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The Mask Comes Off	By : Samson Category: -Misc Video Games/RPGs > Slash/Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 4984 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdoms of Amalur intellectual property, nor am I making any money off of this fanfic. Unauthorized duplication of this work is prohibited.

Chapter List
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The Hunter Cometh

The Mask Comes Off
Part IV - "Fateless Ones"
By: Jesse Racine AKA Samson
Original Date Written: November 10, 2016

It had been close to ten days since Leah, Kelly, and Miriam had had their fateful talk with Malchiorn and learned of their dangerous predicament. Of the three t-girls, Kelly wound up being the one who guided and cared for the other two, a position she wouldn’t have exactly expected to find herself filling. It was Kelly who kept the other two honouring Malchiorn’s request for the three women to avoid civilization and keep on the move; Miriam periodically forgot and frequently complained, whereas Leah’s mood had only darkened, in the days since. In the short few days since Malchiorn’s revelation, the farmgirl had already become colder, more cynical, more withdrawn...Depressing changes, in Kelly’s mind.
Miriam didn’t even seem to notice, but Kelly certainly did, and it was more than a little bothersome. She couldn’t blame Leah for feeling perturbed by the realization that her breast-growing nipple piercings could’ve been her very doom, but the way it had left her so sullen only had Kelly somewhat concerned after the young Almain’s state of mind. At the very least, Leah’s untalkativeness had made her a third wheel to Kelly and Miriam, which certainly introduced new tension into their dynamic. It might’ve just been her libido talking, but Kelly couldn’t help but partly blame the tension and aloofness on a lack of sex; hearing that they were all destined to either descend into insanity, or worse, unless healed, hadn’t exactly fostered the mood to get busy.
One afternoon, while the trio had wandered over towards the western border of Odarath, Leah had separated from the group, ostensibly to take a bath by herself. That wasn’t too unusual of a phenomenon, anymore. Leah had frequently taken trips away from the others in the days since Malchiorn’s talk with them, and while Kelly had never approved of the idea that the farmgirl was leaving herself dangerously isolated, she had never had the heart to demand her to stop. However, when this one instance dragged on for longer than an hour, Kelly grew concerned.
As she and Miriam wrapped up the small lunch they had scrounged together, as Miriam complained that she was starved and hated foraging for wild foodstuffs just to ration supplies, Kelly waited for the airheaded Dokkalfar to settle down, then finally came out and expressed her concerns, regardless of whether or not Miriam would even be able to wrap her head around the dilemma. “...And all it did was upset my tummy, and you know what that means,” Miriam rambled. “I hate this garbage. When are we going to swing by a real town and get some real food? We have the gold, don’t we? We’re not poor, are we?”
“No, Miri,” Kelly patiently sighed out. “I told you, we can’t visit a town. We need to keep our distance, remember?” Miriam just stared off into space for a couple moments, then opened her mouth, hung her head back, closed her eyes, and mumbled “Oh, right. I forgot.” Kelly raised her eyebrows, looked over at her friend, and gave a wry smile. Of course she forgot. Scatterbrain couldn’t remember anything that wasn’t sex-related for longer than ten minutes before it just drifted away into the ether. Closing her pack of supplies, her tone went grave as she remarked “Listen, I’m worried about Leah.”
Miriam just narrowed an eye, looking at her intently. Kelly briefly raised her eyebrows. “Ever since that Fae told us about the chaos magic problem, she’s changed.” Miriam leaned her head to the side, remarking “She has?” Kelly’s brow twitched down, for a moment. “Uh, yeah, you haven’t noticed?” She asked, staring into her elven friend’s eyes. Miriam pouted out her lower lip and glanced off to the side. Kelly raised an eyebrow, remarking “She hardly says anything, anymore. When she does, she’s...Bitter. She’s always going off on her own, now. She feels like a stranger. And now, she’s been...Fuck, why am I wasting time?” Kelly threw up her hands, sighed, and rose to her feet. “Stay here, Miri,” she instructed. “I’m gonna go find her.”
Miriam just awkwardly sat there, watching the mocha-skinned Varani grab her pike and march off on her own. Eventually, she shrugged and merely put it out of her admittedly frazzled mind. Kelly headed off with an irritated eye roll, trying not to let her friend’s quirks get to her. Maybe it was the lack of sex - in fact, that was most assuredly it - but her temper her become quicker and quicker, in recent days. If she didn’t get some kind of release, or at the very least a taste-testing of semen, she could find herself too worked up to keep her two friends in check without being mean-spirited about it. It would’ve been unworthy of her - she’d have to take a few minutes to milk herself, at the very least. All that poison built-up in her system was getting her impatient, and it’d need a draining before the day was through.
When Kelly stopped by the nearby creek that the group had spotted earlier that morning, she found neither hide nor hair of Leah. Now, she was beginning to panic. She began calling Leah’s name. She followed the creek for half a kilometer in both directions, just in case she had missed Leah’s bathing spot. Not a sign of the Almain anywhere. Kelly began to hurry back to the trio’s temporary campsite, intent on grabbing Miriam for help in searching, when she began to hear a rustling in the woods, over towards her right. When she called Leah’s name, she was relieved to hear the young Almain call back “Yeah? I’m here.”
Kelly gave a sigh. She made her way over until she could spot her friend through the trees, giving her a friendly, if chastising, look. Lightly throwing up her free hand, she said “There you are. You had me worried half to death, hon. Where the heck were you? I went to the creek, and you weren’t there.” Leah didn’t smile. She just avoided Kelly’s eyes. Her expression melancholic, she just tried walking past her, mumbling “I was just taking a walk for some fresh air.” Kelly reached out and took her by the wrist before she could get out of reach, prompting Leah to come to a quick stop. Her voice was considerably softer, now. “Hey,” she murmured, “you don’t have to brush me off, babe. You’ve been gone for almost an hour.”
Leah’s brow gently knit as she looked over, her eyes only slowly rising to the Varani’s. Kelly gently arched her eyebrows, murmuring “You can talk to me, babe. You don’t have to keep heading off on your own. Miri and me, we’re here for you. You’ve been a stranger, all week.” Leah looked over at her some more, a faint look of surprise coming over her. Her eyes opened, a little, as her lips parted a crack. “Oh,” she mumbled, a mere hoot of surprise. Kelly started to smile as Leah turned to face her, prompting the Varani to let go of her wrist. Leah reached up and pulled at the small right pauldron of her armour, adjusting the fit of it with a hint of pain on her face.
“Uh, I’m sorry,” she quietly offered. She avoided Kelly’s eyes, again, as she mumbled “I wasn’t trying to be, but I guess I have been, huh? Um...I’m sorry. I’ve just been having a hard time dealing with all this, that’s all. It’s not your fault.” Leah’s brow furrowed deep. She looked off to the side, turning her face away from the Varani, a little. “...I just can’t really get over the fact that all I’ve wanted to do is get out of the house and be a girl...Or, I guess, a “shemale,” as you’d put it...And now, that’s going to get me killed. These boobs cost me my life.” “Nobody’s dead, yet,” Kelly quickly insisted, stepping closer to Leah.
Leah’s cold expression relaxed, some. She looked back up into Kelly’s eyes. Kelly smiled, reached out, and touched Leah’s shoulder, about to say something when she noticed the way her touch instantly made Leah wince. Kelly raised her eyebrows and retracted her hand with a little frown. Her eyes darted to the side of Leah’s neck. Peeking out from under the edge of her armour, some of the Almain’s skin was an intense, painful red, as if something had given the girl a bad welting. Leah promptly tried to pull her armour over to cover the mark, but Kelly’s brow furrowed, a touch. Her tone a little firm, her mouth hung open, a crack, as she demanded “Are you alright? Did something hurt you? Is it the chaos magic? Babe-”
“Yes, no, and no,” Leah hurriedly blurted out, gently raising her eyebrows. Kelly stared at her, her lips settling in a firm line. Leah gently arched her eyebrows, waiting a couple moments for Kelly’s expression to change. It did not. She wasn’t going to drop the issue. “Where were you,” Kelly eventually demanded, her brow furrowing deeper. Leah’s lips started to pout in a tiny frown. Her eyes went downcast. She wordlessly started to pull off her white surcoat, setting it down on the ground. Then, she was pulling off the chest piece of her armour, undoing buckles and straps until she had the Trollhide loosening.
Kelly just watched her, the look on her face softening. As the Trollhide went slack enough for Leah to pull it away, she mumbled “...I just...Went by the roads, and met a guy on his way to Gorhart...He was a Traveller, and he had all these inks with him...So, y’know...” Kelly’s eyes went down as the armour came off. By that point, Leah’s breasts had grown a fair additional bit, and now, they were likely DD-cups, big, perky globes of goodness. If nothing else, that should’ve made her happy. She finally had a bosom that was not at all small, and there could be no doubts that people would see her as a woman, for them. On top of that, they were extra sensual thanks to her lingering tan lines, leaving them pale and snowy. Still, the cause behind the growth had only knocked the wind out of Leah’s sails, ever since Malchiorn’s visit to the trio.
Something more startling than the rate of Leah’s growth was her shoulder. A rather large tattoo covered Leah’s right shoulder now, and a lengthy swath of her skin had been rendered red and sore as a result of the fresh ink. Her entire shoulder, including part of her upper arm and collarbone, had been covered over in winding, twisting tendrils of black ink, half of which were skeletal and ridged like spinal cords, while each tendril ended in a blood-red point. Kelly raised her eyebrows, her mouth hanging open as she gave a short stammer. Leah shuffled around and turned her back to Kelly, looking over her shoulder to watch her reaction.
The shoulder tattoo covered part of her shoulder blade, as well, but more important than that was the second tattoo Kelly saw, right down at the tail of Leah’s spine: a tramp stamp. Kelly had to gulp. The farmgirl had gotten herself a fucking tramp stamp, for crying out loud. She couldn’t deny a tightening in her panties at the sight. The thing was a wide, narrow band of black tendrils with a red heart right in the center, which had only a single word written inside: “Slut.” Just like the shoulder tattoo, the skin around the tramp stamp was red and irritated, no doubt quite tender to the touch.
Kelly dropped her eyebrows and pouted out her lips in a heavy sigh. “Well,” she mumbled, “I wouldn’t have expected that.” Leah gently furrowed her brow, then raised her eyebrows, murmuring “What? Doesn’t it look good?” Kelly gave her a rueful smile, then remarked “Well, sure, hon, but if you had asked me, I would’ve said that you didn’t need ‘em.” Leah looked forward. In a low, somewhat dismissive mumble, she commented “Yeah, well...I just wanted them to...It’s stupid. I just wanted them.” “No, they’re alright,” Kelly was quick to reassure, reaching out and taking Leah’s hip from behind with her free hand. “The tramp stamp’s pretty hot,” she added, a small grin on her face.
Leah’s posture slowly went a little less tense. She looked back over her shoulder again, smiling, a more warm look in her eyes. In a murmur, she offered a curt “Thank you.” Kelly raised an eyebrow, turned her head to the side a bit, and remarked “Just one thing...How, uh. How did you pay for these? You’re not the one holding on to the gold, here.” Leah smiled more, a little mischievously. “I didn’t have sex with him, if that’s what you’re wondering,” she flatly remarked. Kelly smiled at her warming attitude. With a chuckle, she commented back “It wasn’t, but good to know.”
Kelly gave a heavy exhale as she leaned over, setting her pike down on the ground. She stepped up closer to Leah’s back, taking both of the farmgirl’s hips in her hands as she lightly remarked “Babe, you know we’re supposed to avoid other people until this chaos stuff gets fixed.” With a curt chuckle, she sarcastically remarked “Next time you wanna do something crazy like get tattoos or piercings, let me know, first, huh?” Leah gave a faint sigh. “What’s the point in avoiding people,” she impatiently remarked, “if we’re all just going to die, anyway? There’s no fucking point. We might as well just do what we want...I just wanted some tattoos.”
Kelly stepped even closer to Leah’s back, slipping her hands around her to her belly, toned with her faint washboard abs. She pressed her body against Leah’s, hugging her from behind until she could drop her head down next to her’s and murmur by her ear. “Oh, c’mon,” she breathed. “Don’t be so grumpy. I know you’re a little on edge, and you have every damn reason in the world to be, but you’ve got me worried, babe. Miri, too.” Leah gave a gentle sigh. She didn’t stop the Varani when she unabashedly slid her hands up to the farmgirl’s new bust, giving a playful chortle as she gave the two globes a little honking, gently squeezing them in her hands.
“You know what,” she muttered, grinning to herself. “I think we all need to unwind, a little. We’re all getting a little tense. It’s important not to forget the little things, you know what I mean, babe?” Leah turned her head to the side, prompting Kelly to tilt her head to the side, allowing the two to meet eyes. Leah’s were half-closed, and her mouth hung open, a crack, in a wry smile. Somewhat flatly, she asked “You’re horny, aren’t you?” Kelly grinned and shrugged with her eyebrows. She drew in a deep breath, only slowly exhaling as she slid her hands back down Leah’s body. While one hand stayed at her tummy, the other went further down, finding somewhere plump and malleable to fondle.
Leah let her lips come back together, her eyes going off to the side. Her smile widened as the shape under Kelly’s hand shifted, grew, firmed. Kelly brought her head closer, closing her eyes as she kissed at Leah’s cheek, ear, and the side of her neck, giving herself an opportunity to smell the farmgirl’s skin. When Leah gave a gentle giggle at the tickle that jolted across her nerves, Kelly’s stomach uncontrollably gave a flutter. Ah...It was good to hear Leah returning to her old self, if only a little. Maybe she’d get out of this funk, after all? She gave the girl’s crotch a firmer grope, then murmured “...Y’know, I still owe ya a blowj...Why don’t we head back to camp, grab Miri, and blow off a little steam? I think it’s time we cleared the air a little, relaxed, you know?...”
Leah quietly swallowed some saliva, at the idea. In a low mutter, she asked “...Are you saying what I think you’re saying? You’d do both of us, at the same time?” Kelly grinned, chuckled, and readily remarked “Yeah? Does that bug you? I’m getting pretty damn worked up over here, hon. It’s getting to be a damn chore to keep my patience, with you two...No offence, honestly. I told you, I need to get milked pretty damn often, or else I start to get...A little agitated. My balls are ready to pop, and if I don’t get to swallow somebody’s cum, I’m gonna lose my cool.” With a soft giggle, she ground her hips forwards, rubbing her crotch against the farmgirl’s thick ass.
“Sex keeps me cool,” she murmured. “If I don’t fuck, I get agitated. If I’m not pounding somebody’s ass, I’ve gotta be getting my dick sucked, hard. If I’m not getting sucked, I’m blowing somebody’s whistle until they give me something to gargle. Absolute cherry on top for the really bad days is a deep, hard dicking to the ass, a pounding that makes me feel like a real bitch, you know? Since I owe you some head, and since I want you and Miri to get a little more familiar, I figure I’m due for some time on my knees, today. Whaddya say?” Leah lightly raised her eyebrows. With a breathless chuckle, she remarked “I’d be an idiot to say no. Fuck, I’m in.”
Kelly grinned and kissed the side of her neck, sending another warm tremble across her skin. It wasn’t long before they had dropped the foreplay and started making their way back to the campsite. Kelly with pike in hand, Leah with her surcoat and chest piece under her arm. Once they spotted Miriam, Kelly knocked the base of her pike against the ground, smiled from ear to ear, and said “Hey, Miri. Feel like getting a little head?” The way Miriam lit up had Leah raspberrying a laugh. Her eyes wide, her mouth hanging open in a smile, she jumped up to her feet and blurted out “Like, it’s about damn time! What were we waiting for, all week?! Let’s go, I’m good to go!”
Kelly had already eaten lunch, that day...But, she still ate well with the second serving.
The next day, the group had travelled northward enough to reach one of the roads leading out of the territory, heading westward for Gorhart. They stayed for a short time, watching the road and hoping to warn people about the gray Brownies, so when they all saw an extravagant gold and ivory carriage rolling up the road towards them, they raised their arms to try and grab the driver’s attention. Of course, Leah was the one who went wide-eyed and directly shouted Farrah’s name, calling out to warn her that Odarath wasn’t safe anymore, that dangerous beasts prowled the roads and woods - and, perhaps, her familiarity with the carriage’s occupant was all that reunited the two.
The driver ignored them, but evidently, the occupant did not. The carriage zoomed past them for a couple dozen meters before, all at once, the driver pulled at the reins, calling for the horses to slow down. In short order, the carriage had come to a stop, and the double doors opened up. The tiny silver steps extended outwards, and out came Farrah, that busty example of snowy Ljosalfar beauty, looking around for the owner of the concerned calls. Leah smiled, raised an arm high, waved, and called out “Farrah! Over here! It’s me, Leah!” When Farrah looked back up the road, a big, bright smile crossed her blue face. She quickly stepped down onto the ground, making her way up the road towards the trio. Raising a hand for a dainty wave with her fingers, she loudly said “Leah, my dear, it’s been too long!”
Of course, when Astraia the Kollossae stuck her head out from inside the carriage, all three of them - Kelly, Miriam, and Leah - gave starts and went slack-jawed. Between the Ljosalfar’s massive bust and the emerging stone-looking giantess, there was much to gawk over, although Leah was a little less fazed by Farrah’s prodigious bust than her two friends. Still, when Astraia came stepping out and ended up being almost as tall as the carriage from ground level, Leah couldn’t help staring, her lips setting in a crinkle. None of them thought to warn Farrah about the chaos magic bleeding off of them, and so, without trepidation, Farrah came right up to Leah and hugged her tight, nearly smothering the poor farmgirl into her stupefying cleavage.
Astraia was still wearing the same garb as she had during her trip to Whitedown, only now, she had forgone the leggings for the warmer clime in the Faelands. Farrah, on the other hand, had undertaken a considerable change in wardrobe, and now wore an impressive display that could best be described as an armour-reinforced dress. The pink, silken garment was form-fitting, as always with her dresses, generously showing off the curves of her body, in particular her mammoth bust. What made it so much more awe-inspiring was the sections of purest ivory metal seemingly sealed straight to the silk, protecting large swaths of her body without sacrificing her mobility.
A large, segmented plate covered her abdomen, protecting her stomach from harm. Protecting that bust of her’s would’ve been a hopeless pipe dream, and so, no attempt had been made to cover up her breasts, leaving them protruding out over her abdominal plate with nothing but the silk of her dress to protect them. Instead of big, bulky pauldrons, she instead had humble plates of metal on her upper arms with an additional, smaller pair overtop her shoulders, curving over her body from her collarbones to her shoulder blades. She wore a sleek, thin pair of gauntlets trimmed with gold, either one embedded with a rather large sapphire just over the back of the hand.
The front and rear of the dress had both been split up the middle nearly clear to the elf’s loins, amply exposing the pink nylons she wore, the bands at the hem pure white to match the garter belt straps. Instead of high heels, she wore high-heeled sabatons to match a sleek pair of greaves, both made of the same startlingly white, ivory metal used in the rest of her armour. As Farrah released Leah, Astraia stepped down from the carriage and made her way over, watching with a small smile.
So, the stories had been true: all races outside of the Teeth of Naros were smaller than the Kollossae...Especially this Almain with the rapier, she noticed, who looked up at her like a mouse before an elephant. Farrah could barely ask Leah how she had been before Miriam spoke up. Her expression was utterly stunned, open, her eyes wide and her mouth ajar. Raising her eyebrows a little, she looked up at Astraia and blurted out “Fuck, you’re a big one.” She looked over at Farrah, openly eyed her bust, and repeated “Fuck me, you’re a big one, too!” Miriam tossed Kelly’s bust a glance, then added “And here I thought that Kelly’s tits would be the biggest I’d ever see! Hush my mouth!”
Kelly gave a good-natured smile - something she very likely wouldn’t have been able to manage if she hadn’t gotten the chance to freshly self-medicate her temper problem with the sweet, sweet anodyne of going down on somebody. Instead of snapping for Miriam to shut her trap like she might’ve if she had gone pent-up any longer, she instead threw her arms around the Dokkalfar’s shoulders, brought her close, chuckled, and remarked “Yeah, hush it, indeed.” She looked over at Farrah, raised an eyebrow, and said “I take it you know Leah? That’s a shocker. Wonders never cease! I’m Kellier, but call me Kelly. This Dokkalfar with the loose tongue, right here, is Miriam. Don’t mind her, she typically just says whatever’s on her mind.”
Miriam gave a big, bright smile, a vacant look in her eyes as she chirped “I’m told people like my honesty!” Farrah gave an entertained smile. Raising a hand near her bust, she introduced herself, politely stating “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you two. I am Lady Farrah Beaumont, firstborn of Lord Lucan Beaumont of Whitedown.” She eased her hand over in Astraia’s direction, glanced over at the giantess, and added “This is Astraia, a pilgrim of the Kollossae people, native to the southern Teeth of Naros.” Kelly lightly arched an eyebrow. In something of a mutter, she remarked “Colossal sounds about right” out of the corner of her mouth, which only made Astraia smile with amicable amusement.
Miriam curled a lip up in an exaggerated look of curiosity. “Lady Farrah,” she remarked. “Does that make you nobility, or somethin’? You a princess? You got the boobs for a princess, I’ll tell you that much.” Farrah gave an open-mouth smile at the Dokkalfar’s bluntness. Holding back a laugh, she hummed out “Ahh, eh heh...I appreciate the compliment, my friend. Yes, I am of Whitedown’s nobility. My father rules over the territory, and I’m heiress to the duchy.” Before Miriam could blurt out something rude, likely along the lines of “How big is your mother,” Leah looked up at Astraia and, somewhat unsteadily, remarked “I’ve never heard of Kollossae, before. Are you...Well...”
“Yes? Are we, what?” Astraia politely asked, giving a blink. Kelly raised an eyebrow and remarked “...Are you giantkin? Like Jottun, or Ettin?” Astraia gently raised her eyebrows. Placidly, she answered “In a way, yes, but overall, no. No longer. We were in ancient times, when we were known as Mairu, but by the grace of Ethene, we were uplifted from savagery and chosen to be Her people on Amalur.” Leah’s brow furrowed in open skepticism. “The goddess, Ethene, chose your people to be Her folk, in Amalur?” She asked, a not-so-subtle undercurrent of cynicism tainting her tone.
Astraia took it in stride. “Such is our faith,” she answered. “The goddess speaks with us in every facet of the glory of our city, which itself was a design left behind by the goddess in prophecy. She directly communicates with our Primos, and we live as She deemed sublime. Do you not worship a god in a similar fashion?” Leah subtly narrowed an eye. “Well, sure. Mitharu,” she answered. “But, Almain don’t exactly think He chose us to be his special people. He’s our patron, that’s all.” Farrah lightly raised her hands, interjecting with a polite “Perhaps we could save the religious discussion for a later time? As it is, my carriage driver has been waiting. Perhaps we could move this talk inside, unless you three are bound for a prior engagement?”
Leah glanced back at Kelly, then Miriam. When she looked back over at Farrah, she abruptly looked a little rueful, then mumbled “Um...Maybe that’d be for the best. I’m sorry, Farrah, we should’ve said something sooner, but...” She raised her eyebrows, raised a hand, and swept a finger through her bangs, nervously shifting them aside. She briefly looked downwards as she bluntly remarked “We’re all tainted by chaos magic. We were supposed to avoid people so we don’t spread it. We should’ve...Said something.” Farrah raised her eyebrows. Astraia, too, looked a little surprised. How had she not felt it, before? She couldn’t sense any malignant magic bleeding off of the trio...
When Kelly tried to say something, Leah interrupted her, hurriedly remarking “But, it’s alright, because this Fae said that his friends at the Clementine Cathedral would be able to cure us, soon! So, you’ll be fine, too, once they figure this out. We just have to avoid other people, until then. You’ll be alright, I’m sure!” Astraia quietly uttered “This is...A very serious claim, Leah. If you have, indeed, been exposed to chaos magic enough to bleed it off, then...” Farrah, meanwhile, muttered “...Yet another instance of chaos magic that the Clementines are connected to. Curious, indeed.”
Farrah gestured for the others to follow as she turned and headed back for her carriage. “Come, join us,” she warmly urged. “I think we have much to talk about. If you require the aid of the Clementines, perhaps we might be of assistance. We were on our way to the cathedral, ourselves.” “Uh...Okay. But, aren’t you overlooking the pretty serious issue that we just exposed you to chaos magic?” Kelly asked, raising an eyebrow. Farrah paused and looked back over her shoulder, a surprisingly sombre look to her. “We were already exposed,” she quietly answered.
Leah wore her surprise on her sleeve. “What? How?” She asked, raising her eyebrows. Astraia answered for her, calmly murmuring “An estate in Whitedown. There was Niskaru, and a great concentration of raw chaos magic. We were, unfortunately, exposed to it...Not enough to become conduits to bleed it off, but enough for it to be a problem.” Leah’s shoulders slumped with how heavy her exhale was. She weakly crossed one arm over her stomach, then raised the other hand to her face, covering her eyes. Farrah continued walking. “We should hurry along,” she gently urged. “Time is of the essence...For all of us, unfortunately, it would seem.”
Kelly went over and put her arm around Leah’s shoulders. When the farmgirl dropped her hand from her eyes, she saw that she hadn’t been tearing up. She was glaring. She hung her head down and grit her teeth, but didn’t stop Kelly from trying to comfort her a little, guiding her towards the carriage. Everything would be alright, she murmured. Nothing had changed, she added. Everyone was in the same boat, together. Leah didn’t answer her. She just shook her head and looked down at the ground. Everyone piled into the carriage together, the silver steps leading into it were retracted, the doors were shut, and the horses were spurred into continuing down the road, hurrying along in the cathedral’s direction.
Inside the carriage, Farrah sat on the plush white couch at one side, accompanied by the Kollossae giantess. On the other side, Miriam, Leah, and Kelly were pressed close together, with the farmgirl happily smooshed between them, their hips practically squeezing into her’s. Everyone kept their weapons on the short, center table between the couches, with Leah’s rapier, Kelly’s pike, Miriam’s greatsword, Farrah’s sceptre, and Astraia’s chakrams each set in a jumbled mess by their respective owners. For a few moments, the mood was decidedly sombre, with each of the ladies present looking off at nothing in particular, somewhat grim expressions on their faces.
Once the carriage had begun moving, however, Farrah put on a smile, looked up at the three t-girls sitting across from her, and cooed “...Well, I imagine I can speak for both of us when I say that neither of us expected to reunite like this, Leah. I’m sorry it wasn’t under better terms.” Leah abruptly smirked a little, raising her eyebrows just a touch as she looked up at Farrah. “You can say that again,” she somewhat dryly remarked. Farrah smiled more, demurely holding her knees as she sat up and pointed out “I sincerely hope this doesn’t come across untoward, but I can’t help noticing that your enchanted piercings worked. You’re certainly more endowed, and it hasn’t been all that long since we first met.”
Kelly smiled from ear to ear and glanced over at Leah’s armour, the chest of which was pushed out and filled out by her new bust. “Yeah,” she remarked, “she’s really grown a nice pair, hasn’t she?” Leah glanced sidelong at Kelly as she sucked her teeth. “Cost wasn’t really worth it,” she idly remarked. Kelly’s expression turned a touch glum. Farrah subtly tilted her head to the side, faintly arching an eyebrow. Leah looked over at the Ljosalfar as she leaned back into her couch. Drawing in a deep breath, she gave a little shrug, then simply explained “The thing that exposed me to chaos magic was my nipple piercings. They bleed it off. Kind of a shocker to hear that. If it weren’t already too late, and if I didn’t need them for the cure, I’d have gotten rid of them ages ago.”
Farrah raised her eyebrows high, her face opening up in surprise. Her mouth slightly hanging ajar in a tiny circle, she mumbled “Oh...I’m so sorry, my dear. I...That can’t have been easy to discover.” Farrah’s eyes went half-closed as she looked off to the side. In a mumble, she remarked “Why must growing breasts be such a complicated procedure for people?” “Wasn’t for me,” Kelly remarked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. Farrah and Astraia both raised their eyebrows and looked over at her. Kelly raised her eyebrows high, her smirk growing bigger.
With a somewhat uncouth patting to her chest, she said “I grew mine through alchemy. I wanted big ones, and I got ‘em. Can’t complain. Everywhere I go, people stare at my jiggle. I’m a fucking babe.” Again, Farrah looked quite surprised. Raising her eyebrows high, she earnestly asked “Breast growth can actually be done, through alchemy? My family’s court alchemist could never manage it!” Astraia raised an eyebrow and looked over at Farrah, smiling to herself. Miriam narrowed her eyes with a sly smile. Bouncing her knees up and down, she blurted out “I think you’ve got enough boob for all of us. You get any bigger, you won’t be able to stand up!”
Farrah gave an amused titter. Smiling, she barely shook her head. Patiently, she cooed “No, no. This was before I filled out. My court alchemist could never manage a potion that caused growth spurts to specific areas of the body, and eventually, I turned to prayer. That did work.” “Maybe a little too well,” Leah chirped, smiling widely. Farrah gently shrugged with her eyebrows, but her smile didn’t subside. Miriam looked at Astraia and, somewhat presumptuously, remarked “What about you, big girl? How’d you get your boobs?” Astraia went a little flush at the direct question, but she nonetheless sated the Dokkalfar’s curiosity. Somewhat quietly, she answered “Well...I was born this way, largely. Through a proper diet, exercise, and force of will, I was allowed this body by the grace of Ethene.”
Kelly’s eyes lightly widened. Her voice a little low, she remarked “Hang on, a second...Are you telling me that we’re all...?” She glanced back and forth between Farrah and Astraia. The corners of her mouth began to rise in a steadily widening grin. Excitement bubbling up in her voice, she asked “Is everyone here a shemale? Do we all have cocks?” When Farrah went red and Astraia went pink, Kelly had all the answer she needed. The question, and likely the rude choice of term Kelly had made, had Farrah’s eyes widening and her mouth going ajar, while Astraia just gave a faint chortle and remarked “Oh, my.”
Farrah gave Astraia a look, somewhat sheepish. Astraia looked over at her, and as realization dawned in her eyes, a small, friendly smile rose up on her face. Farrah looked away, subtly stroking her hands across her thighs, smoothing out her dress. Miriam gave a blank blink, evidently unfazed by the exposure to her sexuality. Kelly merely grinned from ear to ear. One of her hands uncontrollably went over Leah’s thick thigh, trailing up her armour high between her legs. In a hushed mumble, Kelly blurted out “...That’s really fucking hot. I haven’t been around so many people like me in ages.”
Leah glanced over at Kelly, raising an eyebrow at the borderline fondle she was giving her. Farrah lightly cleared her throat and, somewhat sheepishly, commented “N-Now that we all know each other a little more personally than I ever would’ve expected, let’s turn towards the more important matters at hand: our destination, and our business therein.” “Yeah, what about that,” Miriam promptly chimed in, her eyes a little wide in spite of the vacant smile on her face. The colour subsided from Farrah and Astraia’s faces as the Ljosalfar quickly brought the trio up to speed on their dealings in the time since she and Leah had met.
“You see, I have reason to suspect that the Clementines at the Grand Cathedral to Mitharu, over in Didenhil, may be related to a string of unfortunate events that occurred in Whitedown. A lord in the nobility became fixated on chaos magic, and he mentioned a visit from the Clementines in some of his personal notes. Considering the distance between Whitedown and Didenhil, a visit from a family of humble monks is...Unusual.” Farrah’s brow furrowed as she coolly added “As well, we have reason to believe that an agent of the land of Bassawin may be involved, to some extent. We found a stranger in the lord’s manor who was looking for something, and beat a hasty retreat upon being discovered.”
Kelly narrowed an eye. “Bassawin,” she repeated. “That place is hundreds of miles from here. What would make someone come all the way out to the Faelands from way over there?” Astraia answered for Farrah. She produced the assassin’s sleek, matte throwing knife from inside her armour, briefly holding it up before setting it down on the center table between the two couches. “We can’t say for certain,” she commented, “but the stranger used this dagger during her escape. It took a couple days, but the court armourer to Farrah’s family traced the make of this dagger to a famous blacksmith in Bassawin, so that settles the issue.”
Farrah glanced at the throwing knife. “I find it difficult to believe that someone not native to Bassawin would so readily throw away a weapon like that,” she commented. “Not unless they were a native and had had plenty made in advance for their usage. If this dagger were a rarity or had been costly to import, no doubt it would be treated with more reverence. Thus, I’m positive that our mysterious snooper was from Bassawin...I’m not sure why she was there at the time of our visit, but based on Lord Pann’s journal, she had attempted to warn him away from chaos magic. He mentions a Bassawin woman who was attempting to discourage him, and that he was on the verge of turning on her.”
Farrah lightly raised her eyebrows and added “He also mentioned that Fateweavers can no longer read peoples’ destinies, anymore. I was unaware. A very curious development, indeed.” Leah gave a weary sigh, leaning over far enough to put her elbow to her knee and cover her forehead with her hand. “Yeah, Malchiorn mentioned that, too,” she commented. Kelly’s change in attitude was palpable. She raised one leg and crossed it over the other, putting her right ankle to her left knee. Leaning into the side of the couch, a more sedated expression came over her. Her voice low, she muttered “I wonder if any of that stuff has anything to do with Leah’s Crudok. Malchiorn mentioned that the Clementines were studying ways to combat and cleanse chaos magic.”
Astraia looked over at Farrah, murmuring “That explains it, then. Maybe they somehow discovered what Pann was attempting to do, and came to discourage him? It’s a shame they couldn’t outright stop him before anything happened.” Farrah raised a hand and tiredly rubbed a couple fingertips across her brow, just above her eyebrows. “Yes, it is,” she mumbled, in a bit of an exhale. “Doesn’t explain what she was looking for,” Miriam abruptly chimed in, a vapid smile still on her face. Farrah and Astraia both looked at her in curiosity. Miriam gave a shrug. “The Bassawin chick,” she reminded them. “You said she was looking for something. Did she find it? Do you know what it was? So, she tried to warn this noble guy, sure, but then you found her in the mansion, looking for something. What was it?”
“We don’t know,” Farrah readily answered, lightly raising her eyebrows. Leah’s face was cool, lifeless. Her eyes lingered on the floor of the carriage, down at her feet. In a mumble, she finally came right out and aired the thought that had been lingering inside her, all week long: “...Maybe, if nobody has a destiny anymore...Maybe I’m not guaranteed to be killed by the Crudok. Maybe I can kill it.” Everyone looked over at her. Her brow started furrowing deep. Slowly, she raised her head from her hand. Her eyes slowly shifted around as a realization dawned upon her. In a faint mumble, she remarked “...Your weave or mine. We’ll see whose weave unravels, your’s or mine.”
Leah gave Kelly a quick glance, then looked forward, again. She barely met Farrah’s eyes before she was looking down, her eyes shifting around across everyone’s weapons. Softly, she mumbled “...He knew. Asmodeus knew, the whole time? But...That’s impossible. When he came to my village, the Tuatha were still a problem, and if people only lost their fates after Gadflow died, then Asmodeus couldn’t have...No, I’m overthinking it.” Leah dropped her forehead back into her palm, closed her eyes, and sighed out “He didn’t know, he was just talking bullshit. He didn’t know Fate would go away, he just couldn’t guess the future, is all. He didn’t know if I’d turn the tables on him.”
“I’m sorry?” Astraia asked, giving Leah a bit of a confused look. Kelly gave them a bit of a rueful grimace. She slipped her hand out of Leah’s lap and placed it over her back, gently rubbing up and down her white surcoat. Gently raising her eyebrows, she lightly tilted her head over in Leah’s direction, murmuring “Asmodeus is the name of the Crudok that killed Leah’s family. She was the only survivor from her childhood village. Malchiorn says he was Asmodeus’ usual hunter in some Fae story, but something changed and made the Crudok leave.” Leah raised her eyebrows and chimed in “He was surprised to hear that the Crudok’s smart enough to talk.”
Astraia momentarily pursed her lips, her big body giving a light rocking as the carriage hit a bump in the road. Nonchalantly, she murmured “Strange. I don’t think chaos magic can accomplish a feat such as breaking someone away from Fate, and it sounds like the Crudok did so well before this “Gadflow’s” defeat. As well, I’ve never stumbled across a case of chaos magic causing a rise in intellect, rather than a decline into insanity. Perhaps your Crudok is unrelated to these cases of chaos magic, Leah.” Rather dryly, Leah remarked “Wow, that’s a huge weight off my shoulders.” Astraia’s eyes subtly shifted to Kelly, then over to Farrah. Miriam fought a bigger smile, frowning as she held back a chuckle.
After a moment, Leah looked up at Astraia, remorse rising up on her face. “I’m sorry,” she earnestly said. “That wasn’t right of me. I just meant...I don’t know what I meant.” “It’s alright, Leah,” Astraia softly answered, her milky eyes passively gazing into Leah’s. “I realize that you’ve been going through a rough time, lately. Hopefully, seeing the Clementines will help. If not...You have my aid, however you may need it.” One corner of Leah’s mouth rose up at the gracious forgiveness. Kelly rubbed at Leah’s back a little more, then said “I imagine you meant to say that it’s nice to hear the Crudok might not be related to all this chaos magic, but it stills sucks that the chaos magic is a thing we need to deal with. Right?”
Leah turned her head, glanced at Kelly, and mumbled “Yeah, something like that.” Miriam abruptly patted Leah’s shoulder, unabashedly remarking “Yeah, well, just be glad your chaos magic only gave you bigger boobs and not double-cock, double-balls. You got the better end of the deal, if you ask me.” Farrah and Astraia both raised their eyebrows at the remark. Miriam grinned, a mischievous glint across her eyes. Almost as if it were a challenge, she asserted “Oh, curious, eh? You ever seen a Dokkalfar with two cocks and four balls? You wanna?” Miriam abruptly stood up and reached down. Farrah went wide-eyed.
Kelly grabbed Miriam by her cape and yanked her back into her seat, blurting out “Sit down, you nympho!” Leah could only chuckle, something Kelly softtly mirrored, after a moment. Things quieted down, after that. The rest of the trip passed by in an amicable haze, and by morning, they were nearing their destination. Farrah ensured that her carriage driver avoided populated areas for the sake of others’ safety, and eventually, the carriage slowed, then rolled to a stop. Farrah polished off the glass of glacial brandy she had been nursing, then grabbed her sceptre. “We must have arrived,” she cheerfully announced, grabbing the nearest double door.
Within a few moments, everyone had stepped outside, glancing around at their surroundings. Leah’s eyebrows slowly rose as her eyes trailed up the face of the Grand Cathedral, looming just scant few meters away. The forest around them had been cleared just enough to accommodate the cathedral, leaving it sitting pretty between tall foliage. The thing was an impressive display of gothic architecture, with charcoal gray bricks as big as her torso making up the impossibly tall building’s walls. A massive, arched tower protruded from the very front, the tip of the rooftop, punctuated at the top with a giant brass bell.
Gargoyles were perched on tiny shelves in the stone, and at each corner of the cathedral, an enormous simulacrum of a veiled man had been erected, muscular and broad-shouldered. Tall, narrow, stained glass windows raked across the face and sides of the Grand Cathedral in parallel columns, each a mosaic of multicoloured sections. At the base of the cathedral’s front, an enormous, arched pair of wooden double doors stood, the wood near-black and dotted close to the center with a brass pair of rounded doorknockers.
Kelly held her pike steady, leaning on it as she eyed the cathedral. Voice low, she simply stated “Been a while since I last saw this place. Not much reason to...Never been the biggest worshipper of Mitharu.” “Neither am I,” Astraia offered, “but you don’t need to be to appreciate Order. The Erathi believed in it enough to cleanse the world for us, when Chaos reigned. If not for them, Niskaru would be a much greater problem than they already are. Civilization likely would not have even arisen.” “Well...Them and the Warsworn,” Kelly pointed out, a proud little smile on her face. Farrah looked over at her carriage driver, calling out “My dear Frederick, feel free to have some lunch. I suspect our visit may take some time to conclude.”
The carriage driver answered to the affirmative. As Farrah led the way towards the cathedral’s entrance, organ music began to hum inside the building, slowly rumbling a ponderous, melancholic tune. “Allow me to handle the introductions,” Farrah casually answered. “I’ve had multiple meetings with the Clementines before, although I never would’ve suspected the brothers had such a keen interest in combatting chaos magic. If I had, I would’ve commended them for it, even offered aid.” Her voice went a little low as she added “...Clearly, it can be a little more pervasive than I ever suspected. Finding it in Whitedown was disturbing.”
“Well, it sure snuck up on me.” Leah remarked, a bitter undercurrent in her tone. The sarcastic edge in her voice discouraged the others from responding, which only had Leah looking more embittered, her eyes dropping to the ground as she walked along. When Farrah reached the double doors to the cathedral, she pulled up one of the doorknockers, loudly hitting it back down against the metal base. Everyone waited a minute, but nobody ever came to answer them. The organ music continued unabated as Farrah tried a second time, knocking away multiple times before giving the brass ring a rest. After another twenty seconds of waiting, Leah’s teeth were going on edge.
A flash of primal rage she could only barely suppress began to rise up in her, manifesting as a mutter that seeped through the cracks. Her brow sinking deep, she uttered “Open the fuck up.” Kelly looked over at her, a small frown coming to her. She raised her hand to the side of Leah’s head, gently leaning her a little closer as she pressed a disarming kiss to the side of her head. Leah’s expression relaxed as she calmed down, some. After a couple seconds, however, her bitterness turned to depression, shame over her own frustration. Her expression went ashen, dead, as her eyes dropped down, the corners of her mouth barely dipping. Why had things needed to turn out, this way? What was the point in trying to figure this out? If the Crudok didn’t kill her, the chaos magic inside her body would. Why bother with any of this?
Farrah tried knocking a third time, but when nobody came to answer yet again, it was Kelly’s turn to get agitated. Her brow sinking a touch, she bluntly remarked “Alright, now I’m getting annoyed.” “Yeah, fuck this,” Miriam chimed in, raising an eyebrow high. Raising her chin at the door, she asked “Is the door unlocked? Because I’m about tired of standing around, out here.” “Ehh...” Farrah hummed, hesitating for a moment before gingerly attempting to push the doors open. They barely budged, and when Farrah gave a grunt of exertion, Astraia rested her big hands against the double doors, murmuring “Allow me.”
Farrah smiled graciously and took a step back. Astraia came in front of the doors and began pushing. In short order, the cracking of wood accompanied her efforts, but before anyone could tell her to stop, Astraia had shoved the doors inwards, blasting apart the wooden beam barricading the doors. Her expression opened up in surprise as splinters and shards of wood were strewn about the inside of the entrance, but besides an airheaded giggle from Miriam, nobody said anything to castigate the giantess. The organ music, much louder now, enveloped them in a curtain of bittersweet sound as they peered in through the doorway, only slowly looking around as they stepped inside the Clementine Cathedral.
The walls were covered in tapestries primarily depicting respectful representations of Mitharu, but in certain spots, the other gods and goddesses who championed Order were present. Rows of benches lined the interior of the cathedral all the way up to a pedestal at the far end, elevated up on a short platform, rising just three small steps. The interior of the cathedral ended up filling out a “t” shape, and each could see that, in the short diversion on the far left branch, there sat the large organ responsible for the music playing, complete with one of the Clementine brothers, seated on the playing bench in his white, embroidered robe. Even after Astraia had accidentally broken the door in, he kept right on playing his song.
Farrah stepped inside, her high-heeled sabatons barely making a sound as she walked over the lengthy red rug running clear across the interior. The thing spanned from the front entrance all the way up to the pedestal, splitting the benches into two sections in the process, and after Farrah had passed by three or four, she tried calling for the man’s attention. The slow, ponderous organ music continued, unabated. Leah started to follow after Farrah, which prompted Kelly to do the same. Miriam simply stood around and watched Astraia fret over the damaged double doors, trying to shut them, checking to see if they had been wrecked. Eventually, she beckoned for the giantess to follow, and the two of them went after the other three.
“Excuse me? We apologize for the intrusion, brother, it seems as though you may not have been expecting company.” Farrah stopped several rows away from the organ, watching the elderly Almain slowly pass his hands across the keys to the organ. Leah watched the man with a growing sense of unease. Malchiorn had explicitly stated that his allies were the Clementines - why had the door been barred? Why wasn’t the monk reacting to them? Farrah lightly leaned to the side, carefully watching the monk. After a moment, she ventured to call more loudly. “Brother Frank? Is that you? I apologize, I’ve brought company with me. Is everything well?” The bald man at the organ slowed his song until his hands went still. He glanced over with raised eyebrows, and when he noticed them, he gave a double-take.
Turning on the bench with a smile, he seemed caught off-guard as he said “Oh, Lady Beaumont, what a surprise! I, I wasn’t expecting a visit.” “Then why was the door barred?” Leah was quick to ask, a skeptical look on her face. The elderly Almain lightly pulled up his sleeves as he stood up from the bench. Instead of answering the question, he looked over at Astraia, smiled again, and said “Ohh, miss Astraia, it’s wonderful to see you, again. How has your pilgrimage been, thus far? Did you discover the meaning to your visions?” Astraia’s blueish, milky eyes casually remained locked on the monk. Nonchalantly, she answered “I believe so. Now, however, I’m wondering if there isn’t more ahead of me to do. The happenings at the Novambles Estate brought me here. This very likely could have been Ethene’s intention, as well.”
“Yes, I see,” Frank answered, his eyes going towards the floor as he drew in a breath and sighed it back out. Leah didn’t let him evade the question any further. Her expression evolving from skepticism to coolness, she firmly demanded “Why was the door barred?” Frank opened his mouth to answer, but evidently thought better of it, and simply looked off to the side. After a couple seconds of silence, Kelly, too, began to look annoyed, and at a steadily more intense degree than Leah, at that. Miriam gave a blank smile, innocently remarking “Cat got your tongue?”
Farrah began to approach the monk further, gently raising her hands up by her sides. “Brother Frank, I found references to the Clementines in Lord Novambles’ personal notes-” Don’t come any closer,” Frank abruptly asked, extending his arm towards her as he shuffled a couple steps backwards, putting more distance between the two. Farrah immediately stopped walking, her face going a little surprised at the queer reaction. She had never seen the man look on edge, like this. A somewhat nervous expression on his face, he unaggressively pointed a finger at her, flatly stating “You’ve brought the taint of chaos magic into this place. We barred the doors to stop you from leading anything here, in the event that Malchiorn’s warning went unheeded.”
His eyes turned to Leah. He dropped his hand as he asked “Malchiorn did see you, didn’t he? He warned you to stay away from populated areas. We aren’t ready to help you, either of you.” At that, he glanced at Miriam, then added “And now, you’ve brought chaos into the one place that’s trying to cure people in your positions.” Raising his eyebrows, he flatly uttered “Don’t come any closer, I can already feel the magic bleeding off of you. Now that you’re here, we can try to help you, but it’s going to take time. Until then, we need to get you into warded chambers before you lead anything here...Or cause damage.”
“Lead what?” Miriam asked, raising an eyebrow. Kelly gave the floor a thumping with the butt of her pike, chiming in “Gray Brownies, we can handle. Niskaru, we can handle.” “You don’t understand,” Frank blurted out, shaking his head. Perspiration was beginning to make the man’s forehead shine. Raising his eyebrows, he uttered “Asmodeus has always been tracking you. The chaos that bleeds off of you can be sensed by anything with enough sympathy to magic. He never knew we were combatting chaos magic, nor did he know we were helping Malchiorn. If he did, he assuredly would’ve attacked us. Now that you’re here, he might connect the dots!”
Astraia looked over her shoulder, peering towards the front entrance. Her brow furrowed, a touch, as a prickle came over the back of her neck. Farrah took a step backwards for Frank’s comfort, then asked “Why did you and your brothers attempt to visit Lord Novambles?” Frank raised his eyebrows, leaning his head forward, a little, as he brought a hand to his chest and earnestly insisted “We knew what he was trying to do. While we haven’t yet been able to find a way to reverse the erosion chaos magic causes, we have found a way to track it down, and the ceremony pointed us towards Whitedown.” Astraia closed her eyes for a moment, her teeth going on edge as she raised a hand to the back of her head. In a mumble, she asked “Farrah, do you feel that?”
Farrah raised her eyebrows, looking over at Astraia. Leah took a couple steps towards Frank, her eyes a little wide with impatience as she asked “What do you know about Asmodeus? Was he infected by chaos magic, like us? What made him smart enough to talk? Why is he hunting me? Why is he doing this?!” Frank’s mouth hung open as he stammered, his eyebrows rising as he gave a couple impotent shakes with his head. Astraia’s eyes widened as the sound of heavy footfalls faintly thudded on the other side of the undefended cathedral doors. She hurriedly grabbed her chakrams as she blurted out “To arms!”
Farrah, too, went wide-eyed as a tall shape became visible, between the double doors. All at once, the tall wooden doors were thrown inwards, slammed in with enough force to send them crashing into the walls on either side of the doorway. Frank grabbed his chest, right over his heart, as pallor-inducing terror surged across his face. Kelly and Miriam turned to face the door, brandishing their large weapons at the ready. When Leah looked over, her hand was already going for her rapier, but what she saw turned her muscles to jelly. Her stomach seemed to liquefy and fall away, sinking like a stone. A cold fear gripped her heart the likes of which she hadn’t felt since her childhood.
The Crudok. The same one that hiding under her blanket hadn’t been able to banish.
It lumbered through the doorway and walked into the cathedral. It was huge, just as big as she remembered. It was a nightmarish thing, almost twice as tall as a man and with a body length to match a horse-drawn carriage. It had a long, fat abdomen like a worm’s, pale and covered over in ritualistic scars patterned like tattoos. Three legs dotted either side of the abdomen, each shaped like a large human’s arm, allowing the Crudok’s six hand-like feet to pat against the rug on the floor. An enormous tail, topped off with a spear-like stinger, coiled upwards from the rear of the abdomen, poised to stretch out and impale anybody who so dared to cross the Fae creature’s path.
A humanoid torso rose up from the front of the abdomen, with two additional limbs acting as proper arms, each hand capped with lengthy talons. The Crudok’s muscular barrel chest was chiselled, rock-hard like a bodybuilder. The creature had a thick, wild, tangled mess of hair, pulled back into dreadlocks that hung down all the way to the creature’s abdomen. However, the most intimidating thing about the creature, the thing that made Leah feel small, that brought her back to the fires, was the Crudok’s face. The two mandible-like organs it had on either side of it’s head held together what amounted to a mask over it’s true face, giving it the bone-like visage of a disarming smile, the organic mask ridged all across it’s surface with crests and valleys.
When Leah saw the eyeholes of the mask glowing purple with magic, it shamed her, but she very nearly lost control of her bladder. The horror that gripped her was so all-consuming, time seemed to stop. Tears flooded her eyes. Her body fell into trembles that were so potent, she were nearly convulsing, quaking like a dying leaf clinging on to a branch against the breeze. She could almost feel the vibrations of the Crudok’s six legs, thumping through the stone floor. The Crudok looked up at the wall behind the altar, apparently eyeing the grand tapestry of Mitharu as He oversaw the progress of the Almain people. Leah barely squeaked, finally drawing her rapier. When she found her voice, it was small. “He...He’s come for me!”
Farrah held out her sceptre and, without a word, began firing bolts of magic at the Crudok. The sceptre lightly recoiled in her hand with every blast of ice it sent flying, shooting short spear-like shards of ice through the air, aimed to skewer the Fae creature’s humanoid torso. The Crudok looked over, threw up a hand and, with a growl of annoyance, simply slapped each bolt right out of the air, it’s hand glowing purple-black with magic as if parried the Ljosalfar’s magic with seemingly little effort. Astraia’s eyes momentarily narrowed at the colouration of the creature’s magic. Urgently, she uttered “Primal magic? I thought Primal magic was unique to the Teeth of Naros?”
Farrah stopped firing bolts as soon as she noticed the ineffectiveness of her attacks. Kelly and Miriam both put themselves in front of Leah, and Astraia joined in a moment later, the giantess holding her chakrams at the ready. Leah, her eyes wide with panic, her skin having gone bloodless, her teeth bared and on edge, loudly declared “You can’t have me! Stop hunting me, you bastard! W-Why are you doing this?! Why did you let me live, just to torture me, like this?! You sadistic son of a bitch, just fucking leave me alone!!” Tears started pouring down her cheeks as she gave an unhinged smile. Her voice tight, she pitifully added “Nobody has a fate, anymore! I’m not destined to die!”
Everyone went tense as the Crudok’s body lightly rumbled and quaked, a deep noise reminiscent of a chuckle emanating from inside the great beast’s body. It lightly tilted it’s head to the side.
“...Did you think that by becoming a girl, I wouldn’t be able to find you? Did you think that ceasing to be a boy would mean I wouldn’t be able to recognize you, anymore?”
That voice, a deep, smooth utter, a throaty declaration straight out of her constant nightmares, nearly had Leah collapsing to her knees. She could feel mucous oozing from her nostrils from the sheer shock gripping her. The Crudok slowly shook it’s head, then began to turn it’s body back around.
“...You’re not ready yet,” it dismissively declared. “You haven’t the heart for this.”
Leah wanted to blurt out that she was ready, that she wanted this all to end, that she wasn’t afraid to fight him and be done with it...But, the words were never going to come out, not even if the beast had given her all afternoon. No amount of time would’ve mustered up the courage for a sealing of her fate. The bell atop the cathedral began to ring, filling the grand interior with an echoing thrumming. The Crudok, facing the cathedral entrance, began to lumber away. Without even looking back, it spoke, casually deriding her.
“You were a coward as a boy, and as a man, you haven’t changed. You abandon family and go on the run with friends, hoping for succour. You’re so terrified of me, you even think to change your identity. You don’t have the heart to reenact the tale. I had expected you to prepare, to rise to the occasion, and instead, you cower. I’m disappointed. I’ll find you again when you’re more emotionally stable...If such a day ever comes.”
Leah finally collapsed. Her numb legs gave out from under her, and she dropped hard to her knees. Kelly looked back at her. When she saw the anguish on Leah’s face, it stunned her. Leah’s eyes were wide, dazed, tears coursing from her red, puffy eyes as her mouth hung open, her lips trembling. She looked like she had peered into the face of Death, itself. Kelly’s expression turned blank. She looked back at the Crudok and abruptly separated herself from the group, marching after it. Miriam was the first to blurt out “Uh, babe? What’re you doing?” “Kelly!” Astraia called, hurrying after her, intent on pulling her back to the group.
“Hey! Asmodeus!” Kelly shouted, her eyes slowly widening, her lips set in a flat, firm line. The Crudok never stopped walking towards the exit. It never quickened it’s pace, never slowed down, never even looked back. Kelly quickened her pace further, breaking out into a run, all at once. She raised her pike at her side with both hands, ready to skewer the Crudok from behind. Instead, it paused, and it’s tail came swatting straight downwards, stretching out to it’s full length. Leah almost cried Kelly’s name before she saw the Varani give a deft roll to the side at a diagonal angle. The limb came down hard enough to audibly slam the floor, sending a humming vibration clear through the cathedral’s stone cobbling.
When Kelly rose to her feet, she was already primed to impale her pike into the beast’s abdomen, but then, the Crudok twisted to the side. It pulled it’s tail over, throwing it clear through a full half dozen benches before finally ramming Kelly in the back. It hit her hard enough not only to knock the pike from her hands, but to send her through a somersault, leaving her dazed as she cracked down against the floor over her back, wheezing as the wind was knocked from her lungs. The Crudok turned it’s head and looked at her for a moment, then resumed leaving without even offering a taunt. Leah hurriedly rose to her feet, her voice quaking as she called Kelly’s name.
She broke away from the rest and rushed over towards the prone Varani, eyeing the Crudok as it departed through the open doorway, wordlessly walking away without so much as a glance back in her direction. When she reached the Varani, she knelt down beside her, then dropped to both knees. Kelly was conscious, albeit stunned as she struggled to catch her breath. When she saw Leah, she put on a smile and gave a breathless chuckle. Leah glanced up at the Crudok, already disappearing into the forest across from the cathedral.
Looking back down at Kelly, she smiled, her eyes still glistening. She sniffled, then blurted out “That was fucking brave of you!” Kelly smiled more. She gave a couple blinks in rapid succession, then said “I thought you said you were being chased by a Crudok?” Leah just gave a confused blink, slowly raising an eyebrow. Kelly chuckled again, then raised her eyebrows. “That was a Greater Crudok,” she matter-of-factly remarked. Leah’s face slowly opened up in a lack of comprehension. The ringing bell quieted, fading but for a moment of echoing. Farrah gave a relieved sigh as the Crudok disappeared into the distance. Miriam gave a sniff, then replaced her greatsword underneath her cape, setting it in the clasps attached to her armour.
Astraia called out “Leah! Is Kelly injured?” Kelly answered for herself, calling back “Just my pride!” Leah tried not to blubber as she snickered out a laugh at the rugged answer. When Farrah heard Frank give a sigh, she all at once remembered the man was even present. With the unexpected appearance of the Crudok, she had forgotten that the man had even been there. She turned around to find him pale and sweating, still clutching his chest lest his aged heart give out on him. Astraia’s eyes darted to the side as a door opened up on the other side of the cathedral’s cross shape, a couple of the other Clementines slowly stepping out, looking around in surprise.
Frank gave Farrah a jittery nodding. “We...We have much to discuss, I think,” he offered. Farrah nodded in agreement.

(Author's Note - Hey, guys! Here you have it, another Mask Comes Off chapter:). Big things happened in this one! Firstly, Leah wasn’t really acting like herself, in this chapter - gone was the optimistic, naive farmgirl. Is this a change brought on by the chaos magic, or is it simply the natural consequence of recent events leaving her jaded? As well, the group all came together, with Farrah the impossibly busty elf bringing Astraia along for a chance meeting with Leah, Kelly, and Miriam. Thirdly, and most importantly, the Crudok finally makes an appearance.
Based on Asmodeus’ behaviour, it’d seem as though he expected something from Leah, but what, who can guess. When it finds her cowering behind her friends, rattled and crying, it simply departs with taunts - strange behaviour for a creature that ostensibly only wanted to hunt Leah for sport. In the end, the Clementines agree to discuss matters with the group, albeit presumably only once they’ve entered warded rooms to prevent the chaos magic coming off of them to do any real damage to the surrounding cathedral, or the Clementines, themselves.
I really hope you had a fun read! If you did, feel free to drop a comment, it’s always great to hear from readers. :) I’ll see you in the next one!)
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The Mask Comes Off