The Centaur and the Sea Nymph

The clang of metal on metal from the gate pulled him out of his reverie. Cheidan glanced behind him and noticed the feeding trough was now filled. Giving a wistful glance at the plains in front of him, he turned around and slowly walked towards the waiting meal, hooves clip-clopping on hard-packed earth of his cage.

And a cage was all it was. For all the attractiveness of the illusion of being free and roaming on great, open plains, it was still an illusion. He had discovered in the early days of his capture that if he approached too closely to the borders of his cage, the illusion broke down. Beyond, he could see the stone walkways and other cages like his. Within each of the cages were indistinct forms, blurred by the same illusion in his cage. Only when one of the other occupants came close enough to see past the illusion, could he see them. It made communicating quite difficult, since the same energy that created the false image was also used to mute sound.

When he bothered to give it thought, he had to admire the psychological effects. Which was better? To give into the dreams and the illusion, and pretend you're free, or break it utterly, by always confronting the bars of your prison and hope for contact from others also in their cages? No wonder he rarely saw anyone, if that was the price.

But Centaurs are herd creatures, and are not suited to being cut off from their own. As a stallion of Dontha's herd, he had worked hard guarding the females and foals, and supporting them. Most Centaur herds only had one stallion, but Cheidan was young, and by the next season, would have started his own. It was while he was scouting a possible location to establish his new herd that he wandered away from the rest, and gotten himself here, where ever 'here' was.

He took a handful of the grain and oats in his trough and chewed thoughtfully. Even if he made it back, somehow, another stallion would have taken his place. There was nothing to which to return. But that did not mean he wanted to stay here.

Cheidan finished his meal with a handful of bitter apples and washed it down with several gulps of water. That was something else he missed, ale. And women. A good strong drink and a couple of mares, and he just might be happy here.

He shook his head and banished that thought. Never! Freedom first, then worry about the rest. But how? The gate through which his food appeared was too small for him to fit, and the bars that surrounded his parcel of space were stronger than he could bend, and would even sting and burn him if he touched them. If he was going to escape, he'd have to have help from the outside.

His only contact with the outside world was when his food was brought in. Tiny Gnomes, not even knee high, brought in the trays and buckets. Even then, they seemed to wait until his attention was diverted before they came in.

Cheidan racked his brain for what he knew about Gnomes. Mischievous, shy, and an unnatural grasp of all things mechanical. If anyone would know about the locks and cages, they would. But why were they servants here? He could tell by their demeanor (when he saw them) that they weren't happy to do this. If they could work together...

He slipped off his shoulder pouch and dug through the contents. His knife, bow, quiver, and spear, all of his weapons, were taken from him. But he was left with everything else in his possession. And in one pouch was a small device he had found.

On the Great Plain, it was common to see caravans. And from time to time, even caravans that had been attacked and raided. Humans and dwarves and elves all bickered with each other, as well as factions within. The Centaurs just shook their head. With all those males, no wonder they fought.

But when the herd came across a ruined and stripped caravan, the least they could do would be to bury the dead. And while he was doing just that, he found this small, circular object. It fit into the palm of his hand, with writing on the front in a circle around the outside edge, with tiny arrows. The function of the object puzzled him, but the metal work was quite enticing. And the back opened up to reveal toothed wheels, some so small he could barely make them out. Quite fascinating, really.

And something a Gnome could appreciate. He waited a few hours, until he thought it was about time for the next feeding, then set the device down on the ground, next to his trough. Then he hunkered down, and waited, pretending to doze off, but ears cocked for the slightest sound.

As they say, a watched pot never boils, and Cheidan was about to admit they were right, when a tiny click caught his attention. His ears twitched and through slitted eyes, he saw the procession of Gnomes bring in his meal. As they turned around to leave, he turned his head to watch them directly. One by one they walked out, but the very last one saw his gift, and picked it up.

Intently, the Gnome studied it and then turned to look directly at the Centaur. Cheidan favored the Gnome with a slow wink, and was pleased to see a smile of delight cross the Gnome's face. He then hurried out to join his compatriots.

The next day when the Gnomes returned, the last one in the group stopped just outside the door, turned and faced Cheidan, gave him a deep bow, and then raised his hand, holding all 5 fingers spread wide.

The following day, the ritual was repeated, this time with only 4 fingers held up. Cheidan caught on quickly. On the next day, and only 3 fingers were raised, he knew he had it. Something was going to happen in 3 days. He didn't know what, and he didn't wish to alarm anyone, so he made no outward change in his behavior, but he steeled himself to take advantage of what ever happened, to act instantly. When the last day arrived, he was almost too excited to sleep. Only after berating himself over and over to get rested, did he finally manage to doze off. He was awakened by a roar and thunder so powerful his ears folded to protect themselves. As he looked around he saw that the illusions had been completely dispelled, and could see cages as far as his vantage point would allow. Off to the side, he saw a billowing pillar of smoke and flame. There was also an opening in his cage, another gate that he had never seen before stood open. Without a moment's hesitation, he dashed through it, and out into the stone walkways. Assuming that the smoke came from where all the magic was controlled, it made sense that it (and his cage) was near the center of the pavilion. Keeping the pillar to his back, he trotted towards what he hoped was freedom.

It didn't take long before others joined him. Elves, Satyrs, fairies and sprites... all manner of creatures were kept here, and they were all rushing towards freedom. He assumed that he was one of the first ones to actually leave his cage, since he had some forewarning. But it didn't take long for the others to take advantage of the confusion and make a dash to escape.

At least, those who could escape. As he rounded a corner, he came to a new section. Tanks and pools of water were all around him, and he could smell the salty air of the sea. The ground was damp, puddled in places as nearly all the tanks were shattered. He had heard of creatures living in the sea, but had never seen one before. But here, in front and around him, were all manners of sea creatures.

Unfortunately, many did not have legs to walk or run with. And they all looked like they were suffering, in agony. It dawned on him, that like the fish he would sometimes pull from the river, these creatures could not survive long out of water. The same escape attempt that would give him freedom would doom all of these to a slow, painful death by suffocation.

Quickly, he gave orders to those land-creatures nearby to carry at least one of the sea creatures with them. They may not be able to reach water in time to save them, but if they were left here, the creatures of the sea would surely die.

Working in teams, nearly all the sea creatures that could not walk were carried out. As Cheidan looked over again, he saw one that had managed to stay in it's tank, and rested in a rapidly disappearing puddle of water. She was a female, obviously so as her upper torso was as humanoid as his, albeit a different gender. Instead of an equine lower half, hers ended in 8 tentacles, with flaps of skin reaching from her waist to a quarter of the length of her tentacles. She sat there in the puddles, the flaps flexing. She was obviously frightened, and with him being twice as tall and about 10 times as massive, Cheidan appearance did nothing to make her calmer.

Cheidan stepped carefully into the breach of her tank, and approached her slowly, holding out his arms in a helpful manner. She took another look around, and resigned herself to his help. Cheidan lifted her straight up and placed her on his back. Unsteady at first, she wrapped all of her tentacles completely around his torso, and held on for dear life.

Cheidan made his way out of the tank, then trotted quickly to catch up with the others. He looked back to check on his passenger, and noticed both her eyes and mouth were tightly shut, as though she was holding her breath. That made sense to him, if she needed water to breathe. He just hoped she could hold it long enough to reach some water.

Turning the last corner, Cheidan saw that massive walls that surrounded their zoo, and with an exultant shout, he dashed through the opening. At his shout, his passenger released the hold on her breath with a gasp, and started coughing and choking. He could see her lips starting to turn pale, her face blue as she smothered in the air that was too dry to breathe.

Up ahead he saw a sparkle, and put on a dash of speed, a full gallop to reach the water. Praying she didn't lose her grip, he bounded over fallen logs and stones, racing against time to reach safety for her.

As he cleared the last of the trees, he saw it was small pond, fed by an equally small stream. Without slowing down, he bounded into the middle of it, and plunged to his withers into nearly icy cold water, probably from snow runoff. The chill made him gasp as hard as his passenger, and as soon as she slipped off, he made for the bank.

Climbing out, he trotted around, back and forth, to keep the chill from setting into his legs, and watched nervously for the sea girl. He hoped it wasn't too cold for her, either. For that matter, he hoped she could breathe in the fresh water.

After several long minutes, she partially surfaced, and swam towards the bank. Making sure to keep her lower half submerged, she smiled at him and said something, some form of greeting he supposed.

Cheidan smiled back and said, "Glad to see you're feeling better. I was worried it had been too long for you. My name is Cheidan, by the way."

She frowned, realizing that they didn't speak the same language. She tried some other words, until Cheidan held up his hand. "Arealaith? You speak the language of the Elves?"

She nodded, and repeated in the same language, "Arealaith, yes. Only little. I give... thanks... for help. Name is N'Reak."

"N'Reak... Pretty name. Thanks I accept... Glad I am... to help." Cheidan struggled through the broken Elvish, but at least they could have some form of communication. Her accent was strong, but it was dainty and light, it sang in his ears, where as his words sounded like he was trying to whistle with oatmeal in his mouth.

"Never see person like you. Never see ocean before, either. I'm a Centaur", he explained, adding the term in both Elvish and his own language

"Not see one like you, too. Never leave ocean before. Are called Leoli-nonth", she replied. He mentally translated it to his own language. Aqua-nymph. It suited her, living in the sea and as lovely as the morning dew. For the first time, he actually saw her as a female, and was stunned. From her full red tresses, green eyes, and delicate lips, to her pale skin and lovely breasts, she was a vision of loveliness.

He caught himself staring and his cheeks flamed with embarrassment. They turned an even deeper shade when he felt himself react, and his manhood slipped out of its sheath between his rear legs, and stretched forth. Cheidan took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down, as he was acutely familiar with how long it's been since he had a female, of any kind. Like many other creatures, the Centaurs had a mating cycle that they called aestotish, but it wasn't just confined to the females. The males too experienced it, and though it didn't strike as often, it lasted far longer than the females. The females would reach aestotish every few days, but only lasting a couple hours. Males would have aestotish every few months, but it would last a week or more. And Cheidan was on the verge of aestotish and there were no females of his kind nearby.

N'Reak had noticed his changing color and his physical reaction. Rather than offending her, she felt relieved. Leoli-nonth too had a cycle, but theirs was measured in hours, not days or weeks. And she was near the beginning of her time as well. He was a well-equipped male (almost too well!) and obviously had needs. She was sympathetic to him, and hopeful that they could help each other.

"Not be worried... I... Understand... Need for.... For...." Her vocabulary failed her, and she resorted to a crude gesture with her fingers. Now she was embarrassed, too, but she had no other way to make it known to him.

Cheidan felt his ears twitch as her meaning was made clear. His manhood throbbed with excitement, which made it even harder to think. "You too? You have aestotish? Can you... I... help... each other?"

N'Reak nodded gratefully. "Please... Help, yes." She started to crawl forward, but paused as she reached the waters edge. "Leoli-nonth need water.... Too long out.... Cannot ... breathe... Be fast... yes?"

The Centaur bowed and replied, "Yes, need to be fast... Don't want hurt... Or want you to die"

The Aqua-nymph flexed her tentacles one more time, then crawled onto the land, using her arms as she lost the use of the water's buoyancy. Cheidan picked her up, and set her on a flat stone, that was just high enough to keep her at the right level. His hands gently caressed her face, moving along her jaw, and then to her breasts. He leaned down to nuzzle and suckle on them, and was rewarded with pleased moan from her.

He traveled lower, kissing her stomach and navel, until he reached the flap of skin around her tentacles, a skirt, so to speak. He used his hands to spread the flaps, and was surprised to see a crease in the center, from which a tiny trickle of fluid dripped. Arrayed around the crease, in a radial pattern were tiny red ruffles, still damp with cool water. They reminded him of the gills under the cap of a mushroom, and realized that's exactly what they were, gills. Tiny flaps under the skirt contracted, dribbling water over them to keep them moist.

Now reminded that he couldn't take too long, he used his fingers to stroke and tease the slit, finding the hard nub just above it. With a pair of fingers sliding into her and moving in circle to help stretch her a bit, the finger from his other hand orbited and caressed the nub, making her moan again and again. Tiny spasms rocked her petite frame, and her tentacles contracted involuntarily, sending a large gush of cool water over her gills.

Curious, he lowered his lips under her skirt, and took a long slow taste of her crease, his tongue flickering over and around the hardened nub, then slipping into the slit to taste her juices. Salty and sweet, it was delightful nectar, the flavor of which inspired him to quest for more.

Moans and cries of pleasure greeted his ears as his tongue ravished her. Words and phrases poured out of her, but she hadn't the presence of mind to speak in Elvish, so he had no idea what she was saying. He trusted that it was pleasant, though.

But even as his fingers and tongue did delightful things to her, her moans of pleasure were punctuated by gasps. Without water to coat her gills, her body yearned for water to breathe, even through her mouth if needed. Gasping and coughing, the tiny gills turned a pale pink, then gray, as they lost the ability to gather oxygen.

Not wanting to stop his ministrations upon her body, Cheidan gently wiped his fingers, damp from her nectar, over the sensitive ruffles of her gills. Quickly, they absorbed the moisture, and returned to a healthy red color, even if just for a little while. His need was growing as he drew pleasure and arousal from hers.

Standing up, he straddled over her, the tip of his centaurian cock pressing against her slit, her juices beginning to coat it. N'Reak's tentacles wrapped around his body and she used them as an anchor to pull herself onto him, taking all of his girth and as much of his length as she could. Now out of his reach, she used her hands to caress and fondle her breasts, and used her lower limbs to swing back and forth, dangling under his lower half as she slid back and forth along his cock.

Cheidan was transfixed, lost in the pleasure of the situation. She was far smaller than a mare, and that added a degree of tightness that was almost painful. But it was far more pleasant. All he had to do was stand there, as she rocked below him and brought him to climax.

And to quite a climax it was. He moaned and shuddered as his juices exploded from him, far too much to be contained in the tiny frame of the Aqua-nymph. As he pulled out, gobs of fluid dribbled from him, and from her folds. Seeing that N'Reak was in distress again from being without water, he wiped his juices over her gills, coating them, and restoring them to a healthy red color.

N'Reak wasn't quite done with him yet. Coaxing him closer, she stroked and caressed his sheath, until once again his manhood peeked out and she could fondle the sensitive tip. Using her hands, tentacles, and even her lips, she caressed, teased, and stroked his cock until it was again at full length. Already giving into her own need for aestotish again, a pair of tentacles were stroking her folds, lightly brushing over the tender nub.

When she judged them both ready, she again impaled herself onto him, and swung back and forth, bringing him closer and closer to climax, as well as sending herself hurtling over the edge several times, until they couldn't stand it any longer, and the both exploded one more time.

Heaving and panting, Cheidan was drenched in sweat and lather. N'Reak was also gasping, but for breath. Gulping and heaving, she begged and pleaded with him. "Water... cannot breathe... suffocating... please... help." She flailed on the rock, like a landed fish, tentacles spasming reflexively, trying to draw water to her dehydrated gills. Then her eyes closed as she lost consciousness, the air smothering and killing her.

For far too long she had been out of water, but she was a slave to her needs, and couldn't tear herself away, even to breathe. The Centaur picked her up, and set her down in the water to recover, but not before giving her a gentle and loving kiss, speaking softly in his own tongue.

"Thank you, my little nymph. And I'll be here when you awaken. And with my heart and soul, I'll watch over you. And love you."