Chapter 33: Northward Bound

It was still relatively early in the morning when the adventurers left the Temple of Xoth. Yet, despite the early hour, their visit to the temple had been a resounding success, leaving them in possession of not only information as to the whereabouts of a holy relic which could likely be used to remove Lexi’s curse, but also a map the party could use to plan their journey. Their journey would take the party on the North road out of the city, on a three-day journey to the Pass of Qalish which would lead them through the Mountains of Zin to their final destination — a ruined temple to the goddess Xoth, which had been taken over a decade prior by the greenskins, and subsequently repurposed into a center of their dark cult.

“We should get provisions before leaving the city,” Samantha noted as the trio walked down the temple steps.

“Good call,” Lexi agreed. “Any idea where we can do that?”

“Yep,” Gretel chimed in, bounding off ahead of the paladin and monk. “Follow me!”

Lexi and Samantha hurried after the mage, who skipped nimbly through several twisting and winding alleys, leading the party ultimately to an outfitter’s shop. Guided by Samantha’s eminent sensibility, they picked out an array of gear needed for the week or so they would be spending in the mountains, including fur-lined cloaks, several lengths of rope, and a large supply of dried rations. The monk also suggested that, given the rather large quantity of food and water that would be needed to sustain the trio — to say nothing of their sleeping packs — the party would be well served by investing some of their newly acquired gold in a pack mule. Neither of them wanting to carry any more equipment than then already did, Lexi and Gretel heartily agreed to the monk’s proposal.

And so, the three adventurers set out from the city through the North Gate, all of their new gear and equipment packed carefully onto the back and sides of the mule, whose name — the outfitter had told them — was apparently Thomas.

“With good old Tom helping out,” Gretel said smiling. “We should be able to cover a good fifteen miles or so each day.”

“Until we get to the foothills,” Samantha corrected. “The going becomes much more arduous the closer you get to the mountains. I know not what the terrain of this Pass of Qalish is like, but I have lived most of my life in the mountains and know well how difficult it can be for those unused to them.”

“Good point,” Lexi agreed. “So, I guess we should plan on making up as much distance as we can before we hit any of the mountainous inclines. That way, we’re not stretching things out unnecessarily.”

“Agreed,” the monk said nodding.

And so, the party journeyed northwards, maintaining a rather brisk pace among them, with Thomas’ help being greatly appreciated by all. They spent the time talking of the land’s beauty, admiring the green glades the road passed through, and the snowy mountains whose peaks could just be seen on the horizon. When this train of conversation was exhausted, Lexi decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to try and get Samantha to open up a bit more about her background.

“Do you think the mountains we’re headed towards will be anything like the ones where you grew up?”

“In some ways,” Samantha said, her voice measured. “But, in many ways the two ranges could hardly be more different.”

“How so?” Lexi asked. “Remember, I essentially know jack shit about this part of the world, so a geography lesson would be greatly appreciated.”

“Ooo, me too!” Gretel piped in excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to know more about the ‘oh-so-mysterious’ Abbey of the Fist.”

Despite her best efforts to maintain here characteristically stoic facade, Lexi saw a faint smile tug at the edge of the hulking monk’s lips.

“Very well,” Samantha conceded. “The Abbey of the Fist is located far to the South and West of Astyanax, in the peaks of the Soraothian Mountains. And, while those are perhaps similar in both size and scale to the Zin range towards which we journey, my homeland is not one of ice and snow. Soraoth’s climate is tropical, with lush and verdant jungles as opposed to the mix of deciduous and evergreen foliage through which we pass now. Our climates do not change with the seasons, and it is almost always hotter and more humid than Astyanax ever becomes, or so I have been told. What does change—”

Whatever Samantha was about to say was cut off by her raised fist, as she stood there silently, listening intently for some sound that neither of her companions could discern. Lexi strained her ears, trying to pick out whatever it was that had spooked the monk so suddenly. At first, she heard nothing, but after a moment the unmistakable sound of a twig snapping from a human’s footfall — or, she supposed, something at least vaguely human shaped — came from the densely wooded thicket lining the road perhaps a dozen yard up ahead. Lexi started to step forward, but Samantha’s large palm instinctively shot out to hold her back.

“Ambush,” whispered the monk. “Prepare yourselves.”

As one, the adventurers assumed their respective combat positions. Samantha and Lexi covered the front and Gretel the rear. Lexi drew her enormous broadsword, squatting slightly into what her paladin’s body knew as the perfect stance to spring into defensive or offensive maneuvers. Samantha had already been using her iron staff as an improvised walking stick during their journey so far, simply kicked the bottom end with one foot, snapping the length up into an outstretched ready position. Thinking quickly, Gretel hurried to remove one of their lengths of rope, and led their mule — and all of their supplies — over to the nearest tree behind the group, tying him up so that the animal would be unable to bolt off with all of their gear if there was going to be a fight.

Seeing this state of preparedness, Samantha gave Lexi a stiff nod. The paladin read her comrade’s message loud and clear, and called out to the would-be ambushers. “Whoever’s hiding up ahead of us, get the fuck out of the trees and show yourselves!”

One after the other, a group of six forms emerged from both sides of the path ahead of the party. The group was as motley as Lexi could have imagined, and while none of the members were greenskins, only three were human. The two that stood at the forefront of the brigands as the likely leaders were representatives what Gretel had termed beastkin in her discussion with Lexi on goblin ecology — both having the appearance of humanoid foxes.

Looking to Lexi’s eye like something straight out of a Disney movie, the pair wore the same kinds of medieval looking tunics as everyone else, except that theirs had been altered to allow their voluminous tails to poke out the back. Never having seen such creatures apart from a few stolen glances here and there in the city, Lexi studied the two carefully.

She was interested to note that while the shapes of their hands were almost wholly human, the exposed bottoms of their legs and feet — clearly visible, as both were unshod — had the elongated “bent-backwards” appearance that most four-legged animals had. Their bodies were completely covered in luxurious red fur, with large perky ears sticking up from the tops of their heads, framing faces that were largely vulpine in form, but had as much expressive power, particularly in the eyes, as any human.

Given the interesting formal transition from human to beast as her eyes traveled down their bodies, Lexi found herself wondering what the equipment between their legs looked like. Was the girl’s pussy covered with that same velvety red fur? Would she get off on her tail being played with? Did the base of the guy’s cock expand into a giant fist-sized knot like a dog’s? After they knot a girl, do they just keep cumming until the knot deflates? Before she knew it, Lexi’s wild speculations about foxkin genitals and sexual habits was provoking a physical response in her under-the-tunic equipment.

With a start, the futanari shook her head, returning her attention to an assessment of the group as it might pertain to a potential combat scenario — as seemed increasingly likely given that all of these apparent highwaymen were armed. Each of these foxkin leaders were clad in a serviceable chain mail shirt over their matched green tunics, and carried long spears. Behind them, the paladin spied another three humans, two males and one female, as well as another beastkin with the head of a stag. All four were clad in shabby looking patchwork armor, and bore homemade wooden clubs — except the human woman, who carried a long hunting bow and wore a quiver over one shoulder.

Once their henchmen had gathered behind them, the two foxkin leaders puffed out their chests, and launched into what seemed like a very well rehearsed and carefully choreographed performance.

“Good day travelers,” the foxboy began. “And welcome to our humble dominion…”

“…the realm of the Redtail twins,” the foxgirl continued on cue. “Felix and Felicia.”

“We would, of course,” Felix said. “Be more than happy to permit you safe passage through our lovely wood…”

“…but that protection comes with a price,” Felicia continued.

“Indeed,” said Felix. “It would be terrible if an unfortunate accident were to befall any of you lovely ladies…”

“…but such is the state of Aeternia today, that these things seem almost unavoidable,” Felicity carried on.

“Thankfully,” Felix said with a flourish of his spear. “The simple donation we ask of you fair travelers is, in the grand scheme of things, quite low and reasonable…”

“…a mere five gold coils for each head you wish protected,” Felicia concluded, thrusting her hip out to one side in an obviously practiced pose.

A few seconds passed in silence, as the foxkin twins waited for the expected response from the travelers to their none-so-thinly-veiled threats of violence. However, things did not quite go to plan. Rather than being presented with the usual cowering nobles prepared to pay practically any amount to continue unmolested, Lexi and Samantha simply stared defiantly at the brigands, unmoving and obviously unimpressed by the twins’ rehearsed antics.

“Lemme make sure I’ve got this straight,” Lexi said brashly, cutting the silence as if with a knife. “Either we pay you fifteen gold coins, your you’re going to try and fuck us up. Is that the deal?”

“Well,” Felix said with a smirk. “As there as presently six of us…”

“…and only three of you,” Felicia continued.

“I think we can do a bit more than try…” Felix said, with a predatory edge to his voice.

“…it would be more of a guarantee,” Felicia concluded, lowering the blade of her spear dangerously.

“I figured as much,” Lexi said with a grin whose cheer was clashed jarringly against the edgy facades of the brigands. And, as she intended, this juxtaposition served to confuse the highwaymen, the cracks in their puffed up overconfidence already becoming visible, wearing away at the seams, as the henchmen behind the Redtail twins shuffled their feet nervously, casting one another quick glances. “I just wanted to make sure,” the paladin continued. “That I wasn’t misunderstanding your intentions before me and my friends get down to business and fuck your day all up.”

Felix laughed uproariously in an attempt to steel the nerves of his increasingly disquieted crew, although even Lexi — who had just met the foxkin — could tell that this was another of his acts. He and Felicia were clearly not used to this kind of friction, and their script did not appear to contain the necessary flexibility to deal with the unique obstacle posed by Lexi and her companions. As she was analyzing the situation, a positively devilish idea popped into Lexi’s head.

I know exactly how to put these furry fuckers in their place once and for all.

“I’ve got this,” the futanari said to Samantha and Gretel in a low voice. “I want to try out something new. But, it might be a little dangerous, so stay back.” And, then she uttered the words of command for her newly gained spell for the first time.

Holy Lust!