The Dark Horde Pt. 06

Valentine was comfortably snuggled against Whistling Bear's back, her arms wrapped around his powerful torso. She had tucked her feet back, trying to keep them away from the straps and bags of gear that hung from his shoulders. A great quiver hung at his hip, filled with heavy arrows. He carried his bow in his hand as he made his way through the forest at a cautious pace. Before they left, Flower had drawn a single long ochre line down his face and chest. Bear was ready for war. Valentine, as always, was naked.

Trotting besides them was the young faun they had met earlier. He was Rom's ambassador to the Wild Ones, with Valentine as a consultant. She was, after all, human, just as the Wild Ones were. The faun, Gracius, had not really volunteered for the job. Rom had instead made it very clear that he needed someone just like Gracius to go with Val and Bear. The poor faun hadn't been able to say no. Val had the distinct impression that he felt nervous traveling through the thick woods, which surprised her. Maybe he was their equivalent of a city faun.

Val was not nervous. She had been in a strange mood ever since she had woken up from her trip to the spirit world. That's what had happened, Rom had explained, that's where the Hungry Woman lived.

Val could feel the Hungry Woman in the back of her head. It felt as if her snake body was coiled around Val's spine, her human upper half resting in her skull. When Val closed her eyes she felt back in that swamp, resting on that great black belly, her body throbbing with pleasure. The Hungry Woman's face would drift in and out of focus, smiling, talking to her. That's how Val knew that if she relaxed her mind just so, she could see the world around her...differently.

Even now, her head against Bear's warm back, lulled by the rocking motion of his steps, she let herself fall into that relaxed state. She watched the forest move by through half-lidded eyes, watching as the tree bloomed with colorful houses, the kind she had seen in the spirit world, from which small naked figures watched. They were naked but caped, decorated, beautiful, inhuman but familiar. The spirits of the animal of the forest. Val smiled at the beauty. She had never realized how full of life the world around her was. She had always seen it a heavy and hard, but it was alive and pulsating with energy and spirit. Val felt high, and didn't care.

They spent the first night curled around a small fire. Gladius had set a small square cloth on the ground, on which he set his plate and cup. He proceeded to carefully spread an array of vegetables and soft cheeses on it. He picked at them with a thin silver fork, daintily cutting cubes of cheese with a small silver knife.

Valentine, curled in the crook of Bear's equine haunches, smiled. She exchanged smirking glances with Bear, who was loudly chewing on some dried root he had stashed in one of the many bags slung over his shoulder. Val was munching on a mix of nuts and berries, enjoying the animal heat coming off of Bear's soft belly. She found herself surprisingly comfortable, despite being naked. In fact, the idea of putting clothes on seemed slightly ridiculous. How could she enjoy the velvet heat of Bear's skin, or the tickling of the grass underfoot, or the waves of heat coming from the small fire if she was clothed? She enjoyed the sight of Bear's naked body, why would she deny him the pleasure of seeing hers? Her former human habits seemed very foolish now. She smiled at her new found wisdom, finding herself very mature indeed. She soon dozed off, content.

They rode two more days through the thick forest. That third night they camped again, and as always, lit a small fire. Gracius was in the process of spreading his cloth when a small voice made them all jump.

"I would douse that fire if I were you," said a small voice from the darkness.

Bear grabbed his bow and notched an arrow as Val quickly stood up. Gracius crouched low, scanning the darkness.

"Come out, friend," called out Gracius.

A shape moved amongst the trees. Two large eyes emerged from the darkness, reflecting the fire light.

"Orcs are about. And worse. Douse the fire or they will come," said the mysterious figure.

"Show yourself," called out Bear.

"The forest is not safe anymore. Only the darkness hides. For now," continued the figure, ignoring Bear as it moved away, fading into the dark.

"What was that?" Asked Val.

"Just a concerned local resident," said Gracius. "But I think we should heed his advice."

"Agreed," replied Bear. He stomped on the little fire with his hoof, casting their camp in darkness. Val suddenly felt much colder.

The following day was much different. The forest looked the same, but Bear moved slowly, carefully, surprisingly silent despite his enormous bulk. Gracius followed close behind. Val stood on Bear's back, hands on his shoulder, scanning the forest ahead.

They heard them before the three could see them. Up ahead, though the thick underbrush, a great crashing sound was heard, followed by thin screams and howled curses.

Whistling Bear took Val in one large hand and carefully dropped her to the ground. He brought his finger to his lips before pointing to a hiding spot near a tree. Val followed his instruction, crouching between two thick roots of a colossal tree. Gracius pulled a broad knife from his pouch and, after glancing nervously at Bear, circled off into the underbrush.

Bear smiled reassuringly at Val, notching an arrow in his great war bow. He too faded into the underbrush, carefully stepping over roots and fern. Val, suddenly alone, could only sit and listen.

For a while nothing seemed to happen. Then suddenly a loud roar was heard, followed by a great commotion. Cries and curses resonated in the woods, in a rough language Val could not understand. She crouched lower in the nook of the tree.

Suddenly a figure staggered past her hiding place. A tall figure, dressed in rags under a mix of metal studs and bits of leather, stumbled then stopped just a few feet from her. Val held her breath. Even with his back turned to her, she could see that this was no human. He seemed made of gnarled jerky, twisted and rough strings of muscles and sinew moving under an ochre skin. He turned in Val's direction.

His face was as rough and ill formed as his body, his features arranged in roughly human proportions, but with a massive jaw and tiny beady eyes. Strings of coarse black hair covered his head, held back by two large ears.

"Orcccccc..." Whispered the Hungry Woman in the back of Valentine's head, raising nervous goosebumps on Val's skin. Oh shit, came the single thought in her mind. She literally had no idea what to do. She had never been in a fight, sure as hell never against an orc. She hadn't even seen an orc! "Fuuuuuck" she screamed silently.

He growled when he saw Val. He took a step towards her, his lips drawing back in a snarl over thick yellow teeth. But a stream of dark blood burst from his mouth as he tried to speak. Val noticed a feathered shaft lodged in his chest, like an incongruously colorful ornament. One of Bear's arrows, sunk so deep it had almost disappeared. The orc stumbled towards Val, mortally wounded.

Valentine suddenly felt acutely naked. There was nothing between her and this thing, stumbling towards her with outstretched hand. Val swallowed a scream and jumped out of her hiding spot. She ran around the tree, keeping a wary eye on the orc as it stumbled after her. In his other hand, she noticed, was a nasty looking short sword.

More screams echoed in the forest. Somewhere nearby a fight was raging. The orc stumbled after Val, teeth bared in a grin of pain and rage. Val stepped away, keeping a safe distance between herself and the stumbling orc. He swung at her with his sword, hopelessly missing, striking more out of anger than anything. Val moved a little faster, and a little further away.

She stepped into a clearing and found herself in the middle of a battle. Or rather, the end of a battle. A half dozen figures, all orcs, laid on the ground, pierced by arrows. To her right another orc fell, clutching his bloodied throat as Gracius darted in and out of a nearby bush, knife in hand.

Ahead was Bear, bow drawn, his arrow aimed at a target at the far end of the clearing. Or rather two targets. Val saw an orc holding a chain. At the end of the chain was a giant, a massive man who stood taller than even Bear. Not a man. Where a man's head should be was a bull's massive head, crowned with horns. A minotaur! It bellowed with rage.

Bear loosed his arrow, taking the orc square in the head. Before the orc had fallen to the ground Bear had pulled another arrow from his quiver. Val started to run towards him, just as the wounded orc crashed through the brush, hot on her heel.

Bear turned, saw Val, spotted the orc, and let loose. His arrow sailed over Val and hit the pursuing orc with a low thud, making him groan and fall limp to the ground.

But before Bear could turn back the Bull-Man was on him. It shoved him to the ground, horse legs folding and kicking the air. Bear fell heavily, the ground shacking under the impact. The Minotaur bellowed, and turned towards Val.

Time froze for Valentine. She saw herself in the clearing, naked, unarmed, a few dozen feet from the minotaur, a paper doll compared to the raw power of the beast. But a presence made itself felt in her, and suddenly her head rang with the Hungry Woman's whispered words.

"Your strength is not in the killing. You are the deep valley, the hungry mouth...look at him and see him for what he is.." she sang in Val's head.

Val looked at the minotaur, at his fury, his massive frame, his eyes flaming, his nostrils flaring. And then she understood. Of course. He. Her eyes landed on the massive balls and thick cock that swung between his tree trunk legs.

Working on instinct, Val reached between her own legs. She dipped her fingers between the folds of her sex, coating them in a thin and musky film of her juices. She held out her hand.

"Hey big boy," she called out, "is this what you want?"

The minotaur fixed her with his dark eyes. His nostrils flared. He took a step towards her, the chain rattling as it dragged behind him, but did not charge. Val, emboldened, dipped her fingers in her pussy again, then holding them up again. The minotaur took another step. His nostrils were not flaring anymore. Instead, he was actively sniffing the air. Val could see his thick cock grow thicker still, lengthening. She had a brief flash of fear. His cock was becoming huge. What was she supposed to do now that she had his attention?

Behind the minotaur, Bear was struggling to regain his feet, clearly still half stunned by his fall. He was in no shape to help. Gracius was nowhere to be seen. Val started to panic. She had the beast's attention, but she doubted that it made her any safer than before.

"Child," came the voice in her head, "are you an empty container or a hungry mouth?" A shiver went down Val's spine, a shiver that shook her loins. She looked at the minotaur again, at that thickening cock. It was a human-looking cock, veiny, a bulbous head poking out of a sheet of foreskin. It was just and enormous human cock. Val could feel her pussy get wet. It had been days, she told herself, since she had a good fuck.

She approached the minotaur, juice-covered hand held in front of her, letting him sniff it. He just stood there, sniffing the air, his wet brown eyes now fixed on her hand, his cock growing harder. Val approached, step by step, until she was close enough she could almost touch him.

He lowered his great bovine head to bring his nostrils closer still to her fingers. Val moved her hand to the side, and he moved to the side, his nostrils quivering with his short sniffing breaths. She smiled. She moved her hand slowly back and forth, making him sway his great head to and fro with the swing of her hand. She continued the movements side to side, while dropping her hand lower and lower. The minotaur crouched low, following her movements. Finally, in a grand swooping gesture, Val drew a big circle in the air.

The minotaur, following the hand nose-first, flipped himself on his back, landing with a thud. Before he could regain his senses, Val jumped on top of his great belly, straddling him. It was just like riding a horse except his great cock was now between his belly and Val's warm pussy. Val started to move her hips back and forth, coating his cock with her juices. She placed her outstretch hand over his nose, forcing him to tilt his head back to smell it. The great nostrils were soft against the palm of her hand, his breath hot.

Val could feel that her pussy was flowing with her juices. That great cock was sliding between the lips of her sex, pushing against her clit. She shifted, grabbing the length of the shaft between her thighs. She started to ride him, sliding her pussy up and down along the length of it, covering it with her juices.

Pre-cum started to ooze from the slit, increasing the lubrication. Val cupped the tip of the massive cock, catching the flowing fluids in the palm of her hand. She rubbed the head of the cock as she continued to slide back and forth along its length, tilting her hips to better brush her clit agains the smooth skin of the shaft. Val started to breath heavy as her own pleasure rose. The minotaur was obviously enjoying this. He was shaking his head, sniffing and nipping at the hand Val held over his broad and soft nose. At the same time, his hips had started a pumping motion, raising Val in the air as she rode him, pushing his thick cock against her opening pussy.

Val braced herself with one hand on his massive chest, his heart pounding like a drum under her palm. He was built like a power-lifter, thick and massive where Bear was lean and long. His skin was hot, light brown, covered in curly black hair. He was almost human, except twelve feet tall and that bull head. And a cock to match. Val couldn't help but stare at the thick member between her thighs. It was bigger than anything she had seen yet, bigger yet than Bear's horse cock. She felt powerful with it beneath her it, riding this monster cock, in control.

She was dimly aware that Bear was getting back up, his hands already notching an arrow to his bow. Gracius was stepping out of the forest, watching her. Val suddenly had a sense of urgency, and of care towards the Bull-Man between her thighs. They would try to kill him, they saw him as a threat. She could not let them do that.

She sat back, letting go of his nose. He grunted, raising his head to look at her. Val reached back with her hand to stroke his heavy balls, her other hand stroking the sides of his shaft. The minotaur's eyes rolled back and he let his great head fall to the ground. He was hers, thought Val, grinning.

She started to really ride him, sliding back and forth on top of the thick shaft, running her wet pussy along it's length, driving herself a little nuts with how good that felt. She kept rubbing the tip of it, polishing the head with the pre-cum oozing out of the slit. Her other hand was on his balls, stroking him, hefting one the way you would hold a ripe melon.

Bear was approaching warily, unsure. Valentine increased the tempo of her hips as she moved to and fro. "Come on, big boy, cum for me, give me your spunk, ..." she muttered as she slid her pussy across the length of his shaft, pressing her pussy against it. She could feel her own orgasm building, a tight knot in her cunt ready to pop. Her thighs were wet with her juices and his, her fingers coated in his pre-cum. She let go of his balls to grab hold of him two handed. She started to stroke his massive shaft, her hands not even making it completely around it. She crushed her clit against it, pumping his cock furiously.

The minotaur snorted, nipped at the air, his arms spread out, hands digging into the dirt. He arched his back, lifting Val clean off the ground so that her full weight was on her pussy as she straddled his cock. The sudden pressure pushed her over the edge. She rode the crashing wave of her orgasm as she rode the minotaur, his great cock shooting vast arcs of jism through the air as his hips pumped furiously between her thighs.

The minotaur collapsed to the ground, head back, tongue lolling out of his mouth. Valentine rolled off of him, staggering back to her feet, her body still buzzing from the rush of pleasure. She held her arms out, facing the approaching Bear.

"Wait!" she cried out, "don't hurt him. He's not going to do anything anymore!"

"How do you know?" Called back Bear, his bow already rising to target the Bull-Man.

Valentine stepped in between Bear and the minotaur, hands on her hips. She was covered in sweat, dust and cum, her hair falling across her face, but she stared down the giant centaur and said, "I am..." she hesitated, words forming in her mind that rang true, though she didn't know why, words that seemed to describe someone else, someone powerful yet alien to her. But at the last second she hesitated.

"Because I know, that's all," she finally stated.

Bear lowered his bow. Behind Valentine, the minotaur was sitting up, resting his elbows on his raised knees. He looked at them both and...smiled? Val guessed that that was the expression on his bull face. She had never talked to a bull before.

"What is your name?" She asked the minotaur.

It cocked its massive head, looking at her quizzically.

Gracius approached cautiously.

"Minotaurs don't speak," he said. "They are brutish animals, barely smarter than the cows that birthed them."

"They are dangerous animals," interjected Bear. "Quick to anger and violence. This one tried to kill us. He might be calm now, but there is no saying when he will try again."

Valentine approached the Minotaur. Standing, she was barely taller than him sitting. She placed one hand on the closest horn, wary of sudden movements from his giant head. He looked at her with big brown eyes. All fury was gone from them, but the beast exuded explosive power. Bear was right to fear it.

Him, thought Val to herself. The poor thing was not a thing, but another denizen of the forest. She touched the collar that was wrapped around his neck, to which the chain was attached. The minotaur flinched, a flash of anger in his eyes. Bear shifted his position, giving himself a clear shot around Val.

The collar was spiked, but the barbs were pointed inwards, into the massive neck where man turned to bull. Puss and blood mixed where the skin had been cut raw. No wonder it was angry.

"Can we cut the collar off?" Asked Val, looking pleadingly at Bear and Gracius.

"Not a good idea," grumbled Bear.

"If he will let me," said Gracius softly, and not without compassion.

Val kept one hand on the minotaur's muzzle, another on his horn. Gracius approached and, with nimble fingers, picked the lock that held the collar tight. The chain dropped to the ground, the collar with it.

Night found them sitting around a small campfire, deep in the forest and away from the clearing. Gracius had applied leaves and mud to the sores on the minotaur's neck, which the minotaur had gratefully received. It now looked at Gracius with great curious cow eyes as the faun spread out his napkin for the evening meal.

Bear was standing at the twilight edge of the fire light, scanning the dark forest, keeping a wary eye on the minotaur. Val could feel his tension.

She rose up from her seated position near the fire and walked over to him. She stepped into the cool darkness of the forest, marveling at the silver-edged branches above, trimmed by the moonlight. She found a moss covered log, a long dead tree that had fallen and was now angling from ground to tree top, held up by its standing brothers like a dark diagonal in the forest. She started walking up its incline, carefully finding toe holds in the slippery bark.