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Crusade Gone Awry Ch. 01

By: Tater_Chips



The first ship arrived at the port. It was a longship and as it rolled up to the pier a man jumped out. Like all the people on his boat, he was dressed in plate armor, decorated with a bright, flaming bird on the breast plate. He knelt down onto the wood and thanked the goddess for his safe trip. Many of the other men and women on the boat did the same as they stepped onto the pier. The first man, clearly the leader, scanned out across the ocean. He could see countless other longships, rowing rapidly towards him. Many of them would have to anchor around the port and walk over the boats, but they made it. The last human stronghold on the continent. The man turned towards the city. He thought he might have been seeing a mirage when he first got close, but he wasn't. The city was much larger than he thought it would be. There were buildings with ornate domes crammed into high walls that covered a semi-circle around the coast. There were thousands, perhaps tens of thousands living in this city. It certainly didn't look like a place on the verge of being annihilated. Instead it looked like a paradise, with palm trees, a beautiful coast and colorful domes on some of the larger structures. Moreover, the entire place looked intact and untouched. Still, it was not his place to question the High Priest of Vordan. He was on a mission from the goddess and he intended to fulfill it. He turned to the common soldiers in the boat.

"Secure the ship." the commander stated. "Tie all the rest of them together so they will be secure." A hail of acknowledgment came from the soldiers as they got to work. The commander and his officers began walking down the dock. At the end of it was a simple fish house. The moment they rounded the house they discovered someone sitting behind it. They all stopped abruptly and stared. It was a very, very old man. In the desert environment he was wearing only a pair of shorts and was sharpening a trident. He was tan almost to the point of being black. He had terrible bags under his eyes, making him look like a raccoon. He had wrinkles not only down his face, but also his chest, stomach. As if he didn't look old enough already, he had a long, white beard. The ancient, grizzled man briefly gazed up at them. His eyes met with the commander's. He then turned back to his trident.

"Finally got bored over there?" the old man said. There was barely a tooth in his mouth.

"Pardon me?" the commander asked.

"Another one of them crusades." the old man stated. "I suppose it was about time."

"So you know why we are here? They still tell tales of the previous ones?"

"Not really, I was here for the last one." The commander then appeared taken aback.

"That would make you..."

"I lost track, but it's got to be over a hundred." There was more silence as the ancient man continued sharpening his trident, as if his age was no big deal.

"You have my congratulations on living so long." the commander finally said. The old man scoffed and gazed up from his work, grinning with his two teeth.

"Well, that's the nicest thing I've heard in a while." The old man put down his tool and sharpening stone. "Who might you be?"

"I am Colonel Marcus Lionheart, commander of the Fifth Legion of the Holy Phoenix." The commander said, striking a bold pose.

"That's a long name." the ancient man replied, unimpressed. The colonel ignored him and motioned towards the six armored people standing around him.

"This is lieutenant Colonel Marisa Steinem, my second in command. This is major Oren Ackler, major Sam Ageril, captain Tay Rainground, captain Talia Fenner and first lieutenant Eliza Bevens." The five companions stood at attention, four of them proudly.

"Adrum. Charmed I'm sure." the old man replied. "What can the fair citizens of Tarbat do for you today?"

"We are here to relieve the burden of the Demon King from your lands." All that followed was silence. Adrum then clicked his tongue on the top of his mouth.

"You came all the way here, disrupted my livelihood with your boats to do something we don't need?" Colonel Lionheart once again appeared surprised.

"What do you mean?"

"As we always tell you crusading sorts, the Demon King isn't trying to kill us. We worked out a deal with him ages ago. We provide him with food, workers and women and he leaves us alone."

"You appease him!?"

"We are here, you are across the ocean. We do what we have to do. The system has stood for ages. We have no deal with him about you crusaders, so you can gallivant off to the desert if you want."

"How do you deliver your...goods to the demon?"

"I'll tell you, but it won't help. Halfway through the desert the Demon King's servants take it over. It wouldn't do you any good anyway. His servants would see you, tip him off and you would be stuck in the middle of the desert." Colonel Lionheart appeared massively annoyed. These weren't beleaguered people under siege, but citizens who were basically taxpayers.

"Who is the leader of this city?" he asked. Adrum gazed up with his old, bloodshot eyes.

"I suppose you could say I am."

"Suppose in what way?"

"Most people do what I tell them." The colonel merely sighed, already feeling exhausted.

"Do you mind if we buy supplies and camp outside the city?"

"Knock yourself out." Adrum then picked up his trident and sharpening stone. He resumed working on his fishing tool. "Word of warning, most people here are human, [i]most[/i]."

"Most?"

"Basically, watch your back. You newcomers will look like fresh meat."

"We are trained to fight demons and their ilk." The old man gazed up yet again.

"Have you ever met one?" Uncomfortable silence followed. The colonel didn't know to reply to that with his pride intact. "It's your funeral." The old man once again returned to his trident. The colonel scoffed and began marching away. His lesser officers followed after him. Once they were sufficiently out of listening range the colonel turned to them.

"I don't know what they cooky old man is going on about," he began. "But he does have a point about watching our back." He turned to his second-in-command, Marisa. "Lieutenant Steinhem, I'm going to need you to find a weapons dealer. See what they say about our weapons and how they will manage in this heat and sand."

"Yes sir." The lieutenant colonel said, briefly saluting by putting her hand over her heart. She began marching away. The commander then turned to Oren. 

"Major Ackler, as the commissioner of supplies, I want you to secure a food and water source for us in case this turns into a long-term campaign. Go to the food market."

"Yes sir." Oren stated, giving a more half-hearted salute and marching away.

"Major Ageril, I'm going to need you to scout the defenses of this town. Examine the wall, look for weaknesses and see if it has any positions from where we can scout or shoot." Sam then gave a salute and went about his task. "Captain Rainground, I want you to see if there are any horses we can buy. We don't need to give a horse to every soldier, but having a division of cavalry will be useful." Tay saluted like the rest and walked away. "Captain Fenner, I know the old man said these people don't want our help, but go and see if any of them will join us anyway." Talia saluted and left. "Finally, lieutenant Bevens, I'm going need you to finish securing the ships. Hook them all together and let the soldiers step from ship to ship and get them on the ground." She saluted and walked back long the pier. The colonel stared out at the city, suddenly feeling old.

His decisions in giving tasks weren't just random. Marisa Steinem was his right-hand woman. They had risen through the ranks together. She had always worked hard and supported him in everything he did. She was an attractive woman, with unusual blue eyes and black hair. He had no idea why she was so loyal to him, but he was glad to have her around. There was the possibility that her loyalty ran deeper than just the military, but he was too old for her. She was still young and spry, so he would never consider it. Still, he would trust no one else to deal with the weapons. He trusted her more than anyone else in the world. 

Major Oren Ackler originally worked as a food seller. He knew how the business worked and how to secure supplies. He was drafted rather roughly from the streets under a vague law from a lord looking to score points with the church, so he wasn't particularly motivated. He was still young and handsome, with brown hair and eyes. He usually sported a goatee and had a habit of either hoarding or stealing food. Still, he was chosen for this mission specifically for his ability in trade and meals. He was so good at what he did that he was promoted, despite his terrible attitude. 

Major Sam Ageril was an incredible soldier. He fought against bandits and cutthroats from a crumbling fortress for years. No man knew about fighting against odds like him. He had a scar across his forehead, through the area between his eyebrows and down his nose. His hair was an auburn color and it was slicked back, giving it an almost spiked appearance. His eyes were an icy blue, and he distinctly lacked a sense of humor. He was also tall, muscular and quick, an all-around perfect soldier. 

Captain Tay Rainground grew up on the steppe, surrounded by horses. He fought wild, savage beasts his whole life, making him perfect for the terrible monsters in the desert yet to come. He was becoming disheartened by the campaigns back at home, killing heretics. He was a bit of an unknown element in that regard. He didn't sign up for the royal corps to kill people, only monsters and beasts. He might already have a degree of disillusionment with his job. He appeared to be a handsome boy, appearing much younger than he actually was/ His hair was an almond-brown color and his eyes were bright green. If he wasn't so busy he could have probably snagged a young and beautiful wife by now. 

Captain Talia Fenner was a beautiful woman, there was no doubt about that. She had perfect golden blonde hair, without a single bad root or discolored area. She had an excellent hourglass body, with large breasts and wide hips. Her eyes were the perfect shade of blue and her face was in that beautiful diamond shape. She had a soft nose, puffy lips and balanced, small ears. In short, she was an absolutely gorgeous woman. Why she would sign up for a military corp was beyond the colonel's knowledge and his care. Women weren't his concern, war was. Still, her beauty had uses. With her soliciting help, some men would join up, either to be around her or hope to get with her, either way they would be roped in. 

Finally there was first lieutenant Eliza Bevens. She was an odd one. She grew up on ships and had bizarre obsessions. She carried around books with her at all times that described fantastical creatures, both real and fictional. Her eyes only brightened when she found something unusual and she thrived on adventure and discovery. She was a small, young woman, with long red hair, blue eyes and a slim body. She was cute, but didn't care about men. She only joined the corp to find those rare creatures out in the world.

Someone walked right up to the colonel from behind. He put his hand on his sword as they stood beside him. It was Adrum, now gripping his sharpened trident. Colonel Lionheart relaxed a little, but didn't take his hand off his sword. The old man had an odd, squatting kind of walk that reminded the commander of someone who desperately needed to go to the bathroom.

"City's a thing of beauty, isn't it?" he asked.

"As beautiful as any other." Colonel Lionheart replied curtly. He wasn't much one for architecture.

"Best get used to it. You're either going to be here for a long time or you're going to die here." The commander glared at the old man, contemplating whether that was a threat or not. "Do you know what happens when a demon has a child with a human?"

"An abomination is created."

"That isn't untrue. Monsters come out, the kind that stalk the desert and hunt humans."

"We are aware of that fact."

"Are you also aware of why those monsters hunt humans?"

"To eat."

"And to mate." The colonel turned his full body towards the old man, his eyes wide.

"What?"

"The Demon King is a demon of lust. His power is passed to his children. All the races of the desert are such creatures. Most of them seek humans for their energy and get it through sexual means. Many of them want to reproduce with humans, considering them superior mates to other monsters."

"Why are you telling me this?" The old man didn't reply to that. He merely turned around, putting his trident on his shoulder.

"The desert is vast. The Demon King's palace is across the endless desert, in an oasis paradise. You will have to make your way through his never-ending descendants." The old man began walking away. "Watch your back. Sometimes, it's difficult to tell who the real monsters are." The commander watched the man with a dire expression. What was that old cook talking about? Sex monsters? A lust demon? Real monsters? It was all preposterous. Before the colonel could continue his thoughts, the second boat of men finally arrived and it was chained to the first one. More men poured out onto the pier, praying in thanks, stretching and gazing at the city.

"We have no time to waste." the colonel said, walking to his men. "This is a land of madness."

Lieutenant Colonel Marisa Stein walked down the crafting section of town. Judging from the pictures on signs, there were many different kinds of artisans, tailors, dyers, potters, spinners and even ropemakers. Still, she couldn't find any smiths. There weren't any people on the street, which somewhat worried her. It was the peak of the day and yet the streets were empty. Back home the craft district would be packed this time of day. As she rounded another dead street she wiped her brow with her armored hand. It didn't really help, as the gauntlet only smeared the sweat on her face. It was blistering in this metal armor, but she was on duty. She came to one store with a sign that puzzled her. It was a person, but in an odd stance with strings on their limbs. She had never seen anything like it before. Despite the fact that she was on a mission, she couldn't quite put down her curiosity. Besides, someone could tell him where the armor or weapon smith was. She sighed and opened the door.

When Marisa walked inside she instantly stopped and gazed around with wide eyes. The entire store was covered with shelves. The shelves were stocked with tiny wooden people with stings attached to pieces of wood. They were very life-like, and somewhat haunting. Someone else entered the store from a backroom, separated by beads hanging from the doorway.

"Welcome!" the store owner said. "Please close the door!"

"Oh." Marisa said, closing the door behind her. She was shocked to discover that the inside of the store was cool. "It's cool in here."

"It's designed that way. You're not from around here are you?" The store owner grabbed his chin and gazed up and down her. "Hm, you must be a crusader. I've heard about them, but there hasn't been any in my lifetime." He looked up to her face. "Yes...lovely..." Marisa felt a little creeped out under his black eyes.

"I was looking for the armor and weapon smith. The streets were empty so..."

"It's the peak of the day, no one is out during then."

"In the middle of the day?"

"It's hot here. People are active during the morning and evening. The armor and weapon smith is a few streets over, in that direction."

"Thanks." Marisa turned to leave, but something caught her eye. It was a wooden person, an unusual one. It looked like an angel. It had black hair, blue eyes, wings and a halo. There was even a pristine white dress on its body. Her curiosity peaked, Marisa walked over and leaned close.

"You like that one?" the shop-owner asked. Marisa turned to see he was much closer now, standing only a few paces away from her.

"What are these?" she finally asked.

"They're puppets."

"Puppets?"

"They don't have those in your country? Puppets are usually in the shape of people and can be manipulated with the strings."

"Why would people want that?"

"Some like them as toys. Some of them use them as actors in little plays. Others...perhaps...simply like the idea of people being on strings. Gives them a sense of power." Marisa became a little creeped out again. The shop owner had a wide smile that showed a lot of his teeth. Marisa had always been taught that people with wide smiles weren't trustworthy. "Where are my manners? My name is Hamid my fair lady. I'm sorry if I have disturbed you in some way. I have mannerisms even my mother found uncomfortable." Marisa realized that she must have given some signs that she was uncomfortable around him.

"It's alright, I am new to this country." she said. She turned back to the angel puppet. Apart from her longer nose, it looked a lot like her. If it was her, it showed a sensitive, gentle side, one she never showed anyone.

"Would you like that one?" Hamid asked.

"I...don't have money. At least none I can spend on myself. It's all for the campaign."

"Ah yes, crusading and whatnot. Since you are new to this country and you seem to be interested in puppets, I'll just give it to you."

"R...Really?" Marisa asked. She was surprised that he would be so generous. She had heard this was a harsh land with harsh people who would just as soon kill you then give you the time of day.

"Why not, I have a lot of them, and perhaps you could recommend me to the others." He briefly held up his finger. "Actually, wait a moment." He quickly walked over to the counter at the end of the store. He reached under it and removed tiny sets of clothes. He held up a set that looked like armor. "This look familiar?"

"What...how did you...?" The tiny suit of armor he was holding had a burning phoenix on it, just like their armor. It even had the same luster and chainmail underneath it.

"I have had this for a while. I modeled it after an old puppet I saw as a child. Apparently, your order has been here before."

"We have..." Marisa had heard that the order had come to crusade, along with many other groups, ages ago. What were the odds that he would have their specific order's armor?

"Bring the puppet over here. We'll try it on." Marisa obeyed, taking the puppet by the strings and carrying it over. Hamid took the pupped and undressed it. Marisa got a good look at the naked doll. It had a feminine figure, ball-joints and even what appeared to be genitals. It bothered Marisa a little, but she decided to let it go. He was giving her part of his livelihood for free. She was hardly in a position to complain. He put the pieces of armor onto it one by one. When the suit was finally complete he held the strings up by the controlling piece of wood. "There, it almost looks just like you. In fact, would you give me a string of your hair?" Marisa flinched a little and became incredibly uncomfortable.

"What? What for?" Hamid had that wide smile he had before. It made her even more uncomfortable.

"Just a little puppeteers trick. What harm could a single hair do?" Marisa stood very still for several moments. His wide smile still made her uncomfortable, but he did have a point. It was just a hair, was he going to do, strangle her with it? Marisa reached up and pulled a single strand of her black hair. She handed it over to him. He took the strand, put in into the doll's hair and whispered at it. There was a tiny flash of light and the doll changed. Marisa's eyes widened as the doll's nose and hair style changed to hers. It was now in her complete likeness.

"What was that?" Marisa asked.

"Just a little magic."

"Magic!? That's demon's work!"

"Relax, everyone in this land can do a little magic. Look! It's you!" Hamid held the puppet up. Indeed it was her in every way, from the armor, to the face, hair and even stoic expression.


Crusade Gone Awry Ch. 01



"Yes, it's very lovely." Marisa was now more uncomfortable than ever before. Magic was forbidden in her country and it made her very nervous. She was grateful that he would go that far, but she now just wanted to leave.

"You want to see something really neat?" Hamid asked. He was grinning wider than ever.

"I...should really go."

"It'll only take a moment. Watch." He then said something akin to gibberish. It must have meant something, as Marisa felt her body tingle all over. She stumbled backwards, gazing all over her body. There didn't seem to be anything wrong.

"What...what did you do!?" Marisa shrieked.

"Take a look." Hamid tilted one of the strings on the control bar. Much to Marisa's horror, her arm popped up just like the puppet.

"What...what is...?"

"I told you, magic." Hamid began puling the strings again and again. Marisa's arms flailed against her will, just like the puppet. "Didn't they tell you not to trust people over here? If not, they should have." Marisa fought with all of her might, trying to resist, but her muscles wouldn't obey. It was like her orders wouldn't go to them. Hamid carried the puppet as he walked around the counter and towards the door of the store.

"You are certainly a beautiful woman." he said. He reached up to the door and locked it. "The way you tie up that gorgeous black hair is almost criminal. I also have no doubt that the armor you have on is hiding a beautiful figure." He walked towards the door to the back room. He turned and smiled again. "Come along." He began walking the puppet. Much to Marisa's horror, she began walking awkwardly towards the door. She tried yet again to resist, but her body wasn't her own anymore. She followed Hamid into his back room.

She emerged into what must have been a work room. Standing around the edges of the room where four giant puppets, the size of humans. They were faceless and had ball joints, but were wearing underwear and had a male build. Hamid walked her to the middle of the room and stopped her.

"Stop this immediately!" Marisa shouted, sounding panicked. "My commander will come for me!"

"He can try." Hamid said, with a wide smile. "I doubt he will succeed. No one saw you come in here and everyone in this city keeps their mouth." Hamid hung Marisa's doll from the ceiling. She was stuck in place, unable to resist or fight. "Now, let's see if it's still as powerful as it used to be." He reached up and grabbed the puppet's arm. Marisa gritted her teeth as she fought it in vain. As he raised the puppet's hand up her own hand obeyed. He lifted her hand to her shoulder. To her horror, he began undoing her armor.

"What are you doing?" Marisa asked. Her terrified eyes stared at him manipulate the puppet's hands.

"Taking your armor off." he said flatly. "I could do it directly, but I need the practice." The connector on her shoulder came loose. Her breast plate sagged off of her shoulder. "There we go, now the other."

"Please stop this!" Marisa was now beginning to sound desperate. Her hand came up to her other shoulder. She was about to be completely defenseless in front of the puppeteer. She resisted with all of her might, but her muscles refused to obey her. She helplessly watched as he removed every piece of her armor, from her breast plate to her grieves to her metal skirt. She began to panic as she removed her own chainmail. All that remained was a thin pair of pants and a shirt.

"Stop...stop it..." Marisa said, beginning to shake. She was all but naked. Hamid stopped manipulating the pupped and gazed her up and down once again.

"Very nice. I new you had a proper figure." He began walking around her, kicking her armor away to the sides of the room. "Oh yes...yes...why would you ever hide such a beautiful body under so many pounds of armor?"

"You have to let me go..." Marisa said, her voice trembling. "I...I have to report back..."

"My dear, you may be new to this country, so you might not be familiar with what's going on. Allow me to elaborate." Hamid stepped back over to the puppet. He once again began manipulating it. With her hands shaking in fear, Marisa reached for her shirt.

"No! No, please!"

"You see, that part of your life is over. You're about to embark on a new journey." Marisa pulled her shirt over her head, exposing her amble breasts. "Don't worry, it won't be so bad." She reached for her pants and pulled them down. "I think you'll enjoy...oh my!" Hamid stopped in mid sentence the moment he saw Marisa's nude body. "You...are truly beautiful! I knew that black hair and blue eyes was something special...but your body! Perfect hips, breasts, legs and stomach, I am impressed. Must be all that exercise you get." Tears were beginning to stream down Marisa's eyes. She hadn't cried since she was a child, and certainly not since joining the corp. Now she was exposed, helpless and at the mercy of some bizarre puppet-wizard.

"Please...no more..."

"No more? We're just beginning!" Hamid lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. For a few moments, there was nothing but silence. Then Marisa heard the terrifying noise of wooden objects clacking together.

"What...what is...?" Her voice was trembling. She gazed around to see that the large mannequins in the room were creaking to live, trembling and jerking. "What are you doing?"

"And ruin the surprise? I'm afraid not my dear." The faceless mannequins began lurching forward, getting more mobile with each step. They surrounded her on all sides, as if waiting for something. Marisa couldn't even cover herself. She stood nude, trembling and crying. A few minutes previous she was a proud soldier, ready for a prolonged campaign of combat. Now she was a helpless girl, stripped of everything at the mercy of some evil sorcerer.

"What...are they doing?" she asked.

"Boy you really are a soldier of the church." Hamid said, sounding a little disgruntled. He took the puppet off of the ceiling and brought it to the ground. As the naked puppet dropped to it's knees, so did Marisa. Now on her knees, she watched as the giant puppets around her removed the undergarments on their crotch. Her eyes widened as wide as they could go. Protruding from their wooden bodies were very real-looking erect penises and testicles.

"You see, I made these things from the sap of a rubber tree. I whipped it around for a while and low and behold it turned into this soft, skin-like substance. I call it latex. I figured I could sell it to men who have lose their dicks or lonely women. Of course...it needs to be tested first." Hamid grinned as he manipulated the puppet. Marisa began gasping and whining in horror as her arms raised up without her consent. She squeezed her eyes shut as her hands wrapped around two of the erections. Much to her surprise, they felt like skin and were warm. She kept her eyes closed as tight as possible as her hand began to pump the dicks.

"No, no, my dear." Hamid said. "An important part of the experience is to keep eye contact." He snapped his finger again. Much to Marisa's disgust, her eyes opened. Equally to her disgust, there was one of the white, fake dicks now in her face. "Open up dear." Marisa kept her mouth shut as tight as she could. "Come on, it won't be so bad. Don't fight me. Alright..." Hamid snapped his fingers again. Despite using all of her strength, her jaw opened, shaking with effort. The puppet's dick shoved into her mouth, earning a distressed whine from Marisa. The shaft in her mouth began pumping back and forth. She could feel the cock in her mouth throb and pulse, like it was a living thing. It pierced deeper and deeper. The puppet reached up and grabbed the back of her head. It bobbed her back and forth on its faux dick. Its wooden body was shuddering, as if the puppet could actually feel pleasure. Maybe it could, she wasn't sure. Abruptly and without warning, it pulled hard on her head. She gagged loudly as the prick pierced the back of her throat. It held her there tightly for several moments, not allowing her to breathe. She desperately fought for air, but her hands never stopped moving.

"Now, now, Arthur, be gentle." Hamid chided. The puppet named Arthur released her head and pulled back, letting her gasp for hair. "I do apologize my dear, these sensations are new to them. Oops, better stop." Marisa's hands stopped moving and dropped away from the latex dicks. She could see that all of their erections were visibly pulsing. "They almost blew their tops."

"They...they can...?" Marisa said, getting a terrible feeling in her gut.

"Of course, it wouldn't be any good for selling if they couldn't." Hamid said, as if it were obvious. "Now, on all fours." Marisa was forced to obey as the puppet moved, assuming a humiliating position more fitting for a dog. Her tears were now dripping onto the ground. "Oh Balthazar, go grab that bottle over there. Yes, that one." Marisa couldn't see what they were doing, but she could hear something being opened.

"What are you doing?"

"This will help you feel better." Hamid replied, smiling wide. Marisa shrieked loudly at feeling something touching her nethers. She shook in humiliation and fear as the wooden fingers of the puppet probed inside of her. It had some kind of gel on its fingers. It spread it around inside every part of her, from her outer lips to her cervix. Once it had finished, the puppet removed its fingers. Marisa waited, feeling the cold substance sitting on her most sacred part.

"What is...?" Marisa was cut off as she shrieked and began shaking. She was now quivering for a different reason. The gel inside of her canal suddenly began to heat up and produce a tingling sensation. Almost immediately, she could feel juices drip from her. Her pussy felt as if it was itching terribly and needed to be scratched. "No! No! Make it stop! Make it stop!"

"As you wish my dear." Hamid said. The puppet called Balthazar that had given her the gel knelt behind her. It lined up its erection with her slit, preparing to shove it inside.

"No! No! Anything but that!" Marisa fully panicked. Much to Hamid's surprise, she managed to move a little under her own power, shaking her ass just out of position so Balthazar couldn't push himself in. "I have someone I love! Please don't!"

"Wait a moment." Hamid ordered. The puppets obeyed, standing, or kneeling, as still as statues. Marisa breathed a sigh of relief, but continued to shake and drip. The burning inside of her was spreading and now seemed to cover her entire torso. Hamid walked over and lifted her chin, so that her blue eyes could see his black ones. "Who might this man be?"

"M-Marcus Lionheart. Colonel Marcus Lionheart." Marisa admitted. There seemed to be a smidgen of actual sympathy in Hamid's eyes. She would say anything to get him to stop, especially considering Balthazar's hands still had a grip on her hips and his erection was still pointed at her entrance.

"Colonel? He wouldn't happen to be the commander of these forces would he?"

"Yes! Yes he is! I followed him all this time...hoping he would retire some day. Then I could tell him! I admire him for his determination, kindness and fairness! I've loved him for a long time." Hamid tilted his head and appeared genuinely sympathetic.

"Oh, that's so sweet. You can't be together because you're in the same unit, yet you still pine after him. Oh well, it's hopeless anyway." Balthazar thrust forward. Marisa screamed as her virginity was shattered. The puppet buried itself up to the hilt and shuddered while it did so. Blood dripped from around its latex erection. Marisa gazed back with tears in her eyes, seeing that it was indeed true.

"It...it hurts..."

"It won't for much longer, I assure you."

"But...why did you ask...you...?"

"My dear, he's not going to live much longer." She gazed back up at him, this time an angry expression on her face.

"He is not!"

"Sweetheart, how many crusades have there been?" Marisa did not answer. In truth, she didn't know. "A lot. How many have succeeded? None. You have no idea what monsters lie in that desert or how much power the Demon King has." Balthazar suddenly drew his erection out of Marisa and shoved it back in. The woman shrieked, but only half out of pain. It was beginning to subside and that tingling was taking over. "You should be thanking me, I'm saving your life."

"No...please..."

"The pain should be gone now. Go ahead Balthazar." Hamid stepped away and the puppet began thrusting its hips slowly. Marisa bit her lip as tears streamed out of her eyes, but not out of pain anymore. With every movement of the erection inside of her the tingling melted into sparks of pleasure. Against her will, her juices coated the white prick every time Balthazar pulled it out. The puppet was now pulling her hips with his thrusts, allowing him to pierce deeper with each of his movements.

"Let's not deprive the others of attention." Marisa's upper body lifted up, with Balthazar helping her by holding her up by her stomach. His thrusts never stopped however. Her hands came up and she began pumping on two of the puppet's dicks again. She shook her head back and forth. The sparks of pleasure inside of her were building. She could feel the tension around her pussy increasing, ready to blow.

"Oh my, are you about to cum?" Hamid had a twinkle in his eye at the display. "Well go ahead, cum as much as you like. I think those puppets you're jacking off are about ready to burst too." Marisa watched them. Their hips were shuddering and their dicks were pulsing. She tried her best to close her eyes and feel nothing, but failed miserably. With every thrust Balthazar made, a new wave of pleasure washed over her. The tension inside of her grew and grew. It felt like a dam was breaking She gasped and turned her head up to the ceiling.

"No! No! I don't...I don't...!" Then she screamed in unwanted bliss. Her canal clamped down on Balthazar. The puppet wrapped its arms around her like a lover and held her close as her insides coiled around him. Juices gushed on his latex dick. Marisa gasped each time her body quivered in pleasure. Her hands tightened around the erections in her hand while she was pumping. The two puppets shuddered and pumped their hips for a few moments before erupting. Warm jizz gushed onto her hand, covering them. Marisa let out a few more weakened gasps as she twitched with the last blasts of pleasure. Balthazar let her go and she collapsed onto all fours again.

That was when she felt a shocking sensation. Her hands felt different, as if they were covered in something hard. As soon as the tears cleared from her eyes she saw that the white release of the puppets was quickly absorbing into the skin of her hands. From her wrist to her fingertips her skin was turning oddly reflective and felt much heavier.

"What...what's happening to me?" Marisa asked, her voice panicking.

"Ah, that." Hamid said nonchalantly. "Since I cant use real testicles, as I don't have any at the moment, I instead have them ejaculate what they have for blood, enchanted puppet stuff and whatnot. Curios thing, when it comes into contact with human skin it turns the human into a puppet hybrid of sorts. Your skin is going to have a harder more sheen-like consistency. It won't hurt, I assure you. My ancestors used to have whole armies of these."

"A...a puppet?" Marisa finally felt the true terror of the situation hit her in the pit of her stomach. He was changing her into a puppet. "Please...you can't...I...I don't want..."

"My dear, I'm saving your life! Besides, it's not like you won't enjoy it." Balthazar turned her over onto her back. It lifted her hips so he could get a better angle. It placed both of its hands on either side of her stomach. "All it has to do is get inside of you."

"No! Stop it! I don't want...!!" She was silenced. The puppet called Arthur put its own erection back inside of her mouth. Both of them began pumping their hips in rhythm with each other. Marisa wanted to fight with all of her might, but instead just lay there as the puppets had their way with her. Worse still, she could feel those sparks of pleasure jumping around inside of her canal again. Despite her terror, despite her fighting and despite not wanting any of it, she was getting off on this again. She whined in distress, but her hips began shaking in pleasure. She could feel her body building to another climax. The puppets were bucking their hips wildly. Arthur's shaft was piercing her throat as the puppet shoved its entire girth into her mouth each time. Balthazar was now gripping her hips again, pulling her hips with every thrust. The tension inside of her built with every movement until she couldn't take it anymore. She could feel their dicks swelling in her canal and mouth. They were going to cum, and she would be no more.

'I can't...' she thought desperately. 'I...I don't want this...make it...make it stop!" She screamed against the prick in her mouth and arched her back. Her juices gushed around Balthazar's shaft as her insides clamped around him. Both of the puppet's hips twitched as their dicks pulsed, they pushed themselves as deep as they could and then burst. All three of them quivered with pleasure. In her orgasmic bliss, Marisa could feel their jizz gush into her. Her canal was coated with hot spunk and it poured down her throat so she had no choice but to swallow it. For several moments, all of them bucked against each other, bathing in pleasure. Finally it was over. Balthazar pulled out, his release gushing out of her. Arthur did the same, with Marisa coughing a little of his spunk out of her mouth. She could feel that heavy, hard feeling spreading around her body.

"No...make it..." Her voice faded as her face became still and her skin became shiny. It quickly melted over her whole body as her skin absorbed all of the puppet's magic. In a few moments, she was completely changed. She no longer moved and no longer spoke. She was a living doll, unable to do anything without her master. That person walked over to her as he shooed the puppets away.

"Aren't you perfect?" Hamid said, grinning. "You are by far the most beautiful puppet I have ever seen." He lifted her up into a sitting position. Hamid ran his hand over her smooth stomach and gripped one of her breasts in his hand. It was large enough that it filled up his entire grip. He pulled some of her black hair away from her face and whispered into her ear. "Don't you worry. It doesn't take any of your sensitivity away." He pinched her nipple, causing her to gasp through her nose. Her face showed no emotion however. "Oh the fun we will have my sweet puppet." He licked her shoulder, causing her to shiver a little. "You are mine. Now and forever."

*

That night, Colonel Lionheart was pacing back and forth nervously. Almost all of the ships had docked and the camp had been set up outside of the city. Everything was moving smoothly except for one thing. His second-in-command, his right-hand woman was nowhere to be found. A blacksmith showed up and offered his services soon after they scattered, for a fee of course. The colonel would trade every weapon in the world right now to have Lieutenant Colonel Steinem back. She was a one in a million soldier, loyal, capable and strong. Now she was missing in this large city. He was pacing by the docks, waiting for the one person who would know anything about this to arrive. Just when he was about to order the city sacked and was beating his sword into the ground, the old man returned. Adrum emerged from a cliff surrounding the docks, a bucket in one hand and a trident with a fish still on it in the other. Despite his advanced age, his container was full to the brim with clams, oysters and fish. He approached the colonel, receiving a death glare as he did so. He still had that bizarre, squatting walk that already bothered the hell out of the colonel.




Crusade Gone Awry Ch. 01



"I take it everything is going smoothly?" The ancient man asked, putting the bucket and the trident beside his fish house. He was clearly sarcastic and Lionheart was in no mood for it.

"My second in command is missing!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"What was she doing?" Adrum asked calmly.

"Looking for a blacksmith!"

"How many were with her?"

"She was alone!" Much to the colonel's fury, the old man laughed. It was a dry, croaking cackle.

"Did I not tell you to watch your back? How can one watch one's back alone?" The decrepit man sat in his chair beside his house, picked the fish ofg the trident and began cleaning it with his bare hands. "I tried to warn you, be glad it only cost you one soldier."

"I want her back!" the colonel shouted. His hand gripped his sword so tight that his fingers were white, even through his armor. Adrum stopped cleaning the fish, his hands covered in guts. Their eyes met. The old man appeared serious all of a sudden.

"In all likelihood, she is either dead or not human anymore." Adrum said coolly.

"What the hell does that mean!?" Adrum threw the fish and its guts onto the ground. He stood up, using the trident as if it were a walking staff.

"It means that this is a land of madness, as I told you before. Even if she is alive, which isn't guaranteed, some manner of magic has probably taken her. She was a strong, armed soldier, so it isn't likely someone robbed her or enslaved her. Which means that magic must have been involved. She might not even be in the city anymore. She might be with the creatures in the desert, or dead, or some sort of monster herself. I warned you young man, don't come crying to me if you didn't heed my advice."

"I will ransack every house in this city until I get my answer!" the colonel shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Don't be a fool." Adrum retorted, pointing his trident at the colonel. "I've been watching your boats come in all day. You have eight hundred soldiers at most. This is a city of tens of thousands. If I rally them we will simply overwhelm you, not just with people but with magic." Colonel Lionheart gave the ancient man a deadly glare. He could cut the man down where he stood, but the population would become incensed. The commander of these forces cutting down such an old man who still lived off of the ocean? They would murder them in the streets. Still, how was he supposed to let this go? His second-in-command was likely being tortured at that very moment.

"What am I supposed to do?" the colonel finally asked. "Nothing? Let her disappear? She was one of my best soldiers and one of the few people in this world I would trust with my life." Adrum seemed to growl at himself. He gazed off at the sea for a few moments. After gathering his thoughts he turned back to the colonel.

"The longer you are here, the more aware the Demon King will become to your presence. It would take you at least a week to ransack this city if we resist and that's assuming we aren't effective. By that time, the king will have organized an army of monsters and you will be annihilated without fail. The only hope you have is to catch him before that happens. The longer you wait, the more powerful he becomes." There were a few more tense moments between them. Somehow, despite the man's endless wrinkles, hunched stature and squat legs, he was intimidating.

"I swear to the goddess that when this is over I will return. I don't care if I have to burn this entire city down, I will find out what happened to Lieutenant Colonel Marisa Steinam. I swear to you." Adrum stared at him for a moment.

"I'll find out for you." the ancient man said. "By the time you come back, I will have you an answer."

"I'm going to hold you to that...old man." The colonel then turned and marched away, heading for the city gates. Adrum watched him as he walked away, making sure he was leaving. The moment he disappeared into the buildings the old man scoffed and returned to his chair. He picked up the fish from the ground and began cleaning it again. He then grinned and began chuckling

"So confident." Adrum muttered. "Just like all the others."

Colonel Lionheart walked out of the city gates and emerged into the camp his soldiers made. They had hastily put up tents and were setting fires as the temperature was rapidly dropping. The colonel's officers were waiting near the entrance, warming themselves by one of the fires. They had taken off their plated armor and were in their chainmail. The colonel walked up to them, with each of them standing to attention when the saw him. Major Ackler was a little slower to come to attention than the rest of them.

"Be on guard at all times!" Colonel Lionheart shouted immediately. "Never for a moment think you are safe! There are threats everywhere!" The commander then spat into the sand. All of his officers gazed at one another. It was Captain Talia Fenner that spoke first.

"Sir, have you found Lieutenant Steinem?" She asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"No." The commander replied bitterly. "Unfortunately we don't have any time to waste. The old codg...I mean Adrum believes that she is likely already dead or sold into slavery or something. The longer we wait, the more time the Demon King has to get his defenses ready. We have far fewer soldiers than any crusade before, but we are the most elite the church has. They have faith in us and we can't squander that faith for one person." Colonel Lionheart gazed down at the sand on his feet. "No matter who it is. I don't like this one bit, and once it's over we will return and find out where she is, dead or alive, and make the person responsible pay. For now...we have a mission to conduct." The colonel gazed back up and came to attention. "Each of you report." Although his officers appeared appeared unsure of his decision, they obeyed.

"Well," Oren began, not looking as interested. "It was easy enough to find some vendors. I'm not sure our stomachs will be entirely happy with it, but I've got us food. All you have to do is pay them." The major fell silent as the commander glared at him. For a few moments, tension hung in the air. Then Oren's eyes lit up. "Oh, sorry sir." He finally said with respect. "Apologies sir. Did not mean to offend you sir." He seemed disgusted with the word "sir," but having him say it was probably good enough. The commander let it go and turned to the next person.

"The defenses of this town are surprisingly good sir." Major Sam Ageril stated. He was more matter-of-fact and a lot more respectful. "The walls do not have any major structural weakness, there are archer holes every few feet and it is designed to be manned and fled from in a matter of minutes."

"Very good." the commander said. "I doubt we will be taking to the defense of this city, but it's good to know what it's capabilities are." He turned to the next person.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't find any horses the people would part with sir." Captain Tay Rainground began. "The horses they do have are used for farming along the coast and are not suited for long distances or battles. They also possess camels, but as we are not trained with those I don't think they would serve us sir."

"Horses would probably be poor in this sand anyway. Thank you for looking."

"I scoured the residential district sir." Captain Talia Fenner stated. "Most of them wanted to lure me into their homes. The vast majority of the people laughed at me when I asked if they wanted to join."

"So there are no recruits?"

"Well...there is...one." Talia had a cute squeak in her voice when she said "well." The commander didn't notice.

"One?"

"He says he can help guide us through the desert. It's just...he's...not entirely human sir."

"Entirely?"

"He seems to be...how should I put it? Part fox."

"Fox?"

"Desert fox to be precise...sir. Still, he seemed eager to help us, for the right price sir."

"It seems we've been getting a lot of that." The colonel rolled his eyes. "Beggar's can't be choosers. We're here for the Demon King. We'll accept help from anyone."

"Yes sir." The captain said in acknowledgment. The colonel turned to First Lieutenant Eliza Bevens.

"Almost everyone is off the boat sir." She stated. "There are only a few more. Everyone knew the drill and there were no incidents sir."

"Good job everyone." The colonel said, although he gave the disaffected Oren a glare. "Make sure everyone is prepared for battle at all times. We will move out immediately at dawn tomorrow. I will have to meet our...unusual guide immediately."

"Yes sir." They all said, saluting with their hands on their hearts. Oren was a little slower than the rest of them.

"Dismissed." They all scattered except for Talia. She stood in place, staring at the colonel. "Is there something else captain?"

"Sir, Marisa had a sister." she said bluntly. The colonel flinched, abruptly uncomfortable.

"I see. We will have to send her a message once this is over." the commander said, trying to defer any feelings he had for later.

"That's just it sir, she's on this campaign." The colonel took a deep breath as he suddenly felt a tightening in his gut. He had an obligation to the soldiers under his command, Marisa's sister included. "She's a private on the last boat. The lieutenant colonel made sure of that in case we had a rough landing. She should be here shortly." The colonel lifted his gauntlet hand and put it to his head. This situation was one of the worst he had ever been in. All the battles were nothing compared to what he was about to have to do.

"I'll break the news. It's my duty. You tell our guide to wait in my tent, and make sure he is unarmed."

"Yes sir." Captain Fenner saluted and marched away. The colonel felt even older than he did that morning. This was already the longest campaign in his career and it was just beginning.

The colonel waited by the gate for the last soldiers to arrive. He had asked his quartermaster, who apparently knew both Marisa and his sister, to point out when the woman arrived. When a group of soldiers marched through the entranceway, carrying their possessions on their back, the quartermaster pointed. The colonel marched forward. The moment the group of soldiers saw him they stopped. Some of them dropped their packs in surprise, but they all saluted very quickly. The colonel saluted back to them.

"At ease soldiers." he said. It didn't do him any good to say that, they all appeared just as nervous as before. "I am looking for a Private Steinam, sister of Lieutenant Colonel Marisa Steinhem."

"Huh? Oh, that's me sir." A young woman stepped forward. As the commander examined her, he saw some resemblance. They had the same nose and jaw, but this woman had a much gentler expression. Her eyes were brown and her hair blonde and short. She was also smaller and judging from the way she moved and her smaller hands and feet, she was much more slender than her sister.

"The rest of you may move on. I must speak with Private Steinam alone." The other soldiers saluted nervously and quickly marched away. The young woman appeared very nervous, completely puzzled as to what this was about.

"What is your name private?" The colonel began.

"It's...Catarina Steinam sir."

"Catarina. I have...unfortunate news to deliver to you."

"What is it?"

"Your sister has gone missing." Abruptly the nervousness disappeared from Catarina's face. She appeared very dire and very worried.

"What? What happened?"

"I sent my officers into the city to acquire supplies and scout. I sent her to secure a blacksmith for our armor and weapons. She never reported back."

"Have you organized a search?" The colonel felt the knot in his stomach tie tighter. Families frequently didn't understand the need to put the mission before their loved ones. The commander did not enjoy being yelled at by emotional people.

"I would like to do nothing else. She was my best soldier and I would trust her with my life. However, there is no time. The longer we wait, the more time the Demon King has to prepare for our attack. I threatened to search all of the houses in the city, but we were threatened with retaliation and it would take us at least a week to search the city by force. We cannot wait that long. The plan is for us to strike hard and strike fast. We are the elite soldiers, hand-picked from combat veterans and high scorers during training. We are the best and we have to act like the best. As much as it pains me, we must wait to put forward a search or else the entire operation will suffer. I swear to you, once this over, we will get answers. For now, we must press on." Throughout the whole explanation, Catarina stared at her feet. She showed no emotion through all of it. The colonel continued to brace himself for the inevitable yelling.

"I understand sir." she finally said.

"You do? Well...great. I appreciate your professionalism in this matter. I care for your sister a lot, and I will not rest until I find her or get answers." The colonel saluted and began walking away.

"Sir!" the private shouted. He turned back towards her.

"Yes?"

"If possible...I want to help fill her void in some way." Catarina's eyes were filled with determination and will. She greatly resembled her sister all of a sudden. "I know I can't be your second in command, but I have to help in some way! I can't let my sister just be a footnote in this campaign. I have to help her legacy. She's..." The young woman abruptly looked down at the sand on the ground. "She's...all I have. Our parents...were killed by bandits." The colonel stared at her silently. With that determined look on her face she looked so much like her sister, that fire, that intensity, the loyalty to duty. The commander gazed up at the night sky, thinking.

"It's true. I can't make you my second in command." he said. "However, I can make you my personal aide." Catarina's face lifted, a bright expression on her face. "It was one of her functions as my second. I don't think Major Ageril would be willing to do that." The young woman stood at attention and saluted.

"I would be happy to be your personal aide sir!"

"Very well. Put your things away and meet in my tent. You will need to keep a record of what happens here."

"Yes sir!" Catarina dashed away, eager to cast off her luggage. The commander watched her run away, eager to begin her new job. The colonel then gazed out into the desert.

"How much more will you take from me I wonder?" The desert did not answer. It never did. It only sweltered and killed. The commander took a deep breath, regained his professional composure and began marching to his tent.



Crusade Gone Awry Ch. 02



Colonel Lionheart entered his tent and paused. Standing in the middle of his pavilion was their guide, a fox man. Unlike the vulpines back home his fur was a cream color and very fluffy. He was wearing the loose-fitting clothes that all the desert people were wearing, albeit it had a hole in the back where his puffy tail poked out.

"You must be the commander!" the fox man said, grinning. He had a fox's face and teeth. As disgusted as the colonel was by this, he needed him. The commander walked over to his desk and sat behind it. "Oh I don't have a chair...but that's fine!" Colonel Lionheart glared at the smiling fox. The animal-man was going to be a problem, he could see that already.

"What is your name?" Lionheart asked, not a single ounce of humor in his tone. The fox man bowed.

"My name is Renard sir, of the Fennec tribe." He said. rose up, that toothy grin on his face. "Might I say, I am so happy there is another crusade here. Our economy has been in a slump lately. It's so good to have people come and spend money..."

"Can you lead us to the Demon King's palace or not?" the colonel said, interrupting Renard's monologue.

"Well...no." Renard admitted. "None of us know where it is exactly, but my tribe has spent years traveling the desert. I can show you the paths we use to deliver supplies to the Demon King and warn of the dangers yet to come." The colonel wasn't sure if Renard was telling the truth or not, but it had to be better than waltzing into the desert blind.

"Very well, you have to job." Lionheart said.

"Excellent." Renard replied, rubbing his hands together. "There's just the small matter of my payment." The colonel was getting very tired of people in this land asking him for money. "I was thinking in the realm of...say...fifty gold coins."

"Ten." The colonel said flatly.

"I suppose I could drop it down to...forty." Renard said, holding his hands out as if he were begging.

"You will take twenty or I'll enslave you and you get nothing." Lionheart said, still flat. Renard then grinned once again, although this time he appeared much more nervous.

"Twenty it is."Renard said, sounding fake happy. "I have some bar debts so if I could get an advance..."

"I will give you ten now, ten when we get to the Demon King's mansion."

"There's no guarantee that..."

"I know." The colonel's voice continued to drop lower and lower with every response he gave to Renard. The commander reached into a satchel hanging on the wall and extracted ten gold coins. He slapped them on the table.

"I'm sure it will go well." Renard stated, picking up the money. He had fingers, but there were canine-like pads on his palms as well as fur. The fox man took the coins and shoved them in his pocket. "I must go take care of some business before we leave."

"Be here by dawn or I will track you down." Lionheart said in a threatening tone.

"Of that I have no doubt colonel. Say...you wouldn't happen to know where Captain Fenner went...?" The colonel glared at the fox man once again.

"Captain Fenner has her own duties to attend to and you will not bother her. If you do, I will not be responsible for any damage done to you." The colonel turned back to the papers on his desk. "And she is capable of doing significant damage to those that bother her."

"You lot sure are a fun bunch." Renard said before shrugging and walking out of the tent, his tail flicking as he left. The colonel sighed in exhaustion. He didn't know whether the fox would be an asset or a hindrance. All he knew was, tomorrow as going to be a long day.

A little later, Renard walked into a local tavern. He leaned against the bar, a wide grin on his vulpine face as he waited for the barkeep to see him. Once she finished handing a mug of ale to one customer she turned to Renard. He bat ears twitched and she bared her fangs.

"You've got some nerve coming back here Renard." She hissed. Apart from the ears and fangs, she appeared to be an attractive woman. It was probably the reason Renard gave her an alluring look.

"Don't be that way Hesta!" Renard said, as if he were flirting. "Is this the way you treat me after all those long nights over watered-down ale?" 

"So you insult me by acting like we have a relationship and then you insult my ale?" Hesta replied.

"We did have a relationship!" Renard exclaimed

"It was one night and I was drunk." Hesta said, glaring angrily.

"Doesn't mean you didn't like it."

"Either pay your debt or leave."

"Believe it or not..." Renard said as he placed the gold coins he was paid on the table. Quite surprised, Hesta walked over and picked them up.

"This is the gold of those crusaders." She said. She then gave him a suspicious glance. "You didn't steal it did you? I want not part of stolen gold. You know what happens to thieves in this city."

"No worries. They hired me." The fox-man replied

"For what? Having drunken sex with their females?" Hessta said critically. Renard put his thumb to his chest proudly.

"I'm going to be their desert guide." He stated. Hesta abruptly laughed in a very shrill manner, reminiscent of a bat.

"They must want to die more that I thought!" She said through the laughing

"Don't be mean. Come on, I paid you off." Renard said, resuming his begging voice. Hesta looked at the gold in her hand and bobbed it up and down, measuring the weight.

"I'm pretty sure this only covers about half." she said.

"What!? Don't add interest!" Renard complained. Hesta gave him another glare.

"I'm not, you mutt. You owe me for one hundred forty-seven drinks. I wrote it down because I was going to put it on your tombstone."

"You are so cute when you're mad at me." Renard said, giving her a flirtatious point of his finger. Hesta gave the grinning fox a pathetic stare in reply. Silence hung between them as Hesta wasn't sure if she wanted to hit him. Renard only grinned like a fox who got away with theft.

"Is there something else you wanted?" The barkeep asked.

"A drink?" Renard asked hopefully

"Are you kidding me?"

"I might die tomorrow. Come on Hesta! You can put on my tombstone that I owe you...let's see...minus...add one...seventy-four and a half drinks!" Another silence hung in the air. Hesta was waiting to see if Renard was serious about all this or whether he was just a gold thief.

"One drink." she said firmly.

"You are a wonderful woman, I don't know if I say that enough, and beautiful too!" Renard said.

"Don't push your luck." Hesta quickly filled a flagon of ale and shoved it at him.

"Don't spill it! Geez!" Renard sighed and then grinned at the liquor in front of him. "Aw, tastes just like Hesta's..."

"If you open your mouth again, I'm going to nail it shut!" Hesta cried, interrupting him.

"Your a wonderful woman Hesta!" Renard then chugged back the ale, savoring the alcohol he had been denied for some time.

"You always have a way with women." said a voice behind the fox-man. Renard spun around. He then grinned and raised his mug.

"Hamid!" Renard declared. "So good to see you again! What have you been up to?"

"Oh you know," Hamid said, shrugging his shoulders. "This and that." Renard turned back to the bar.

"A round for my good friend Hesta, on me!"

"Go to hell Renard!" Hesta shouted in reply. Renard turned back to his friend, a grin still on his face.

"We have such a good relationship." The fox said.

"I can see that." Hamid replied. He walked up and sat at the bar. "Why the hell did she let you back in?"

"Paid half my debt." Renard said.

"And...you did that how?" Hamid asked, cocking his eyebrow

"I work for the crusaders at the moment." Renard declared proudly. Hamid laughed at that statement.

"Now there's a bright move. You want to die?" Hamid asked.

"I assure you that I can fair a lot better in the desert than they can." Renard replied.

"You haven't been in the desert since you were fifteen." Hamid said.

"Well it's still hot, still brutal and still full of monsters. Don't imagine it's changed much."

"Why would you even agree to that? You hate working."

"Maybe I've found my spirit of adventure."

"There's a cute crusader isn't there?"

"I'm not sure what you're implying good sir and I take it as an affront to my honor." Renard then took another drink of an ale.

"Uh-huh. Well I've already taken a good sampling of the crusaders already." The fox man put his mug on the table and gave Hamid his own version of a disbelieving stare.

"Good heavens, what did you do?" the fox asked.

"A gentlemen never tells." Hamid replied with a smile.

"Good thing we're not gentlemen." Both of them chortled at that.

"Come on, tell me, what did you do?"

"Yes, tell us. What did you do?" said a new voice. Every spine in the entire place went rigid. Hamid and Renard jumped up and spun around. The fox man didn't even care that his ale tipped over. Everyone else in the room jumped to their feet and shuffled to the edges of the room. Standing in the middle of the bar, with his trident in his hand and still half naked was Adrum. Hesta put up her hands nervously from behind the bar.

"Adrum, I assure you that nothing illegal is going on here." she said, her voice shaking.

"I have the utmost faith in you Hesta." Adrum said flatly. He pointed his trident at Hamid. "What did you do?"

"Well...I...uh...uh...um..." Hamid stammered. He was quickly beginning to sweat and fidget. "I just...saved a poor soul from certain death."

"And how did you do that?" Adrum asked.

"I introduced her to...a new way of life." Hamid said, fidgeting

"You turned her didn't you?"

"It was...just one soldier."

"That soldier was their second in command!" Adrum was now shouting at the top of his lungs. "Their commander had feelings for her! He was going to sack the city to find her! I had to threaten him and put everyone in danger for you!"

"I...I...she...she failed to mention she was..." Hamid said, his voice progressively getting higher.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't hand you over to them." Adrum sounded dead serious.

"Whoa, whoa Adrum, don't be so angry!" Hamid said desperately, waving his hands. "She was going to die in the desert and now she's not! I'm not going to treat her badly, I swear!"

"Can you give her back?" Adrum said, his voice full of venom. The people in the bar were slowly edging their way out of the door.

"I...really, really, really would recommend against that." Hamid said, a nervous smile on his face. "In her current state she would...incite their anger." 

Adrum growled and grimaced, showing that he was boiling under the surface.

"If I hadn't watched you grow up, I would hang you high from the city gate right now." Adrum muttered.

"And believe me, no one appreciates that more than I..." Hamid said.

"Shut-up!" Adrum shouted.

"Yes sir." Hamid hunched down, as if expecting a terrible blow.

"Since you have to take care of this woman, I don't suspect that you'll be visiting the bar at nights since you will be so busy, hm?"

"Yes sir..." Hamid looked at the ground. It was like he was being grounded.

"I would suggest you stay home and take care of your new charge from now on. I don't want to see you on the street unless you're selling a puppet, buying food or chasing a robber, is that clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Renard, I expect you to guide them to the best of your ability." Adrum said, turning to the fox-man. "If you come back and I suspect that you led them to their deaths on purpose I will hang you from the city gates instead."

"Whoa, hey, they're paying me." Renard said, holding up his hand defensively. "I had every intention of helping them from the beginning!" Adrum glared at the fox man, his trident still pointing forward. "...Sir."

"I don't want your friendship or past hardships you faced with Hamid to taint your ability." Adrum explained. "If they manage to return I will tell them what happened to their second in command. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Both Hamid and Renard muttered. Adrum finally put his trident down. He then turned to Hesta, who was standing nervously behind the bar. Other than the four of them, the place was now empty.

"I apologize for running off your customers Hesta." Adrum said. "I will get some gold and pay for your lost business tomorrow."

"That's quite alright." Hesta said, her voice still trembling. "You don't have to..."

"I insist." Adrum turned and began walking out of the bar. "Both of you should go and get some rest. You have a lot to do tomorrow." Adrum then exited the bar. Renard and Hamid both exhaled for the first time in a long time.

"Well...Adrum's mad. We're fucked." Hamid said.

"Ugh..." Renard turned around and saw that his drink had spilled. He groaned and picked up the mug, seeing that it was indeed empty. "Oh Hesta!"

"Not a chance mutt!" She shouted back.

"Yeah, that's how this day would end." Renard said bitterly, slamming his mug on the bar. Both Hamid and Renard stared at each other in silence.

"Ready to get to work?" Hamid asked.

"Don't have much of a choice now. Let's get some rest."

*

At dawn the next morning, Colonel Lionheart ordered his troops to move out. Renard came as well, although later than the colonel would have liked. After stocking water and food onto pack camels the troops mobilized. Renard instructed them that there was a common route his people took through the desert. They could hop from one oasis to another and reach the middle of the desert. After that, they would likely have to split up the force and search the desert for the Demon King's palace. The colonel didn't like splitting a small force to even smaller units, but he could at least follow Renard until they reached the end point. Before they set out, Renard only had one word of advice.

"Don't. Touch. Anything."

*

They had been traveling in the desert for most of the day. The colonel was walking in front with his officers scattered in the long line of troops behind him. Major Ackler, now his second in command, walked behind him. He had an expression that reminded everyone of an eagle, hunting for prey. He intimidated most men and wasn't attractive enough for most women. He loved to fight however, and his skill inspired men in battle. Lagging a little behind them pulling the pack camel that carried their official documents and struggling to keep up was Private Steinam. She was determined to make up for her missing sister. The colonel felt a little bad for her, as she was only a private and expected to keep up with the officers, but it was the route she had chosen. If she was half the woman her sister was, it shouldn't be a problem. 

The other two captains and the first lieutenant were busy keeping the soldiers in line. In front of the great line of troops was Renard. Unlike all of the others who were boiling in their armor, sweating and feeling sand in uncomfortable places, he was merrily walking along, sweat-free and sand-free thanks to his fur. They traveled over dune after dune, each one looking exactly the same. The fox seemed to know exactly where he was going, despite the lack of any discernible landmark. Without him however, they were completely lost. The colonel didn't like leaving the entire crusade in the hands of some half monster human, and it was affecting his temper.

As they topped yet another dune Renard abruptly stopped. He lifted one of his ears and twitched it. The entire column of soldiers came to a grinding halt. The colonel narrowed his eyes and walked forward.

"Is there a problem?" Colonel Lionheart asked, clearly irritated.

"Maybe." Renard admitted. "I think something's coming." Now the commander was alerted.

"What is it?" Lionheart asked.

"Not sure yet." Renard said. "Some kind of thumping. Won't be sure unless..." Abruptly, Renard's nose twitched. He sniffed the air. His head jerked to one particular dune in the distance. The colonel followed his gaze and saw some figures standing on the top of the pile of sand.

"What are...?" the colonel began.

"Pigmen!" Renard shouted excitedly.

"What?" the commander sputtered.

"Those are pigmen! Draw your swords!" Renard reached into his clothing and took out a curved sword that no one was aware he had. Although briefly alarmed, the colonel followed his order.

"Draw swords!" The commander shouted. His officers and soldiers down the line began shouting the same thing. In rapid succession, everyone drew their blades.

"Hold them up!" Renard then said.

"What?" the commander sputtered again.

"Just hold them up! Let them see them!" Renard retorted.

"Hold them up!" the colonel said, caving. The entire line of soldiers obeyed. Hundreds of blades gleamed in the sunlight as the figures on the distant dune didn't move. After a few moments of silence, the colonel was compelled to speak.

"What are we doing?" he asked Renard, again sounding annoyed.

"Showing them that we armed." Renard said.

"And...what are they doing?" the commander stated.

"Seeing if we'll run." Renard admitted.

"What? Why would we run? There are five of them."

"They're pretty stupid, but they know when to strike. They won't attack a group with such huge numbers unless we run so they can run us down. They think everyone is weaker than them. Why wouldn't we run? They're better and stronger."

"Are they?" the commander asked, sounding like he was being insulted.

"Against you guys? No." Renard said. "Against peasants yes. They don't know the difference." The figures on the dune began moving. They seemed to fidget amongst themselves for a moment. They then disappeared back over the dune. "Good, they decided it wasn't worth it." Renard put his sword away.

"At ease!" The colonel shouted back to his men. They all obeyed. "You didn't tell us about the sword." Renard gave him an unbelievably incredulous look.

"All of you have swords and armor." Renard snapped. "Why can't I have half of what you have? Besides, I'm not a fool. The person who walks into this desert unarmed is the person that dies first." The fox man then began walking again. "Let's get moving. The first oasis isn't too far from here. Watch your back, something must be up. Pigmen don't usually come this close to the city." The commander growled a little at Renard giving the orders, but signaled for his troops to follow them.

A few hours later, they arrived at a rather large oasis that made the colonel's soldiers groan with relief. It was surrounded by palm trees full of fruit. Renard seemed bothered by something, but the colonel's soldiers were so excited the sight that they ran forward without permission. Lionheart didn't stop them as many of them jumped into the oasis with their armor still on. Renard gazed up at the sun, then back to the oasis. He reached up and began scratching his ear. The commander did his best to ignore him. Since it was late in the day, the colonel began ordering his men to make camp. The only person who seemed to notice that Renard was bothered was Captain Fenner. She walked up to him and watched as he looked around and seemed a little lost.

"Is there a problem?" she asked. The fox man turned and grinned a toothy smile.

"Why no madame, why should there be?" he asked. He was clearly trying to be smooth. "Might I say, even with the sweat, you are just as lovely. In fact, I think the sweat adds to..."

"Cut the bullshit." Talia said abruptly, appearing angry.

"Oooh, feisty." Renard replied, raising his hands up. "I was just complimenting you. If you have a problem with..."

"You're bothered by something. Tell me what it is or I'll tell the colonel." That seemed to take the wind out of Renard's sails. He exhaled, seemingly deflated.

"You guys aren't fun at all." Renard said. "It's going to be a long walk, you guys should lighten up." Talia off-set her jaw, showing she didn't care. "Fine. In truth, the reason I'm bothered is the fact that there isn't anything wrong."




Crusade Gone Awry Ch. 02



"That doesn't make any sense." Talia snapped.

"Doesn't it?" Renard asked, shrugging. "We've gotten here much faster than I ever remember any of my people's parties. On top of that, we saw pigmen far closer to the coast than usual. Now we come to a fertile oasis. There's nobody else here, the trees are full of fruit, unpicked and there doesn't seem to be any activity. It's highly suspicious."

"Is it a trap?" Talia asked, concerned.

"No, pigmen aren't that clever and I doubt the Demon King could prepare for you guys in a day. Something else is going on, something natural."

"Natural?"

"Nature has all kinds of cycles. Often if there's an infestation of an animal, say locusts, there's a cause. The previous season was probably a good one for their breeding. The fact that the pigmen showed up so soon and that this place is untouched must have a natural cause. Perhaps something is pushing the pigmen out. Perhaps there's a reason this oasis is abandoned." Renard scratched his ear again. "Maybe a new species is in the desert that I don't know about. The Demon King could have started having children again. If there is some species I don't know about and people die your colonel will blame everything on me." 

Throughout his entire explanation, Talia stared at him. He abruptly started spouting very intelligent analysis of the natural world. Up until then all he had done was flirt with women and ask if anyone had any wine. Perhaps he was far more intelligent than she thought before. The two of them were silent as Renard kept scratching his ear. He finally shrugged. 

"Maybe it's nothing." he admitted. "It's been a while since I was in the desert, maybe I'm worrying too much." He turned to Talia and grinned the same smile he had before. "Care to help me put up my tent?" The captain didn't respond. She merely walked away. Then again, perhaps he was just a dumb wannabe player. Regardless, she didn't have time to deal with any nonsense. "Jeez, you could have at least said goodbye."

Two of the army's soldiers were walking around the oasis. They were searching for oranges, which they had heard existed in the desert.

"See anything Hector?" One of the male soldiers said to the other.

"Nah, just more of these brown, hairy things that look like balls." Hector replied. "I don't suppose you know what these things look like James?"

"No, my fiancee just said they were a light green or a dark yellow." James explained. "She said you could sell one for at least fifteen gold coins back home."

"Fifteen? We should get a bushel." Hector said. He used his sword to cut part of the brush away. There was a small forest around the oasis and they were in the thick of it. "Holy...what are those?" James lifted his head before following his friend. When he looked through the clearing he too appeared surprised.

"Those are...giant flowers." James said. In the middle of the small forest were massive flower buds. They had thick roots that spread over a large area on the ground. Apart from a short, fat stem there was only a massive, closed flower. They were well over seven feet tall and had to be ten feet around. The giant pink petals occasionally twitched, as if something was stimulating them. There had to be dozens of them.

"What do you reckon those are?" Hector asked.

"No idea. I bet we could get a bundle for one though." James replied, grinning and stepping forward.

"Uh, wouldn't do that. That fox said we shouldn't touch anything." Hector said as a warning.

"He's a monster! He's probably working with the Demon King anyway." James drew his sword and began marching towards one of the flowers.

"James! Don't do that! I'm serious!" Hector sounded desperate, but James didn't listen. James crept forward silently, as if he expected the flower to jump out and attack him. Just then, First Lieutenant Eliza Bevens came through the trees.

"There you are!" She cried. Hector turned his head to see his commanding officer. "Come back to the camp! You can't go wandering off!"

"Private James found this weird flower." Hector said. The lieutenant, always interested in odd things, walked forward to gaze at them too. James had stopped his walking and waited to see what the officer thought. She knew about all kinds of wild species, perhaps she could tell him how much it was worth.

"That...is an odd flower." she said as her expert assessment. "You guys hang back, I'm going to get our guide." She turned and began jogging back through the forest. Both men were still for only a few moments.

"I'm not waiting for that monster." James said, turning back to the flower. "He'll probably tell us to leave it alone and keep it for himself."

"Lieutenant Bevens told us to hang back!" Hector said, beginning to sound a little desperate.

"Yeah well, she's a nut anyway." James resumed his slow march to the flower.

"James, seriously! We shouldn't be messing with it!" Again, despite Hector's panic, James didn't listen. Hector fell into nervous silence, watching his friend move forward. When James was only a few feet from the giant bud, someone came through the woods again. This time, Lieutenant Bevens returned with Renard, Colonel Lionheart and a few soldiers. When Renard peered through the thicket, his eyes widened and he gasped.

"No! Don't go near that...!" Renard shouted. James turned his head around. Just as he did, his heavy foot hit one of the flower's roots. The flower suddenly shot out a cloud of pink haze. It blew into James's face and he fell backwards.

"James!" Hector shouted, attempting to run forward. Renard grabbed him by the back of his armor and, with surprising strength, jerked him back onto his ass.

"It's too late! Stay back!" Renard shouted. Everyone then watched as James got to his feet. He was wobbling on them and his eyes were glazed over. Everyone's eyes widened as the huge flower bloomed open. Sitting in the center, was a woman. At least, it resembled a woman. Her green hair had a stem coming out of the back and was attached to the flower. Her skin was blue and her eyes were reflective and completely black. She was also nude and had an ample body. James's eyes set on her. She smiled wide and held her arms out, beckoning him. James then began desperately taking his armor off, doing it with surprising efficiency.

"What are you doing!?" Colonel Lionheart shouted, trying to rush forward and save his man. Renard held up his arm and held the colonel back by the chest.

"Don't be a fool." the fox man said bluntly. "It's too late! If you go over there you'll just end up like him!" They all turned back to see that James had removed all of his armor and was now in his thin underclothes. He leaped onto the flower excitedly. Lieutenant Bevens covered her mouth as she saw a large erection through his thin clothes. The woman in the flower giggled with delight as she enveloped him in an embrace. The petals of the flower began to close. James desperately ripped his shirt off and began to fiddle with his pants. As the petals covered the view up to his chest he apparently managed to get them off. He then threw his head back and moaned in sexual ecstasy. His body gyrated against the woman in flower. The last view they had just before the petals closed completely was the woman pressing their lips together. There was one final moan of bliss and the petals closed completely.

Hector stood up and drew his sword. He took one step towards the scene before Renard grabbed him again.

"Stop being stupid! Don't go near those things!" the fox shouted.

"We can't leave him in there!" Hector said, turning around. "He has a fiancee! He'll die in there!"

"He'll outlive us all." Renard said bluntly. "Plus look at the other flowers, they're hyper-stimulated. If take one more step they'll probably all spray." Every eye turned to see that he was right. The other flowers were quivering excitedly, as if they were about to burst. A few of them were already spraying the pink dust. 

"Besides," Renard continued. "You couldn't get him back if you wanted to. Look." The flower that had swallowed James was turning a different color. It was dull gray, and looked as if it had the consistency of granite. "It's hard as a rock now. You couldn't get it open with a catapult. We have to leave, now." Renard dragged Hector away, as all the other soldier followed him reluctantly.

The moment they were clear of the trees, Renard threw Hector onto the sand. The soldier jumped up and reached for his sword.

"At ease private!" The colonel shouted. Hector stopped, his sword in mid-draw. He growled for a moment before putting it away.

"I said to touch nothing!" Renard shouted. "Did you not hear me!? You got your friend captured! He's gone forever now! Are you happy!?"

"I told him to stop!" Hector shouted, complaining.

"Did you drag him back?" Renard asked. "Did you go get the colonel? Did you shout for help?"

"I..I..." Hector gripped his fists tight as his eyes began to tear up. "He just...wanted some money...so he could buy a house for his fiancee..."

"Private, go back to camp." the colonel ordered. "Talk to no one. Go straight to your tent and stay there until something comes to get you." Hector saluted quickly and marched away. His hand came up to his face, attempting to hide his eyes as he went away. The moment he was out of earshot the colonel whirled around to Renard. The fox man beat him to the punch however.

"Let me guess, you blame me." he said quickly. The colonel glared at him, contemplating hitting him.

"What the hell was that?" the commander asked, pointing into the woods.

"It was an alraune." Renard replied.

"And that is?" Lionheart asked.

"A plant. It captures people and uses them for nutrients." Renard stated bluntly.

"Nutrients!?" the colonel shouted, turning red in the face.

"He's not being digested and I can assure you he's in no pain. He'll live for decades in that thing."

"Can you get him out?"

"No. Even if I could, I doubt you would want to."

"Why not!?"

"His brain is probably already gone. Did you see that kiss when the flower closed? The flower began pumping him full of mind-altering substances. Pretty soon, he's going to be like an organ." The colonel's eyes were twitching as his closed fists were shaking.

"Why...did you not tell us about those?" the commander said through gritted teeth.

"I've only seen two in my entire lifetime." Renard replied, sounding offended at the commander's anger. "I've never seen that many before and I've never seen them in groups. It's unusual."

"Any other threats you...failed...to mention?" the colonel asked.

"Do you literally want me to go through the entire list of species I can name off the top of my head?" They both glared at each other angrily. The soldiers still with them looked back and forth between them, wondering if they were going to fight it out.

"Take care that we don't lose any more soldiers to ignorance." the colonel said.

"Certainly will." Renard said, smiling insincerely. The colonel marched away grumbling under his breath. Most of the soldiers following him. "Maybe you could remove that stick from your ass first." The fox turned to see that Lieutenant Bevens was still standing beside him. "Uh...uh...you didn't hear that."

"Tell me more about those alraunes." she said, sounding excited. There was a special twinkle in her eye. She looked as if someone were about to give her candy. Renard blinked a few times, a little stupefied. She didn't seem bothered by the loss of a soldier. She just wanted to know more about the flowers.

"Well...they appeared over a thousand years ago." Renard began, feeling a little uncomfortable. "Up until today, they've only appeared alone, near water sources. That pink mist they send out stimulates sexual urges. The flower then opens and a female appears to lure the person in. Regardless of male or female, the person jumps into the flower and starts having sex. The petals close around the prey, the plant pumps them full of chemicals and the petals harden." Lieutenant Bevens had taken out a notebook and began writing in it with a charcoal pencil excitedly. She gazed up at him with a wide smile.

"Go on, go on." she encouraged.

"Ahem...well." Renard said, coughing. "The person inside is transformed through the chemicals and the sex. Instead of producing normal fluids they begin to produce nectar that the flower feeds on. The chemicals that are given to them sustain them and they live for decades inside the flower. They never stop having sex. In olden times, people would wonder out into the desert, purposefully looking for an alraune to get caught by so they could enjoy it for the rest of their lives."

"What happens when the person dies?" Bevens asked, almost looking like she's going to drool.

"The petals open up, the flower releases seed spores to germinate elsewhere and it dumps the body. It then waits for a new person."

"Fascinating." The lieutenant said happily. "How could such a thing have come to be?"

"Uh...we assumed the demon king had a funny offspring. Don't you have stuff to do?"

"Sure, whatever. What else can you tell me?"

"I'm a little uncomfortable and I'm going to leave."

"Oh come on! Aren't there any male alraunes? Is it just humanoids? Do they come in different colors? Where are you going!?"

"You're creeping me out!"

*

The camp of soldiers fell silent as night approached. Many stayed up late, muttering about man-eating flowers and men that looked like pigs. One by one, all of the fires went out and the soldiers fell into sleep. The winds began picking up during the night, sending sand through all of the tents causing restlessness. Restlessness was soon the least of their problems.

The colonel was awakened to yelling, screaming and sounds of blades. He instantly sat up, seized his sword and ran out of the tent. For a few moments, all he could see were people running around, swords in hand. Then came another scream, or more appropriately, a squeal. A pack of creatures rushed into the area, throwing soldiers in all directions. In the pale moonlight, the colonel's blood ran cold. 

Pig-like faces with the bodies of men were swinging clubs and axes at his soldiers. The colonel rushed forward, with his sword at the ready. He cut down one across the middle and parried with another. The terrible pig people had no form, style or structure in their attacks. He only had to block two swings of the club before he was able to get a clear stab at its chest. Apparently inspired by their commander, a huge group of soldiers rushed forward and swarmed the invading monsters. In a matter of moments, they were all cut down, squealing like slaughtered pigs. Once the commander was sure that they were all dead he looked around his camp.

"What the hell is going on!?" the colonel shouted.

"We're under attack!" one of the soldiers shouted.

"I can see that!" the commander shouted back. "Where are the ones who on guard!? Where's Renard!?" There was ear-piercing squeal. A pig man jumped up from the ground, swinging his stone ax. It was to the colonel's back, and he didn't have time to fully turn around. As he rose his sword to block the ax from the mangled creature an arrow darted past the colonel's head and struck the monster in the forehead. It gasped before collapsing back on the ground. Lionheart turned to see his savior and instantly felt a sour taste in his mouth. Renard walked forward, a bow in his hand.

"Pigmen." The fox man said. "What the hell are they doing?"

"Attacking us!" the colonel replied, as if it were obvious. Renard gave him an incredulous stare.

"Pigmen don't attack larger armed forces like this. We slaughtered them." The fox began stepping over the pig bodies, examining them. "Why would they be so desperate? Unless..." Renard's head popped up, as if the circuits in his head connected. "Colonel, do a head count!" The commander was going to do that anyway, so he didn't feel the need to argue with the fox.

"Unit commanders! Report!"

It took a few minutes for the soldiers to get organized and recount exactly what happened. The entire time, Renard was undressing the pigmen, apparently studying them. Lieutenant Bevens was hovering over him, making his uncomfortable. The colonel decided that was the best place for her then. When the unit commanders approached the colonel, Renard approached as well.

"The guards on duty were rushed by the monsters." Major Ackler began, summarizing what he had been told. "Ironically, since they were fully armored they were uninjured, just merely knocked over. The monsters then rushed into the camp. Little damage was done. There is one fatality, three injuries, and one missing."

"The one that is missing," Renard began, interrupting. "It wouldn't happen to be a young woman would it?" Major Ackler glared at the fox man and said nothing. He was intent on not answering the beast man.

"Was it?" the colonel finally asked.

"Yes." the major said, turning to his commander. "A Private Helena Burks." Colonel Lionheart turned to Renard, who didn't appear very pleased.

"Well? Care to explain?" the commander asked, already sounding annoyed.

"They do what pigmen usually do." Renard replied. "They raided the camp to capture a female."

"You didn't tell us this they do this why?"

"Because there were eight hundred of us and like five of them, at least there were. Pigmen don't ally, so I don't know why we have thirty bodies here. None of this makes any sense."

"What are they going to do with Private Burks?"

"What do you think they're going to do?" Renard's latest sarcastic response made the colonel off-set his jaw. He turned to his new second in commander.

"Major Ackler, organize a party and..."

"Don't bother." Renard interrupted. The colonel clenched his fists so tight that it hurt through his armor. His teeth were ground together and his eyes were wide and bloodshot.

"Why not, pray-tell?" the colonel said.

"Pigmen run twice as fast as you and it's windy. The wind will fade their footprints and scent. I can't even track them and my sense of sight and smell is much better than any of yours." The colonel waved his men away. They instantly scattered, knowing that the commander was about to blow his stack.

"You saw fit to not explain how those creatures behave, even when we encountered them?" the colonel asked. His eyes were as wide as they could go.

"This isn't in their behavior." Renard said, defending himself. "They are little more than wild animals. Wild animals don't attack other animals that are stronger than they are."

"It appears you were mistaken." The colonel said angrily. "Now, because of you, one of my soldiers has been sentenced to a fate worse than death!"

"There are a lot of fates worse than death in this desert." Renard said, cocking his eyebrow. The colonel marched forward and put his face right into Renard's. The fox man didn't budge. They were eye to eye, both apparently furious.

"You aren't doing your job." Lionheart spat.

"On the contrary." Renard said, lifting his finger. "I led you to the oasis, I warned your soldiers about the alraunes and drove off the pigmen the first time. This desert is unpredictable. Even if this attack was my fault, you still owe me for two things."

"Do you honestly feel no remorse for the woman who is now lost?"

"This place has no room for moping or weakness. The moment you stop and cry is the moment it eats you." Apparently finally having enough, the colonel put his hand on his sword with one hand and seized the collar of Renard's clothes with the other.

"It's been two days and I've already lost four soldiers!" the colonel growled. Renard reached up and removed the commander's hand from his clothes. He took a few steps away before bursting out laughing. He reached up and scratched his ear as he gazed at the ground. He seemed very amused. It took every ounce of willpower from Colonel Lionheart to not draw his sword and cut the fox down. Renard finally looked at the colonel again.




Crusade Gone Awry Ch. 02



"Would you like to hear a story colonel?" he asked.

"What are you...!?" the commander began.

"You'll like it. It's about the previous crusade." Renard said, shrugging. Instantly, Lionheart's stance relaxed and he appeared surprised. "Oh we remember it, but not for the reason you probably think. Would you like for me to tell you what happened to your dear King Bradley? It's not as nearly a pretty a tale as you've been told, I assure you." The commander instantly became suspicious. King Bradley's valiant struggle against the Demon King was one of the driving forces behind this crusade. They were going to defeat the evil monster or die valiantly. Of course, the story had been told by troops that had retreated from the battle.

"He died fighting the Demon King." the colonel said firmly.

"Never even got close." Renard replied. "He showed up here with eight thousand troops, ten times what you have. He marched out into the desert for a day. The next day he came running back with half of his troops gone. You see, back then we had an infestation of these things we call "snapping trees." I think the official name is intelligent trees, but over time they all developed a terrible attitude and were known for picking people up and "snapping" their bones." Renard began rubbing the area between his nose and his mouth, apparently amused with himself.

"When your king came running back my forefathers shut the door on him." he said, continuing. "He threatened to burn the city down if they didn't let him back in, but they refused. The next day, the living trees followed them to the city. The trees ripped the rest of them apart, including your glorious king. We remember it as the day of burning trees. Once the battle was finished, the trees set up shop around the city, apparently content to wait my forefathers out. The citizens shot flaming arrows and boiling oil over the walls. They burned the lot of them, pushing the trees close to extinction. In a way, we like your king. It made the desert a little safer." The colonel waited for several moments, seeing if there was more to the tale. There apparently wasn't.

"The point of that story was?" he asked. Renard laughed again. The commander decided to let it go.

"Commander, you sure are thick." the fox said. "In the last crusade, how did the king fare with his troops? He lost four thousand the first day and four thousand the second. The fact that you have been here for two days and lost only four is a huge compliment. Take heart dear colonel, so far, you are doing a hell of a job!" The colonel tilted his head and his eyelid twitched. Renard told that whole story just so he could be a smart-ass? He didn't have time for this nonsense. The colonel turned and began marching away. "You're going to have to get to losing people colonel!" Lionheart stopped. The fox man suddenly sounded very serious. "There's going to a lot more of it the further we go." The commander stood still for a few moments more. He then resumed walking away.

"He's too high-strung." Renard said to himself. "He's going to be the death of all of us."

*

Private Helena Burks awoke in a very unusual position. When she opened her eyes she saw the moon-lit desert moving under her at an incredible speed. She was moving backwards so quick that she thought she was on a horse. She looked and saw that was not the case. Instead, there was what appeared to be the back of a person, but it was covered in fur. What could appear like a man but was covered in fur? Then she remembered.

Earlier at the camp, shouting had woken her up. Without even putting on her armor, she grabbed her sword and ran outside. The moment she stepped outside of her tent something struck her head and it all went dark. Helena tried to speak, but found that her mouth had been gagged. She tried to move her arms, but they were bound. She tried to kick her legs, but they were tied together as well. She gazed around to see that there were two other creatures apart from the one carrying her charging through the desert. They were covered in brown fur, were bulky and were in the shape of humans except for one glaring factor. Their faces were those of pigs. The woman then realized that she had been kidnapped by the pigmen that they had encountered earlier. 

Helena screamed and began kicking with her bound feet. The pigmen that was carrying her abruptly laughed in a manner similar to a squeal. The others gazed over and joined their comrade in the laughter. The arm holding Helena onto the creature's shoulder was strong and no matter how hard she struggled, it wouldn't budge. She was unarmed, alone and rapidly moving away from the army. Considering the fact that Colonel Lionheart was willing to leave his second-in-command behind, it wasn't likely that she would be pursued.

The pigmen didn't stop running until the sun had risen in the sky. They finally slowed down as they approached a collection of giant cliff rocks in the middle of nowhere. They marched into the center of the formations where a tiny pool of water was sitting. There were also mud buildings, fire pits and bones of animals. Helena knew that this had to be their den. 

The creature carrying Helena dropped her onto the ground. She tried to crawl away, but with her feet and hands bound she didn't get very far. The pigs howled with laughter yet again, apparently incredibly amused. Helena could feel her insides burn in anger. It was like she was some jester to them. She was panicked, afraid and desperate to escape, yet it was all hilarious to these monsters. They were mocking her. They let her try to crawl away as one of them entered his mud dwelling. The other two followed her around, pretending to stalk her before snorting, laughing and kicking sand in her face. They were toying with her. 

Finally, the third reemerged with a waterskin. It had a hallowed out horn on the top of it. The pigmen chuckled as the one with the waterskin grabbed Helena by her long, brown hair. He lifted her up by it, causing her to scream against her gag. The grinning pig face infuriated her, but there was nothing she could do. She could only glare at him with her brown eyes. One of the other pigmen removed the gag from her mouth. Helena screamed once it was removed, only earning chuckles from the pigs.

"You won't get away with this!" she shouted. "The army will come for me! You...!" She was rudely interrupted. The horn from the waterskin was shoved in her mouth. It must have had a hole at the end, because liquid was poured into her mouth. At first, Helena thought it was water. She was very thirsty and considered drinking it. However, the moment it filled her mouth she tasted something else. It was somewhat bitter. There was something else in it. She refused to drink it, snorting through her nose in displeasure. She spat it out, with water spewing from around the horn. One of the pigmen reached out and pinched her nose. Helena thrashed around, much to their amusement. She held her breath as long as she could. When she couldn't hold it anymore she tried to gasp through her mouth. 

The horn of the waterskin was then shoved into the back of her throat. Her eyes were as wide as they could go. She coughed and gagged as the water was poured down her throat against her consent. She had no choice but to swallow it. She hopelessly floated between suffocating and vomiting. Finally, the pigman pulled the horn out of her mouth. 

They let her go and she collapsed onto the sand. Helena coughed and gagged. She wanted to throw up, but her hands were tied around her back and she couldn't get her fingers to her throat. Instead she writhed, trying to free her hands so she couldn't be poisoned. The pigmen only laughed. She glared up at them. The one with the waterskin appeared much older than the other two. He had gray streaks in his fur, wrinkles around his snout and scars all over his face. The other two were younger and were busy chuckling to themselves. For several minutes, they kicked her, snorted at her and groped her, much to Helena's fury. They appeared to be waiting for something, although she had no idea what it was. She didn't have to wait too long to find out.

It hit her all at once. A burning sensation shot through her body. Her vision glazed over and her thoughts turned to mush. Her muscles went slack and her cries of anger melted into gurgles of confusion. Her entire body felt like it was on fire and was itching. She was now writhing for a different reason. Her clothes were scratching her body and giving her slight relief, but not near enough to sate her. The three pigmen laughed again. They snorted and squealed at each other, apparently communicating. One of the pigmen reached down and removed Helena's gag. Instead of screaming, she grunted and moaned. She grit her teeth, arched her back and began to drool. 

The heat inside of Helena's body reached the area between her legs. Her groin tingled and burned. Her canal began to itch painfully and the folds began to drool. She gyrated with weak motions, desperately trying to satiate her desire. The pigmen laughed once more. One of the young ones picked her up. He sat her up against one of the rocks. Helena tried to focus and realize what was happening, but her mind was a haze of desire. They had given her some kind of aphrodisiac...and now she was helpless. A hand grabbed each side of her face and squeezed. She instinctively opened her mouth. Then something long and hard was shoved into it.

The rod pierced the back of her throat, choking and alarming her enough to briefly snap her out of it. She was staring at a furry abdomen and there was a hand on the back of her head. She could smell a sickening scent of sweat, musk and stink. Helena gagged and tried to bite down. There wasn't any power in her jaws. It only amused the pigman, who grinned widely. He held her there, only allowing her to breath his scent through her nose. Slowly, the haze began to set in agin, despite her every resistance. Her brain numbed, her vision blurred and the burning overwhelmed her body. The foul scent around her nose suddenly began to smell good. 

It was virile, sweet and made the tingling in her loins worse. Seeing that Helena was again lost in her desire, the pigman began drawing his erection out of her mouth before pounding it in again. Thanks to whatever they gave her, her throat was relaxed. Using his hand as leverage, the creature began thrusting forward and pulling her limp head back onto him. Every time he did, Helena's nose filled with the heady scent. Helena's eyes rolled as the tingling and burning inside of her was reaching a fever pitch. The pigman began rotating her head around, getting different angles to his thrusts in her mouth. The salty taste of his dick began to be delicious. Helena's tongue coiled around it, tasting every nook and cranny. 

The pig began moaning at the new pleasure. He held her head back so the crown of his shaft could rest inside her mouth. He let her tongue freely move around dick. The muscle then poked under his foreskin and circled the sensitive flesh underneath. To make sure she got all the taste, Helena sucked on the dick, intent on making sure the saltiness completely filled her mouth. He pigman gritted his teeth. He grabbed both sides of her head and began pounding into her mouth harder than before. Helena gagged, but offered no resistance. After a few moments of the powerful thrusts he squealed and gave one final push. His shaft swelled and he kept it at the back of her throat. 

A hot liquid gushed into Helena's windpipe, giving her no choice but to swallow. It cascaded with every throb of the pig's cock. The creature's hips twitched and he shuddered with each powerful burst of seed. When the climax began to subside the pigman began pulling out. Two more weaker spurts coated her mouth. The creature held his wet shaft at her open mouth as one final squirt came out and landed halfway out of her mouth.

Helena's mouth and nose filled with the salty, musky odor. The sperm was thick and smelly and made her head spin hard. Her tongue swirled the spunk around her mouth. In her haze she loved the consistency and taste. She swallowed what was in her mouth and then licked around her lips, getting every last drop inside of her. The pigmen laughed again. The one that had been pleasured had to gasp between chuckles. The other young pig grabbed the limp girl and laid her on the ground. He ripped off her shirt. Lacking any gentleness, he opened his mouth and stuffed half of one of her large breasts in his maw. 

Helena gasped, moaned and arched her back. She could feel the tingling inside of her erupt into pleasure. The creature sucked and licked her mound, focusing on her sensitive peak. He also gently bit down on the sensitive flesh. It all felt like pleasure to Helena, whose tongue was now hanging out of her mouth. The pig then released her breast and went for the other one. This one he bit on the nipple, also eliciting groans of pleasure. He suckled on it, as if he expected milk to come out of them. He licked a few more times, tasting her milky skin. He then buried his face between the mounds. 

He began licking and drooling. He covered the crevice in his spit, as if he was salivating over her mere taste. When her breasts were completely coated in slobber he lifted his head and wiped his mouth. He put both of his knees on either side of her stomach. He undid the animal skin pants around his waist and pulled out his sizable erection. He gripped her breasts together and stabbed the rod through them. 

In her haze, all Helena could feel was something hot and hard rubbing against her sensitive chest. The pigman began thrusting his dick through the slick mounds, which barely wrapped around his huge shaft. Helena could hear the pig grunt with each thrust. The skin around her breasts had always been covered and was untouched. Because of this, the flesh was pale, soft and supple. The pigman growled, seemingly in frustration. Helena could feel her hands being unbound. They were then brought to the sides of her breasts. The pigman began thrusting again. She could feel her breasts jiggling from the friction. She gazed down to see the head of the dick poke up into her face. Fascinated by it, she didn't stop holding her breasts, even after the pig released her. 

Now with much more leverage, the creature began moving much harder. Helena's fuzzy mind stared at the erection shoving between her mounds. It was covered in fur at the base, was as tan as the rest of the pigman's skin except for the purple head and was searing hot. Every time it pierced through her crevice he head of it poked her face. Remembering how good the last one tasted, she opened her mouth and allowed the head to enter her mouth. The pigman growled in pleasure, shoving through her breasts farther. It allowed the head of his dick to linger in her mouth, where she happily swirled her tongue around it. The creature's movements began to become erratic as his panting increased. 

Helena could feel the dick twitch between her breasts as the pigman began snorting. After a few more thrusts the creature squealed. It erupted while between her breasts. It coated the crevice before poking through them and coating her chest. Seeing the gushing seed, Helena opened her mouth and wrapped it around the head. Between squeals, the pigman groaned, feeling her suck the sensitive head as each flood of spunk flowed out of him. It went on for what seemed like forever. His prick flowed like a faucet, continually flooding her mouth with boiling seed. 

Finally, his dick stopped twitching and the pigman was left panting. He pulled his prick free from her mouth. He stepped off of her, letting her glassy eyes search for the now-missing shaft. She saw that there was still sperm all over her chest. With her weak hands, she began scooping the seed up on her hands and sticking it in her mouth. The pigmen laughed yet again, immensely amused.

Finally losing patience, the older pigman flipped her over. After untying her feet he lifted her ass into the air and spread her legs. Helena didn't seem to care that her face and breasts were in the sand. The pigman stuck a finger inside of her already wet folds. Helena shrieked through her clenched teeth. An eruption of pleasure shot through her. Her hips quivered as more juices flowed onto the pigman's finger. With a chuckle, the creature removed his finger. Helena whined and wagged her ass back and forth with what little strength she had. The old pigman undid his own pants and positioned his large dick at her entrance. With her breasts, knees, face and hair in dirt and with a pig creature she lost her virginity.

The pigman thrust inside of her without a hint of gentleness. An explosion of both pain and pleasure shot through her body. Helena groaned loudly. She was actively drooling and shaking, her body completely overstimulated. Without waiting a single moment, the pigman resumed moving. Helena went between moaning and screaming. Pain and pleasure swam around her body, unsure of which one would win. The pigman simply held onto her hips and pounded away. He chuckled, seemingly enjoying himself. After a while the pain began to diminish. The screams subsided and Helena's eyes rolled into the back of her head once again. With every stab of the dick a surge of pleasure shot through her. 

Her juices gushed onto the creature's dick. The prick felt massive and blazing hot inside of her. It was the most pleasurable thing she had ever felt. The pig grinned. He lay his body across hers and began toying with her breasts. With a sudden, new pleasure shooting through her she began moaning louder and louder. Her body stiffened as each thrust pushed the pleasure further. It built until finally, with a loud scream, it burst. She screamed like a whore as her fluids gushed around the rod. Her entire body shook helplessly as the pleasure overwhelmed her body. 

She spewed out saliva as she yelled as loud as she could. The creature didn't stop for a single moment. He continued to pound into her, enjoying the hot juices gushing out and the way she clenched around him. She screamed for what seemed like an eternity. Finally she slumped, twitching helplessly. The pig chuckled. He turned her over onto her back and lifted her legs without even removing his shaft.

The pigman began thrusting again. He grinned as he stared down at her folds. They bulged around his massive prick, yet continued to coat him in slick juices. Every time he pumped inside it would widened and he could even see his girth bulging in her lower stomach. With better leverage, he began pounding her more powerfully and deeper. Helena moaned loudly every time their hips slapped together. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth and she drooled more than ever. Every thrust built pleasure inside of her once again. She began arching her back and her juices were actively dripping onto the sand beneath her. Unable to hold back the pleasure again, her body erupted again. 

She screamed with her tongue out and her eyes in the back of her head. Her fluids cascaded onto the pig's dick. Her body flailed helplessly, drowning in pleasure. She went completely limp, unconscious and unable to move. The pigman only laughed. He now stood up, still gripping her hips. Helena hung limply onto the ground. He thrust away at her slack body, treating her like a ragdoll. 

After a few thrusts he began grunting and snorting. His hips quivered as he shoved as deep inside of her as he could and erupted. He squealed with each powerful gush of his seed. He threw his head back and shook as he emptied torrents of sperm into the limp woman. After a few throbbing floods it overflowed her insides and surged out around his shaft. It pooled onto the ground before being absorbed into the sand. With one final snort the pigman finished. 




Crusade Gone Awry Ch. 02



He unceremoniously dropped the unconscious woman onto the ground. He stepped backwards and all the pigmen laughed, intensely amused. They snorted and squealed amongst themselves, communicating. The older pigman redid his pants and then marched back into his mud hut. When he reemerged he was holding what appeared to be a metal collar, a lock and a chain. The younger pigmen hooped and hollered riotously. 

The older pigman picked the limp woman up and snapped the collar around her. It was made of solid iron and couldn't be removed except by being heated and then beaten with a hammer. He then dragged her body to a nearby huge rock. On the rock was a circular, closed metal hook. The pigman locked the chain onto the metal hook. They laughed one more time and then scattered, going about the rest of their day.

Helena's eyes opened to a dark sky and cold air. She sat up, her entire body feeling very sore. She reached up and gripped her forehead. She had a killer headache and her thoughts were fuzzy. For a few moments, she wondered why she didn't wake up in her house back home. She glanced around and saw only sand, mud huts and a small pool of water. She felt something around her neck. Her fingers traced around it, only feeling a ring of metal with no indication of a lock or a latch. She looked down at her body to see that she was naked and caked in an odd substance. Then she remembered. Her eyes widened as wide as they could go. She bent down at her nether regions. Since she had been laying in the sand so it was covered in dirt. She dusted her lower lips off and opened them. 

Her insides were inflamed, swollen and tender. There was also more of the caked substance inside of her. Helena began to shake as she remembered snippets of what happened. She had lost complete control of herself. Those disgusting parts and substances of the pigs tasted good and all she could think about was pleasure. She had become a beast, no, worse than that, she had become a complete whore. All it took was some water. Helena curled up into a small ball. Tears began to leak out of her eyes. Her skin was burnt from the sun, her muscles were sore and she was covered in dry semen. Yet she knew it was far from over. 

No one would rescue her. The pigmen would use her tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that. Soon she would be covered in red marks from their grasps, she would be caked in their cum, smell like their sweat and her pussy would become wrecked from overuse. In a few weeks, she would be completely ruined. She would lose her mind and love it every time. She was a slave, and nothing was coming to save her. She sobbed in dismay, lamenting her terrible fate and ever coming to this land.

*

Back in Tarbat, it had turned night as well. Despite that, someone opened the door to a shop. That someone happened to own the shop. Hamid locked the door behind him. He had a bag with him and an excited skip in his step. He quickly went to the back room. There dangling from the ceiling by strings in a cross-like position was Marisa. She truly looked like a lifeless puppet, albeit one who was breathing.

"I have returned my dear!" Hamid cried with a smile. He dumped the contents of the bag onto the table. It was what appeared to be torture equipment. In reality, the only kind of torture it would be was pleasure for his new puppet. "Oh, we are going to have so much fun! My friend left the city and a certain...grumpy old man...grounded me the other night, so there's nothing to stop our fun!" Marisa groaned in distress. "Oh come on now! Don't fret! This has got to be better than death right?" She moaned again, this time in apparent anger. 

"What? You still think they'll win?" Hamid replied, shaking his head. He walked around the other side of her. He ran his hand along her now silky-smooth body. "Do you want me to tell you a story? You'll like it, it's about the first crusade." Marisa stopped making noise, seemingly very interested.

"You see my dear, when the first crusade arrived there were tens of thousands of men. They didn't allow women in the army back then. So they boldly marched out into the desert with their aspis shields, their doru spears, their xiphos swords and their bronze armor. Do you know who they met? None other than the demon king himself. He killed them, all of them. Tens of thousands of men dead, all in a single day. He cornered the rest of them on the coast and destroyed their boats. He offered them a deal. He would let them go, in exchange for building his palace. They accepted and built a grand, massive mansion in the middle of the desert." Hamid then smiled, as if he had a great secret.

"However, once they were freed they couldn't leave this place. There were no trees suitable for boats and no one ever came looking for them from your country. Instead they settled down and founded a city." Hamid's hands traced up her stomach and he gripped her breasts. He began groping them turning the smooth, pillowy mounds around in his hands. Marisa gasped, apparently trying to hold back. "That city is Tarbat. Do you get what I'm saying? The person who is caressing your body right now is a descendant of the first crusaders." Hamid kissed her neck. He then ran his tongue along her unique skin. 

"There are three ways these crusades end." He said. "First, they give up and go home. Second, they give up and settle here in Tarbat. Third...they all die. If the desert doesn't kill them, the demon king will, very easily. Which do you think your precious commander will choose?" Marisa didn't make a sound. Hamid knew what she was aware of the answer anyway. He pulled her head back and kissed her full on the lips. His tongue pierced her mouth and swirled around inside of it. Marisa groaned in disapproval, but was powerless to stop him. Hamid parted away from her, briefly leaving a bridge of saliva between them. He then grinned, the wide kind that Marisa shouldn't have trusted in the first place. "You taste delicious. Ready to start our wonderful night?"