Snowbeast

Willia remained silent, then said, "Please, let me deal with it. Do not go outside, even if you are tempted. Do not open the door unless it is I. And please, stay safe. I know that letter means a lot to you, but it is worth less if you are dead."

Balthus swallowed nervously and nodded.

"Anyways, the day grows long," Willia followed, standing up. "Night is soon to be here, and with it, we should sleep. There is plenty of wood for the fire, but I will go out and search for the letter tomorrow."

She walked over to one of the chests and dragged out a few blankets, laying them down next to the fire as a kind of makeshift bed. She gestured to it and said, "I don't need a bed, but I've heard that it is better for you."

Balthus looked at it, then moved to it and sat among the sheets. "Thank you," he said.

The fire dwindled downwards, and with it, Balthus drifted down into sleep. Before the fire could turn into embers, he slept as the storm continued outside.

* * *

The morning brought with it a breakfast of dried vegetables cooked on the remains of the fire that had dwindled down so much earlier. Balthus and Willia ate in silence. After the tubers had been consumed, Willia stood up and added another log to the fire, prompting it to rise up in a half-hearted attempt.

"I'm going to search for that letter. You should still have enough for a fire. Please remember, do not open that door unless you know it's me. Your life depends on it," Willia said. She clopped to the door and opened it, leaving the hut without the axe.

Balthus lifted the bar up behind her, the cold and the snow snapping at his fingers. What is out there that is so dangerous? It could be a bear, but anything out and about in a storm like this is sure to be a fool. Not even animals are dumb enough to go out in this kind of weather!

With nothing else to do, Balthus returned to the fire and poked at it idly with the iron rod. But in his mind, he could see any number of disastrous situations. He wasn't entirely sure that the Olskaffs even cared about the raiders and the fishing waters. They may kill him just on general principle! That was, of course, if he went without the letter.

What was he without it? A sniveling coward begging the Olskaffs to stop. They'd laugh at him, at best. At worst? Dragged through the streets, fingers chopped off, hanged from the ankles... perhaps worse. Balthus had never journeyed to Olskaff, after all. Oh yes, he knew the way, but not the attitudes of the people.

Balthus had heard that the Olskaffs were gruff people, fighters first and civilised second. They stuck horns in their helms because it frightened other people. Their axes were thin and sharp, perfect for slicing off heads as war trophies.

He shook his head. His imagination was getting the better of him now. If he got the letter, wherever it may be, then everything would be okay. There would be nothing to worry about, because the letter would take care of everything. Any problems, any issues of images, all that would be taken care of by that letter. That letter...

A heavy thump at the door shook Balthus. He twisted around to look at it. Another thump shook the wooden slat over the window.

Balthus stood up slowly, grabbed the axe, and readied it. Was it Willia? She could be badly injured! "He-hello?" Balthus shook out.

"Please! Please let me in!" There was something sickly about that voice, muffled by the door and the snow.

"Who is it?" Balthus asked back.

"It's so cold out here! I can't feel my fingers! Just please, let me in!" The voice answered back. There was another heavy thump, like someone ramming their shoulder against the door.

He shouldn't. He really shouldn't. But if he let a person die just because a horned woman told him so, even after she had seen countless icy corpses? Surely, Willia would understand.

Balthus reached for the bar and pulled it up. When it had gotten just above the bracket keeping it in place, the door burst open! The wooden bar was sent flying past Balthus, barely missing him, as the door cracked against the wall.

Snow immediately began piling in, fluttering and falling past the hoof-feet of a tall woman. Her hand stretched out to keep the door open, as she was too tall to enter the hut. Long, thinning hair clung to her arms, back, and legs, like a sicklier version of Willia, yet her horns were wickedly sharp, built to impale. She was thin almost to the point of illness, her body only seeming to be muscle and bone. The only clothing she wore was a belt with a sheet of paper shoved in it, leaving her small breasts bare. Icicles clung to her body, stuck in her fur at her arms and crotch. Worse yet, Balthus could see the blood stains around her mouth and the hungry glint in her eyes.

The wind biting into his bone, Balthus asked, "Wh-who are you?"

"Nu-uh-uh! That isn't the important question here. The important question is, what is this paper here?" The woman said, tapping the paper at her belt. Her voice was rough and choppy.

Balthus focused on the paper. Squinting, he could make out the distinctive purple wax used in Drosk's royal seals. "The letter! Give it back!" he commanded, standing up despite the wind.

"Heheh, you'll have to take it from me first. After all, I found it," the woman taunted with a leer on her face.

The woman took a step back, letting the snow drift that had accumulated hold the door open for her. Flurries of snow twisted all around her, yet she remained ignorant to the cold. "Come on, I want to have some fun!" the woman jeered.

That monster had the diplomatic letter? How? Did she take it off him when he collapsed in the snow? But he needed to get it back! Balthus whipped up his cloak around him and charged straight at the woman.

Before he could connect, she sprang back. Her legs, impossibly strong, made her seem as if she walked on the wind with just a single hop. The howling wind and snow covered her like a fog, and with a snow-billowing thump, she landed far enough to be a hazy shape in the blizzard.

Balthus nearly stumble as he tried to power through the snow. One footstep after another, he charged after the monstrous woman. She was just standing there, with a wicked smile on her face. Then, when he was almost there, the snow around the woman exploded into a cloud as she hopped again, going farther out.

The wind seemed to push Balthus, trying to slam him into the ground, before turning on itself and dragging at him and his cloak. Icy daggers pierced his skin, and his feet were soaking from pressing through the accumulations of snow. Yet, there she was, the thing with his letter.

Again, Balthus could almost touch her, rip the letter from her belt. And then what? A question for later! Right now, he needed it back!

But she jumped again, throwing herself high into the sky and dropping back down, with a burst of snow both times. Gone, from a presence to a ghost in a wild white world.

Nevertheless, Balthus pushed onwards. Fates of men and women rested with him! Even if this monster was truly that cruel, then he'd have to brave it!

Almost there, with his feet feeling like stumps that were barely there and his body sliced by the wind! But, she was gone again, snow bursting apart with her leaps.

Balthus tried to find that thing, follow her shape in the blizzard. Not in front, nor to his right or left. Twisting about, Balthus couldn't see the little cabin anymore. It could've been erased from existence, for all he knew. He could barely make out a few trees, standing like ghosts in a cold, blank swamp. Where was she?

"Heheheh, hahaha! Come on, come on, little human. I'm over here!" the woman sang out to his left. Balthus' head jerked to follow the sound of her voice. There! There was a horned shadow in the wind!

Balthus half-charged, half-dragged himself, trying to throw himself at the shape. But, like a breath, it was gone. The swirling white void had consumed it.

"Foolish, foolish human," the woman taunted him from behind. Balthus whirled to face her, but she wasn't there.

"Around and around you go," came her voice from his left. A turn, she wasn't there.

"Where will you stop?" she asked from his right. Another turn, she wasn't there.

"Very soon from now," she whispered from right behind him.

Balthus' heart stopped, but before he could face her, powerful arms grabbed him and shoved him through the air! He couldn't say how far, only that cold, wet snow slammed into his face. Sputtering and tearing up from the sting of the snow, Balthus tried to stand back up.

"Angry? Terrified? Perhaps, elated?" the woman said, her voice carried by the wind. She was one with the storm. She could be anywhere.

"I know what I am. I'm excited," the woman taunted from behind Balthus.

Chilled to the core and shaking, Balthus turned to face her. Powerful hands grabbed him by the side of his head, and her looked into the woman's eyes. They were bloodshot, yet had an icy blue iris and he could see the frost forming on the eyeballs. Her breath was hot on his face, and he could see the dried blood on her lips and cheeks. "You'll freeze up nice and easily. So very nice of Willia to save you to make this more interesting," the woman said, her breath rank with frozen meat.

She let go of him, and threw him away. The woman dissolved back into the storm as he flew, and the landing took Balthus' breath away. He could barely feel his fingers.

Stumbling upwards, Balthus tried to run. He nearly collapsed into the snow, but regained his footing. That thing... it was going to eat him! He'd die from this cold, and then it'd pull his flesh off his bones and eat him! He had to get away!

His legs wavered through the snow, barely pushing it aside. He was weak, he could feel it. Limbs were barely there at all, his skin felt like it could turn to glass and break into a thousand pieces, yet his heart hammered and he sweated for his life.

There was a bone-chilling laugh from somewhere out in the cold, and Balthus froze momentarily, his heart turning to ice in fear. Where was it now? He briefly caught a glimpse of a shadow dodging through the snow, and stumbled backwards, falling into the snow.

Balthus shook himself upright, and turned about. He didn't know where he was, he didn't know where the cabin was, he didn't know if Willia knew what was happening, and he didn't know where that monster was! And his body was so cold, it hurt! His fingers couldn't move, his toes may as well not exist.

A sudden force grabbed him and Balthus found himself flying through the air! He screamed involuntarily as it felt like his heart tried to leave him through his mouth. With a bone-rattling thump, he and his carrier landed, sending out clouds of snow.

Shaking and with his heart pounding in his ears, Balthus collapsed into the snow. Was it Willia? Would she actually try to save him?

A rough hand grabbed him and flipped him over, and a freezing droplet of drool landed on his face, where it turned to ice. It was the monster woman, leaning over him. "You know, I should eat you now. Just one finger at a time. You can't use them anyways, they're just bogging you down! Plus, it'd make you kick more! But you wanted this paper, right?" the woman asked, pulling the letter out of her belt. The wind whipped and snatched at it, trying to grab it like a leaf and throw it out into the world.

Balthus' terror momentarily subsided. He needed that letter! He also needed to live! He reached out weakly for the letter with a hand he couldn't feel.

"Whoops," the woman said, and let go of the letter.

"No!" Balthus screamed as the letter shot off into the wild. He caught a glimpse of it catch something and stop, but the snow soon covered his view.

"Now, are you going to chase after that letter?" the woman inquired.

Balthus scrambled to all fours, trying to crawl after the letter, then tried to stand up. The wind pushed him down. Again, he tried to stand, getting to two feet this time, but his foot, numb and almost useless, slipped and he ate snow again.

It was useless. He was dead, the letter was gone, Drosk and Olstaff would war, and this thing would grow fat on the remains, if she could even grow fat. He should just give up now. He already was, and he could feel it. Cold down to his bones, limbs not responding, and now even his vision was dying. There was a numb weight on his back, like a hoof being planted to keep him down, and then there was the roaring of snow and a distant bone-cracking thwack and nothingness embraced Balthus...

* * *

Blazing warmth and heat encompassed Balthus. It felt like he was wrapped in an all-encompassing fluffy blanket, the kind you'd only take out for the coldest of nights. His body did not ache, but there was a blazing need at his loins. Through dull senses, he heard the crackle of a fire in front of him.

It was funny. He could feel the heat of the fire dance against his naked chest, but there was also a strong limb wrapped around him and an incredibly hot solid mass pressing against him. In fact, it felt like two hot orbs with a single hard peg on each of them was pressing against his back!

Balthus opened his eyes groggily. There was a fire crackling in front of him. He was laying on a thick cloth sheet. He was back in the cabin. How did that happen again?

He recalled chasing and being chased by that... monster! He recalled falling down, a lot, and a lot of cold. There was that crack, like rams head-butting each other during mating season. But what else? Nothing.

Groaning, Balthus tried to sit up, but a shaggy arm kept him down and close. It was Willia! She was almost boiling hot, shivering, and sweating! A musky smell emanated from her, sliding its way into Balthus' nose and tickling his desires. She grunted behind him, and he felt her two soft breasts press into his back.

"Willia? What happened?" Balthus asked.

Hot, heaving breathes cascaded on his scalp, and for a moment, he thought that the snowbeast had dragged him back to the cabin to prepare him for another chase. "Everything's all right now," Willia said, comforting Balthus.

"But the cold! The storm! That monster! The letter!"

"Don't worry about those things. Everything is okay now." Willia's body rolled away from him, freeing him from her grasp.

Balthus sat up and twisted to look at Willia. She was perfectly unharmed. There wasn't a scratch on her naked body to be had. Her legs were splayed slightly, and bent so her hooves were on the ground. Her nipples were hard and wanting on her breasts as they were pushed up and down by her breathing. Her antlers propped up her head slightly, and she looked lustily at Balthus with her warm, comforting eyes. A hand lay between her legs, gently rubbing herself, while her other arm was splayed above her head.

A surge of want shot to Balthus' stiff member. He was utterly nude, and both he and Willia seemed to feel a primal need. He wanted her, oh how he wanted her! His phallus seemed to drive him, bobbing up and down and wanting to be pointing at Willia's naked body. That unbeatable musk coming from the lusting Willia was driving him to do it!

Balthus stood up and looked at Willia. Her mouth was slightly agape from feeling herself, and her eyes said, 'Please'.

He kneeled by her legs, and Willia splayed them wide, inviting him. She licked her lips in nervous anticipation as he looked on. Balthus could see her wet, lusting sex. Its soft-furred lips were swollen and splayed by her fingers, and its pink flesh glimmered with want.

With his cock trembling, almost bursting with desire, Balthus let him sink towards Willia. His body slid towards hers, lowering as he straightened his knees out and fell as he placed his hands on either side of her stomach.

There was a shock of pleasure in his body as his head touched her winter flower, then it was encompassed by a warm, loving satin grip. Balthus groaned with the need to release as he sunk into Willia, her bleating moan matching his own for cause and effect.

Willia's arm between him and Willia left them to make room as he sunk in further. His head was encompassed by surprisingly tight bliss, his shaft getting sucked into her hot body. His hips sunk further towards hers, gravity pushing them together and uniting.

Willia gasped when Balthus stopped. His entire length was in her womanhood. His balls were against her buttocks, and her hood against his pubic hair. With a sigh of contentedness, Balthus relaxed and collapsed on Willia. He only came up to her collarbone, her soft pillowy breasts like cushions to his chest. Her body was blazing with heat. He could feel it wrapped around him, hotter than any human, yet not uncomfortable strangely.

Undeniable pleasure cascaded into him from his embedded member. Warmth and numbth were his world as he lay on and in Willia. It was a sensation of comfort, relaxation, and carefree, happy desire. Still he craved more, though. Not roughly, but gently. They were not beasts, regardless of form.

Balthus grabbed Willia's hips and pressed his hips hard into them, then released in a small gyration. His cock tried to go in further, yet only shifted and slid against her hot walls. He could feel her hood rub against his man's hair, his sack slide against the fat of Willia's bottom. It felt wonderful, and the sweet croon from Willia seemed to confirm her opinion of it.

Pressing in and releasing, gently gyrating and grinding inside her body, Balthus basked in the sweet pleasure it brought. It was an enticing, sweet joy, not rough but loving. It was something he could lose himself to for hours.

Willia, drunk on lust, pushed her breasts together with her hands. Soft flesh pushed past her fingers as she shoved them up, presenting them as a womanly trophy to Balthus. Their pink nipples stood proudly like posts, yet begged for attention.

Balthus placed his own hands to Willia's breasts, her flesh more than filling his hands. His hungering lips pressed against one nipple, kissing the flesh. His tongue swirled around her peg-like nipple, flicking against its stiffness. Willia's moan of pleasure echoed throughout the cabin.

With a pop, Balthus left the first nipple and turned to the second. Again, his lips encompassed it, and he felt the wanting, hard tit with his tongue. Willia moaned with ecstatic, joyous agony as her nipple was sucked.

Breaking away from her breast again, Balthus swirled them together. They were massive and matronly. Their soft bulk made them jiggle with ease. Even with their impressive size, though, he could still feel the formidable heat and power behind them.

Balthus sunk back into the act. He gyrated inside her, phallus aching with pleasure as it slid against tight new walls. He licked and suckled on her nipples, and played with her breasts, marvelling and enjoying their lovely softness.

Willia, in her part, enjoyed him fully, enjoyed how he ground against her hard clit. Enjoyed how he lay inside her body. Enjoyed how her tender breasts were pleased by him. Every ounce of enjoyment built up to aching gasps and bleating groans of pleasure as they ground away.

Time was lost to the union. Only the act, and the passion that poured on through into his body, mattered. The fire may be dying, but the sensual heat from Willia's body was all he needed. It hugged him and stroked him, and he in turned stroked it.

As he ground against her for another countless time, Balthus could almost feel Willia's body coil up inside. She was on the precipice. He was growing close to that orgasmic edge as well, the pleasure building up inside him and waiting to break down the dam.

With a groan of utter, mind-consuming bliss, Willia trembled beneath him and ground herself into him! A hand flew to his bare buttocks and kept him there as he felt Willia seize and close tight around him! Her flesh trembled, her eyes closed in ecstasy, her lower lip gnawed upon. Her short humps tried to milk the seed out of Balthus and claim him for herself.