just a bit clearer and although the pain was still there, the ringing was gone entirely, but before she could stand she was forced upon her back, her wrists held down and her legs spread apart by the monster's knees. Struggling, straining against that tight grip she looked up to see that the gnoll was grinning over her, tongue lolling out to pass against the skin of her chest again and again as he began poking and prodding her entrance with his cock, his sick and foreign penis pushing inside of her slowly causing her to gasp and shake her head. Eventually she laid limp, panting, chest heaving as the creature pushed deeper, his thick tongue still moving over her pale body. Crying out and whimpering she felt that thick thing stretch her insides further and further until with one push he was fully inside of her. He stayed there inside of her, panting and grinning like a stupid dog, his hands still gripping on to her wrists to keep her down while the beast savored in his conquest of her insides. Eventually he began moving his hips, thrusting to her again and again, pounding her insides without concern for her. She grunted, grimaced and glared up at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of anything near a pleasured noise; the beast didn't seem to care, in fact, he only seemed to thrust faster and faster as time went on. It seemed as though hours were passing through, her body reacting in ways she would rather ignore, heat traveling through her insides and up her spine alongside the pain that was dealt to her body from how rough he was treating her. It wasn't long before she heard the creature whining and felt that massive foreign thing inside of her swell, telling her that he was close. Again she tried to struggling, biting at her lower lip. She would rather not find out if humans and gnoll were compatible, but she had no choice. The beast thrust into her again and again before finally letting out a roar, thrusting deep inside of her, that sick thing swelling inside of her and tying them together to release that foul heated seed that burned her insides terribly. Panting, cursing and struggling she felt that warmth flow inside of her, painting her insides. She could practically feel it invading her womb, tainting her to the core. As the gnoll pulled out she gasped, feeling the bulbous flesh of the horrid thing pop outside of her. At this she winced and suddenly wished that he had stayed inside for just a bit longer.
Without a word the beast got up from her, grinning still and turning just as another gnoll pounced on to him. The two were now on the ground before her, both snarling and clawing at one another, her own eyes wide from the sudden shock. Weak in the legs she got up and as fast as she could and retrieved the cleaver before returning to the scene. The gnoll that had pounced upon the jailer was underneath the other, their hands locked. With a yell she jumped on the jailer's back and began hacking at the beast's neck. It let out a terrible howl and tried to shake itself, but the gnoll underneath held him in place until finally his neck was a bloody mess, and his body was limp. Panting, she hopped off the sick jailer, adrenaline pumping through her veins. As the corpse was thrown aside and the gnoll that had come to help her rose she pointed the blade at the gnoll, "Name yourself beast, I am in no mood to be thankful after this day’s events!"
The gnoll did not show any sign of fear, it only spoke in a gruff voice, a low and calm tone, "My name is Grryd. Prisoner to Rryter's ilk and sacrifice to be if not for your rear distracting the idiot in charge of this place. We need to escape to the mountains now."
With a small frown Fina lowered her weapon. The adrenaline fading and her mind becoming clear. Pain still pulsed through her body and she could still feel her hatred for gnoll growing, but the calm one before her was correct. They needed to escape, and the mountains would most assuredly be where the survivors of his tribe were. With a sigh she stepped to the door to look just outside. A larger tunnel of sorts awaited them, with other doors that most likely held either prisoners or corpses. Stepping out of the room Grryd moved from behind her to lead the way into a nearby room, "Here." he said quickly.
Following closely she found herself in a storage room with her equipment along with plenty of extra for the gnoll to partake in. Grateful for her clothes and leathers she put them on, the gnoll being respectful enough to deal with his own equipment as she dealt with her clothing situation. When finally dressed she gathered her sword and snagged a crossbow with a container of bolts for collateral. It was a nice build, something she could use if she spotted any enemy gnoll from afar. With their equipment, she followed the dark furred gnoll back into the tunnel where they both walked slowly. The tunnels were both winding and strange, with corridors a plenty, but the gnoll before her seemed to know where he was going, at least for the most part. Nothing seemed natural, from the ways the walls were pushed apart, to the fact that they were in a tunnel at all. Gnolls weren't known for their mining or crafting, and yet here they were. Eventually they reached a hatch that led to the outside and into the wetlands. The hatch had been covered in moss. As soon as they were fully out the gnoll pointed to the mountains to the west, "There...we'll find friends there. We can also treat your wounds...your movements are sluggish and addled...is it from...?"
Fina appreciated, somewhat, the courtesy in not mentioning her recent predicament. Closing her eyes she felt at the back of her head, there was still pain there and she felt something dry flake off. She had taken a sharp blow to the head and it was still affecting her every move, with a sigh she spoke, "Head injury...not sure how bad it is. I can see straight but I don't notice the movement...I probably can't use any magic like this either, hurts when I try and concentrate." The gnoll nodded and began walking towards the mountain. There was very little time for chit chat, very little at all. Night was soon upon them, and if those rituals were truly as wicked as she thought they were, then they would be either be dead from the creatures rising from their graves, or the necromancer would catch them again.
The sun was nearly gone, the sky orange as they arrived at their destination. She could see by the entrance to the mountain path that there were gnoll guarding the entrance. She fell upon one knee as they got close, gasping, her head ringing again. The gnoll before her helped her up, grunting and he walked again, "...What is your name human." the gnoll said in an attempt to keep her awake.
Fina recognized this and breathed out, keeping her eyes open, "Fina. Royal scout for the kingdom of Cain. Master of wind. I come from a small town where the bakeries are run by strange lizard men with a talent for baking....thank you."
Grryd answered quietly as they reached the gate, "Do not thank me just yet...our struggles only begin."
Fina kept herself up and awake thanks to the grace of the beast holding her as they walked. The guards rushed to them to question them. The gnoll holding her barking orders. It was hard to pay attention, difficult now that the fatigue of the day was catching up with her, and certainly her aching head didn’t help. Hopefully she would be able to resolve this situation with the help of what was left of the friendly gnolls, and hopefully her allies weren’t dead.