The Dark Horde Pt. 16

Sorry, but this chapter has very little sex in it. It's mostly plot, but it is necessary. Quick warning, but there is what is essentially a sexual assault, which I am uncomfortable making sexy. Hence the lack of sexy shenanigans. But the next chapter will compensate for this!

*

The main camp of the invading orc forces was not hard to find. At the center of it was an impossibility: a fully built tower of black stone, rising hundreds of feet over the trampled plains. The setting sun was glinting off of its glassy finish, giving it a gold aura.

The tower itself looked old, the stones marred by age and weathering. It was a complicated collection of jagged spurs and outcrops, balconies, ramparts and small towers within towers, the whole giving the feel of a broken crystal rather than a place ever inhabited by any human being. Which of course, it wasn't. Within it were the Lizard Priests of Mu, their minds as alien as their bodies.

Surrounding the tower was a vast horde of orcs. Tents were set up in wobbly rows, straight lines fading into chaos the further away from the tower they were. Smoke rose from the thousands of small fires dotted around the camp. Here and there the rough grid was broken by enclosures where giant four legged lizards roamed. Dinosaurs, thought Val. Those were fucking dinosaurs.

Near the enclosures were the tents of the lizard soldiers. Those were crisp and neat, the tents made of colorful fabric, the lizard encampments like neat jewels thrown in the muddy sea of brown orckish tents.

Our four heroes scrambled back from their vantage point behind a crest of rock.

"That's a lot of orcs," said Bear.

Bruno mooed sadly in agreement.

"We have to get in that tower, that's got to be where the minotaurs are," said Val, determined.

Gracius was just silent, scratching his head, looking dejected.

"Yes, but how? Walk through the camp?" He replied. " Even with the cover of night there is no way we can make it unnoticed."

A silent settled over them.

"Where are the cows?" Asked Bear, suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Said Val.

"To make minotaurs, you get a god to fuck some cows and get them pregnant. So where are the cows? Did they stop making minotaurs?"

"Why would they," snorted Gracius.

"Exactly," said Bear, "so where are the cows? In that tower? Does that look like the kind of place you keep cows?"

They all scrambled back up to the rocky ridge. The tower, they all agreed, did not look like an appropriate location for a heard of cows. For one, it was narrow, without a large gate or central courtyard. They scrambled back down.

It was Bear who spoke up first.

"I will go scouting in the morning. I can travel fastest alone. There might be another camp, maybe a few days travel behind this one, somewhere where they feel safe and protected, even without their main forces."

"Sounds reasonable," said Gracius. "I don't like the idea of you traveling alone, though."

"Then Val can come with me, I can carry her with no problem. You and...Bruno.." he said, with a small hint of disdain, still, "can hide in the forest away from the main camp."

Gracius looked over at Val. She shrugged in agreement.

"Sounds as reasonable a plan as any, " sighed Gracius. "We don't have a lot of time though, we have to do something before this army reaches our woods."

"Three days, at most. If we don't find anything by this time two day hence, we will come back and meet you."

"Your math is off, my friend." Chuckled Gracius darkly.

"No, it's not," he said flatly.

Gracius and Val both looked at the young centaur. He had matured in the last week. Facing them was no longer the youngest member of his hunting troop, but a centaur warrior.

Gracius finally shrugged.

"Whatever you say. Let's make camp. We are losing light and you will need your strength for tomorrow."

*

Val jumped on Bear's back and they were off. The sun had barely started to brighten the sky, leaving Gracius and Bruno in the darkness of a cleft of rock.

Gracius watched his friends gallop away, a tight knot in his belly. He didn't like this, not one bit. He shook off the bad feeling, patting Bruno on his massive arm.

"it's just the two of us now, " he said, "better rest. When they come back I have a feeling there won't be much sleep anymore."

Bruno settled against a rock and snorted, questioning.

"They'll be fine," answered Gracius. "They'll be fine."

Gracius walked up to the stony ridge to see what the orc army was up to, and to prevent Bruno from seeing the doubt in his eyes.

The tower had moved. The tower was in the process of moving. Gracius had to look twice to make sure that his eyes were seeing correctly. The orc army had broken camp and had started marching towards the distant forest. Behind the rough columns of orcs, the tower itself followed.

The base of the tower was a blur of movement. Gracius finally saw what was happening; the square blocks of black stone at the base of the tower were flipping over repeatedly, hundreds of them rotating and turning like square wheels, their combined motion smoothly pushing the tower forward.

That was powerful magic, thought Gracius, unlike anything he had seen before.

The tower left behind it a wide track of churned earth, a track that reached behind it for miles, broad and flat and brown. It would be easy to follow it back.

*

Val was hanging on to Bear's waist, her chest pressed against his back, her legs tight around his horse flanks. The ground was flashing by under his hooves as the centaur galloped over the broken ground. Val was impressed at the agility with which he avoided the rocks and small shrubs that were scattered around the plain. Between her naked thighs she could feel his great horse heart pumping with steady strength.

After what felt like hours, the centaur stopped as they crested a low hill. Before them was the vast dry plain that lead, eventually, to the ocean. A broad streak of disturbed ground marked where the orckish army had marched.

Val stood on Bear's back, her hands resting on his shoulders for stability. She looked around, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. The landscape looked familiar somehow, as if she knew where she was, had been here before.

"Do you see anything?" She asked Bear.

"Just the tracks of the army. No sign of cows, or even of minotaurs," he replied. "We must go further, I guess."

"Hold on," said Val, squeezing his shoulder. "There's just this dry plain from here on out, right?"

Bear nodded.

"That's no place for cows...you'd need grass, or hay, lots of it. There's nothing here," she said sweeping a hand across the barren landscape.

She had a strong intuition that they were going the wrong way. The way forward just felt wrong.

"If you had a herd of cows, where would you go to feed them? Some nice pasture, right?" She continued.

"The hills of Gnome's Reach. Or the Endless Plains, but those would be too far. The foothills of the Broken Teeth..." Bear started saying, but Val suddenly interrupted him.

"The Broken Teeth, that's where they are," she said, somehow certain.

"How do you know?" asked Bear, turning his head to look up at her.

"I just do..." she replied.

He paused for a moment. She had proven often enough that she had some strange connections to spirits. And it's not like he had a better idea. He started moving towards the range of mountains in the distance, the Broken Teeth, slowly picking up speed as he crossed the trail of mangled earth left by the orcs.

Val sat back down, holding on to Bear, becoming more and more certain that they were traveling in the right direction.

It took all day to reach the base of the Broken Teeth. Bear had galloped the whole way there, barely slowing down to take swigs from his water pouch. His flanks had grown hot and sweaty beneath Val. The sun was setting when he finally stopped, and Val jumped down to the ground, thankful for a break. She stretched her legs and aching back, not daring to complain too much since Bear was so obviously exhausted by his run. He stood, breathing heavily, sides heaving, but his eyes steady and fixed on the mountains rising above them.

The ground had grown soft and green as they approached the Broken Teeth, the lush grass broken here and there by clusters of trees. Bear had to agree, if you had a heard of cows, this would be a good place to keep them. But where?

Val looked around. Her gut told her that they were close.

"Where do you keep a god?" she asked herself out loud, "it has to be a special place, right? You'd need a temple, something like that.."

"Not necessarily," replied Bear, "depends on who it is. Could be a tree, a sacred rock,...anything really."

Val smirked in annoyance. Time was running out. They couldn't just walk around an entire mountain range hoping to stumble upon a god and a herd of cows. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. What did her gut tell her? Or, more likely, who was guiding her in the right direction? The Hungry Woman? She had been silent for days. Gilgamesh? He only rose up in battle.

She gave up trying to guess, and simply focussed on the certainty she had felt before. She opened her eyes and there it was. That crest of rock rising in the near distance, that was the place, she was sure of it.

She pointed it out to Bear, who simply nodded and offered his hand to help her up onto his back.

He's exhausted, she thought, but not willing to rest. They started moving again, Bear making his way towards the rocky beginnings of the mountain. He had to go slower now, more carefully, for which Val was grateful. She stood on his back, on the look out, while he drew an arrow from its quiver, notching it into the string of his war bow.

The cliff face that Val had pointed to was now in shadows as the sun set behind the mountain. The air was cooler now, chilly against their sweaty skin. Bear slowed down further as they approached, moving silently around trees and boulders until they could finally see the base of the cliff and, as Val had guessed, the entrance of a cave.

There was no doubt this was the place. A barricade was blocking off the entrance of the large cave, keeping in a small herd of cows. A dozen orcs were lounging around a cluster of small fires outside the cave, and more fires could be seen inside as well. Minotaurs were chained against a wall near the entrance, kept under watch by three large orcs with whips.

"How are we going to get in?" Whispered Val.

Bear was silent, his eyes scanning the cave entrance. His breath was slowing down, his strength returning. Val felt him steady. He turned his to face her.

"I will distract them, and you will then go inside," he said.

"We should go back and tell Gracius, we'll need everyone's help," replied Val, but even as she spoke she knew that would never happen. There just wasn't much time.

"We are here, they are not," said Bear simply.

Val took a firm grip on her sword. She slid off of Bear's back and looked up at him.

"Okay," she replied, determined.

Bear bent low to bring his face close to hers. He took hold of her head in his big hand and kissed her on the lips, his mouth hungry for hers. Val returned the kiss, suddenly overwhelmed with sadness.

Bear broke the kiss and trotted away, giving her one last look and a last smile. Val was suddenly alone in the shadows.

She scrambled forward, approaching the cavern. Suddenly a great sound was heard. Bear came crashing though the underbrush, whooping his war cry, loosening arrow after arrow towards the seated orcs. They cried out, some rising, some falling, dead. One crashed into the fire, sending a great column of sparks into the darkening sky.

Bear thundered past them, sending a last arrow as he galloped away. The orcs roared in anger, grabbing weapons and chasing after him. The ones nearer the entrance called out to the orcs inside. Soon, a dozen or so came running out. Another group started whipping up the cluster of minotaurs, leading them by chains. The great beasts started braying and sniffing the air, their blood lust rising as the orcs whipped them into a frenzy.

The minotaurs broke into a heavy run, chasing the centaur as he disappeared over the swell of a hill.

Val watched as the orcs and the minotaurs ran off after Bear. Now was her time. She could feel Gilgamesh rise in her chest, ready for action. But this was all wrong. In her mind she had always been with her friends at this moment. She would have had Gracius by her side, guiding her. Bear would have been there, she would have drained his cocks to absorb his energy. She would have covered herself in Bruno's cum and sizzled with his great strength. Instead she was alone and tired and the cave, dark and cold, waited for her.

With the help of Gilgamesh she finally stood up and ran towards the entrance of the cave.

There were a few straggling orcs, but they were cut down with a few swipes of her sword. Val quickly made her way into the cave itself, a vast chamber with a flat floor of compact dirt. The cow pen took up a good two thirds of it, with a few clusters of camp fires around it along the edge of the walls. The place seemed empty apart from the nervous cows. Val pushed forward towards the darker back of the cave.

An orc jumped out of the shadows, but before he could swing his short sword, Val thought DIE and the sword leapt forward to touch the bronze colored skin of the orc. He froze for a brief second before collapsing to the ground in an inert heap. Gilgamesh was glowing warmly in her chest.

The rear of the cave narrowed into a short tunnel that opened up again into a smaller chamber. It was lit by several braziers scattered around the place, throwing dim red light over the curving walls. Carpets were strewn over a corner where some furniture was arranged around a large wooden table.

Val immediately thought back to her capture and her confrontation with the lizard man. She tightened her grip on her sword. This time, she was not helpless. She moved forward, ready to fight.

A figure was seated on one of the chairs. She could not make out any details, just a large vaguely human shaped figure. Val approached, her bare feet silent on the soft ground. She wasn't sure if it had seen her yet, or was even awake. Or alive.

But suddenly the figure moved, an arm shooting out to throw something on a nearby brazier. The hot coals flickered and hissed, and suddenly there were bright flames shooting upwards, illuminating the small cave.

"Eupraxios..." Val hissed.

The large satyr smiled, bringing a bejeweled hand to his lips.

"You finally made it, " he said, smiling.

"What are you doing here?" Asked Val harshly.

He heaved himself out of the chair, marching towards her, his cloven feet loud against the stone floor.

"I am taking what is MINE! " he snarled,"taking what should have been given to me if that damn brother off mine didn't have the luck to be born first."

"You?", said Val, still not ready to fully accept what was becoming obvious.

"Yes, me, my forest, my kingdom to rule. That mud grubbing brother of mine took it, and I am taking it back! Thanks to this army, these minotaurs, and the lizard men, I will take my place as the ruler of the Forest!"

Va gripped her sword more tightly. He was mad, and needed to die for what he had done, what he had unleashed.

"Not if I can help it," she said quietly, but forcefully.

"You did help!" He exclaimed, suddenly joyful. "You came here, just as I suggested, talking to you through those pretty gold rings you stole from me." He pointed at the rings in Val's ear with a dainty finger.

Val could not help but reach up and touch the gold ring at her ear. He had said it would allow her to project her thoughts into other people. She had never thought to ask if it worked the other way. But suddenly all these hunches, that intuition about where to find the minotaurs made sense. Eupraxios had been whispering in her ear the whole time.

"And now, " continued Eupraxios, "you bring me the final element needed for my victory..."

Val looked down at her sword. It was the most powerful weapon in the Forest, Rom had said. And now it was in the lair of the enemy!

"No, not that," scoffed Eupraxios, "it's your cunt I want! That womb of yours...."

Val took a step back. There was a new presence in the small cave. A darkness was rising behind Eupraxios, sending tendrils of shadows across the walls. A wet stench creeped up her nose too, the smell of rotting wood, of mud, of rotting flesh. There was a weight to the air, a sense of power she had never felt before.

The god is here, Val heard Gilgamesh whisper to her heart. She welcomed the dead hero's presence in her chest; as the darkness rose across the cave a part of her soul was shrieking in terror at the alien presence.

"All those cows gave us some nice minotaurs," continued Eupraxios, "but think about the beings that will emerge from your delicious cunt, that cave of wonders blessed by the Hungry Woman,...oh yes, I know about her...fucked by a God, you are going to give me an army of titans!"

With a sudden whoosh the darkness was on Val, bringing her vision to a pinpoint as air left her lungs. All she could see was Eupraxios stepping forward and knocking her sword out of her hand. And then he was on her, taking her to the ground, his knees forcing her legs open.

Val's consciousness slipped and she found herself watching from above as Eupraxios massaged his cock into a full erection. Her body lay gasping, trying to draw breath, arms and legs flailing about. He grabbed Val by her hip and pulled her to him, lining up his cock with the soft entrance of her sex. He spat, leaving a thick white gob of spit to run slowly across the furry lips of her pussy, over the pink ridges of her inner labia, until it pooled where the purple tip of his cock was pressed against her entrance.

Val looked up. Something about the slime of his spit brought her to this other plane, where her spirit was now standing. The cave had been replaced by a swamp lit by an impossible moon, too fat and too bright, its silver light falling on the gnarled and twisted branches that rose from the dark waters. Val was standing knee deep in those waters, sinking. When she glanced down, instead of her reflection she saw her body below, and Eupraxios pushing his dick into her pussy.

A presence made her look up.

Standing on a the trunk of a fallen tree was a beautiful young man, naked, his body hairless, his skin a pale grey. His hair was a black halo around his head, casting a shadow across his face. His eyes were two dark pits in what would be a handsome face.

He stepped off of the tree trunk and started walking towards Val. He did not sink into the muddy waters, she noticed, but instead walked calmly on them, leaving ripples behind each footstep. Val tried to move away, but her legs were sunk deep into the mud. She kicked and struggled, pulling one leg, then the other out of the thick muck. She fell to the side, half crawling and half swimming out of the swamp, desperately reaching for a nearby branch.

The young man squatted beside her, his small pale cock hanging in front of Val's face. With a delicate hand he pushed her head down into the water. Val was immediately swallowed by darkness and cold, by the smell of rot and disease. She held her breath, choking, panicking.

Gilgamesh's voice rose up in her chest; "You don't need to breathe, you fool!"

Val immediately stopped struggling. The darkness was not cold water, but the cold grip of this creature, feeding fear into her heart. She gave a silent yell, supported by Gilgamesh, and suddenly her head was out of the water. The young man took a step back, surprised. But then a cruel little smile came upon his lips.

"Who are you?" Asked Val as she finally grabbed hold of a branch and pulled herself