[b][u][center]Perks of Desperation
Part 1
for A-Lycotonum
by Draconicon[/center][/u][/b]








Vitus Leontina knew that their little boat wasn't going to be enough to get them far from Absalom, and certainly not far up the coast of the mainland. However, Professor Orlov - Katya, he corrected himself, not professor any longer - had told him to trust her. There was little choice; she had rescued them, and while he didn't trust a word that she said about Melchiresa and what they had to do going forward, she [i]was[/i] the one that held all the cards for the moment. Either he let her work, or he let Robin and Piers throw her overboard and the three of them made a shot of it on their own. 

Three days of trust resulted in 'rescue' by a smuggler craft, a three-level, sharp-bowed sailing craft that was clearly made for running rather than fighting. The rowboat that they had escaped Absalom in was allowed to drift away, floating on the currents of the deep sea. Any chance that Lord Gralon Brundir might have been tracking that thing would disappear with it, as well as any scrying spells that were bound to it. 

Of course, the new craft wasn't much better. Though they all had their own private quarters, the smugglers were very clear about the pecking order that they'd observe while they were on the ship. The 'passengers' would keep to their cabins, only moving between them during meal-times, when they needed to empty their chamber pots, or when they were going to visit one of their own. When that happened, they were to have a member of the crew take them there, and never, ever, ever go into the storage holds down below.

Katya made sure that they all understood that - particularly Piers, who, despite his missing arm, had recovered admirably from the battle and was not keen on being on a smuggler vessel in the slightest - and then sent them to their quarters. And there they stayed.

#

It was the second day and the sun was rising through the porthole built into the wall of his quarters when Vitus managed to fully drag his human self back out of his hellhound shape. It was half-illusion, half-transformation, admittedly, but it was a far cry from the pathetic little blur that he had managed when he'd first been transformed, back when he was practicing on the rowboat. He stared at himself in the looking glass that he'd been provided, panting, sweating, but at least he was sweating through flesh rather than through fur. 

"Finally...finally."

He even managed a smile as he looked at himself, running his hand down his chest, and then over his stomach. He'd been thickening up during the rowboat trip, all the excess fat that he'd built up during his slightly indolent stay at Lord Brundir's manor burnt off with the long days of rowing and tending to the rest of the group. He had gotten all his muscle back and then some, looking trim and strong. 

He told himself that it was from working so hard, not from the transformation. He almost believed it. 

As he ran his hand down a bit further, hovering over his waist, he felt the transformation quiver, trembling as it fought against his magical control. He gritted his teeth, trying to force his humanity to remain, but the more that he lowered his hand towards his crotch, the more that bits and pieces of the hellhound buried beneath the spell started to show itself. The hint of black fur along his chest, the way that his feet started to crack and arch to put him on his tiptoes again, the way that his cock started to go a deep, dark red rather than the paler color that it was now: it was all a reminder of what he had become, what he had lost. 

When he pulled his hand back, as if he was going to leave his cock along, it went back to normal, and he sighed, shaking his head. That was a weakness to that particular spell, something that he'd need to take care of later. 

But at least he [i]could[/i] look human if he had to. It wasn't easy, and it was sucking up most of his attention and magic to maintain it, but it was better than wearing heavy, conspicuous robes all the time to hide his tail and muzzle and...well, everything. 

He backed up, sitting down on the foot of his bed. As soon as he did, he lost concentration, and his feet cracked, his toes fattening and going from simple digits to broad, clawed toes, the sudden shift in position all but kicking him backwards and leaaving him sprawled over the mattress. Vitus groaned under his breath, rubbing his forehead in raw exasperation. 

"This is so dumb..."

Knock, knock. 

"Come in."

There had only been one visitor over the last day, one person that wanted to talk to him. No surprise there, really; she was the only one that wanted what had happened. 

Professor - Katya, Katya, he kept correcting himself - Orlov opened the door, the older woman shaking her head at him. Sharp-faced with features that were less 'pretty' and more 'mature' and, well, 'striking', the dark-haired woman still wore the teaching robes of the Arcanamirium. He imagined that she'd summoned those rather than wear anything else. She closed the door behind her, shaking her head. 

"Still trying to pretend to be something that you aren't, Vitus?"

"I'm trying to get control of this."

"The pack will not be so easy to control."

"I'm not trying to control a pack. I'm trying to control myself."

"I suppose that's understandable. Considering."

Considering that there was a whole wide world out there that was not going to leave him alone, at least once Brundir got his spin of what had happened in Absalom off the island. He had no doubt that the devil-partnered Aasimar was going to spin it as if he was the victim of some terrible demon plot. It wouldn't even be entirely inaccurate, considering what had happened at the estate. The fact that there had been someone else that was demon-touched there, someone else that had been trying to either sabotage or profit off Brundir's ideas, would even give the asshole the ring of truth that he needed to really sell the whole thing. 

But that was neither here nor there. Even if Brundir didn't get the story out, being a hellhound, visibly a hellhound, was a one-way ticket to the grave. And considering that Melchiresa, the mistress of the hunt and pack, still had a death grip on his soul...

Well, he didn't want to go to the afterlife like that. Not just yet. 

Shaking his head, he sat up. There was no point in keeping the spell going and draining himself even more, so he allowed his control of his body to slip. Red fur sprouted from his chest and down his arms, running along his back and over his hips and everywhere else. It itched, drawing with it the sense of fire and warmth beneath it. It was as if he carried around his own personal campfire, for better or ill, and it always left him just a hint overheated, particularly where the fur turned black rather than red. 

As the horns of his hellhound body swept down over his head, creeping along the sides and jutting forward, so too did the beginnings of his tail creep out from his spine. Vitus gritted his teeth, closing his eyes as it slid out and slithered along the bed. Unlike the rest of him, the tail was almost more reptilian than it was actually dog-like, and it was a long, powerful limb that he had used more than once in a fight. He'd been forced to, considering what they'd fled from. 

The feeling of his flesh and fur forming into a tube around his cock was always difficult to tune out, and particularly when there was someone else watching. Katya watched without shame as his cock went from human to canine, lifting up and throbbing for a moment before dropping back down where it belonged. He did his best not to feel self-conscious about it, not wanting to think too much about the way that they had...done things...in the past. Mostly with her forcing it, rather than him being willing. 

"What do you want?" he asked. 

"I wanted to see if you'd made a decision."

"About what?"

"You know what. You can't run from Melchiresa forever."

"I can try."

"And you know that you've already failed. I know what you dreamed last night."

He winced. So, it [i]had[/i] been more than a dream. 

Leaning into his hands, he remembered the feeling of being around a fire. He remembered the darkness that had swirled and swelled around him, recalled the shadows of hounds and more that leaped and barked and howled in the distance. There had been dozens of them, almost hundreds, and they had all called to the same master. 

Melchiresa, lord of the hunt, mistress of the pack, the powerful Demon Lord that ruled over the dogs of Hell and the demons that ran with them. She - or he, it had been had to tell, but he got a 'she' from her this time - had called them to task. She had asked him - him - what he was willing to give, and then laughed when he told her that she'd been banished, that she didn't have the right to ask him for anything. 

He'd woken up then, but...it lingered. 

Katya took a step forward, only to freeze when he lifted his hand, pointing a ball of fire from his furred fingers at her. 

"Not another step..."

"You don't trust me. Understandable. I wouldn't, either," she admitted. "But do you have a choice?"

"You said I did."

"Not a very good one. You always were one to take the hard way..."

"Heh. Says the teacher that hypnotized me and tried to make me burn down the whole school for her."

"...Good times, huh?"

It was a poor attempt at a joke, but even a bad kind of levity was better than none. He chuckled, a little 'heh' that was barely enough to get past his lips, but he did put the fire magic away. He let her come closer, too, letting her sit beside him on the bed. 

"You have no reason to listen to me. Now that we're sailing away from Absalom, there's no reason for you to do anything that I say, but I want you to listen to me. Just this once, and then you can decide to send me away, but listen, like you used to."

"When I listened to you last time, I nearly blew up the school, and ended the world."

"That was then. And do not forget, Vitus. For all that I had my own motivations - my own orders - I was not wrong. I understood you. I knew what you needed as a student, and I made sure that you finally got them instead of having it all buried beneath the common way of studying."

Much as he hated to admit it, she wasn't wrong. Everyone else taught him as if he was a wizard, as if he had to learn the same way that all the other book-learners did. Only Katya had taken the time to show him other possibilities, means of learning magic through visual theory rather than the written style. He had learned how to channel his power more in the few days that they had worked together than he had in months with all the other teachers of the Arcanamirium. 

He didn't owe her anything, he reminded himself. That said, she wasn't asking him to see it as paying off a favor. She was asking him to remember that she knew him...and that she saw things differently. 

"...I'll listen. That's all I can promise," he said. 

"That's all I ask." 

"Then...go on."

"A moment of honesty, first. What I'm doing has been...commanded...by Melchiresa. However, this is a command that I agree with, something that I think that he is right about."

"..."

"Brundir is playing games, and doing them very well. There are few that understand the natural laws of the world better than the devils, and few that can match them in their way of sliding between the different loopholes to take advantage of everything. He's one of those that takes it a step further, playing games that the devils themselves admire, and so, they're willing to work with him, seeing how far he'll go, even sponsoring him at times. That's why he has a companion such as he does, why he is able to command so much power from them. 

"But he is playing with fire, nonetheless, and he is stretching himself further than he should. By taking Absalom the way that he has, he has ripped the cornerstone of the gods out from under them. Every great power will have to find some way to respond to this, or they will lose more in the coming years."

"And darkness will fall upon the world?" Vitus asked, only half-joking. 

"I would imagine more fire than darkness; the devils never were ones for dealing with shadows."

"..."

"If we don't do something, then the new laws that he is setting up will spread. And unlike what happened in Cheliax, I don't see this one being contained, and neither does Melchiresa."

Cheliax. Anyone that had done even a hint of studying knew what had happened there, what was still happening. Though no longer the great Infernal Empire, Cheliax was still a mighty power on the borders of the Inner Sea, and one of those placees that everyone shivered to think about visiting. It was ruled by devil worshipers, by those that made deals with them, those that imitated them and did what they could to live in accordance to that sort of lifestyle. It was, quite literally, a portion of Hell on earth. 

It had, eventually, begun to decay, and the powers of the other divines - and even some demons - had helped hurry the process along. Last he heard, Infernal Cheliax was no longer able to conduct any imperial ambitions beyond its borders, and it had begun the process of consolidating bits and pieces of itself, creating more regimented, divided territories that were easier to rule, if more imperiously governed. 

That was what Absalom had to look forward to if Brundir continued to gain power. That was what the rest of the world would have to deal with if they wanted access to the great magical powers that were on that island. 

"We can't let that happen," Katya said. "I think we can agree on that."

"...I can."

"Good. Then we're on the same page. There are few that can act; for now, the gods are bound by their agreements of non-inteference on the island. They cannot step forward, due to the legalities of man and the way that Brundir has played this. However, there are some that can."

"...Demons," Vitus muttered. "You're talking about involving the Demon Lords."

"They're the only ones that have motivation, power, and capability to act," Katya said. "Everyone else lacks at least one of the three qualities; there are spirits that have motivation and power, but no capability. The same with gods. There are those that have the capability and power to act, but have no motivation, such as the devils that aren't aligned with Brundir, and those that are in Cheliax. We need someone with all three...and much as you wish it otherwise, Melchiresa is the only one that you can reach that will give it."

Vitus sighed, leaning into his hands. There was nothing here that he didn't already know, nothing that he didn't already feel on some level. He'd felt Melchiresa calling for him, offering him power even during his time under Lord Brundir. He remembered those dreams, remembered how they had called through the fog of hypnosis and other corruptions that his former master had heaped upon him. It had always called him back from the edge, keeping him from falling too far to be saved, and he [i]hated[/i] that the Demon Lord had even that much gratitude from him. 

The fact that he might need her for more...it galled, and more, it sent shivers down his spine. She had already claimed his humanity and a chunk of his soul. What else would she want in return for aid?

He looked up, wordlessly asking that question, and Katya, of course, had an answer. 

"We have some luck in this case. Melchiresa's desires and ours are in line; we are not asking for as huge a favor as you think."

"But still some."

"Yes. That said..." Katya looked at him, up and down, and then sighed. "...In some ways, I envy you, Vitus. [i]You[/i] received my master's full blessing. [i]You[/i] were given the right to become a hellhound. I...I only ever recieved the right to become something of a satyr, an imp that trailed after the pack. Melchiresa has seen something in you, believes in you to an extent that he has never believed in me. There is something in you that he wants...and that he will give something to get. 

"If you go before the Demon Lord, if you are the one to open that meeting and make an offer, then you have the chance to walk away with something. If you don't..."

There was no need to complete that statement. If he did not, if Melchiresa came for him, then it would be conquest rather than negotiation. If he went in first, then he had a place to bargain from. If not...then he would just have to hope for mercy, something that demons were notorious for lacking. 

Surprisingly, Katya patted him on the shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze. It was a surprisingly comforting thing from the older woman. He reached up and patted her hand, sighing. 

"...Is there anything else I need to know?" Vitus asked. 

"One thing."

"And what's that?"

"What [i]you[/i] want out of it."

"..."

"Melchiresa wants to gain power. All Demon Lords want that, and they are constantly looking for ways to get it. He wants to bring down Brundir because he's a threat to the pack, and by taking him down, he gets power to make a bigger pack. He'll want that, and more of you. But what do you want out of this?"

"...That's...a hard question."

"As a piece of advice?"

He shrugged. 

"Find out before you approach him. Otherwise, you'll get less. You always get less if they can get away with it."

Vitus arched an eyebrow, slowly turning to face Katya properly. Something had been bothering him about this, and he'd only just realized what it was. 

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Hmm?"

"All this. Why are you telling me all these things? Shouldn't you be lying? Like last time?"

"Well, last time didn't work, did it?" 

"Not really."

"And besides." Katya sighed. "Besides. I might follow Melchiresa...but that doesn't mean I always agree with him. There are things that the hunter gets wrong. There are things that I still want, that I still wish for, that I regret. And...there are things that I want to have back again. Things that I had to give up for this service. I don't want you to make the same mistakes that I did, and I don't want you to have as many regrets."

"...Still a teacher to the end, huh?" he asked. 

"I suppose."

"...Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. You haven't succeeded. And until you talk to Melchiresa and make your deal, [i]we[/i] don't know where we're going."

That made it all the more important for him to get it right when they did finally talk, he supposed. If they were still waiting for him to make contact - and Katya, for all her regrets, would make them wait and waste time until he did as he was told - then he needed to stop playing a game that he couldn't win. There were too many things at stake. 

Not just Absalom, either. He had made so many mistakes, so many errors during his time under Brundir. He'd allowed himself to be nearly seduced by another demon-touched servant, had allowed himself to become a pack-master over a guards-woman and her husband -

Gods. Robin and Piers. The Adair couple had been just another couple of guards for the Watch before he turned up in their lives. Now Robin was a were-rat, and struggling against her more bestial nature - last he checked - and Piers was a damaged man, one arm gone and living with the fact that he had been cuckolded by the very man that he had come to help. They were his responsibility, and he had to make sure that they were treated right. 

Like it or not, he had already assembled a partial pack beneath him. The hellhound, that deep set of instincts that were barely under his control, demanded that they be kept safe, that he put out all effort possible to ensure that they stay healthy, happy, and cared for. 

And his once-human side agreed with all that. They needed everything that he could offer, and that meant that he had to take advantage of all possible resources. Including the bitch that had done this to him in the first place. 

"I'll talk to Melchiresa today," he promised. 

"I'll talk to you after."

"About where we're going."

"And other things."

"...What other things?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. 

Katya smiled, leaning in. He blinked as she rested her chin against his shoulder, only to whisper in his ear. 

"Stud boy."

He gasped, his cock all but rocketing from his sheath. His eyes went wide, his mouth hanging open as he panted, long canine tongue falling from his lips as he gasped for breath. His shaft throbbed and twitched, spitting pre-cum already, oozing down to the floorboards beneath his feet. 

Katya chuckled, giving his shoulder a squeeze as she pulled back. 

"Melchiresa's touch goes deep, and so does mine. My guidance, Vitus, will be yours. You will have all my knowledge, all my experience, and I will teach you every spell that I ever learned to make sure that you have the tools to do what you need to do. But...I will be paid for my time. And there is a payment that I will gladly accept. An older woman does not have nearly the options that a young man does..."

Left panting and grunting as the older professor made her way out of his cabin, Vitus struggled to keep his head on straight. His cock was throbbing harder than it had for days, harder than it had been since he had been pulled down into bed by Brundir and his once-slave. He could barely control himself, and he felt like his balls were churning, like his cock was about to explode if he so much as brushed it with the side of his hand. 

The utter need that pulsed from between his legs felt like something borne of hell itself...and it burned so hot and sexy that he couldn't stop thrusting his hips against empty air. 

#

As Katya shut the door, she felt her master press against the back of her head. The deep growls of the hellhound pack-leader filled her skull, rattling against the interior of her mind. 

[i]You warned him about me.[/i]

"I did what I had to."

[i]Little Orlov, little bitch. Thinking that she is worthy of the pack...[/i]

There was a sense of something pressing against her from behind, the ghostly image of a hellhound getting ready to mount her. She gripped the edge of the doorframe, hissing through her teeth as a ghostly cold nose pressed between her legs, a taunting hot breath puffing down there. 

[i]Are you looking to rise in my hierarchy, hmm?[/i]

"You need me...I'm the only one here as devoted as you need."

[i]For now.[/i]

"I can give you what you need...and you give me...what I need."

[i]If we succeed, you'll have everything that you need. But only if we succeed.[/i]

That was expected. Demons delivered when they were satisfied, not when their hosts and partners were. She breathed in, then out, taking her time to really puff out the remnants of the hellhound pheromones that she had been picking up in the other room. The stiff musk that he had been putting off was stronger than he probably knew, and it had been getting to her to an extent that she didn't want to admit. 

Katya had been without any male contact for a very, very long time. Ever since her banishment from the Arcanamirium, she had been without anyone but her own thoughts. That had hardly been stimulating, but she had made it work, endured it, made herself feel, if not happy, content. 

Then she had been dragged back into the whole sorry mess, and she had a reminder of what it meant to be around other people. Around Vitus. 

She remembered what it had felt like to take control, to dominate him, to keep him between her legs and show him how it felt to have an older, more experienced woman taking control and giving him pleasure, and taking it in turn. She had shown him everything that she felt he deserved, used his face, his cock, everything to get pleasure from him, and had set her own magic on his mind to show him how to obey, how to do good things for her. 

And that magic was still there. She could take him, use him, indulge herself however she wanted. There was [i]nothing[/i] that she couldn't get from him. 

But...she had to be pragmatic. He was stronger, now, more aware. She'd seen that in his eyes, that he was aware of her still rather than just falling into that humping 'stud boy' rut that he had embraced so easily in the past. This was a different version of him, someone that had grown. 

[i]He will help us. He will be our pack-hunter.[/i] Katya nodded. [i]I will see him rise.[/i]

[i]And there is another, if he doesn't.[/i]

That was the first that Katya was hearing of that. She arched an eyebrow, only for Melchiresa to chuckle. 

[i]You need not know about that just yet. Just shape this one for me, and we will see which one rises to the top.[/i]

It wasn't the solution that Katya had expected, but she supposed she should have. A pack must have a leader, but it must also have those that were willing to step in when a leader wasn't there, or if the leader fell. Melchiresa was hedging his bets, making it clear that there would be back-up on back-up. 

It was almost a devil's way of planning, and Katya wondered if Melchiresa had spent some time studying their enemies, as well. 

As she stepped away from Vitus's door, she ran through her own plans. There were other things to take care of, other people to check-in on. The others that they had rescued from Brundir would need to be seen to, educated in what they were doing. She imagined that they would be hardly willing to take part in this - at least at first - but she had confidence in bringing them around, in time. It would take a little bit of effort, of course, but she was willing to do that. 

She was always willing to do that. 

Katya realized that she was smiling for the first time since her re-admittance to the pack, and paused, running her hands along her cheeks. It almost hurt to smile, but not in a bad way. She had lost so much...and now, she had the chance to get it back again. 

[i]Go,[/i] Melchiresa commanded, and Katya went. 

#

Vitus finally managed to get his cock under control once more, and he shivered as he stared up at the ceiling overhead. The world felt smaller and tighter for a few moments, then expanded outward again as he breathed as slowly as he dared, taking his time to calm down. 

[i]What do you want?[/i] 

That was a question that was a lot harder to answer than he wanted to admit. For all that he had been manipulated over and over again since he had graduated from the Arcanamirium, he had to admit that he'd been getting things that he wanted. He had gained power, and now that he knew what it was like to have it, he wanted more. He had gained company, and ever since he had experienced that sort of carnal bliss, he wanted more. 

But what, specifically, did he want?

[i]Ugh, this would be so much easier if my dick wasn't so hard right now...[/i]

He lifted his head, glaring down between his legs as his cock continued to throb. Those two words had made him harder than anything, and he was still dripping a bit, even as his cock was slowly slinking back into his sheath. The need was still there, though, his balls still churning, and it made it hard for him to think of any reward that he could ask for that didn't involve more...

More debauchery. 

More pleasure. 

More power. 

More of a pack to breed and rut and - 

"Nnngh..."

So much for his cock going soft again. He slammed his head back against the bed, covering his eyes with his hands and trying to think of something else. Yet, despite his best efforts, all he could think of were the sights of what he had [i]enjoyed[/i] so much since he had been first corrupted. 

Cazna, the dark elf slowly transforming into a harpy that had been so eager to get him to indulge in her feet and talons...

Robin, the were-rat that would fall so deep into heat that she'd beg him to fuck her right in front of her husband...

Hazel...

Hazel...

He remembered her most of all. She'd been the first besides Katya, the one that had been there to help him out of the demonic possession last time, the one that had pulled him back from the edge when Katya's plan had been on the brink of success. Her soft eyes, the way that she had enjoyed him and him here...

The time that he had raped her...

Even that didn't bring the same guilt that it once had, and though he knew that was because of the hellhound transformation and not because he wanted it, he couldn't ignore that. It reminded him that there was pleasure to be taken, and that he had the force of will and the strength to take it where and how he wanted. Consent...consent didn't have to be a thing. Whether through strength of arm or strength of will, he could have anyone, anytime, anywhere.

And Melchiresa...

She could make it more than that. She could give him even more than he already had, if he just asked. She would probably see it as a way to drop him further down towards his hellhound self, to make him even more her creature. 

[i]Is it slavery if you get what you want?[/i]

That was the question, wasn't it? Was he willing to give in for all that? For the chance to save the world, for the chance to get revenge, to protect those that he claimed as his pack, for those various pleasurable rewards, would he be willing to bend the knee and embrace what Melchiresa had to offer?

It was tempting…

Vitus sighed. It was no use putting it off. He sat up, closed his eyes and crossed his legs, and focused on the pressure of demonic essence inside him. 

“Melchiresa…”









[b][u][center]The End[/center][/u][/b]

Summary: Vitus and the others got out of Absalom, but they still need to figure out where they are going next. And they need to figure out how they are going to deal with Melchiresa and her offers. 

Tags: M/solo, Human, Hellhound, Demonic Corruption, Corruption, Demon, Dog, Series, Fantasy, Magic, Trigger Word, Erection, Transformation,