<1 - The First Attack> The gloomy Gilnean countryside always seemed to get a bit darker as October settled in. The dead trees seemed almost alive once more, and an almost perpetual darkness and fog blanketed the area from corner to corner. It was a time that many reveled in, but not all humans appreciated the unique holiday of ghouls and goblins. An aged man with a perturbed look on his face strode down one of the back roads of Gilneas of his own accord. Dressed in naught but the meager clothes of a peasant, the Gilnean man slowly made his way toward his home, though he yet had much distance to travel. His mind and thoughts turned inward, while occasionally he muttered to himself in frustration. "Bunch of foolish nonsense. Sure, goblins and ghouls are real, but terrifying children... and to think they claim to [i]like[/i] it." His path continued down one of the sloping mountainsides, then down the winding path into a dense, dark forest. The path was perfectly clear, but along either side were tall, black-leafed trees as far as the eye could see. A chill breeze caused the leaves to rattle and shake, and the man promptly crossed his arms over his toned chest to grant himself warmth. This was a path he had taken many times over the years since his youth, and that evening he truly was oblivious to the lurking threat that had come to his homeland.... [i]*snap*[/i] The man's head jerked to the left wall of trees, while one hand shot toward a belted dagger at his hip. "Who's there!?" he called into the darkness. No answer. His green eyes hardened as he dared to take a few steps off the path. Plenty of wildlife lived in the dead-looking forest, but hunters often kept them from coming anywhere near the path. Step after step drew him closer to the line of trees, but whatever it was, the man seemed ready to draw his weapon and slash in the blink of an eye. And suddenly, two ice blue pinpoints of light appeared within the thick darkness, followed by an almost ethereal growl. All of the hair immediately stood up on the back of the man's neck. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw as he drew his dagger and began to backpedal. The growling intensified, and the pinpoints of light grew larger. The man's hand shook visibly as he held his dagger aloft, until a thick root of a tree caught the back of his heel and sent him falling backwards to crash down hard upon the cold grass below. He had no chance to catch himself, and the impact was just enough to shake the dagger from his grip. And that was it. A twisted, menacing, bark-like noise tore through the tranquility of the woods, and like a streak of white lightning the beast leapt from the protection of the trees to crash down hard atop the flailing man. Claws flew and teeth gnashed atop him, while the man cried out in pain and fear as he did all he could to fend off his attacker. Barely seconds into his defense and the beast suddenly had its claws wrapped around both of his wrists, which he quickly found pinned above his head. And strangely, despite the thrashing, very few of the beast's strikes had drawn blood. The man had to consciously fight against his own adrenaline to reassess his situation. The beast had halted its assault atop him, and instead its canine face hovered a mere hair's breadth from his own. It was then that he realized his attacker was no simple beast, nor was it like any human he'd ever seen. Its body was humanoid in nature, as its front claws acted much like a regular pair of hands, and the look in its eyes was not as hardened as he would have expected. There was curiosity in that pair of icy blue orbs that gazed down at him. Looking further down, however, threw an entirely different feeling into the mix. Despite its vaguely humanoid appearance, there wasn't a stitch of clothing to hide the beast's inherently feminine figure, and much of the rest of her body was hidden from his view by her pair of her snow-white-furred, heavy-looking, hanging breasts, each peaked with a relatively small, pink nipple amid the fur. "E-easy! Don't kill me, please!" he implored her in a desperate attempt to find humanity within the beast. "I promise, I won't tell anyone about you!" The wolf-like woman drew back just a bit to look down at him with even more curiosity, her inquisitive blue eyes tracing down his body bit by bit. The struggle had torn several long gashes in his peasant clothing, and it was then that the both of them realized his leggings had been torn cleanly asunder, leaving him naked from the waist down. Even more confusion addled the man's mind as he felt his body react to the adrenaline that still strained his veins, and within moments his manhood was standing at full mass beneath the wolf woman. He even found himself holding his breath and trying to flex his thighs in a vain attempt to purge these weirdly horny thoughts from his brain. But the beast seemed to have other plans. Her canine face shifted into a menacing grin, and with a soft growl her tongue flicked out from within her salivating maw to lick the man from his neck up to his cheek. Her clawed hands squeezed his wrists tighter, and with a bit of shifting she was able to crouch her hulking form above him, hovering her fur-covered quim just a hair's breadth from his engorged tool. Her nectar was already dripping freely, drop after drop trickling down his erection before she lowered herself sharply with a growl, suddenly pinning his tool between his abdomen and her nethers. The look on her face made it clear that she was relishing in toying with her prey, particularly as she began to grind down [i]hard[/i] against his cock, pushing her nethers from head to base up and down in hungry, rapid succession. The man gasped and grunted each time she crashed down upon his lower half, but he couldn't deny how wonderful it felt each time she swallowed his cock with her nether lips. He had been no slouch of a combatant in his prime, but her ferocity outweighed his own strength threefold. Each time he tried to move his wrists, the beastess sunk her claws deeper into his skin. All he could do was lie there and take it, and the more he did, the more he realized how badly he never wanted her to stop. The snarling, white-furred wolf-woman kept her muzzle dangerously close to the man's face as she slammed her weight down atop him over and over again. Her mouth opened slowly to reveal a full maw of razor-sharp teeth. Warmth washed over the helpless man's face, and just as she seemed about to lunge for the kill, her maw closed and pressed itself hard against the man's lips. The man barely had the chance to reciprocate before a vicious growl rumbled from within her throat. Again and again she pressed downward, and suddenly she threw her head back as an ear-piercing howl echoed into the open night sky. Her entire body bore down upon the man, her breasts smothering his bearded face while her hips ground into his own. One clawed hand remained at his wrist, however the other moved to dig her claws straight into his face instead, particularly over his left eye. The sharp howl began to quiver along with the rest of her humanoid-canine form, and in the blink of an eye her quim clamped down upon his tool, and a burst of her nectar doused her victim from the waist down. The man cried out in pain, helpless to fend off her attack upon his face, but the adrenaline had nulled any pain he may have felt. His thighs clenched as he tried desperately to hold back his reciprocated finish, concerned what might come if he were to release his seed inside such a horrifically beautiful beast. His remaining eye screwed shut in sheer pain, frozen beneath her as she took him for her pleasures.... ... but when he opened his eye, the beast was gone, vanished into the night. The red-haired man began to breathe heavily in shock as he quickly collected his tattered clothes. His head jerked every which way in search of his assailant, only able to open his un-clawed eye, but only a far-off howl to the South was all that clued him in. The comfort of knowing she had fled was overshadowed by his fear of reprisal, and off he went hobbling into the night, clutching his gouged wrists with each step....