Medusa: Fate's Game Ch. 07

"G-g-giant!" The old fellow dropped the cart's front handle hard enough Otrera saw the contents bounce. He threw up his arms, started screaming, and ran far too fast for a man his age. But sure enough, in only a matter of seconds, he was a shrinking spec on the horizon.

Chimera grumbled, took his foot off of Otrera's body, and walked toward the cart.

"Great," she said. "Spotted. Good thing Paros is just a trading city, or we'd have the local militia on our asses with spears." Local militia were idiots, but at least they listened, if the ones in Tiryns were any indication. In a different circumstance, she'd have hoped for rescue, but a tied up woman was nothing more than a slave, and slavery was as common as wine in Greece.

She rolled over, got to her knees, up onto her feet — not so easy with hands tied behind her — and walked after the beast.

Chimera stopped at the cart, grabbed the blanket and tossed it aside.

"Jars."

"Jars?" She came up next to him, looked into the cart, and smiled.

A lot of amphora jars. Common indeed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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~~Medusa~~

"Pegasus was so beautiful!"

She lay atop Darian's body, her hips between his knees, her head on his stomach, and him lying in the shade. With her head turned, she watched the grass and trees nearby, and drifted her hands up and down his body. Every so often, her hands drifted up to his, and she netted their fingers together, only to put his fingers onto her hair so she could resume exploring his chest with hers, while his were left to comb her snakes. When his fingers each took one of her snakes in between the knuckles, and smoothed out their tangles with gentle strokes, she melted onto him.

"He was. That ring on his snout was... that looked painful. I was going to make a run for it, in the mountain, but Otrera stopped me." The poor man seemed so worried for his friend.

"We'll get him back! Don't worry." She adjusted herself away from his broken leg; still bad, but he was able to walk on it, and she didn't want to slow down the healing. "He was so... white! And shiny, and his wings were huge. So huge! I thought they'd be more like, a bird's size, relatively."

"Well, he is a horse. Wings got to be big enough to handle a horse. Birds weigh nothing at all."

"Yeah... and... and I could see his awareness in his eyesss. I thought he'd be more like a loyal dog who's been your best friend. But he ssseemed intelligent?" The horse's dark eyes, the way he stomped his hooves, it seemed far less like a horse, far more like a person trying to talk.

The way blood had soaked his coat was the worst. Perseus would have to pay for the horrible things he did to Pegasus! And let alone what else.

"He's a mythical creature, whatever that means." Darian laughed and massaged one of her snakes between finger and thumb under its jaw. "He helped me win fights, helped me with some king and queenly types. He uh... well I mean, he is a horse, so he had his choice of mares."

She raised her head and blinked at him. He winked. Before she knew it, she was in fits of laughter, and she slid up further on his body to put her forehead on his sternum while she chuckled.

A couple of tongue clucks made her lift her head. Chimera and Otrera returned, the Amazon still with bound hands, and the giant with a huge blanket as a bag. Bag?

"Some poor fool saw Chimera," the queen said, and she sat down by the dead fire. "He ran away of course. But he was just an old man, and I doubt anyone will believe him." The sun was only starting to set; they had a couple hours of sunlight left at least.

"What's with the bag then?" Pinna asked.

Otrera smirked, nodded toward Chimera, and the giant set the bag down — gently, Medusa noticed — by the fire. And one by one, he removed several tall jars.

Pinna was on them in an instant. She grabbed one, unplugged the top, and smelled.

"... wine. You stole their wine!"

"You would rather I have left it out for Apollo or whatnot?" Otrera said.

"No, no I suppose not."

And then the satyr grinned. She hopped over to her bag, and then to Darian's bag, and Gallea and Medusa's, and from each she removed their cups. A second later, each cup was full, and she gave everyone one.

"Finally!" Gallea said. As if a new life had been poured into the injured fellow, Gallea motioned with wide eyes and smiling lips as Pinna put the cup into his hands. "Oh thank you Dionysus! Gods be praised... or damned, whatever. I need a drink!"

Chimera rumbled, and shook his head. "Only a little, satyr. Too much and you may prevent the medicine from healing you."

"Ah... gods damn you then, you damn bastard. Got my hopes up." Frowning, but smiling too, Gallea took a sip. "Nothing tastes quite like stolen wine."

Of course that left Otrera with none, or hand to drink even if she did. Frowning down at her cup, Medusa got up, straightened her back and shoulders, and slithered over to Otrera.

"Here."

"... you going to help me drink it?" The Amazon frowned at her with ice in her eyes and a jaw hard as stone.

Medusa smiled though, and shrugged. Why was this woman so hard, and mean? They'd all had hard lives, that was no reason for them to hate each other. And the Amazon seemed like a good woman, if a little war obsessed, and revenge obsessed.

"I will," Chimera said.

Everyone in the party looked at him like he'd choked on a chicken. Otrera looked at him like he was crazy too! He shrugged, same as Medusa, and reached out for the cup.

She put it in his hand, and smiled so big she could feel the muscles in her cheeks cramp. People were getting along! All it took was a few people nearly dying and capturing one of the enemy to get people talking, and sharing, and drinking. She giggled, and slithered over to the jars.

"Besides!" she said. "I haven't drank wine in so long! And I'm so big now, I'll need more than a cup." Snickering, she grabbed one of the jars, and slithered back over to Darian.

"You plan on getting drunk?" he said.

"Yes. Yes I am. I am a grown woman. I am older than all of you except Chimera. I have been sober for far too long. I want to get drunk." She unplugged the jar, raised it to her lips, and took a sip. Honey! She tasted honey.

"Well... if we're all going to be drinking," Pinna said.

"Hey! If I can't get drunk, you can't get drunk!" Gallea reached out for Pinna's leg, and she hopped away, only to down the cup and smirk at her husband.

"This your punishment for getting stabbed."

Gallea rolled his eyes, took another sip, but before he could take another, Pinna scooped up his cup and drank that too.

"You'll keep an eye on Otrera for us, won't you Chimera?" Medusa said. She took another gulp, and another, and another. So many years to make up for! She could tell as she drank it that it wasn't something her snake body really wanted, but damn it, she didn't care.

"Am I not allowed to get drunk?" the giant said.

Medusa raised a brow. Everyone did. "I'm sorry! I just assumed... can you even get drunk? Do giants like wine?"

And for one of the very few times ever, Chimera smiled, and chuckled. A normal sounding laugh, without any sinister edge, or even a hungry eye.

"No. Do not worry." He held up his cup to Otrera's lips, and tilted it for her. The queen groaned, rolled her eyes, but took a sip anyway.

Darian too. He sat up, back to the flat cliff face of rock, and drank his cup down. Pinna was quick with the refills, and she giggled madly as she topped them off.

"I think we're all a little stressed, and using wine as an excuse to unwind," Darian said, "and I am completely down for this plan. Life has sucked immensely for all of us — some more than others." He nodded in Otrera's direction, and she rolled her eyes. "I vote we get drunk. Except Gallea. Cause he got stabbed."

The prone satyr threw a twig at Darian, and hit him square in the face. Medusa was sure her man could have caught it, or blocked it, but he laughed instead, and took another gulp.

"You guys know you're on a quest to defeat a sorceress powerful enough to defy the Fates, right? And Perseus is an amazing fighter, and Fate's Child at that. You could get attacked by her tomorrow!" Like a whip, Otrera cut the air with a snap of the tongue. But the words fell flat when she took yet another gulp of wine at the beckoning of the giant next to her.

"Think we're safe," Darian said. "I doubt she could follow us with her magic while we were on the ship. It is Charon's ship after all. And it took her how long to find me, when I was working in that quarry? We still need to be careful, but I think we're good for some time — Medusa!"

"Wh-what? What?" Medusa set down the second jar. She'd hoped no one noticed she'd already start drinking a second one, but Darian was keeping an eye on her.

"You're going to be sick! You've already drank enough to put a normal man out for the night."

"Well, it's a good thing that I'm bigger than even Chimera!" She frowned at him, found a twig to throw at him too, and started drinking the second jar. Once she'd had a couple of gulps, she tried to slither over to Darian, but overshot one of her swerves and fell down. The jar didn't break — thank the gods — but she frowned at the ground and pushed herself up. "... I've never used my tail... when tipsssy. This is tipsy right? It's been so long! I can't remember." The ground must have become uneven, or changed when she wasn't looking.

"... maybe a little more than tipsy." Pinna hopped up to her and took her jar away. "You can have more in a bit."

Medusa frowned at Pinna, but nodded. Pinna knew best. Pinna was smart, a handsome woman, and nice! With a giggle, Medusa sat up, reached out, and hugged Pinna.

"You're so tiny," she said, and she hugged the little satyr tighter.

"H-hey. Be careful, we're all smaller than you."

"I'm careful! I'm careful with Darian all the time, and every night."

That got the satyrs chuckling. She chuckled too, slithered over to coil up beside Darian — successfully this time — and reached out with her tail to grab another jar. It didn't taste all that good, but good enough! Good enough to drink and get drunk and all that good stuff she wasn't entirely sure she could remember doing. So when Pinna frowned at her, she stuck her forked tongue out at her friend.

"So, Darian," the Amazon said, and she said her lover's name with a sarcastic tone that made Medusa frown. "You said you washed up on Medusa's island, but not how you two became an item."

"Well!" Medusa said, and she waved a hand in the air. A little too far though, and it hit poor Darian in the face. She hissed an apology, and ruffled his hair as she prepared the grand tale. "I was in the temple, being attacked by more warriorsss. Four at once, the most I've ever fought. And I was losing. But! But Darian showed up, and right out of the shadowsss, he killed the remaining two, and bandaged my wound, and... and... he talked to me! Firsssst... man in... so long."

She put the jar down, slid her human half closer to Darian, and wrapped her arms around him. All hers.

"You saved her?" Otrera said. "Why?"

"She was just defending herself, and... and I had to help her. It was four zealots coming to kill someone who didn't deserve it. I had to do something." The tiny man shrugged, then started to squirm when Medusa hugged him tighter.

"How nice of you." Otrera rolled her eyes, took another sip of her giant-served drink, and frowned some more at Darian.

Too much frowning! Especially at her Darian.

"You are sssuch a mean woman," Medusa said. She stuck out her tongue, and flicked the long red forked thing up and down. "You don't have to be ssso hard!"

"Hard?"

"Hard. Women can be soft. Sssoft and warm and inviting and pleasant!" She pulled Darian toward her so he was leaning into her body. With her behind him, it set his head between her breasts and against the soft fabric of her chest wrap.

A giggle drew their eyes. Pinna was gulping down another cup, and as she poured herself a new one, Medusa could see the satyr was starting to have trouble standing straight.

"She's right. I mean I get it, I really do Otrera. Amazon Queen? Hard life full of training and discipline, right?" With a nod, Pinna hopped over to Chimera and the prisoner, and helped refill Otrera's drink too. "You could learn to soften up. I bet you fuck rough and hard too."

"Hey, fuck you, I—"

Medusa giggled. The girls were doing all the talking! Chimera and Darian, even Gallea were raising brows at the conversation. So, she reached over for her jar, pulled it into Darian's lap — since he was sitting against her belly — and pulled it up his body so she could sit it on his shoulder, and lean it down to drink more.

Darian leaned his head out from around the base of the amphora. "Come on ladies, she's already our prisoner, no need to insult her."

"Not insulting!" Pinna squatted down next to the Amazon, and combed her hair over her horns. "Just making friends with our prisoner the best way possible: getting drunk and insulting each other — ah shit, that is insulting. Screw it, insults for everyone. Medusa, you are way too gentle and naive."

"Hey!" She found a twig and threw it. Or at least that was the plan, but her hand only managed to grab the tip, and her aim was possessed by demons. The twig flew off to the side and into Chimera; he did not blink. "I'm not naive! Just... people should be nicer to each other!"

A thought bounced through her head, and before she could catch it, it was on her lips.

"Pinna! You and Gallea, how did you meet? Details!"

Gallea sat up on his elbows. "Well, we—" But the poor satyr suffered the fate of Chimera, and received a twig to the face.

Twigs were everywhere!

"Hush you," Pinna said. "He likes to think he seduced me. We were both young, both got involved with some centaurs, got involved in some tribe-on-tribe politics. So to get some good dirt on the other tribe, he," she pointed at Gallea for good measure, "sneaked into our camp, and was caught. I helped him out, we got along... we both ran away from a lot of angry centaurs." Her face turned red, and she gulped down the rest of her cup. "Fear and thrills and daring escapes can make for a powerful aphrodisiac."

"Sounds like me seducing you," her husband said.

"Please! You were staring at my ass the whole time we were on the run. You're not very subtle dear."

Medusa squeaked a giggle, took another gulp, and set the jar aside. Now she was feeling woozy, and things weren't quite so clear. She tried moving her tail, but it didn't slither right; it sort of pushed and shoved the ground instead. Frustrated, she leaned over Darian to try and put her hands on his shoulders to balance herself, but missed. Hands fell down over him, and she toppled onto him. His cup went up and into the grass, and she whined. No, she wasted it!

Pinna laughed. Darian and Gallea laughed. She laughed too, she couldn't help it. Otrera chuckled, but was quick to cover it up. Not quick enough! Medusa pointed a finger at the queen, and slithered over to her. Chimera was in the way though, and she had to slither over his legs to get to her, which of course meant she had to lean on him and hit her shoulder against him and stuff. He was too big. But eventually, she was between him and the Amazon, and she smiled down at the dark-skinned little woman.

"I think you have a nice side," Medusa said. "You're not all hard all over. You brought us this gift! Ssstolen gift, but ssssstill."

"Well, if you're not going to kill me." The queen shrugged and motioned to Darian with a nod. "And, this may be the wine talking, but your boy toy seems genuinely sorry about everything that happened. And..." She looked to the big giant behind Medusa, before shrugging again and looking into the dead fire pit. "And maybe it'd be a good idea to let things go. Maybe."

"Yesss!" Medusa squealed and hugged the Amazon. Otrera squirmed and wriggled, but Medusa didn't care. She squashed the strong little thing against her bosom with the best of hugs. "Now if only Chimera would too. He is ssso boring."

The big guy rumbled, even frowned a little at her, and she giggled at him before looking back to Otrera and setting the girl back down from the hug.

The Amazon chuckled, and smirked at Darian. "I've slept on pillows with a tenth the padding of this woman's rack. That why you hooked up with her? She is stacked."

Medusa gasped and hugged her arms across her breasts. "No! No no... right Darian?"

Her lover looked away and started whistling. Whistling! And everyone started laughing too, even Otrera.

Well! If people were going to get mean, she could be mean too.

"You're just jealous!" There, that oughta show her.

"Jealous? I'm surprised you don't just fall over on your face every time you start slithering."

Pinna snorted on her drink, caught drinking while laughing.

"I can ssslither jussst fine!" And to prove her perfect slithering skills, she slithered back toward Darian. And again, Chimera was in her way! Did he move? He was too big, and she hit him with her shoulder again, leaned on him a bit too, and started making her way around the dead fire pit to Darian again. Once she got to him, she coiled around him, but she couldn't get her coils to line up right, and every attempt to settle into a nice circle ended with layers of her snake body not lining up where she wanted them to. Eventually, she gave up, and lay herself atop Darian's lap.

"I do think she's drunk," her man said, and he smiled down at her as he put a hand on her chin.

"I'm fine! And don't change the ssssubject!" She sat up quick, pushed Darian's hand away, and turned to face Otrera. "And you! Jealousss! And you!" It took a few tries, but she managed to point her finger straight at Pinna, and squinted at her friend. "I bet you do all sssorts of things to Gallea. Sssoft, womanly things!"

For a moment, Medusa was sure she'd bested Pinna in whatever game they'd created, but Pinna just laughed, shrugged, and hopped back over next to her husband.

"Oh, is that how you want to play it?" she said. "Well we know Otrera likes to fuck werewolves, so that's a point for her. I personally am a big fan of inviting a stranger to join Gallea and me."

Everyone stared.

"What? We all have our kinks." She sat beside Gallea and put her legs over his, hooves down and knees bent to her legs never touched his own. Her husband was grinning. "Gallea and I are in a a loving relationship, married, so sometimes we like to find someone who's single and have fun. Usually a girl, sometimes a guy, someone whose night we can make better."

Sometimes a guy? Another guy? Two guys? Darian and another man, touching her scales and her snake hair and her breasts and her insides? Medusa blushed until her face burned.

"Yeah, sharing your bed with two or three other people is definitely a fun night." The Amazon motioned with her head, and Chimera acquiesced with another dip of the cup for her lips. "And I can see it! A couple of satyrs, roaming the land, spreading stories, and maybe taking an intrigued stranger to their bed for the night. Satyrs are great fucks."

Pinna and Gallea nodded and chuckled, like it was a general truth. But Medusa put both her hands up to her blushing cheeks and stared at the two women. On one hand, she was delighted to hear the other two women not only take charge of the conversation, but also display a sexual side she'd never guessed. On the other hand, she felt out of place. They were so open about it, so blunt, even Pinna! She'd expected men to be crude about sex, but the men were barely saying a thing. Chimera had removed a bit steel and flint from their bags, and was working on restarting the fire as the sun set. Darian was caressing her knuckles, but otherwise he was content to grin and listen to the conversation. Gallea chipped in occasionally, only for his wife to steal the spotlight.