The Dark Horde Pt. 05

The young faun had led Valentine and Bear to the other side of the circle of pillows, where they now sat. Vegetables and fruits had been set out in front of them, some set on a small brass brazier to grill. From their position they could hear the discussion between Rom's inner circle, but were not part of it.

Val nibbled on a roasted carrot, straining to hear the conversation. Bear, his legs curled beneath him, was looking around the darkened clearing for his beloved. A small frown creased his otherwise perfect forehead. Val chewed distractedly, caught between the sight of Bear's truly out of this world physique and the seriousness of the conversation. Why did her pussy have to pulse with heat every time she glanced at him? Had she not been satisfied already? Pond of unusual depth indeed.

Rom was talking, his deep and sonorous voice filling the night air. All eyes of the surrounding creatures were on him. Val couldn't see his face from where she was, so she let her gaze soften and land on Bear's thick cock, watching it bounce and twitch as he looked around. A part of her was slightly panicked; what was wrong with her? She had never been so cock obsessed. Had she been drugged? Rom's deep voice resonated in her bones, the seriousness of the content offset by the warmth in her loins.

"The Witch Kings are distracted by the Dwarves counter-offensive" Rom was saying. "This is good. If we can get the Wild Ones to strike soon, we might be able to rid the forest of their minions. We must strike while the Dwarves hold. Should they fall, the full might of the Dark Horde will be on us. "

Bear quietly stood up. Val suddenly broke out of her cock-reverie and looked up at him, puzzled. He brought his finger to his lips, shushing her.

"I will be right back" he whispered, and walked away as quietly as a one ton horse could.

Val watched him leave with longing, biting her lip as her eyes fell on the heavy horse balls that hung between his departing haunches. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on Rom's sonorous voice.

"I will attempt to raise the Old Mother, " continued Rom, "and the Sleeping Father. If they answer my call, we might hold back the magic of the Witch Kings. These lizard priests of Lemuria have old magics, but the Earth has older magic still."

"And if they don't wake?" Asked someone in the crowd.

"Then sharpen claw, and tooth, and every weapon you have. Let the trees grow thick with thorns, and make the Earth itself into a grave. There will be death. We can only hope that they are better at dying than we are."

Val trembled at the somber words. She also found herself cupping her pussy, pressing the heel of her hand against her clit. He fingers brushed the soft outer lips of her pussy, finding them wet. She was soaked!

She rolled onto her back, head supported by the pillows. The sky above her was dark, pinpricked by stars. The small fires in the meadow sent pillars of embers into the night sky, a dancing colonnade supporting the roof of the sky. This place was a temple, invisible but real. What they worshipped here she didn't know, but it felt good to be in this place.

She was laying on her back, legs open, casually stroking her pussy with lazy strokes. She could feel her pussy grow hotter and wetter with every breath. The world around her had turned blurry, the noises melding into a single droning note that resonated in her skull. The only thing real was her pussy, the heat it generated and the hunger it felt.

A shadow loomed over her. She struggled to focus her eyes on Rom as he stood at her feet. She saw his gaze sweep over her her, her lasciviously opened legs, the fingers dancing across the wet lips of her sex. A sly smile crossed his mouth. Val, eyes now fixed on the length of his thick cock, thought she saw it pulse and thicken a bit. He mouth watered.

"You need to stand up and move, little one, " rumbled Rom. "Come, the forest spirits are calling to you. You must move with them or they will consume you."

With that he pulled Val up to her feet, holding her by the shoulders until he was sure she would stand. Val used their closeness to reach up and touch the thick and veiny cock that hung in front of her chest. Rom was big, standing so close to her. Her fingers brushed against the soft skin of his dark shaft.

Rom stepped away, leading her by the hand towards the center of the meadow.

"Play!" He called out to unseen musicians. "She is being called by the spirits. With any luck we can use this to our advantage."

Rom spun around and grabbed Valentine by the shoulders. He looked into her eyes, speaking slowly and forcefully.

"Heed my words, little one, " he said. "The spirits are calling. That is the function of this place. The veil is lifted in this temple, so that we may speak to them more freely. And they are now trying to speak to us. You must move, you must dance and let the spirits move you, let the spirits use your body as their vessel so that they may speak through you."

Val was barely understanding his words, her brain boiling with images of hard cocks and slick pussies. Flashes of pleasure shot up and down her spine.

"Find the Hungry Woman. See if she can help us," continued Rom. "The Hungry Woman. Find her. Now dance!"

And with that he pushed her in the middle of the meadow. Val stumbled, her feet barely able to move fast enough to hold her up. But once they started moving, they wouldn't stop. Her feet danced, her legs danced, soon her hips moved, and her spine, and her arms lifted, and her head went back, and Val danced.

For a few moments Val thought to herself, "not again! Not another gang-bang!" But the drums and flutes were playing a catchy tune and she smiled. A gang-bang was exactly what she wanted right now. She had never been hornier in her life, her pussy never felt so ready. The music was beating into her brain, a loud, rhythmic beat. Or was that her heart?

Everything went black.

The assembled creatures watched as Val started jerking to and fro. This was no sexy dancing. This was barely dancing. Her feet stomped the ground, her hands shook, and her face was slack, mouth open, tongue flopping out of her mouth. Her eyes were wide and wild, white orbs in the middle of her face. Her hands started to roam across her body, her hands hefting her breasts, fingers moving in and out of her pussy, in and out of her mouth, as if they were two independent creatures intent on exploring every inch of her body.

"Spirits!" Called out Rom, "name yourselves and speak! Do you have news for us?"

Val, or at least her body, turned towards Rom. Her hands went to her face and moved her jaw to make her face speak. A sound came out of her mouth, though only a few of the assembled creatures recognized it as a language. Rom leaned in, listening intently.

Valentine, meanwhile, was having a bit of a problem.

Valentine found herself standing in a the middle of a town square, a town she had never seen before, whose houses were odd and mis-shapen, though beautiful. There were no right corners here, as if the houses had grown from the ground rather than being built.

The houses were all brightly colored, and nestled within tall, thick trees. Some houses were in the trees, others seemingly part of trees. The colorful tiles of the houses blended with the bright green of the leaves, creating a kaleidoscopic setting, capped by an azure sky.

Here and there creatures hustled about. They were all far from human, a wild cacophony of shapes and colors, with no single type of creature. Some were squat and grey, like giant toads walking on their hind legs. Some were sleek and tall, covered in thin furs of various colors, their faces aquiline and regal. Others still, of varying sizes, had pale yellow skin and large noses that took up half of their faces. Some wore giant colorful cloaks that covered their bodies, others were mostly naked, though all had jewels, gold and silver hanging from clothing or piercings or worn as bracelets.

Valentine stood naked in the middle of this riot of color. Only a few creatures seem to pay any attention to her as they walked by, as if the appearance of a naked human was not a surprise to them.

Val looked around, confused by this new situation. She noticed that a thin silver thread emerged from her belly button. The thread hung all the way down to the ground and passed between her feet. She turned around to follow its path and jumped back in surprise.

Behind her, just a few feet away, was a large toad-like creature. He was wearing an embroidered vest over his grey-green skin, making him look rather dapper. He was sitting on a wooden chair, his elbow resting on a small table, talking on an ancient rotary phone. Val noticed that the silver cord connected her belly button to the telephone.

"What the fuck" thought Valerie. Those words echoed in her head a few more times as she looked around, trying to make sense of where she was, of what had happened. She had just gotten used to the idea of centaurs and a magical forest! And now this?

The memory of the forest brought back the face of Rom to her mind. He had said something. Did he send her here? Was that the mission he had for her? She remembered a mission. The Crazy Ones. No, the Wild Ones. Is this where they lived? But something was off. That was not right.

She tried to speak to the toad creature but he raised a finger to shush her before she could say a word. Val took a few steps away, confused and a little shocked at his rudeness. She suddenly remembered the silver thread and worried she might yank it out, but it had stretched effortlessly. It seemed to spool out of her belly button with no discomfort. Val tried to suppress a mounting panic. What was this thing coming out of her? Was it dangerous?

The toad creature was waving at her, trying to get her attention. He pointed at a house, or past a house near a trail that led into the forest. He jerked his hand towards it, insistent. He pointed at the phone, and then the path. He spoke a few words, in voice that was surprisingly sweet.

"Collect the empty urn! Motion! The valley is deep and from its emptiness all creatures come!"

Once again, the only thought that rose in Val's mind was: "what the fuck?"

"Motion!" Called out the toad creature, pointing at the path.

A memory solidified in her head. Rom, telling her to find someone. She hung on to that memory. Going down the path felt right, felt like it the fulfillment of Rom's request. She started to walk, carefully at first, conscious of the thin silver thread as it spooled out of her. She held on to it, letting it flow through her fingers. If there was a snag she would feel it and be able to stop before anything was yanked loose.

Val walked past the houses and down the path. The ground was flat and smooth under her feet, like hard-packed earth. The trees rose high, casting deep shadows. The air was warm and Val felt comfortable walking naked in this new forest. Houses were everywhere, in tree tops and tree trunks, so it never felt like she was walking into a wild place.

The path headed towards what at first she saw as simply a shadow. As she approached, Val saw that the path veered around what was a fallen tree, the root of it exposed. It had been a colossal tree, the trunk at least twelve or so feet across. It was now a rotten husk, the center hollowed out. The ball of roots crowned the now empty center, creating a ring of brown roots around a central darkness.

The path went straight to it before veering at the last moment to go around. This had to be the place. Of course it was, thought Val with a sigh, why wouldn't it be anything other than a giant wooden asshole?

She made her way gingerly through the tangled, dead roots, climbing up in to the dark tunnel made by the fallen hollow tree. It was dark, hot and moist inside. The ground was mulched dead wood, soft and springy under her bare toes. She had to bend over a bit to fit, moving tentatively forward, keeping her hands on the side of the tunnel, feeling her way forward.

The deeper she went, the less light there was, until there was only darkness ahead. She looked back, reassured by the sight of the bright entrance a few yards away. So she continued moving forward, feeling her way with toes and fingers.

The tunnel finally opened up to a crepuscular valley, lit by an unknown source of grey and dismal light. There was no forest, no houses, just a vast brown plain under a dark grey sky of roiling storm clouds. Bare trees rose up here and there, their thin branches like black scratches across the sky. From time to time purple lighting moved in slow motion across the clouds, bathing the ground below in a fluorescent haze. The lighting revealed the water logged ground, a swamp really, from which the trees grew.

Valentine stood up, looking around. She was less confused now, almost resigned that weird shit was going to happen to her. The tree was behind her, still present, still felled and hollow, so there was some continuity. But all around was just the vast swamp.

Val caught some movement from the corner of her eye. Here and there something shiny was flashing in and out of the water. Keeping one hand on the silver thread that connected her to the other side of the tree, Val started making her way towards the edge of the swamp.

Her feet started to sink into the warm mud. Val stopped a few feet away from the edge of the murky swamp, as earth and water started to lose their distinction. But there, swimming between the roots of the bare trees, were small black and white fishes, breaking the surface of the water with a lazy flick of the tail. Val watched for a few moments, taking in the swamp that extended in all directions in front of her, a vast muddy mirror of the grey and purple sky above her.

Something in the water moved, causing a vast but slow ripple. Val glanced around quickly, trying to find the source of the disturbance. There, in the water, was a face. A woman's face, eyes fixed on Val. There was more movement in the water, and suddenly the woman was there, facing Val.

Valentine was so startled she stepped backwards and feel on her ass, slipping in the wet mud. The woman stood there, looking at Val with hungry eyes. And then Val noticed that the woman was not standing. She was still hip deep in the shallow water, which was strange in itself, as if she had no legs. She looked like a slightly muddy but beautiful woman, her skin dark, almost purple black. Her face was angular and sharp, crowned by a mass of black hair held up by mud and twigs. She was naked, like Val, her breasts heavy and full, her nipples dark swirls on the dark skin. There was a mass behind her, an oily shadow, moving.

Valentine scrambled back to her feet, her arms and legs now covered in mud.

"Hello" she said, her voice croaking with nervousness. "I was sent by Rom...I'm looking for.." She had forgotten again.

The woman cocked her head to the side, watching Val intently. Her mouth opened slightly and a thin grey tongue slid out to lick her dark lips.

"..The Hungry Woman..." finished Val, remembering.

A tingling bell broke the silence. Somewhere, a telephone was ringing.

The woman moved forward, lumbering out of the swamp. With mild horror, Val saw that instead of two human legs was an enormously thick black tube of moist flesh. Not a snake, no, it was more rubbery than that, with no scales. The image of a giant black dildo flashed across her mind, if the dildo was three feet across and immeasurably long. Here and there tentacles sprouted from it, stubby appendages that pushed the long body forward.

Val was about to turn and run, but the woman stopped. Instead she reached forward, a single long finger pointing at Val's belly button.

"You better answer" she said, her voice surprisingly soft.

As if on cue, the phone rang again.

"I don't know how," blurted Val.

The woman approached closer. Val's nostrils were filled with a sickly sweet smell of wet earth and rotting fruit. She reached out and took Val's head in her hand. A mild panic started to swell in Val's throat. This had turned into a really, really bad idea. And now this woman monster was about to eat her. She was even called the Hungry Woman! Was Val supposed to have brought her a sandwich?

Instead of eating her, the woman pushed Val's mouth open with her thumb.

Speaking into Val's mouth, the woman called out.

"Hello?"

A tinny little voice rose form Val's throat. The woman cocked her ear, listening. Val stood there, held in the grip of the woman's hand. All she could do was try to relax her jaw and head, too surprised and confused to think of anything else to do.

"It's Rom," said the woman, "he wants to talk to me." She rolled her eyes dramatically.

The tinny voice rose again from Val's throat. The woman listened again. The voice continued for quite a while, the woman talking into Val's mouth from time to time, answering in short bursts. Val noticed that her breath smelled like old cake, of slightly moldy wood, of damp underwear.

Finally the woman pushed Val away.

"Silly old goat," she said, but there was affection in her voice. She turned to Val. "He used to come and visit, he came all the time. I taught him everything he knows, you know. Without me he'd be.. a faun. A silly little goat boy."

She slithered backwards, back into the swamp.

"Follow me, little pink one, follow me..." she said, her voice low. "Rom says so. Don't be afraid.."

Val took a few steps forward, though part of her wanted to run away. But she could trust Rom...right? Bear trusted Rom, and she trusted Bear.

The mud sucked at her feet, pulling at her. The swamp water was lapping at her ankles, then her knees. Soon she was unable to move anymore, stuck in the mud. The snake woman kept fading back, retreating further in to the gloom.

"Wait!" Val cried out.

The woman disappeared into the distance. Val was stuck, unable to free herself from the ooze. Slowly, then more quickly, she started to sink. Val started to panic. She sunk until the water was past her knees, past her thighs. Val tried to reach for the nearest tree, for a root, a branch, anything that could hold her up. But there was nothing. She continued to sink.

The Hungry Woman's face rose from the waters in front of Val, as if surfacing from an immense depth. Impossibly, she rose out of the swamp, water dripping from her hair and shoulders, until she stood inches away, face to face with Val. Val was caught between relief and terror. Was she saved? Was she lunch?

The woman took Val's face in her hands.

"Why are you scared, little pink one?" Asked the dark woman, her eyes fixed in Val's.

"You are mud returning to mud. This is your home. This is your birthplace. This is your tomb. There is no other place that is more familiar to you than here.." She continued, whispering, her mouth close to Val's ear.

Val could only stand still, unsure, frozen. The woman trailed her nipples across Val's chest, leaving lines of watery mud on her pink skin. The woman's face was almost pressed against Val's, her warm breath sticky against Val's ear, the mass of dark hair blocking the little light there was.

Valentine felt pressure around her legs. Something was rising up underneath her, shifting the mud. Suddenly the world went topsy turvy and Val fell forward. She screamed and fell in the arms of the woman. No, not the arms. Val fell against the fat snake body, the lower half of the Hungry Woman. Immediately a half dozen of the stubby tentacles grabbed hold of her arms and legs, pinning her against the rubbery flesh.

The upper half of the woman towered over her now, but at least Val was out of the water, face down on the extended coil of black flesh. A tentacle flopped around near her face. It bore a striking resemblance to a big black human cock of impressive size, down to the purple head and the split tip from which oozed a thin river of milky liquid. But the flesh was off, rubbery and stiff instead of soft and natural. More of a dildo than a cock. With a shock Val realized that it was actually exactly that, that it looked exactly like a a display dildo she had seen during her first visit to a sex shop, several years ago.