The Eye of Aphasis

Corbus had heard it said that you could lead a horse to water but you couldn't make it drink. The same could not be said, he reflected wryly, of cats, as he observed his companion quaffing her third mug in little more than ten minutes. Of course, to be fair to the horse, it had to be admitted that what his companion was drinking was not simply water. Nor, in all honesty, was she a cat.

Selane observed Corbus staring at her and looked up, an inquisitive expression in her feline eyes, foam dotting her whiskers and chin fur. "What are you thinking about?" she inquired, licking around her lips with a dainty tongue.

"Ah, nothing, Selane, nothing," stammered Corbus, as he directed his attention to his own beaker. His first, it was still nearly half full.

"Well see, there's your problem," she replied, taking another swig from her mug. "Here you are, the second greatest thief in all Kubladesh, about to embark on an exploit which will make you famous from the shores of Hadriak to the peaks of Calustius, and you're thinking of nothing. While I, on the other hand, have been thinking of little else but our soon-to-be famous heist. Of course, that may be due to the fact that I am the greatest thief in all Kubladesh," she added, somewhat immodestly Corbus felt. He preferred to think of himself and his partner as the two greatest thieves in Kubladesh – leave it to posterity to sort out who was better.

His musings were interrupted as his companion continued, her long tail swatting at an annoying insect. "In fact, seems to me that I've been doing so much of the thinking, I ought to be receiving the – shall we say, lion's share? – of the profits of this one!" Selane smiled, pleased at her little joke, baring her sharp fangs just a little bit.

Though his companion was lovely, Corbus always found it a bit disconcerting when she smiled that way. Not that he actually thought she'd ever try to hurt him – they had been through too much together, each saving the other's lives on more than one occasion. However, it was a good thing that Selane could hold her liquor, as he wouldn't want to face her if she was drunk and angry with him for some reason. The Fe-Larn were a beautiful and graceful race, with both their males and females universally acclaimed as being among the most handsome of the many sentient species that inhabited the lands around the Inner Sea. They were in high demand as concubines, though few took them against their will, as lurking beneath their soft fur were muscles of steel. Their outward beauty masked the fact that beating beneath their breasts, there pulsed the heart of a hunting cat, swift and deadly when they desired, fond of toying with their prey when it was cornered. Seeing her fangs bared, even though in jest, always made Corbus glad that he was not Selane's prey. Though he was an accomplished swordsman, he had seen her in action more than once, and he had little desire to test his skill against hers.

"I'm afraid that's quite impossible," he laughed. "A deal's a deal. Besides, on all the hauls where I was the mastermind, I don't recall you offering to cut me a larger slice of the pie!"

The Fe-Larn laughed with him. "Maybe if you ever were the mastermind, I would!" she retorted. "That's all right though. With this one, we both make our fortune!" Tossing down the last of her ale, her green, slitted eyes glittered with excitement. At least Corbus hoped it was excitement, though he had known Selane long enough to know that it would take much more than the few drinks she'd had to even begin to get her inebriated. The thought of the theft they had planned, the danger they could face – these were the things that Selane got drunk on.

And who could blame her? For after tonight, the Eye of Aphisis would be theirs!

Around them, the noisy tavern bustled with activity. Busy serving wenches, their bodices cut low and revealing hints of the treasures beneath, moved to and fro carrying trays of food and drink, squealing as a stray hand reached out to pinch their behinds or to pull them onto their owner's lap. Cloaked figures put cowled heads together, shady deals were cut in the smoky air. Boisterous drunks roared out their laughter, occasionally pitching down on the wooden floor in a stupor. In short, it was a night like any other night, at any one of the inns of Kubladesh, crown jewel of Shahdara.

But although secrets were bought and sold at the Scarlet Raptor almost as swiftly as the tavern sold refreshments, it seemed that no man – nay, no being of any of the Twelve Races – had any inkling that the two thieves seated at a corner table planned that very night to deprive the temple of the goddess of love of that most lustrous of gems men called the Eye of Aphisis.

If they had known of their intent, most would have likely spat and called them mad. The allure of the Eye had drawn more than one thief, secure in his or her knowledge and skills. Legends claimed that he who held the Eye of Aphisis held the power to sway men's minds, to charm them into doing anything they desired. It was well known among the shadier denizens of Shahdara that many thieves had entered the temple of Aphisis in search of her sparkling prize. It was equally well known that none had ever emerged or been seen again. How they had been ensnared remained a mystery, known only, perhaps, to the goddess herself and her most trusted priests.

While Selane and Corbus were, of course, familiar with the tales of the failed efforts of their predecessors, they were also, of course, the two greatest thieves in Kubladesh. Where lesser mortals had failed, they would succeed. Or so they believed...

As they sat at the table, once more going over their plan in hushed whispers, a hand fell on the shoulder of Selane. "Hey there, little lady, lookin' for a little fun?" came a drunken voice behind her.

With a snarl, she rose from her chair, whirled to see who had addressed her. Though standing a few inches below six feet, her lithe frame was slender but solid. Her attire, consisting of some dark cloth wrapped around her waist and chest, did little to hide the rippling muscles playing beneath her spotted fur or the fullness of her breasts. The Fe-Larn disliked wearing clothes, though did so when frequenting areas populated mainly by humans. Since the sight of a naked Fe-Larn, whether male or female, had a predictable effect on humans, they had become accustomed to wearing them. A short sword hung in its leather scabbard at her side, swaying with her movement.

"I think you'd better leave..." Corbus started but was cut off by Selane.

"I know you'd better leave!" Selane corrected, fairly spitting at the man who had accosted her. Clad in a silken shirt, with tanned trousers and a rapier hanging from his side, her admirer towered over her.

"Aw, come on, love. I bet you know some great tricks with that tail! How's about you and me go somewhere and you can show me a few?" he leered, reaching towards her again. That action proved he was either extremely drunk or extremely stupid. Few people who weren't either messed with a Fe-Larn when they weren't in the mood.

Corbus bolted upright. "No claws!" he cried. Here they were, on the eve of their greatest theft. It would be just like Selane to do something that would bring the watch down on them, like slicing this drunkard up with her claws. From his dress, though intoxicated, he seemed a man of some means.

Corbus had no need to worry. Both Selane's claws and sword remained sheathed. She pirouetted. One black spotted leg lifted off the floor, a slim foot smashed into the drunk's head. With a strangled cry he spun and fell backwards, crashing against a table before hitting the floor. Though he still breathed, he didn't stir.

When Selane made no further move towards him, the tavern, which had been momentarily silent as the patrons watched the scene unfold before them, resumed its low roar.

Corbus, still standing, quickly finished his drink. "Well, I think it's best we're off. The moons are down and we've wasted enough time here."

Tossing a few coins on the table, he and Selane made their way to the door. "Thanks for not killing that guy," he told her, half serious, half in jest.

"No problem," she replied as they walked out onto the street. "Let's do it."

Turning their steps towards the temple of Aphisis, the pair moved swiftly down the cobbled street. The darkness caused by the momentary absence of the Three Sisters in the sky was broken only by the light of an occasional flickering streetlight and the stars. Most folks were already in bed or, if not, taking up space in an inn somewhere, leaving the streets chiefly deserted.

Intent on what lay before them, neither of them noticed that a cloaked figure had risen from its seat at the Scarlet Raptor as they left and had begun to trail them, staying far back in the shadows. Though the hearing of the Fe-Larn was legendary, Selane gave no indication (nor did Corbus, for that matter) that she was aware the duo was being followed.

---

"Took you long enough," grumbled Corbus softly. Though she knew he was joking, Selane scowled at him.

The two thieves stood in a darkened attic in the uppermost reaches of the temple of Aphisis. Like many of their feline cousins, the Fe-Larn were excellent climbers. Reaching the temple unnoticed, the pair had gone around back. There Selane had commenced to scale the wall, climbing upwards on the stone face towards a window high overlooking the city. The climb had been a slow and arduous one, for the stone wall offered little purchase. Indeed, it was likely that none but one of the Fe-Larn could have scaled its face. Down below, Corbus had kept an anxious watch, but they had chosen their time well. No one had wandered near where they were working.

Reaching the window, Selane had quickly begun chipping at the mortar surrounding the bars of the window. This had been a regular task of hers for over the last month, as each night she chipped more and more of the mortar away, loosening the bars, filling the depression with a putty-like substance as she left each night in order to fool any eye that might glance out the window and gaze out over the towers and turrets of Kubladesh.

Tonight her weeks of hard work had finally paid off. Straining her muscles, she had wrenched the loose bars from their casings, creating a hole big enough to admit both her and Corbus. Entering the attic, she had dropped a rope down to her partner, who had quickly shimmied up it.

"So far, so good," muttered Corbus as he looked around, waiting for Selane to catch her breath. The attic was cluttered with oddly shaped boxes and furniture, much of which took on an eerie, otherworldly appearance in the dim light. "Lead on."

Her slitted eyes well adapted to dim light conditions, Selane padded soundlessly across the attic floor, Corbus following close behind. Opening the door, they emerged onto a landing, at the top of a staircase spiraling down. Set in niches every so often along the roughhewn walls, blazing torches gave off a flickering light, creating monstrous shadows that danced and swayed on the curved stone walls of the staircase.

The two thieves crept slowly, silently down the stairs. As they came to other floors, they continued their descent. The Eye of Aphisis was located on ground level, in the main worship hall, over a hundred feet below where they had made their entrance.

As they drew nearer to their target, the stone staircase came to an end on the floor above the ground floor. Slowly the pair crept down a long hall, exquisite tapestries covering the paneled walls, their footsteps silent in the night. Corbus and Selane glanced at the scenes portrayed on the tapestries and sighed, knowing that they were passing by a fortune. Each depicted Aphisis, nude in resplendent glory, her twin breasts firm and uplifted, crowned by elongated cherry-red nipples, her blonde thatch soft and curly, hinting at the warm treasures to be found between her silken thighs, her long legs slender and seemingly begging to be wrapped around a lover. Her worshipers – mostly human, but there were representatives of each of the Twelve Races – cavorted around her, engaging in various physical expressions of love. One tapestry depicted a young woman in the throes of passion, pleasuring one man with her mouth while another thrust his manhood into her from behind. In another four nymphs lay in a daisy chain, their pursed lips pressed against their delicious slits, bringing each other to ecstasy with their mouths and tongues. In yet a third a man lay on his back while his lover slowly lowered herself onto him, impaling her asshole on his stiffened prick as it disappeared between her rounded asscheeks. Each tapestry depicted a different combination of participants and activities, illustrating the varied and diverse ways that Aphisis brought joy to the world.

However, while Corbus and Selane knew that the tapestries were each worth a small fortune, they also knew that the real fortune lay further ahead. And so they passed them by, stealing unwitting glances at them as they slunk ahead, becoming slightly aroused as they observed the erotic tableaus brought to stunning life by the exquisite workmanship of Aphisis' artisans. Corbus couldn't help but stare at Selane padding down the hall before him, her black-spotted fur shimmering with her tread, supple tail flicking alertly behind her as if it had eyes. Though their relationship had always been a professional one, his throat grew dry as his thoughts, inspired by the carnal scenes on the tapestries, grew very unprofessional indeed.

Suddenly Selane stopped. Behind her, Corbus followed suit. Ahead was a balcony, overlooking the ground floor. Sneaking over to the railing, they cautiously peeked over and looked down below.

Fifteen or so feet below them lay the marble floor of the entryway to the temple, from which rose a great oaken door. The two thieves knew that behind this massive door lay the chief worship area of Aphisis – the location of the mystical Eye. Standing at guard in front of this barrier stood four guardsman, dressed in chainmail hauberks, armed with scimitars. They seemed to be statues as they stood there, motionless, the flickering torchlight reflecting off their stern expressions.

From a small pouch he wore at his waist, Corbus retrieved a stoppered vial. Inside could be seen a bluish green powder, which seemed to glow eerily in the shadows. It was on this strange powder that Corbus and Selane had based the crucial element of their plan. It had not been easy to obtain – indeed, the tale of it was one worth telling, involving as it did a theft from a mage of no little reputation. While Selane had kept the wizard occupied with her toothsome figure, plying her erotic arts on the sorcerer and turning his thoughts, however briefly, from the realms of magic to the realms of the flesh, Corbus had carefully plundered the wizard's workshop. The mage, his hardened prick buried deeply in Selane's steaming pussy as she rode him, bouncing up and down on her muscular thighs, soft golden fur gleaming, her tail twitching bewitchingly behind her, had been unaware of Selane's partner in crime invading his laboratory and carefully extracting a small quantity of a certain powder whose properties the wizard had been unwise enough to reveal to his potential paramour. Selane considered the powder well paid for, as she had coaxed several exquisite climaxes from the body of their victim, while she herself had scaled the heights of ecstasy more than once as well, impaling herself on his rigid shaft, slickly coated with her love juices. When she left the mage, exhausted, the following morning, the wizard reflected that the famed sexual prowess of the Fe-Larn was no myth. And, having confined himself to taking but a small quantity of this powder and disturbing no other object, Corbus' theft remained undetected.

Corbus now unstoppered the vial and poured the glittering dust onto his palm. Pursing his lips, he blew the powder into the air, scattering it further with his hand as he tossed it above the heads of the guards. The eerie dust sparkled for a moment in the entryway, glowing in the fluttering light, before diffusing enough so as to be well nigh invisible. Corbus and Selane held their breath as the dust settled down upon the guards and the area in which they stood watch, but by neither word nor deed did the sentries give any indication that they had noticed that aught was amiss.

Exchanging a glance, the two greatest thieves in Kubladesh slowly withdrew their weapons, hers a shortsword, his a rapier. Nodding at each other, they gathered themselves and leaped over the balcony!

Both thieves had judged the distances perfectly. They each came crashing down atop a guard, sending them sprawling to the floor. Corbus and Selane rolled with their falls and sprang to their feet. The two sentries they had landed on, however, were not so fortunate, as their heads had come into swift contact with the marble floor and bounced off it. Only their helmets, absorbing much of the blow, saved them from serious injury or death. As it was, they lay senseless where they had fallen.

For the first time, the other two guards gave signs that they were alive, as looks of shock spread across their previously impassive faces. Their surprise was due not only to the sudden appearance of the man and Fe-Larn who know stood, armed, before them, but from the fact that the whole initial attack had proceeded in total silence! There had been absolutely no noise as the two hurtling bodies smashed into the other two watchmen, just as there had been no sound as their armored bodies crashed to the floor. The air should have been filled with the harsh symphony of metal striking marble, but instead it was quiet as a tomb.

Though they had received a rude surprise, both guard's reflexes were honed and automatic. Their blades came literally flying out of their sheaths as they shouted for help. Once again, however, silence reigned supreme. Although their mouths opened, no sound emerged, as if they had suddenly been stricken mute. If Corbus and Selane had been in the mood for a good laugh, they could easily have had one looking at the expressions of confusion flitting across the guards' faces.

If they had felt inclined, the pair of intruders could have provided the explanation for the supernatural quiet that enveloped the entryway. The secret lay in the dust that Corbus had sprinkled into the room, a magical powder which, for a short period of time, absorbed and deadened all sound around it. A full orchestra could be playing in that room, but while the dust maintained its potency, the audience might as well be deaf for all the music they would hear.

This was no time for laughter or explanations, however. Corbus and Selane launched their assaults.

A snarl on her feline face, sharp teeth bared, Selane hurled herself at the larger of their two opponents. Her blade licked out, to be met by that of the guard. In eerie silence she pressed her attack. There came no sound of clanging blades, of shuffling feet, of heavy breath. Instead they danced to a music which only they could hear, a dance of death as their swords wove curtains of steel before them.

Her opponent was no mean swordsman. Parrying one of her thrusts, his glittering blade flickered out, slicing in at her head. Only her Fe-Larn reflexes saved her as she barely managed to dodge the blow. Sweating from their exertions, they shuffled back and forth across the floor, first one, then the other, on the attack. Finally though, Selane got the opening she sought. Blades locked, the two foes stood near each other, each straining to force the other back. Selane's other hand flashed forward, razor-sharp retractable claws extended, slashing at the guard's face. Her blow laid it open, crimson blood pouring from the wound. The pain broke the guard's concentration for just a moment. His attention diverted, he was unprepared when Selane slid her blade off his and whipped it back, plunging it through his throat. With what would have been – under any other circumstances – a gurgled cry, the guard sank to his knees and collapsed on the floor, a red puddle rapidly spreading across the cool marble.

Meanwhile, Corbus was hard pressed. He was a fine swordsman, but his opponent was a virtual wizard with the blade. Though the guard's shirtsleeve was torn where Corbus' blade had once licked through it, the thief bled from a half dozen small cuts. While none of the blows which had landed had as yet been serious, his opponent was getting the better of him as they played out their deadly duel.

There was a time to fight fair and a time to ignore the rules of sportsmanship. This was one of the latter.

Selane leapt forward and skewered Corbus' opponent in the back.

The human thief rested for a moment, leaning against the wall, as he sucked the air into his lungs in great, shuddering gasps, while Selane withdrew her sword from his dead opponent, cleaning her blade on his tunic before sheathing it. Her green eyes shining with excitement, she grinned at her partner, before motioning impatiently at the door.

Corbus nodded. Pushing himself away from the wall, he sheathed his rapier. They moved in front of the massive oak door. Corbus slowly pushed it open while Selane stood rapt at attention by his side, all of her senses alert for life on the other side of the door.

The door swung open, revealing the worship area of the temple of Aphisis. Torches ensconced along the paneled walls gave off a flickering light. Tapestries of the same explicit sexual nature as had lined the hallway upstairs were interspersed along the walls. A central aisle bifurcated two sets of pews, which ran several rows deep. At the head of the aisle, up a short incline, was an altar, resplendently covered with a crimson cloth laced with gold weave that shimmered like a thing alive in the light. Jeweled candleholders held burning tapers, their weak light adding to that of the torches. Various gem encrusted boxes rested on the altar, each of exquisite workmanship, each a treasure any thief would prize.

Behind the altar an enormous mosaic covered the wall from floor to ceiling, depicting the goddess of love in her natural glory. Through some trick of the light, Aphisis' image fairly burned like a brand, rising above the altar and looking out over those who would come to worship her, arms outstretched to welcome her suppliants. Though only an image of the goddess, the creator of the mosaic must have been possessed by divine inspiration, as Aphisis seemed ready to glide out from the wall and move through her temple, mingling with her worshippers. Merely looking at the image caused one's heart to ache with desire, filling the soul with a longing to run fingers through her fine blonde tresses, to caress her soft, supple body and ride it to the peaks of passion. The goddess was exquisite, she was perfection and beauty incarnate. No mere human means could have depicted Aphisis thus; the artisan who had created the work had utilized the arcane arts in crafting his masterpiece in order to provide all of those who gazed upon it a glimpse into the divine.

On an ivory pedestal standing before the mosaic, cupped in fine silver filigree, rested an item rivaling and indeed surpassing the artwork's beauty – the Eye of Aphisis!

The Eye was the size of a large man's fist, its color the color of rubies in the same way that the sun is the color of candlelight. It fairly pulsed with supernatural life, absorbing the torchlight, twisting it and making it its own until it shone with an unnatural radiance. The gem's many facets sparkled and twinkled in its setting, its ruby luminance suffusing the room with its scarlet hue. The brilliant mosaic had been created by man. The Eye of Aphisis had been crafted by nature working in unknowable ways and compared to it, man's endeavors, however exquisite, seemed the work of children.

As Corbus and Selane observed the Eye of Aphisis, the breath caught in their throats. Here, here was a prize worth stealing, a prize whose theft would be told of with awe even as far off as the legendary Crystal City of Chandigarh! And it lay there, ripe for the taking!

Observing no signs of life, the two thieves slipped into the room. The door they had entered by was a side door; the main door, leading outside, lay down the central aisle opposite the altar.

They padded stealthily down a side aisle towards their target, the black-spotted Fe-Larn slightly in the lead, feral senses alert for anything amiss. As they neared the altar, at first Selane thought her eyes were deceiving her. She stopped, cocked her head. Corbus halted behind her, uncertain as to what made her hesitate.

There! It wasn't merely her imagination. The Eye of Aphisis was pulsing with an inner light! Red shafts of light began to pulsate, emanating from the gem. At first indistinct, barely perceptible, the throbbing light quickly became more distinct until it was readily apparent, even to Corbus.

"I don't have a good feeling about this..." he began to say before his words trailed off. Strange thoughts had begun to assail him, seeking dominance within him. In front of him, he saw the lithe form of his partner stiffen, tensing as she too realized that something was dreadfully amiss.

Though he had, in the past, entertained occasional sexual thoughts of Selane, Corbus had never acted on them. They were friends, not lovers, and what each did on their own time, when not engaged in their mutual felonious endeavors, was each party's own concern. Corbus had no desire – no serious desire, at any rate – to inject sex into their relationship and possibly screw up the best professional association he'd ever had. Warm bedfellows were easy to find, far easier than a good business partner, and so Corbus had tumbled whatever buxom wench caught his fancy and steered clear of expressing any half-formed desire to bed Selane. For her part, the Fe-Larn had never indicated any romantic interest in Corbus and took great delight in teasing him about the various doxies he seemed to accumulate. Though she took occasional lovers, she was generally more discreet in her affairs than Corbus.

Now, however, Corbus gasped aloud with his longing for Selane. His desire for her was so great he felt his heart must break, exploding into a thousand sharp red shards and bringing him a death of exquisite agony. The shaking thief nearly fell to his knees as he was assailed by sensations of lust rolling over him as a white-capped wave crashes thunderously against the craggy shore at high tide. Her whiskered face with those mysterious slit green eyes, her soft golden fur, enticingly patterned with black spots, her cute little tail which flicked back and forth mischievously, her firm breasts, never bared to his gaze but doubtless topped with the most perfect of nipples – Corbus felt his longing for Selane as he had never felt anything before in his life. The Eye of Aphisis was a bauble, a mere trinket of no consequence, unworthy of any thought when the divine Selane stood before him! Even Aphisis herself would appear as nothing more than a cheap whore if displayed next to Selane's radiance!

All thought of theft driven from his feverish brain, Corbus stumbled forward, arms outstretched, inflamed with passion for his catlike companion. Before he could reach her, Selane pivoted, snarling, though not in warning. Her soft cry was unlike anything Corbus had ever heard before, a mewling that seemed to express a great ache, a black void bereft of illumination, that must be filled. Madness glittered in her green eyes, shining in the throbbing ruby light cast by the priceless gem. Her nubile body trembled from her whiskers to her feet, as if the pent up energies of the cosmos were coursing through her lithe frame questing vainly for release.

Selane burned. Her loins were on fire, boiling blood pulsed through her veins, engorging her reddened nipples, swelling her labial lips. Her pussy was a molten furnace, slick and fiery. The musk of her arousal rose from her in a fragrant wave. She wanted Corbus, wanted to pleasure him and have him take her until she howled with release, as she had never wanted anything before in her life.

She sprang at Corbus, knocking him to the ground. The two thieves rolled around on the temple floor, grappling, frantic with desire. Corbus' fingers, suddenly clumsy, clutched at Selane's clothes, loosening them, trying to remove the obstacle they posed. He ripped the flimsy cloth which covered her chest, exposing her erect nipples, smooth though set in golden furred breasts, to his excited gaze. His hands reached up, cupping her twin mounds, feeling the jutting peaks burning into his palms. He stroked her perky breasts, reveling in the texture, before beginning to tweak her turgid nipples with his fingers, pulling on the elongated morsels. Waves of pleasure crashed through the Fe-Larn as the nimble thief caressed her golden tits, played with their blood red, hardened tips.

Selane's own fingers, impatient with the slow pace with which they were unbuttoning Corbus' outfit, slashed at him, ripping with knife-edged claws, shearing the clothes from his body. Freed from its confines, Corbus' member sprang proudly erect. Her fingers reached down between their bodies, found his cock, stroked it, rubbing her soft fur all against him. Corbus groaned with delight as he felt his throbbing shaft sliding along downy fur, Selane's little hand moving up and down his length in a knowing rhythm.

Selane could wait no longer. She needed to slake her thirst with the only elixir that would suffice. Pushing the larger thief onto his back, she slid down his body, divesting him of the remainder of his clothing. Corbus lay naked on the floor of the temple, his smooth white flesh a striking contrast to the golden, black-spotted fur of his ravisher. Moaning deliriously, he involuntarily clenched his hands as Selane's mouth closed over his penis, swallowing the erect organ into her wet mouth. Her tongue, rough like fine, wet sandpaper, scoured over his cock, licking it from his balls to its helmeted head, flicking a drop of pre-cum from his slit. Selane savored the taste as she laved his cock, purring with satisfaction. The sensation of feeling Selane's long wet tongue lapping at his jutting shaft, feeling the playful love nips from her sharp little teeth and the tiny vibrations as she purred, was incredible. Corbus' senses fairly swam, head spinning in delight.

As she bobbed her head up and down, sucking on his cock, Selane's furry length was pressed up against his inner thighs. One hand played with his balls, running the back of her furred hand along his sack, golden fur entwining with his kinky black hair. Selane could feel his balls tightening as she blew him, gathering the spunk that would soon be shooting into her active mouth. Corbus kept moaning her name, his hands stroking her head, running his fingers through her lush fur as she paid homage to his manhood with her wet, rough tongue.

Although part of her desire was being attended to as she pleasured Corbus with her lips and tongue, Selane ached to be touched in her most intimate places, longed to feel Corbus stroke her steaming sex. Reaching down with one hand, Selane tore the covering from her waist. Now nude, she swung around, her mouth spinning in a half circle on Corbus' dick, until his face was lying between her muscular thighs.

Corbus stared, entranced, at Selane's flower. Her golden fur continued up until nearly the beginning of her lower lips, but her sex was bald and devoid of fur. Her reddened love lips were prominent, engorged with desire, slick from the fluids leaking from her pink, sopping hole. At the apex of her slit, Selane's pronounced clitoris announced her desire with its erect state, beckoning Corbus forward.

The scent of an aroused Fe-Larn was one of the most potent aphrodisiacs known to the Twelve Races. Inhaling her delightful musk, Corbus' lust soared even higher until he was nearly drunk on her aroma. He gave a strangled cry. Grasping her taut ass, Corbus pressed his lips against Selane's womanhood, frantic to taste her flowing honey.

Selane fairly meowed in ecstasy feeling Corbus' wet tongue probing along her pussy. He slid it between the fleshy lips, feasting on her nectar. The wet appendage plunged in and out of her steaming hole, causing muffled squeals as Selane bobbed even more vigorously on Corbus' hard cock. Her copious love juices, as heavenly as ambrosia, wet his face as he slurped them down eagerly, jabbing his tongue into her moistness in an eager rhythm. His fingers shifted on her asscheeks, reaching down to grasp Selane's slick petals and pull them apart even farther, granting his tongue deeper access to her steaming twat. Above him, her tail flicked back and forth rapidly with her growing excitement.

The Fe-Larn's muscular thighs trembled, gripping Corbus' head in a furry embrace, as he feasted on her womanhood. Her breath came quicker and quicker as she felt his fleshy tongue sliding in and out of her pussy, probing her innermost places, slithering all along her lower lips.

Lifting her head off of his jutting prick for a moment, Selane purred, "Eat me, Corbus, eat my pussy! Oh yes, that feels so, so good! Oh...aaaiieee!"

Selane wailed her pleasure as Corbus' mouth moved along her slit and found her eager little clitoris, erect with anticipation. His tongue laved all around it, shooting sparks throughout the Fe-Larn's heaving body. Her mouth gobbled his length down once again and she suckled him like a catwoman possessed, contractions building in intensity throughout her muscular frame as he danced around her clit with his lips and tongue.

With an explosive cry, Selane came, grinding her ass back at Corbus' face, forcing his wonderful tongue to stay in active contact with her sensitive button. Her love juices flowed from her spasming pussy, nearly squirting out from the contractions wracking her body. Corbus lapped them down eagerly as he gripped her ass tightly in his hands, holding her against him, licking at her pussy as she came and came again against his mouth while her tail flailed against his head.

As she gushed her honey all over him, Corbus' cock suddenly pulsed deep inside Selane's mouth. Arching his hips off the floor to drive himself deeper into her, Corbus came, his moans both drowned out by Selane's wails in the throes of her own orgasm and muffled by her greedy snatch. Feeling his hot spunk spurt onto her tongue and down her throat, Selane slithered her long tongue all along his erect shaft, keeping his cock well inside her mouth. She eagerly swallowed his salty seed as it pumped into her, her nails caressing his balls, milking the cum out of him.

When she had swallowed the last of his frothy tribute, Selane slid her mouth off of his cock, licking around her lips with her agile tongue to clean any traces of his semen which had managed to leak out, purring with pleasure. Corbus lay back sweating on the temple floor, his skin highly sensitized after his orgasm. Feeling Selane laying on top of him, her fur caressing his flesh, he felt more aroused than ever. He began to run his hands through her luxurious fur, grinding his body against hers. Rather than temporarily reducing his passion, his climax had strengthened it. His shaft remained erect, eager to resume active participation in love play. His mind was filled exclusively with thoughts of possessing Selane, of stabbing his cock into her, over and over and over again.

Above him, Selane was aflame with desire. Her aching pussy needed to be filled, she needed to feel male hardness sliding into her. With a mew of half frustration, half anticipation, she swiveled on his body, bringing her face near to his. One of her hands reached back and grasped his meaty tool. Positioning it between her thighs, she thrust back. The head of his shaft slid between her engorged labial lips, piercing her body. As she pushed her ass back, Corbus' cock slipped smoothly into Selane's overheated pussy, which was fairly dripping with her juices.

As his length was swallowed up inside her hungry snatch, Corbus gasped, feeling himself sliding into the velvety oven. The body temperature of the Fe-Larn was slightly higher than that of humans, and that of a female Fe-Larn rose during sex. The sensation was incredible, different than anything Corbus had ever felt before. His dick was enveloped in a sopping satiny sheath, sliding into a hot liquid pool, sending jabs of pleasure throughout his entire frame.

Without thought, his hands grasped her furred thighs, pushing her down further onto his prick while he pushed up from the floor, driving his shaft as deeply into her steaming core as he could. Mindless grunts issued from between his lips as Selane rode him, pulling herself most of the way off his cock before dropping back down on him.

"Oh yes, Selane," he moaned, inhaling the musk of her sex while she plunged herself up and down on his jutting organ. "Fuck me, fuck me...unggghhhh!"

On top of him, Selane was squealing and purring in ecstasy as she fucked herself on Corbus' hard cock. Sitting upright astride him, her muscular thighs rose and fell rapidly, impaling her needy pussy on his ironhard length. With each downstroke she slammed her clit against his groin, shooting waves of pleasure throughout her body. Her fingers stroked her breasts, pinching the erect nipples, pulling them, stretching them taut as she made Corbus' dick service her needs. Slight tremors continually wracked her body as she felt her pussy sliding up and down on his cock, burying it deep inside her.

Suddenly Selane lifted herself off of Corbus. With a forlorn cry of despair, he clutched at her but she eluded him, dropping to all fours in front of him, presenting her asscheeks to his view, tail twitching above them. Looking over her shoulder, she gazed into his eyes, lust written across her face.

"Do me from behind, Corbus!" she commanded. "Fuck me, fuck me like a little slut!"

For emphasis, she waved her ass back at him. Her slit gaped open, oozing her juices down her thighs, matting the fur. Corbus scrambled wildly to his knees, stumbled frantically to her. Grabbing her butt, Corbus stabbed forward with his cock, slamming it hard into Selane's heated core.

"Yes, YES! That's it, lover!" Selane cried, mewling with ecstasy. "Fuck me, FUCK ME...AAIEEEE!"

Corbus pumped his cock into her steaming pussy like a man possessed. He looked down, fascinated, as he watched himself fucking the young Fe-Larn. Each time he partially withdrew, her engorged petals clung to his wet cock, slick with her juices. Her lower lips grasped his shaft, unwilling to let the welcome intruder leave. With each thrust forward he disappeared into her sopping grotto, slamming into her, burying himself into her molten core to his balls, which slapped against her slit and clit, forcing mindless cries of pleasure from Selane. His stomach pounded against her taut asscheeks, cushioning each drive forward, while in front of him, Selane's furry tail flicked wildly back and forth, dancing before him, caressing his face as he fucked her honeyed quim.

The scent of sex filled the temple of the goddess of love, while Corbus' grunts mingled with Selane's moans and purring, crafting a paean to Aphisis.

Corbus could take it no more. Throwing back his head, he screamed to the rafters as he slammed his cock into the velvet sheath, feeling the cum boiling from his balls and exploding like a geyser into Selane's heated pussy. He grabbed her slender waist and slammed her back onto his throbbing cock. His orgasm seemed to rise out of him as if driven by the winds of a typhoon, deeper and more intense than he would have believed possible. He felt he must blow Selane forward with the force of his ejaculation as he spurted into her again and again, delirious from the pleasure caused by her sugary walls clenching his spasming cock, milking every last drop of cum from his balls. Sweat poured down his body as he frantically stabbed himself into her core over and over, each thrust jetting more sperm deep into her steaming twat.

Feeling the ropy spunk coating her inner walls, Selane crested. Her tail lashed Corbus' head as she came hard on his dick, feeling it plunge in and out of her overheated cavern, frantic cries of ecstasy issuing unbidden from her slack lips. Her spasming inner walls gripped his shaft, feeling it slide deep inside her, delirious as he fucked her tight young body and made her cum. She thrashed from side to side, forcing herself deeper onto his cock, grinding her ass back against his stomach, as she wailed, face contorting with mindless lust as the contractions pierced through her vibrant body. Exploding on his erection, her honeypot bathed his cock with a copious flow of her love juices, squirting out of her pussy from around his plundering shaft and pooling on the floor beneath them.

With a few final, weak thrusts, Corbus slumped over on to the body of his partner. He was unconscious before his head ever hit her back and his body rolled off of her, slumping to the floor, his cock slipping out of her with a soft sucking sound. Their mingled juices flowed from Selane's gaping slit, the frothy mixture of his pearly semen and her love juices pouring out of her and soaking her thighs before dripping to the temple floor. Selane no sooner felt Corbus sliding out of her pussy then she, too, collapsed in a heap, dead to the world around her. The two thieves lay motionless on the floor, only the rise and fall of their chests evidencing that they were still alive.

From the doorway where they had entered, two figures, garbed in crimson robes, observed the still bodies. They had been standing there for some time, watching Corbus and Selane as they coupled.

"Aphisis claims yet another pair of would-be-despoilers," remarked one of the priests as they entered the temple.

"True," admitted the other. "But can you think of a finer way to be captured, than to be possessed by the spirit of the Goddess and, filled with her presence, sate yourself with such an act of pleasure until rendered unconscious?"

"You have a point, but if the manner of the capture is pleasant in the extreme, I'd wager these two would not think so highly of the next stage of their treatment – if they were to awake in time, that is, to feel the executioner's blade taking their lives."

The two priests came to a halt twenty or so feet away from the motionless figures. Inhaling Selane's fragrant aroma, which filled this area of the temple, one of them remarked, "Remind me to pay a visit soon to the new Fe-Larn acolyte. I had nearly forgotten how bewitching their honeyed elixir is!"

For reply the other figure hushed for his fellow to be silent. Complying, the two clerics stood with heads bowed for a moment, hands clasped in front of them. Lifting their faces to the mosaic of Aphisis, incantations flowed from their lips, while their hands described mystical arcs and patterns before them. The temple air crackled with magic as they wove their enchantment.

A moment later, their sorcery was finished. The Eye of Aphisis, which had been flashing with a red inner light since shortly after the two thieves had entered the room, subsided.

"Well, let's haul these two away and then go see that acolyte you mentioned!" enthused one of the crimson-robed servants of Aphisis.

As they stepped forward, something – a noise, a flicker in the torchlight, who could say? – caused one of the priests to glance backwards. What he saw made him gasp.

"What?" asked the other priest, turning to look at his fellow – who suddenly was flying through the air to land crashing down among the pews. Standing next to where he had been was a cloaked figure, whose blow had just sent the first priest flying. Before the startled cleric could react, the mysterious figure whirled on him, grabbing his head and bringing it down hard upon a knee rising from the ground. The cleric's skull bounced off his opponent's kneecap with a loud "thunk!" Released from the cloaked figure's grip, the unfortunate priest tumbled senseless to the floor.

Reaching into its cloak, the figure withdrew some thin rope, with which she – for the movement momentarily revealed the intruder's face as that of a woman – swiftly bound the two unconscious priests.

If either Corbus or Selane had been conscious, they might have been able to identify this new intruder. Or perhaps not, since they had taken no notice of her leaving the Scarlet Raptor after them and trailing them through the streets of Kubladesh to the temple of Aphisis, following them, at a discrete distance, as they wended their way down into the interior of the temple. Reaching the temple proper, the cloaked woman had felt the compulsion to join with Corbus and Selane in their erotic endeavors, but standing near the doorway the compulsion had been weak enough to fight. Instead, she had slipped into the room and hid behind a tapestry, a silent voyeur to the sexual adventures of the man and Fe-Larn. Though it had not overwhelmed her senses, the urge to join with them had remained strong – and watching the two bring each other to climax would have been enough to arouse her passions anyway. Her pussy had grown wet from watching the erotic tableau, and only an iron will had prevented one of her hands from reaching down, between her legs, and sliding a finger along her slit, masturbating while watching Corbus and Selane writhe on the temple floor in the throes of ecstasy. As it was, her juices were flowing freely down the inside of her thighs, and she vowed if she made it back to her rooms tonight, she would spend the remainder of the night pleasuring herself with self-induced orgasm after self-induced orgasm.

Finished binding the priests, the cloaked woman stepped forward, stopping at the still figures of the fallen thieves. Her gaze took in their naked forms, lingering with regret on Corbus' cock, now soft and but a shadow of its former rampant self, but needing just the proper touch to restore it to its majestic glory. It was when her glance turned towards Selane, however, that real longing came into her eyes, as she drank in the sight of the nude Fe-Larn, firm breasts topped with still-erect nipples, thighs slightly parted revealing her dripping slit, the inner fur of her thighs matted with her love juices and Corbus' cum. A visible struggle flickered across the woman's face, as she fought with her desire to possess Selane's luscious body.

"Maybe some other time," she sighed softly, as she stepped around them and towards the altar.

In front of her stood her goal – the Eye of Aphisis. This time, however, the radiant gem, while it still shone brilliantly in the torchlight, did not come to unnatural life as it was approached. Whatever spell the two clerics had worked had apparently deactivated its wards, leaving its approach unguarded.

The intruder's breath caught in her throat as she stood before the Eye, drinking it in. Scarce believing that at last it was hers, one of her slim hands reached out, lifting it from where it rested in its silver setting. Though it was big as a man's fist, it seemed weightless to her as she hefted it in her palm. The cloaked woman held it before her, turning it this way and that, enraptured by the way the gem's facets sparkled hypnotically in the light, almost entranced.

After a moment, however, the thief regained her senses. With a sigh of regret, she opened a pouch at her belt and slipped the Eye of Aphisis into it. As she pulled the drawstring tight, securing the priceless gem, it seemed that the altar area darkened, as if the Eye had been a source of illumination, not merely reflecting the torchlight.

Turning, she fairly skipped down from the altar to where the two thieves lay on the temple floor. The Eye of Aphisis was hers!

---

"Thanks for everything!" she laughed at the still forms of Corbus and Selane, giddy with exuberance, before dashing down the center aisle of the temple. She swiftly unbolted the main door. Cracking it open, she peered out, spent a moment studying the street outside. Satisfied that she would not be noticed, she opened the door wider and slipped out, away into the night, pulling the door shut behind her. Didn't want to leave the temple door open so that thieves could just walk in!

A few moments later, Corbus and Selane began to stir, awakening from their sorcerous slumber.

"What the hell happened?" muttered Corbus as he rose shakily to his feet. Glancing down, he noticed he was naked. "What..." he began to say, then stopped, as the prior events of the evening, of his and Selane's frantic coupling, flooded back to him. In one split second he remembered it all, remembered stealing into the temple, remembered the uncontrollable compulsion that had overcome him, driving out all thoughts of larceny, all thoughts other than that he must have Selane and he must have her now! And he remembered, in exquisite detail, the ecstasy he had experienced, the pleasure she had given him with her hands and mouth and pussy and the bliss he had given her in return. Blushing red from head to toe, he cast a startled glance at his partner, who was rising from the floor.

"Don't say it!" she fairly spat, the look in her slitted eyes confirming that she, too, remembered what had happened. "Just don't say anything!"

Corbus believed it was a good rule in life to never say anything to piss off an angry Fe-Larn. Particularly when they were both naked, and she had razor sharp claws and he didn't. He said nothing.

They continued staring at each other for a moment. Then, as one, a thought struck them, momentarily driving out their bewilderment. Together they turned their heads to gaze at the altar.

The Eye of Aphisis was gone!

Their stunned looks were accompanied by howls of frustration. Selane's howls were wordless cries of rage. Corbus was far more eloquent.

"Damn!" he uttered. "Damn, damn, damn!"

In mid-"damn", Corbus suddenly focused on their situation. They were standing, naked, in the temple of Aphisis, with dead and unconscious guards outside the door and the temple's most valuable possession missing. And there they were, making enough noise to wake even the most narcoleptic priest from his slumbers!

Corbus could see the same realization lighting in Selane's eyes as she ceased her cries. Echoing variations on "let's get the hell out of here!", the two thieves grabbed their clothes where they had fallen and raced towards the main door.

They had gone no more than a few steps when Corbus and Selane saw the bound priests lying on the temple floor for the first time. Corbus slowed. "What..." he started to ask, then yelped in pain as he was yanked forward, Selane latching onto his arm (none too gently) as she ran past him.

"I don't know, and now's not the time to wonder about it!" the Fe-Larn opined as they sprinted down the aisle.

Reaching the door, the two would-be despoilers of Aphisis' temple took in the fact that the door was now unbarred. "How convenient," muttered Corbus as, without taking the time to see what was on the other side, they threw the barrier open and dashed off into the Kubladesh night. They pelted down several alleys and sidestreets, their route twisting and turning to throw off possible pursuit, before they finally came to a halt. Gasping for breath, they quickly donned their clothing.

"If anyone I know saw me running just now," Selane said. "I may just have to kill them."

"You and me both," agreed Corbus as he belted his sword back on. "Though I've got to tell you – I'm sure you looked a hell of a sight better running naked than I did!"

Selane glared at him, though in her eyes her anger was warring with her sense of humor as she contemplated the ridiculousness of their situation. "That is so," she grudgingly admitted. "But it changes nothing. Just as it doesn't change my earlier statement to you – what happened there in that temple...I don't ever want to hear you talk about it! If you do, this cat will have your tongue!"

Though it went against his rule not to mess with an angry Fe-Larn – particularly a female one! – Corbus couldn't resist one small sally.

"Well," he said. "Technically, you already – "

"Don't go there!" Selane hissed, eyes alighting with a fury that had nothing to do with the torchlight reflected in them.

Deciding discretion was the better part of valor, Corbus refrained from completing his observation. In silence, the two best thieves in Kubladesh slunk away into the night.

The End

---