When All Else Fails... - Part 2

Part 2

"Never be minding!" Jaqa shouted. "On yours funny God-horse and pull me up with you! We have a lot of runnings away to do before he gets better!"

Iritsuki didn't question the order; she leapt onto Masuyo's back and lowered a chain for Jaqa, then hauled her up too. "Ride fast and far, Masuyo!" she shouted. "We flee!"

The night sky went into a blur as Masuyo took off. The gate of the manor was still open; naturally, the returning goblin hunters hadn't bothered to close it. They cleared the gate and took off into the fields around the manor which soon gave way to forest, forcing Masuyo to slow to a quick trot and stay to flat and mostly clear grounds.

Iritsuki looked back. Her heart was pounding, her nude body bruised from a hard bareback ride; she felt Masuyo's sweaty body similarly heaving beneath her. "What just happened?" she asked Jaqa. "What did you do, with that toy and his hair?"

"Is trick of mine ancient evil sex goddess," Jaqa said with a giggle. "Is witch doctor doll. Is good. Bet you wish yours God could do that, ya?"

Iritsuki ignored that. "Was he hurt? Should we have stayed and defeated him once and for all?"

"Is only pain, no injury," Jaqa said. "Once sexy faerie man realizes this, he will be giving far fewer shits than when he at first believes his leg is some kind of gnawed clean off. Also, we must flee goblins and theirs vicious devil-wolves."

"So they'll come for us again..." Iritsuki said. Indeed, in the distance she heard the howling of wargs again. The goblin hunters and their diabolical warg mounts, at least, were back on the prowl.

"Is time for yours fancy God-horse to begin the hauling of ass," Jaqa said, "both mine own firm, sexy ass and yours fat, wide ass. Onward, brave fancy God-horse!" She cackled.

"This is no time to be talking about my... ass!" Iritsuki stammered. Nevertheless, she stroked Masuyo's neck. "Masuyo! Run fast and far!"

Masuyo dutifully took off through the forest at a breakneck speed, but it was a perilous run. Despite crouching low, Iritsuki found herself smacked in the face with branches and bounced painfully on the horse's back nearly constantly, and she was sure that the chains remaining on her wrists beating against Masuyo's sides despite her best attempts to keep them bound tightly to herself did the horse no favors either.

But despite these difficulties, the chase was on. It was among Masuyo's finest runs. Trees whipped by, and here or there she would jump over a ditch or a fallen trunk that Iritsuki barely even saw, dancing along the sides of sloping hills and clearing bramble patches with mighty leaps. And yet no matter how Masuyo ran, the wargs' howling was never far behind. Nevertheless, against all odds they seemed to outrun them, and finally they came to the banks of the Red Rose River.

Iritsuki dismounted, but when she hit the ground her legs gave way and she fell to her hands and knees, gasping hard. She was bruised, scratched, and torn all over from that hard ride, and only after gritting her teeth and summoning her strength did she rise again. Behind her, she heard Jaqa chanting another spell, and when the magical energy flowed through her she recognized it as Cure Serious Wounds. But as the magic flowed through her, it left her in an annoying state of arousal. Her sex grew wet and hot, and her nipples stuck out into the night air. No doubt Jaqa's damned goddess of lust and desire thought this was a fine joke to play on the beneficiaries of her healing!

"Your spell has... had some sort of-" Iritsuki started, grimacing.

"Never you mind that now!" Jaqa said in a hard-bitten whisper. "Now cross!" She pointed at a rippling spot of river water reflecting the moon's light. "Is shallow over there. Can tell by light shining on rocks and water. Is good. You go."

Iritsuki gritted her teeth and ignored the intense arousal clouding her mind. With some difficulty she led Masuyo down the river banks and to the crossing point Jaqa had pointed out. She hoped their pursuers would not have Jaqa's keen eyes to spot the shallow point, but even if they did, here the water was chest-high and rather swift. The wargs might manage it with difficulty, but doubtless it would be an obstacle for a quickling or goblins! Jaqa rode on Masuyo's back as they crossed, and when they came back up on the other side, the shack that was the rendezvous point stood at the top of the steep riverbank. There was nobody here yet, but doubtless they were waiting on the signal fire to approach. Iritsuki smiled despite her soreness, fresh bruises, and hanging chains as she approached it.

"We made it," she exclaimed. "This is the place, right?"

"Yes," Jaqa said. "Am impressed at yours skillfulness at not upfucking too badly, paladin. Is good." Jaqa dismounted as well and placed a hand on Iritsuki's back. Through the touch, she cast a weaker healing spell-Cure Light Wounds-to Iritsuki.

Even as it mended her lingering injuries, the magic sent a fresh wave of unnatural arousal through Iritsuki's body, which had never quite calmed down from the last spell despite wading through the cold, swift river. She squirmed in uncomfortable arousal, feeling heat radiate from her groin, wanting further attention. "I'll take that as a compliment," she said, grimacing, "but that said, do not use any further magic of your lust goddess on me. I am not pleased with my body's response to it."

Jaqa laughed. "Is just arousal," she said. "All hot and bothered now? Maybe you should be taking matters into yours own hands while I see to signal fire. Is what yours pussy wants, ya?" Before Iritsuki could respond, Jaqa turned away and went to the shack, which had a pile of wood near it. From there she took an armful of heavy logs to dump into a fire pit not far from them.

Iritsuki was not about to break down and start pleasuring herself right here, though in her current state the idea sounded bizarrely tempting. Instead, she worked at the manacles that bound the chains on her wrists as a quickly-cast spell from Jaqa to summon flames soon created a roaring fire in the fire pit. Jaqa next cast a Protection From Fire spell upon herself, then wrestled a great iron cauldron out of the shack, filled it with river water, and muscled it over to sit atop the fire.

"Are you... boiling water?" Iritsuki asked quizzically, looking up from her futile attempt to break her manacles with a pair of rocks.

"If you are not wanting further magics," she said, "then the cleaning and dressing of yours wounds with pure burnt water is among the goodest of ideas. Prevents yours remaining wounds from getting green and snotty."

"Paladins... don't typically get diseases like that," Iritsuki said, "and I'm hardly even bruised any more. Your healing was excellent; it's the other effect that I didn't appreciate." She glanced at the fire nervously. "Aren't you worried that the fire will bring them right to us?"

Jaqa shrugged. "Wargs will smell us right out anyway," she said. "if they make it across. Ours companions in the Adelcot Guardians will not smell us out. Need signal fire to find us. Do not you worry, Iritsuki. Keep watch. God-horse too. Have plan if they come." The red-eyed, razor-toothed grin she flashed was not reassuring. "Is good."

Iritsuki watched the river, intent on seeing if their enemies would cross. As time passed with no sign of them, she began to relax. But then, abruptly, Jaqa stopped from pulling strips of bandage cloth out of her backpack to immerse them in boiling water, and scowled, sniffing the air. "Wait," she said, "Am smelling something." She sniffed again. "Am smelling a sexy rat..."

With blinding speed, a small figure leapt from the roof of the shack and brought a club down on the head of Masuyo, dropping her with a single blow. She started to stand, but then slumped back to the ground, head down, reeling and semi-conscious at best. Iritsuki knew that a mortal wound would merely send Masuyo back to the Upper Planes for a day or so, but as it was the horse had been knocked loopy. More immediately, Iritsuki was dismayed to see Glimberbee now standing in between her and her fallen horse, club in hand, wearing his girdle of giant strength.

"Surely you didn't think ambushes were entirely your domain," he said with a glare. "Now, then... your window of mercy is at an end. I offer you an alternate trade. The Infernal Codex without a fight, for your swift death."

"How did you get over here?" Iritsuki sputtered. "I was watching the river, and-" And she was too distracted by the sexual desire crawling through her every nerve to notice if a fire giant had snuck up on her.

"There's a bridge another half-mile downriver, you morons," Glimberbee said spitefully, "and you saved us the trouble of having the wargs sniff you out by building an enormous fire and making camp immediately across the river. Really, now, is the Red Rose River such a majestic natural barrier as to give you such feelings of safety? It's hardly a creek!" He chuckled, then held out a hand. "The Infernal Codex. Now. Or I begin hurting you, and my hunters aren't far behind." He raised his club.

"Stop!" Jaqa said, and reached into her backpack and drew out the Infernal Codex, a terrible book with coal-black etchings on its cover, bound in the skin of angels and written in their blood. "One more step and I throw it in fire!"

"Fuck you," Glimberbee said with a sneer, advancing with the club.

Before Iritsuki could react, with a defiant shout Jaqa tossed the Infernal Codex into the fire, where it landed among the ashes in the center, below the great cauldron of boiling water. Unfortunately, its wicked pages didn't burn; it sat in the center of the flames, right under the massive cauldron, perfectly unharmed! Iritsuki groaned in dismay, and Glimberbee stopped his advance and laughed upon seeing her expression.

"Surely you didn't think," Glimberbee said cheerily, "that a book written in the fiery lower planes by devils, about devils, would be destroyed by a common bonfire?"

As he spoke, two sets of yellow eyes appeared in the darkness, and then their owners, two hulking wargs, became visible as they stepped into the fire's light. Above them, the two goblins appeared riding, grinning fiendishly. They were slightly taller than Glimberbee or Jaqa and completely hairless, with pointy features, bald heads, and corded bodies of slender muscle. They looked very similar to one another, as though they were brothers, but one had a golden earring that the other lacked. Iritsuki knew the arousal from the healing magic still held thrall over her, because even the goblins had some appeal to her.

Jaqa threw up her hands and groaned in exasperation. "Is no good," she said with a scowl. "Guardians lose. Mean assholes win. You take stupid Codex now. We go home and cry."

Glimberbee started towards the fire, looked at the book, and scowled. He tried reaching in with his sturdy club to shove the book towards an edge of the fire, but the club was too short, the fire too large and intense. He pulled his hand back, wincing and scowling, and dropped the club on the dirt. "Oh, now this is infuriating," he muttered. Then he looked at the goblins. "You two! Douse this fire at once so that I might retrieve the Codex!"

"With what?" the goblin with the earring asked, in a chattery, raspy voice.

"There's a great cauldron full of water here!" Glimberbee shouted. "Use it!"

The large cauldron, in the center of the flames, wasn't quite glowing red hot, but the churning boil of the water inside gave a good idea that it was not safe to touch, even if it could be reached without reaching over the dangerous roaring fire. The goblins exchanged a skeptical glance, and Glimberbee sighed.

"I suppose," Glimberbee said, "that we're just going to have to wait a bit for your fire to cool down. I myself am a patient man... but I believe my subordinates might wish to amuse themselves in the meantime. Flee if you will: the wargs are quite capable of running you down from here; I doubt I'll need to move at all. And there is a fire here, perfect for the roasting of cut-away sections of meat. I wonder... do you also taste like bacon?" He chuckled cruelly. "You really didn't think this one through, did you?"

Iritsuki glanced around frantically. No Adelcot Guardian backup was yet in sight. "Um, Jaqa?" she asked, feeling a bit more apprehension. Lacking a weapon, she took hold of one of her wrist chains, preparing to swing the bolt at the end as a clumsy flail.

"Wait!" Jaqa shouted, her red eyes wide. "I must make the last of mine requests before mine slow and painful death!" She reached down to the hem of her dress and abruptly whipped it off over her head, with her distinct red hat falling aside as well. She was completely naked underneath, her large, round boobs capped off with dark brown nipples that contrasted oddly with her pale skin, and a tangle of black curls between her shaplely legs to match the one atop her head. "Am witch doctor, priestess of Drezna, Goddess of Lust! Please allow Jaqa to honor mine glorious goddess of sex one more time!"

Iritsuki groaned. This wasn't going to help. What was Jaqa thinking? Unless...!

Glimberbee smirked. "You're... really so desperate, you're wanting one last fuck before we kill you?" he said. "Pathetic."

The goblins stepped forward, grinning. "It is very tempting," the one without the earring mused.

"Very, very, very tempting..." the one with the earring went on.

"But we'd prefer her," the other one finished, pointing at Iritsuki.

Iritsuki gasped. "Wh-what!?"

Glimberbee laughed. "The paladin?" he said. "You have fine taste, fellows, but she'll never agree to it, and I do have... certain standards that will not be crossed under my watch. Sadly, she'd no doubt rather be flayed alive than to compromise her precious innocence like that... although said flaying is an option if you're that bored..."

"No, I wouldn't," Iritsuki said abruptly. "Just let us live without torturing or maiming us, and... you can have me." The mirth fled from Glimberbee's face, and the goblins were staring with interest. She could scarcely believe she had said it. She could definitely scarcely believe the thrill that shot through the core of her being at the idea! But this would keep both of them safe, and furthermore it was probably their best chance to keep Glimberbee and his goblins too distracted to think up any number of simple, practical solutions to extinguish the flames or retrieve the Codex from the fire. Given what was at stake, it seemed a worthy, even insignificant sacrifice. Given her unnatural state of arousal, it didn't seem like a sacrifice at all.

"Are you saying," Glimberbee said, arching his eyebrow fetchingly, "that you're willing to fuck us and let us have the book if we'll spare your precious life?"

Iritsuki stepped forward, chains hanging loosely from her wrists, and bowed her head. "I offer you my body gladly," she said. As a paladin, honesty was one of the virtues she was expected to uphold. But she was desperate, and right now she wasn't sure if that was a direct lie, a veiled lie, or even-thanks to the maddening arousal still flaring bright in her body-the unvarnished truth.

"While I offer mine own far sexier and more pleasingly-shaped body, even more gladlier," Jaqa said, stepping forward further with a shimmy of her hips, "most especially to you, sexy fey dreamboat." She flashed a lusty grin at them.

Continued in Part 3

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