Tender Mercies: Book 1 - Chapter 8

Part 8

Fox and Hound

Having been out of Silverton a week, Alesha found herself beginning to doubt her decision to strike out on her own. She quickly overruled herself though, remembering how she'd never been a part of the group with Kelnozz and Nordan. In spite of having to leave her horse behind when the terrain turned treacherous, she continued to the north, heading back towards the Lost Lands. Already she had used her powers to conceal her presence from three large flying beasts with riders on her way through the Periphery.

Alesha also discovered that although it was slower and not as effective, she could harness the energy that Talifernon released when she tormented the demons soul trapped in her weapon. By doing this, she hoped to avoid having to need to rely upon sex to keep her powers active.

Too caught up in her thoughts, she made the mistake of coming around a rock in a small gully and staring straight into the eyes of eight ogres. Everyone was a little stunned at the sudden encounter. Alesha reacted first, drawing her sword and slipping low into a defensive balance. This made sense to the slow witted ogres, and they fanned out to approach her, clubs readied threateningly.

Frightened at the odds, Alesha considered fleeing. The ogres advanced on her, seeing only a human woman that was poorly armed, at best.

Her natural and unnatural instincts reacted when the first ogre swung its club at war, trying to brain her. She deftly avoided the swing and struck out at the nine foot tall creature. Its eyes widened in shock when it beheld its severed arm.

Instead of pressing her advantage, Alesha backed up to keep the rock at her back. The wounded ogre continued to stare dumfounded at its missing limb. The other ogres still advanced on her, with some laughing at their companion's wound.

Alesha dodged the next strike at her as well, listening as the wooden club crashed into the rock behind her. She thrust into the ogres belly, sinking in deeply enough to take him out of the fight, though the wound might not prove mortal.

Without even realizing it her spare arm shot up and the bracer warded her from the descending club of another ogre. The power of the blow should have crushed her arm, but instead she shrugged it off with little more then a slight jarring of her elbow and shoulder. A spin inside the ogres reach and a slash with her shortsword left the ogre disemboweled and out of the fight. It dropped its club and clutched at its intestines as they spilled out, staring at them in stunned fascination.

Another ogre caught Alesha with a glancing blow on her shoulder blade, shoving her into the path of another ogre charging towards her. His club sailed over her head, missing her, but off balance she was caught by the ogres knee in the chest and slumped off to the side, stunned herself.

Time slowed down for Alesha. Dazed, she watched the ogres turn and gather around her, wasting no time themselves as they prepared to crush her. Knowing her end was near, the woman struggled to think of something to save her, but was unable to do anything.

I can save you!

The thought came to Alesha from the sword in her hand. Her eyes flew to it and she saw the runes glowing on it.

Let me show you how! The voice pleaded to her.

Alesha's eyes flicked back up to the raised club of an ogre. All of it was happening so quickly she had no time to think. Clutching to life, she agreed to it.

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Alesha plunged into something deep and dark. She felt a suffocating fear, then realized she was no longer moving, or at least she had no sensation of such. All around her was blackness so dark and impenetrable she wondered if she was indeed dead. Feeling herself naked and unarmed, her fears deepened.

Spinning about for a point of reference, she felt a great source of rage and hatred in front of her. She called upon her powers and suddenly she was bathed in light. Before her stood the demon she had vanquished. It rushed at her, arms and pincers extended to crush her. Confused and off balance, Alesha only narrowly avoided the beings attack.

It spun quickly and came at her again, but this time Alesha's reflexes took over. She leapt at it as well, taking it by surprise. Inside its reach her hands and feet shot out, striking repeatedly at it. Before in the pass her attacks had done no harm to it, but here, in the magical null space they were, each blow she landed caused it to shriek in pain.

It put an end to her attacks by wrapping all four of its arms around her and crushing her to it. Alesha fought to breathe, the demon squeezing the life from her. One arm was trapped to her side, the other above her head. She tried to move it enough to lash out at the demon, but was prevented from doing so. Lifted off what passed for the ground, she couldn't even find purchase for her feet.

Sensing her all but destroyed, the demon cast her from it with a powerful throw. Alesha collapsed and lay on the ground, struggling to breathe. She strove to call upon her powers, but was unable to do so. Talifernon approached her and lifted its leg to drive down on her and destroy her. Alesha found she did not even have enough strength to roll to avoid the impending blow. She felt her forehead warming up but paid no heed to it.

The demons foot descended towards her, but was suddenly stopped less then an inch from her face. It growled in frustration, then a powerful flash of black energy caused it to stumble back to its knees. Alesha gasped in astonishment as the form of the stranger that had visited her before took shape out of where the mystical energy had driven the creature back.

"Talifernon, I deny you this woman!" He said, his magical voice harsh and unyielding.

The demon howled at the proclamation, but found itself lowering its head obediently to the man. Alesha remained stunned on the floor, but had been recovering her strength slowly. Turning, the stranger smiled at her. Alesha took his offered hand and suddenly found herself filled with energy and health. "What do I owe you this time?" She asked hesitantly.

"You've already given it. You are my creature now."

Alesha nodded, feeling that what he said made sense to her. "Who are you?" She asked, seeking confirmation for what she suspected.

Smiling, the being vanished before her. It left the words floating in her mind though, "I am your Lord."

Frustrated, Alesha turned back to the cowering demon. It looked up at her and growled, knowing it could do her no harm now. Alesha walked up to it and with a mighty kick to it's head, knocked it to its side.

"You offered me help, demon, now give it!" She spat out, driving another kick to its head to knock it on its back.

Glaring at her, the demon bowed its head to her and said, "Yes……Mistress"

Being addressed as such sent a thrill of excitement through Alesha. "What can you give me?" She demanded, grinning evilly.

Seeing she wasn't directing any further attacks at him, the demon replied, "Knowledge and power, Mistress. I will teach you."

Alesha looked up and down the powerfully built creature. She walked to his side and called upon her magic to arouse the demon.

She watched the demon's red cock swell and rise. Then Alesha stepped onto his thighs and wrapped both hands around the end of the demon's cock and squeezed. Her thumbs stroked over the swollen and speckled flat head, smearing the precum bubbling forth.

The demon began breathing heavily, watching his new master. Then she pulled the shaft toward her crotch as she stepped forward. Alesha rubbed the wet head of the demon cock against her pussy as she smiled at the monster's dog face. She moaned lustfully as she pressed the demon cock into her and slowly sank down onto it. The demon looked at her fearfully. To it's knowledge no woman of any species had ever sought to couple with it.

Alesha knelt on the demon's torso now, her hands planted on it's ribcage as her magically enhanced pussy stretched around the base of the demon's cock filling her. She began rocking herself back and forth, slowly extracting a bit of the demon's red shaft before sinking back onto it. The demon huffed and two of its hands cautiously moved up to clutch at her thighs.

She glared hungrily at the demon, "Then begin your instruction, demon, and perhaps I will let you live!"

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"Are we catching up to her?" Nordan asked, glancing about the mountains with concern in his eyes.

Martin straightened up from the tracks he had been studying. He scanned the mountains around them as well before responding. "I don't know how, but she moves quickly, I judge us to be nearly a day behind her now."

"Fighting those griffins and light elves slowed us more then we thought," Kelnozz offered, seeing Nordan scowl at the ranger.

"Nay, more then that, she moves without tiring." Kelnozz nodded and after another moment of silent thought, Martin led them off through the rocky mountains in pursuit of Alesha.

After confronting her in Silverton, Kelnozz had found Alesha gone the next morning. Cursing, he had told Nordan and they had again enlisted the aid of the ranger to help them find the woman. True to his word, Martin seemed able to track most anything, including a woman on rocky terrain that left little to no sign of passage.

Another hour of travel and the rounded a bend in the gully they were in and saw the scene of a battle. Crows and other scavengers were feasting on the eviscerated body of one ogre, and the beheaded body of another. A third ogre that was clutching the stump of its forearm remained resting with its back to a rock. At first they thought him dead as well, but when a vulture landed upon him, it growled weakly and thrashed at it to make it rise quickly in flight.

They moved to surround it quietly. When Nordan's shadow fell across the injured ogre it opened its eyes and looked all three of them standing there with weapons ready. It just sat there, looking from one to another quietly. All three of them could tell it was in pain and very weak. Without a healer, the ogre was doomed.

"What happened?" Martin said in the ogres own language. Nordan and Kelnozz looked at one another in surprise, neither of them knew what he was saying.

"We wuz skowtin. Saw dis 'oomin. We try bash her, but her bash uz. 'Er took me 'and, den 'er kild Gutblud. Den 'er wuz bowt tu dy wen 'er flowt en da sky. Oll dem udderz froo down der bashurz. Den her kil'd Broopr kuz hem wuz 'urt bad. Da uddurz follo 'er dat wai den," The ogre responded, nodding towards the other end of the gully.

Martin looked from the disemboweled ogre to the beheaded one, then in the direction the ogre indicated. He turned to Kelnozz and Nordan to see them watching him curiously.

"He says they found Alesha and tried to kill her, but she took his arm and killed that one there. Then he says she flew up above them and the rest of the ogres through down there weapons. One of the ogres she wounded and he couldn't keep up, so she cut off his head. The others then lead her that way," Martin explained.

Nordan looked around, his eyes wide with surprise. Kelnozz shook his head in disbelief. "It appears your friend has a band of ogres under her control. I knew there was something special about her, care to tell me about it?"

Nordan looked to Kelnozz. The elf nodded and set about explaining everything to Martin that they had left out before. Her strange powers, her drive for sex, and Kelnozz then told them about his confrontation with her that final night, leaving out only the part where she had explained how differently they all looked from anyone else to her.

"I have followed Carson all of my life," Martin said when the tale was done, "and he would not do something as you spoke of. It sounds far more sinister to me."

Kelnozz nodded while Nordan simply shrugged, religious matters never bothered him much. "I wondered as much," The elf confided. "But I was unsure and wanted to learn more about her first. She was a honest and well meaning person before the influence of whatever it was that contacted her."

Nordan looked to Kelnozz with a smirk on his face. That was the most of a compliment he'd ever heard the elf give a woman. While Nordan had warm feelings for Alesha himself, they had cooled and turned into camaraderie more then anything else. He suspected that Kelnozz had let something deeper grow in him for her.

"A band of ogres should be easier to track," Kelnozz said, not seeing Nordan's smirk.

"Aye, it will, if you think we still should follow her." Martin turned to regard the ogre, who had closed his eyes again to await death. "What of him?"

Kelnozz shrugged, then patted his weapons at his side. Martin nodded and turned back towards the ogre.

"Wait," Nordan demanded, moving towards the fallen would-be foe. "He helped us, ask him what he wants."

Kelnozz was surprised by Nordan's odd streak of compassion. Martin switched back to the ogres harsh language and asked. The ogre responded after a moment and Martin nodded thoughtfully. "He says what happens to him doesn't matter, for he was wounded in battle and will die because of it. Garrick will accept him into his hall because of this."

Nordan nodded, his own people had similar beliefs. Stepping forward with his hammer, he raised it above the ogre, who locked gazes with him. The ogre nodded and Nordan let his hammer fall, putting his strength into the swing. The crack that resounded from the contact left no doubt that even an ogre's skull was not strong enough to resist Nordan's hammer.

"Let us find Alesha, she has much to explain," Nordan said, turning away from the grisly scene. Martin nodded and led the way, following the track.

Continued in Chapter 9

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