Flamefeathers - Cleansing
Alcmene makes it back to society. She is reunited with a friend and given the promise of safety from the horrors she's experienced. But it's not enough. She needs to cleans herself of the ash and the fear.
--
I would like to thank everybody supporting me! You can show your support at www.patreon.com/DragonValor and get early access to stories and commissions!
The cool air danced over her flesh and little bumps rose all along her bare body. Beneath her, the soft ash shifted, giving way to rough earth and jagged pieces of partially burnt timbers. She curled her digits on her left hand into the nearly nonexistent mattress of what used to be a barn while the other hand clutched tighter at the warm scepter she did not dare to let go of. She would die before she let it go.
Her lids slowly opened as another gust of wind blew over her body. Not far away, timbers snapped and creaked in protest as the wind pushed on them. A moment later, they crashed loudly to the ground.
Alcmene lifted her head and glanced about. Where once had been a barn stood only a few stubborn boards and her body covered in ash. Nearby, the last supports of what had once been a farm house had toppled to the ground.
She sat up with a groan and was momentarily startled by an alien tightness in her middle. She looked down and was instantly reminded of what she had been hiding from. She lifted her free hand from the ash she'd slept on to press to her round belly. A thick layer of powder fell away from where her fingers pressed against the taut flesh and she sighed.
She still looked like she was going to give birth at any moment.
She wished she'd burned there with the barn and the house. But somehow deep down, she knew her sister would blame herself. She would believe wholly that it was her fault her baby sister had come to her rescue and perished needlessly to save her. Alcmene wouldn't let her big sister do that to herself.
She hefted her weight onto shaking legs. One hand cradled her belly as if to lift it and ease the burden on her back. She stumbled out of the smoldering remains of what had been her sanctuary and gazed skyward. The sun hung low in the sky over the western horizon. She'd slept all night and all through the following day.
Forcing one foot in front of the other, she stumbled after the sun. Soon the moon, Xulu, would join its twin, Helos, in the night sky. She knew she wasn't nearby the coast, but she hoped she would be lucky enough to find another farm or small town before Xulu rose.
She looked down at herself and brushed her hands over her naked flesh. The ash exploded off of her in great plumes with every stroke of her palms. It wafted around her as an immense grey cloud until another gentle burst of wind drew it away from her. Once her front was as clean as she could get it, she glanced over her shoulder at her once black wings. They were as grey as her pale flesh.
She spread her wings wide and clamped her eyes shut. She gave them a trio of powerful flaps and pitched herself off balance. She stumbled and fell, catching herself as another courteous gust blew the ash behind her. She whimpered and dragged herself upward once again. Her wings were still covered, but they were a much darker shade than they had been.
She continued west, grateful to every gust that cleaned her just that much more. She stared down at the grassy earth beneath her as she traversed every gently rolling hill. How much time passed, she couldn't be sure. The sun set and Helos and Xulu began their slow dance in the sky. Again she counted herself as lucky as one could trick themselves into feeling given the circumstances. The moons were full and bathed the grassy hills in an eerie glow.
A loud scream tore her from her reverie. She lifted her head slowly to find she had stumbled to the outskirts of a small market and trade post. Settlements like this one dotted the unmarked border on the map where the coastal villages and farms inland met. The two traded and exchanged their goods in places up and down Aslennor's coast from Glelsolara to The Relward.
Beside one of the wooden buildings, a woman stared at her wild eyed with one hand clutching her chest while the other used to wall to steady herself. Alcmene was acutely aware of more and more of the settlement's eyes turning toward her as a murmur rose among them. She stopped, trying to decide why they looked so frightened. She was a Warden, a symbol of hope and justice in Aslennor.
“Alcmene?" a voice she was sure she knew called out. She turned slowly to its owner, lifting one hand to her heavy belly to steady her exhausted body. A young human in his mid-twenties rushed toward her. He wore the alsilrite-laced clothing of a Warden. He was adorned in a purple robe belted tight around his waist that shimmered like a fluid metal. “My Goddess, you look like a ghost!"
He rushed to her and drew his cloak from his shoulders with one hand while the other brushed at what ash remained on her body. He seemed to give up quickly and instead simply draped the cloak over her. He paused, finally taking note of her nudity and swollen middle. He rested a palm against the hot globe of her belly and sighed heavily. “Let's get you cleaned up."
She staggered numbly beside him, barely aware of the people around them gawking and muttering in hushed tones.
“Your sister passed me on the road," the human explained. She knew his name, but it escaped her. It was as though he was there, but he wasn't. He was real, but she was imagining him. “She told me what you did, trading places with her. She asked me to go get you out of there, so I came here to get supplies for the journey to get you and take you home."
She felt the dusty earth beneath her feet give way to hard wood. She blinked the exhaustion from her eyes long enough to see the man was leading her through the front door of an inn. With some effort, he helped her up a flight of stairs and down a short corridor to a chamber she assumed he had rented.
“How did you escape?" the man asked as he helped her to sit on the edge of a bed. The only one in the room, she noted. She stared up into his chiseled face and struggled to put a name to his features.
“I waited until he was asleep," she said as tears welled in her eyes, obscuring the human's face. “I snuck out and ran as far as I could. I hid in a barn and…" She choked back a sob and brushed at her cheeks as tears drew dark lines through the ash there. “…They burned it down with me inside it."
“Goddess…" the man said, stroking the stubble on his chin. “Well you're safe now and-…"
The door opened behind him and a thick man with two chins stuck his head through. “Manawyhn, is there anything I can do?"
The Warden turned and nodded slowly. “Run a bath so she can get cleaned up. And have these sheets washed and replaced. I'll also need another room for the night."
The fat inn keeper nodded and closed the door. Alcmene heard him bark orders, but they were muffled by the door and her heavy fatigue.
“We'll get you back home and everything is going to be okay, I promise," Manawyhn said as he settled beside her on the bed.
Everything crashed down around her. She turned and buried her face in the robes of his chest, clutching at him desperately as the tears began to flow freely. She tried to tell him everything that had happened, tried to pour her soul out to her fellow Warden, but she doubted he could make out any of it through her heavy sobs.
He wrapped his strong arms around her and rocked gently back and forth, cooing and shushing her. He never interrupted her, just let her tell the tale from start to finish until it deteriorated into uncontrollable crying. And still he held her.
Through her crying, she heard the door open and a procession of boots pass in front of them. After several minutes of that, the door closed and her weeping waned until it was nothing but sniffles and hiccups.
“Come on," Manawyhn urged in naught but a whisper. “Let's get you in a nice hot bath. You can wash it all away." He helped her to her feet and together they shuffled across the modest room to a porcelain tub in the corner. It was filled nearly to the top with hot, steaming water.
As she slipped into the liquid heat, Alcmene felt the weight of the ash and the pain lift from her body. She sunk down until her breast, then her shoulders submerged beneath the water. She wrapped her arms about herself, one across her bosom and the other around the expanse of her belly. Already she missed the security that Manawyhn's embrace had offered.
“I'll be right outside if you need me," the male said with a warm smile. “I won't be far. I promise, if you need me I'll be right here for you."
She stared up at him with empty eyes and watched as he turned his back on her to leave. As he walked to the door, she let the rest of her body submerge into the water. She closed her eyes as the heat enveloped all of her, from her grime covered toes to her ash encrusted hair. As the ash lifted away and the heat sank into her body, a gentle ease seated itself deep inside Alcmene, an unshakable faith that everything would be okay.
She opened her eyes, expecting to stare through the water up at the distorted view of her room. Instead, all she saw was darkness. Panic filled her and she lurched upward. The water splashed over the sides of the tub and she gasped as her room sprang into her eyes. She breathed heavily, panting as the adrenaline rushed through her.
Everything was as it should be. The walls were solid. The tub surrounded her. And the only fire in sight was safely contained to the lamps and candles. She quivered and slowly settled back against the edge of the tub again.
Her hands roamed her body, brushing away the filth she had worn. The water was blacker than the night outside her window. But the blacker it got, the cleaner she felt. Warmth filled her soul again and she found herself staring into the gentle flame of a nearby candle perched atop an empty dresser.
How had it come to this? Weeks ago, she had been given the task of finding the very talisman she still held in her hands. She held the scepter up, for a moment amazed that the water and ash seemed to refuse to cling to the alsilrite weapon. Reluctantly, she reached out and set the scepter beside the candle and breathed a sigh.
She had become a Warden that afternoon and a woman that night. She remembered the Abrinin's hands on her body as fresh as though it had just happened. His thickness inside of her. His weight atop her own.
She clamped her eyes shut and grimaced. It had ended poorly. He had died because of her. Because someone else wanted what she had taken from the tomb. It had been the best night, and the worst night of her life.
A hand dipped below the swell of her gravid belly and brushed the grime from her nethers. A woman's first time was supposed to be something she cherished for all of her life.
Even when she had gone home and recounted the entire thing to Amphinome, there was that ache in her heart. Then her sister had gone away and what now seemed like only a short time later word had gotten back to them that she'd been captured. So Alcmene had gone to get her.
And then this…
She let a palm glide over the taut flesh of her tummy and she bit back another sob. She was so heavy, so full of the centaur's seed. They'd violated her sister, then forced themselves on her, violating them both in the rawest way. She dipped a finger into her folds. It had only been the second time she'd ever had sex. At the time, she thought it would never end. One horsecock after another plunging deep into her belly and filling her with their sickening essence.
And Nessus, working with a practiced ease to make her belly swell with his seed, then keep it there. She shuddered again. It was an experience she wanted desperately to forget. Would all of the times she mated be as terrible? Would she want to purge every male who takes her from her mind?
Her eyes turned to the closed door. No, she immediately thought. Manawyhn was a Warden. He would never agree, would never let her give herself to him. He would force her back to bed, hold her there until she went to sleep and the mood passed.
It was the right thing to do, but she desperately wanted a time, just one time where the sex was not a horror. She wanted the assurance that the act was not always meant to cause her pain instead of pleasure. She looked to the window and stood slowly. The water rolled over the exaggerated curves of her body, trickling into the dark tub with a music all its own.
Who then? She stepped out of the tub and peered out the window into the night. They were all terrified of her after seeing her stumble into the post like the walking dead.
A heavy cart drawn by a muscular brown horse rounded the corner down the road from the inn. The person leading the horse made Alcmene's heart leap in her chest. Panic coursed through her and her breathing quickened.
A centaur with white and brown fur walked leisurely toward the inn, talking jovially with an elf woman. Alcmene wanted to duck behind the tub and hide. But no one else seemed to share her panic. The elf gave him a lazy wave then turned to enter the inn. The centaur stopped his horse and cart in front of the stable beside the inn and tied the horse off. A moment later, he disappeared into the empty stable.
Not all centaur were bad, Alcmene reminded herself. Many had the reputations Nessus lived up to, but many of them farmed alongside the humans, elves, and angels in Glennor. She balled her fists and clamped her eyes shut. She couldn't allow herself to live in fear of them because of the acts of one village.
A part of her was screaming inside, pleading with her not to do what it already knew she was planning. That part of her wanted to dry off and sleep until the morning, then go home with Manawyhn and start to rebuild her life. But another part, the part that had searched for hours through a dark, booby-trapped tomb for an artifact she wasn't even sure was there, told her she had to face her fears, take charge of her life, and joy where there had only been pain.
She unlocked the window and lifted it up as far as it would go. There were few people in the street, but still she looked both ways to make sure she would not be caught before she crawled out. She sat on the windowsill and again peered into the night lit by two full moons. No one knew she was there so she leapt out of the window and spread her wings. She spread her wings and glided heavily to the ground beside the loaded cart.
As she passed the horse, she reached out and gave him a nervous pat on the neck. The horse considered her as she entered the stable but didn't make a noise.
Alcmene could see shadows moving in the last stall at the end and quietly crept down to quietly pull the door open just enough to peek inside. The centaur was there alright. He stood with his back to her and had both hands pressed against the wall. A dull, rhythmic _flop-flop-flop _sound filled Alcmene's ears. She remembered that sound.
Panic again filled her chest but she forced it down. He wasn't a rapist. He wasn't a monster. He wasn't Nessus.
As the centaur flicked his tail to the side, she could clearly see his engorged phallus swinging up to hit against his soft underbelly. The centaur moaned gently and curled his fingers against the wall of his stall.
He clearly wanted companionship. Alcmene chewed on her lip for a moment more before she pulled the door open and stepped inside.
As she latched the door with an audible clink, the centaur turned quickly, whirling to face her. His eyes widened and his jaw fell open. She wasted no time. She stepped forward and took both of his large, calloused hands. She pressed his palms to her damp breast and quivered beneath his rough flesh.
“What are you doing!?" he hissed.
“I just want," she began then stopped. “I need this. I need pleasure only you can give me. I need you to show me it won't always be bad." She stared up at him and leaned forward to gently brush her lips against his hard, bare abs.
“But you're-…"
“I'm not," she interrupted and stared up at him. “It was another centaur. A village of evil beings that will burn in the deepest Vault."
“Then why-…"
“I need to know it won't always be bad." She drew one of his hands down between her legs, thankful he didn't fight her. She pressed his digits to her moist folds. As his rough fingers brushed over her sensitive nub, she quivered and let a sigh pass her lips.
He didn't pull his hands away. He didn't protest. He just stared down at her, slack jawed and still.
Maybe not still. She could still hear the flop-flop-flop of his erection against his belly. He was still very aroused. Maybe more so by what she was asking. She pulled away from him and walked back toward the door. She reached out and clutched at the top of the smooth wood and bent over. She spread her legs wide and locked her knees.
The male behind her didn't need any more prompting. She watched his hooves shuffle over the hay covered floor as he approached. Then his front hooves disappeared. A moment later, they slide down over her shoulders and his erection prodded against her thighs.
She clamped her eyes shut as the memory of her rapists sprang into her mind's eye. She forced the image away and whimpered. “Please be gentle!" She sounded far more afraid than she wanted to.
The stallion's eager movements paused, then started again but this time far more slowly. With a few slow attempts, he finally pressed himself against her opening. He rocked his hips, nudging gently against her before his movements stilled.
“Are you sure this is what you want?" she heard him ask above her.
Was it what she wanted? She knew it was. More than that, she needed it. She stared at the globe of her belly hanging beneath her and shuddered. Chances were she was already carrying that monster's foal. But maybe she wasn't. “This is what I need. Please fuck me. Deep. I want you to cum in me." She choked back a sob and took a breath to calm her nerves. “I need you to cum in me and don't let a drop of it out. Please."
There was a moment's hesitation, but the stallion above her didn't say a word. Instead he pressed himself into her. She felt her body spreading open as it had so many times the previous day. She felt the thick rod push deeper and deeper into her until it bottomed out. She knew it was only half of his length.
She braced herself for the pain she knew was coming, but instead her lover withdrew his length slowly and eased back in until his tip seated against the entrance of her bloated womb. Her own jaw fell open and she stared at her belly without sufficient words to describe the shock she felt.
He was being gentle.
His easy entry was starting to rub places deep inside of her that had previously been battered numb. Nerves started to regain feeling and she heard herself moaning gently every time he nestled himself deep. This is what it was supposed to feel like.
“A little faster," she whispered. “You feel so wonderful… Um…"
“Peceus," the centaur groaned above her. “Call me Peceus."
“Fuck me faster, Peceus," she said through a moan. “You're so good to me. So good."
She was not disappointed. His hips gradually increased their pace. She stared down at her belly again, suddenly disappointed she could not see his groin, his cock, his ample balls swinging in time with his rocking hips. The force of his thrusts sent little bolts of lightning shooting through her body every time he nudged a little more forcefully against her womb. '
She expected it to be painful, but it was just a little ache that was quickly replaced by a tingling pleasure every time he dragged his unflared head through her body. “Yes, Peceus! Fuck me like that!" she encouraged, spreading her wings out on either side of his heavy barrel pressed against her bare back.
“Getting' close!" he said and nickered pleasantly. “I'm getting' close to-…"
“Do it in me! I want every drop to-…" It was Peceus turn to interrupt her. Alcmene felt his hips lurch forward quickly. Pain lanced through her belly for a fraction of a second before an immense, fiery wave of pleasure crashed over her. She felt the heat of his groin pressed tightly against her rump. His massive balls throbbed against her thighs and deep, deep in her womb a new wave of liquid heat flooded into her.
She cried out loudly and clutched at the door with white knuckles. Her body quaked and threatened to collapse beneath her, but she couldn't allow it. She needed every drop of Peceus's seed in her. Maybe, Goddess willing, it would be his seed that quickened in her belly and not the monster's.
“Oooooh Fuck!" she moaned. “Not a drop! Don't let a drop out of me!"
The stallion above her whinnied loudly as he pumped load after hot load into her. She stared at her tummy as it grew once more, swelling outward until it was that same size it had been when she'd escaped. But the heat inside of her was a comfort she clung to. She dropped a hand from the door and pressed her palm to her tummy.
“Let it be yours! Let it be yours!" she cried as another orgasm washed over her. “Fuck me till it's yours!"
She felt the flow start to slow down and her knees gave out. The ground rushed up at her and she slumped down at the base of the stall door. She twitched and quaked as reds and oranges swirled before her eyes. She moaned headily and clutched at her swollen belly.
Flop-flop-flop brought her back to reality. As the colors washed out of her eyes and the world began to return, she stared up at the stallion's flared erection flapping against his belly. It was still dripping his thick cum!
She stared up at the member for several moments then licked her lips. “May I sleep in here with you, Peceus?"
The stallion nickered at her in amusement and his two strong hands lifted her to her feet. “Do you really think we will get much sleep tonight?" he asked. “I can smell your desire."
She nodded and laid her head against his broad chest. “G-give me a minute. You are very good to me." She lifted her eyes and stared into his own. It startled her how brilliantly green they were. Like Glelsolaran ferns in summer. “It's not all bad. It's not all bad. You've shown me it's not all bad."
His calloused palm pressed against her belly and his lips brushed her own. She melted into the kiss and thrust her middle against his hand weakly.
“I fear you're already foal-heavy, but we can still try."