Author's Note

Welcome back to C&C! First and foremost, this chapter contains a great deal of M-rated content. If you want the T-rated version of this chapter, go here:

33: Reunions (T-rated)

Chapter contains: A heavy dose of Marco x Gilda with a side of one very teasing Archon Archex, though he does not participate in anything. He does, however, demonstrate Changeling skill at reading sensual desires and seduction. Action includes a full description of human-on-griffon paizuri followed by eagless-on-man rimming, and a lot of erotic images on the walls depicting a ton of varied interspecies action.

As always, I thank my eager prereading crew of Silentwoodfire, AJ_Aficionado, ASF, Wechsel and Silverblade5. They all enjoyed the chapter, so hopefully you will as well! Have at it just as soon as I post the standard boilerplate:

This chapter is brand new content, taking place after chapter 9 of the original story. You are not only invited but strongly encouraged to check out the original Feathered Heart if you haven’t already, as it inspired many of my own works.

—Firesight

33: Reunions (M-rated)

Down Time
Love Making Music : Romantic Saxophone Music, Sensual Mindset, Background Music, Instrumental Music

As the pink in her vision continued to grow along with what felt like the teats on her belly, Gilda found her impatience to be alone with Marco rising in tandem with her excitement. And the presence of the large Changeling drone leading them wasn’t helping.

Her interest in male company still up and eager to be indulged, she found her gaze wandering over his large and lithe form repeatedly, with her eyes finally settling on the impressively large set of orbs beneath his long, forked tail, which were almost exactly at her eye level. They were enormous—even larger than Karin Kazal’s or Marco’s when he got fully aroused; she sniffed at the air behind him to try to pick up a hint of their exotic musk. To her surprise, she even had to suppress a sudden fantasy of burying her beak, cheeks and nose in them as she was quickly coming to learn she liked doing, worshiping his masculinity from behind.

Thankfully, Archon Archex himself—and was ‘Archon’ a name or a title? —seemed unaware of her interest. “This way, please.” He invited them through the door, cutting off sound from the catcalling Marines and teasingly trilling griffons, then closed and locked it behind them. As the lights within it came up, she realized it wasn’t a room he had led them to, but another corridor with much more ornate surroundings, including some surprisingly erotic images on the walls.

They were carved out of multicolored chitin showing Queens and drones alike cavorting not just with each other but various races, all showing enhanced sexual attributes. They were even backlit by some form of magical glow which illuminated them like sunlight through colored glass, reminding Gilda of pictures she’d seen of the interior of Canterlot Castle, where the windowed walls showed momentous events from pony history.

“Whoa! Nice art, Archon. Would it be okay to take some pictures of it?” Marco went for his pocket only to remember that he didn’t have his ‘smartphone’, which remained missing following the ibex invasion of the Inn.

“Though it is gratifying that you find it pleasing, we would greatly prefer that you didn’t, Marco Lakan. You will understand that as much as possible, we do not wish the interiors of our hives or vessels to be known,” he answered easily. “The Queen will no doubt request that you keep what you see here secret, even after you leave.”

“Oh. Okay.” She was relieved that Marco sounded at least slightly chagrined, though he kept looking around. His eyes flitted from one lurid image to another, which typically showed Changelings seducing everything from griffons to harpies to ponies, often in mid-transformation. Even Gilda found a few of her buttons pushed, especially by images showing female drones—or the Queen herself! —in dominant positions, mounting the spears of males or the mouths of males and females alike as they lay on their backs.

Look at that… they even know about human-style teatplay! she further noticed, picking out a picture showing an ibex doe looking down in astonishment to see a glowing Changeling phallus—did they glow or was that just another artistic exaggeration similar to the overly-endowed creatures she saw? —being thrust between her massive magic-enhanced mammaries as she lay on her back and was curled over, leaving her staring the organ’s dripping head in the face with her bearded jaw slack and ready to receive it.

Didn’t the humans have a name for that act? she somehow recalled, even if she wasn’t sure how. And then abruptly, her brow furrowed. Because it was once done to me…? She felt her teats plumping further at the thought.

Still other images showed Changelings using the curious holes in their legs to pleasure everything from tiercel spears to unicorn horns or even the large ears of certain races. So those holes have purpose? By the crows, even those Neighponese comics Rainbow and I read weren’t as explicit as these pictures! Gilda couldn’t help but marvel, noting that Marco seemed enrapt as well.

She saw that his gaze lingered on images of the male drones rutting the tails of larger tiercels, stallions and bucks, who were often depicted as both shocked and sorely aroused to see themselves claimed by one. So he’s got some tiercel-tucker in him, too. I wonder which side of that he’s imagining himself on?

Abruptly, he tore his eyes away and shook his head hard, giving Gilda a nervous look. “So, uh… if you don’t want the interior and all this art to be known, aren’t you worried that anybody you bring down here for ‘business negotiations’ is going to tell?” he asked the question Gilda wanted to, to which Archon Archex smiled.

“Not at all, given this ship is as much a chameleon as we are. For example…” His slightly holed horn flared as he cast a minor spell that washed over the walls, causing the images to briefly shimmer. When they cleared, all the Changelings in the image had been replaced with other races as if they’d taken their disguise.

“And if we don’t wish such images to be seen at all…” A second flare changed the murals to far more placid scenes of landscapes and the hallway to a much more generic griffon one, if belonging to a high-end inn. “Or perhaps if we are entertaining a Kingdom military official?” A third flare changed the images to scenes of historical battles.

“Amazing…” Marco murmured, unable to resist running his hand over the images before Gilda could stop him; worried it might be as offensive as when he nearly caressed a statue in the Hall of Heroes. “You guys really go all-out.”

“Of course. Disguise and desire are ways of life for us, Marco Lakan, and are incorporated into all facets of our existence right down to the interiors of our structures. It is extremely rare—and speaking for myself, quite refreshing—that we may reveal ourselves to outsiders and greet them as we truly are.” He returned the hallway and pictures to their original erotic incarnations. “Be honored that we allow you to see this. But please return that honor by keeping our confidence when you leave.”

“No problem…” Marco said through a suddenly dry throat; Gilda could see his spear straining at his pants even harder as they passed a series of images where the emphasis was tiercel-tucking, the centerpiece of which was a dual-spear adult drake being attended by over a dozen changelings disguised as male adolescent dragons, using him to extract massive amounts of love while he could only lie back in a lake of lava to take it. “I, uh, really like them.”

“Me too…” Gilda admitted. Even outside of such unheard-of scenes, the images themselves remained heavily interspecies; she couldn’t help but note the especially unlikely coupling of several changelings-turned-griffon tiercels with a single ibex doe. They left her gratified that the former were in dominant positions as they both nibbled at the female goat’s long ears and took every orifice she had at once, along with her oversized teats for good measure.

“Thank you. As you might guess, they are here not just for decoration, but to aid the process of extracting love. It is also worth noting that everything you see here is not just fantasy—they depict scenes that truly happened. They represent some of our greatest sensual triumphs over our many centuries of existence.” His words caused Gilda’s eyes to go wide and exchange a startled glance with Marco as the large drone continued his impromptu lecture, acting the part of a tour guide.

“Holy shit…” This time, Marco’s gaze lingered long on the ibex doe. “Then all this is real?”

“Or more correctly, was real. And with the coming of your kind, Marco Lakan, I daresay we will be adding some human images to this pantheon of passion in the years to come.”

“If you need ideas, I’d be happy to share my porn collection with you…” was all Marco could say in response, the smell of cider around him growing. As she watched, he rubbed his painfully constrained shaft through the front of his trousers, then forced himself to tear his eyes away from the walls for a second time.

“So, uh, is ‘Archon’ your name, or—” he tried to make conversation as they both walked increasingly stiffly; aroused wings and a painfully tented pants front making movement more and more difficult since their surroundings seemed designed to excite them further.

“My name is Archex, Marco Lakan. ‘Archon’ is both a rank, and a title,” he replied easily without looking back, continuing to lead them along. “It means many things, but in human military terms, if the Queen is a Captain, then I suppose you could say it makes me a Lieutenant of sorts. Or in griffon terms, it is roughly equivalent to Centurion, with my duties not unlike Queen Molyneux’s elite Praetorian Guard—at least in part. Which, by strange coincidence, is the rank and station my griffon persona holds in the Kingdom’s military,” he added with what Gilda took to be a coy note.

“You were a Praetorian Centurion?” Gilda asked, feeling at least slightly perturbed at the idea that a Changeling, even a friendly one, could infiltrate the Queen’s personal guard.

“I still am, but I was recently rotated to the Paladin unit in Aricia. By complete coincidence, I was on leave when the Cloven attacked, for which I thank the Hive Mother for being present to defend my Queen and home. Just like the Kingdom’s other service branches, Paladins are required to spend some time away from Arnau for our skills to not get stagnant, but I would return to my post there eventually. I have even stood sentry beside Queen Molyneux‘s bedchambers in the past,” he admitted matter-of-factly, causing Gilda’s eyes to go wide.

“Yeah? Why? So you could fuck the Queen?” Marco asked out of nowhere.

“Marco!” A red-cheeked Gilda exclaimed, but Archex just laughed.

“Sadly, no, though I consider it a compliment that you think I could. Then again, I admit that the thought has crossed my mind on occasion. To extract love from Queen Molyneux herself would be the ultimate test of my infiltration and seduction skills, but it would also be far too dangerous to attempt for an uncertain return,” he said almost wistfully.

“For as strong-willed and perceptive as your Queen is—and having guarded her directly, I have witnessed her ability to see right through diplomatic doublespeak and the endless palace intrigue she must endure—the chance of discovery would be very real. So no, Marco Lakan. I choose my sources of love carefully, but they do not include her.”

“Then why would you even be in the Guard?” Gilda asked, her eyes roaming over his impressively endowed hindquarters again. “For intelligence?”

He glanced back at her and grinned, causing her to inwardly cringe, praying he hadn’t noticed her gaze. “In part, certainly. We do like to keep watch on the internal affairs of the Kingdom, in case there is something that concerns us. But more because the Guard itself is a very potent source of love.”

“It is?” Gilda tried to imagine it and failed, not understanding how such strong, stiff, and unsmiling soldiers would ever enjoy sex. “I wouldn’t think that the Praetorians would provide much.”

“You would be surprised. As they are always so disciplined and duty-conscious, with nearly all their time taken up with training and then simply standing sentry for extended periods while not being allowed to move or speak? They, far more than most of your soldiers, need release from the endless monotony of their posts,” he explained with a growing grin.

“It is a release I am only too happy to grant them. And lest you think I am taking advantage of them, I much prefer to see it as giving them a sorely needed respite from their important but unenviable duties. By doing so, I feel I am making them more attentive and effective guardians of not just your Queen, but her entire royal line in the process.”

“So in other words, you have sex with them in service to Queen Molyneux, eh?” Marco suggested in what Gilda almost took to be an envious tone, to which the drone only smiled.

“And Queen Lepidoptes as well. Remember that my foremost duty is to collect love for my hive, Marco Lakan. And be assured that as an Archon, I am very good at it.”

“Oh, yeah?” Marco sounded intrigued, tugging at the front of his trousers to try to free up at least a small amount of space for his badly constrained organ, which was held fast against his thigh with its length extending over halfway down his right pants leg towards his knee. “And why is that?”

“Some of it is acquired experience. Some of it is the potent allure we can put into the very air, effective against all races, genders and ages—an allure which is doubly effective given my… evolved form. But mostly, it is that we are very good at detecting the proclivities of our potential partners and tailoring our responses to them. For example…”

He abruptly stopped walking and lowered his forequarters fractionally, raising his tail so they could see his large ‘balls’ plump further before her wide-eyed gaze in what she guessed was a minor application of his shapeshifting power, sending a wave of what she could only describe as magic-infused musk into her nose.

If it was his ‘allure’, then it had the desired effect as her beak went dry to both see and smell it, and she realized she wasn’t the only one as Marco took a ragged breath as well. His human hands suddenly made cupping motions against the air followed by his crotch beginning to bulge further, with the head of his organ seemingly trying to burst right through the thick stitching of the tough fabric not far above his knee.

“See something you like, Centurion and Marco Lakan?” he asked idly, causing them both to start and stammer, to which he gave them a reassuring grin. “Because I assure you both that I am more than willing to share. To show you what your Queen’s Praetorians have already discovered, to our mutual enjoyment and benefit.” He pushed his hindquarters back towards them, presenting not just his slowly swelling balls but rapidly engorging organ. It not only dwarfed even Marco’s spear, but cast an enticing greenish glow onto the floor below.

“Putang ina…” Marco breathed softly, and though Gilda didn’t understand the words, she could certainly read the disbelief that underlay them; from the way he was clenching his fists she realized he was trying to stop himself from reaching for the drone’s hindquarters.

“By the Ancestors…” It was an urge she was fighting as well, suddenly wanting to bury her face in his masculine attributes, worshiping them alongside Marco. And somehow, it didn’t seem like cheating to her because she would be sharing the male drone with her human mate, enjoying and indulging him as one as they first pleasured his beautiful balls with tongue and talon before taking turns being claimed by him, to each be brought to rapture in turn.

He smiled knowingly at their reaction. “I see you both find my evolved form pleasing. If you are interested, I have also acquired an array of helpful seduction spells over my many years of service to the Queen—both yours and ours. Allow me to demonstrate…”

His horn flared and a wave of magic washed over them both, causing her fur and feathers to intensely tingle. But that was far from the only effect as all her armor fasteners suddenly unlatched and unraveled themselves, instantly enabling her wings to flare fully as all her protective pieces fell free, leaving her naked before him.

In contrast, the tough material of Marco’s pants audibly stretched and tore like tissue paper from the severe tension it was under. No longer held fast against his leg, his engorged organ freed itself of its fabric prison to stand proudly at attention, ripping right through the thick material like it was nothing. Even his human balls burst free, growing along with the Archon’s to rend the thick cloth further until his crotch and everything within it was fully exposed.

Archex smiled in great satisfaction as they gaped down at themselves, then at him. “My apologies, but you are far too beautiful and desirable an eagless to hide yourself beneath that armor, Centurion. And I do hate seeing severely constricted spears, Marco Lakan,” he further added as he studied Marco’s organ intensely.

“Such superb stature should never be hidden but displayed prominently for all to admire and envy. I also wanted to get a good look at your human malehood, and I am not disappointed. It has an impressive size and a pleasing shape. But if you need somewhere to stick it…” He was consumed in green fire, and when it faded, he had taken the naked but very familiar form… of Giraldi!

As a slack-jawed Marco watched, he submissively lowered his northern harrier forequarters and raised his jaguar tail high to expose himself, suddenly showing fur-covered orbs in place of his original black ones without losing any of their size.

“Take my tail, Marco Lakan. It is hungry for your human spear. Fill me with its great girth. Mark me with your sensuous seed. By the Ancestors themselves, claim me for your race and make me your eagless again…” he all but purred in a flawless imitation of Giraldi’s voice, even managing a pitch-perfect sensual trill.

She heard Marco urk! and saw his hips buck hard in an action she was strangely certain he’d done before to the same sight, dragging him forward towards the other male fractionally. Going weak-legged at the idea herself, Gilda started to paw at her teats with her talons,all but biting her tongue with her beak to keep from encouraging him; she only held back at not wanting him to spend his considerable passions on someone other than her just then.

Despite that, she didn’t stop him as he began taking halting steps toward the presented tiercel—she knew he was a disguised drone, but the disguise was so perfect she found herself even thinking of him as Giraldi—urged on by his throbbing spear and thrusting hips. Marco clearly wanted to bury himself deep within the other male’s prominent sphincter, which winked enticingly before him like a pony nest.

As a dry-mouthed Gilda watched, Marco took two, then three half-steps forward to close the distance until Giraldi’s tail tip dangled in his face; the former’s rigid spear mere uncia away from the offered opening and at the perfect level to enter it. Just one more step… She mentally pleaded with him to take it, knowing that when he did, he’d be pressing his spear’s slightly flared head into the puffy and prominent pucker, wanting to see it part before him.

Wanting to see Marco’s spear sink into the drone’s depths.

Into Giraldi’s depths!

She somehow knew that once Marco made contact with him, there was no turning back. He wouldn’t stop until he had hilted and emptied himself.

Because he’d already done it at least once before…?

She licked her beak and shivered as Marco stood on the precipice; to his credit he was still trying to hold back. But she could tell that the battle was ultimately a losing one given the perfect picture and opportunity before him as his shaking hands began to move towards the other male; his fingers loosening out of their clench intending to grasp the Changeling’s hips.

Mentally urging him forward despite herself, she began to self-pleasure more frantically at the idea of the imminent tiercel-on-tiercel action before her, vowing that when they started rutting in earnest, she would rip off the remainder of Marco’s ruined green-patterned pants so she could watch it happen from between his legs, and then bury her face in the middle of their four combined orbs when they finally met, worshiping their masculine essence as one.

But before Marco could take the final, fateful step, the drone suddenly lowered his tail and changed back to his true form with another flare of green fire. “I think that will do for now,” Archex announced, speaking in his own voice again. He stepped away and cut off the magical ‘allure’ that he was further tempting them with, causing them both to stumble heavily, still sorely aroused. For his part, Marco fell to all fours beside her, shaking violently and breathing raggedly.

“H-holy shit…” he said through a trembling breath. “Y-you had me ready to…”

“And me!” a reeling Gilda had to admit, finding her mind and body still trying to overheat.

“Indeed. That was just a minor demonstration of how enticing we can be, both in disguise and out of it. But for as tempted as I am to go further, this is your time, not mine. I hope you will forgive me for teasing the two of you, but I could sense your earlier ogling of me, and its source. It is futile to hide or deny it since as Changelings, we are very attuned to such things,” he reminded them with a wink, causing them both to flush and look away.

“I will leave you to your lovemaking now. Oh, and Mister Lakan? Please remove your torn garment immediately so I can repair it. Do not dawdle, as the spell I used is only reversible within the first few minutes.”

“Th-thanks. But, uh, h-how did you know about—” was all a sorely sweating and shaking Marco could ask as he began shrugging out of his half-ruined trousers, to which the drone only smiled.

“About your interest in the Optio? You will forgive me for keeping that a secret, Marco Lakan, except to say my sensual perception skills are almost equal to those of the Queen herself. Encouraging passions is something of a reflex with us, and as we are so very good at it, please do not be offended or embarrassed,” he requested, watching with some interest as Marco pushed his pants down to the floor and began to step out of it. He stumbled hard once when his boot caught the edge of his belt, causing the rear of his pants to tear further as he fell forward with his flanks exposed to Gilda, who blushed anew.

“Consider it a form of flattery, as I do your interest in me. In time, I might even be willing to indulge it… if both you and the Queen approve, that is. But that particular pleasure can wait.” His hole-studded horn flared and the chitin-covered door before them audibly unlocked; Gilda had been so distracted that she hadn’t even realized they’d arrived before it.

“You’d really want to be with us?” Gilda could hear the dry note in Marco’s voice as he hurriedly removed his caught boots, having to sit up despite his erect and throbbing spear to do so; she was suddenly afraid to speak for how her own voice might sound. “Oh, and uh… please don’t do anything with what’s on the belt. It’s weapons and ammunition.”

“Worry not. After seeing your cannons in action, I have no intention of examining or even touching them,” he promised as he accepted the garment and bathed it in fresh magic, causing the rended threads to somehow re-ravel themselves back into their original strength and form.

“As for being with us, of course I would. For I can already sense you could give not just me, but all of us a significant power boost. Indeed, you already have, Centurion,” he told her with a knowing grin as he stepped aside to let them pass through the door, though he took pains to stretch himself out before them to show off his exposed organ, which did indeed emit a noticeable glow. She could sense it was also releasing a very powerful and almost irresistible pheromone, making it pleasing to both the eye and nose.

“Here you are. Be assured that you will have absolute privacy here, even from the awareness of the Queen herself. Food and drink are available in the cupboards and counters to your left, including various spirits—though we request that you not overindulge on those, as too much can taint your love,” he warned them.

“A toilet and large tub are available through the far door as well if you wish to bathe, along with various cleansers that include the highest quality preening oils—though you will forgive us for not having anything human-specific, Marco Lakan,” he said with an apologetic dip of his webbed ears.

“No problem…” was all a wan Marco could say, gazing warily yet half-longingly at him as his erect and drooling spear still hung openly before him.

“You are very gracious, my human friend, but I fear that it is a problem given we pride ourselves on seeing to the needs of our guests. We will do our utmost to rectify that later, but in the meantime, please use this room to your heart’s content, and do not worry about cleaning up. Trust me—we have dealt with messes and even damage to this room far worse than anything you two could come up with,” he said with a wry grin as he finished fixing Marco’s pants and laid them over a nearby lounge. With a parting wink, he closed the door behind them, leaving the pair alone with each other.

“Holy shit…” was all Marco could say after he had departed, still staring after him when he was gone. “That came out of nowhere again. I can’t believe I wanted to…” He couldn’t even finish the sentence as his hips bucked and human spear twitched hard, spurting a small amount of clear liquid.

“You and me both,” Gilda admitted in some shame, unable to meet his eyes even as she couldn’t look away from his stature. “And I can’t believe I wanted you to do it. I’m sorry, Marco.”

“I’d be mad, except I would have...” He rubbed his hand behind his head. “Christ almighty, when he turned into the big guy, I was ready to…” his hips gave another involuntary buck.

She looked up sharply. “Then you really did rut Giraldi?”

“I, uh… yeah,” he admitted sheepishly, his shaft now visibly throbbing before her as he poured himself some water into a chalice on the counter and threw it back. “Thought I told you about that earlier… or maybe I just hinted at it? I don’t even remember now, but that’s part of the reason I had so much trouble with stuff early on. I knew I screwed him, even if I couldn’t remember specifics. Seemed to recall I dommed him good, though.”

“Dommed?”

“Dominated,” he explained in some embarrassment as he filled a bowl of water for her next. “It means I was on top and he was… well, the girl. And given I only half-remember it, I have no idea how the Archon guessed it.”

Her beak dropped open again as she accepted it, taking several gulps to try to cool her still-surging passions and cover her freshly heady thoughts. Then it wasn’t just fantasy? Marco really made an eagless out of GIRALDI? The idea of it alone was enough to send her excitement soaring again, as was the knowledge that her human mate had somehow sexually subdued the much larger earth griffon male, even without the benefit of a mating round!

“By my Ancestors above; I wish I could have seen that.” Or just now with Archex… she suppressed another shiver at the still-potent fantasy as she took another gulp.

“You did,” he assured her, putting his hand on her wingbase again; the touch alone almost caused her legs to buckle for how badly the large drone had left them both keyed up. “He made me gay for him, and the weird thing is, I don’t mind one bit—just please don’t tell Tara or Chris I said that! They’ll never let me live it down.”

“My beak is sealed, dweeb,” she promised, feeling her wings rise to full rigidity as he passed back the bowl, its forward edge beginning to rub suggestively against his naked rear. “So shall we?” She reached down her belly to begin fondling a teat before him, looking forward to feeling Marco’s talons against her increasingly mounded mammaries in place of her own.

“Love to.” His top garment unaffected by whatever odd fabric-weakening magic the Archon had cast, he carefully unslung his rifle and put it aside on the counter beside the pantry after removing the quiver and ejecting the loaded ‘bullet’, pointing the business end of it away from them the whole time he did. That accomplished, he removed his armor and shirt next, putting them in a pile beside the rifle.

“There. Now, where were we…?” he asked in a rhetorical air, turning partially towards her to show off his naked form and horizontally hanging organ, which was dangling freely before him.

Finally able to indulge without guilt, she answered him by rearing up and shoving him against the wall to aggressively kiss him. “Right about… here,” she answered as she pushed hard against him, raising her talons to knead his shoulders while his human hands found her wingbases in turn. Even better, she felt his spear pressed firmly between the upper set of her newly bulging belly breasts. It made space for itself between their still-swelling masses, nestling between them until it was pushing out the top.

Groaning, he began to thrust lightly up her belly, and between that and some of the Changeling pictures of teatplay she’d seen, she finally guessed what Marco meant by ‘take her tits’ during their earlier near-sex experience in the clearing.

When she made the connection, she shivered hard and her legs nearly buckled, finding herself trying to flash back to the night of the cider. She still couldn’t reach whatever memory her mind was trying to recover, but she somehow knew they had done it before. And that she had loved it, almost in spite of herself, to see her teats turned into tiercel tuck toys.

“M-Marco…” she called to him, her voice a croon as she was suddenly aware of little else but her taut and tingling teats and the feel of his spear against their inner surfaces, slipping beneath the rounded edges of their mounded masses. “To make up for everything, I want to do something special. So please. Take my ‘tits’.” She used the human slang for the first time. “Do them just like we saw in those pictures on the walls outside.”

She didn’t know if it was the cider she could smell in the air, the aftereffects of the Archon’s dangerously effective allure, or the simple fact that she really did want to do something special for him—both to celebrate surviving and atone for her earlier infidelity. But regardless of the reasons, she was more than ready to try it, even if it meant she’d be stuck on her back for a bit again thanks to her taut and trembling wings.

He gaped at her and stopped thrusting for a moment. “Sigurado ka? You’re sure, Gilda?” he hastily corrected his use of his native tongue.

“I am…” Pushing away, she carefully laid herself back before him on the soft and warm carpet—she didn’t know what material it was made of, but it was deliciously plush and even pillowy—to present her belly. She knew that meant she would be trapped on her back again until her excitement ebbed, but she didn’t care, letting him watch her self-pleasure for a few seconds as she cupped and kneaded her lower right mammary with one set of digits while tweaking her top left teat between her thumb and foretalon.

“Putang ina…” he murmured again to see her laid out before him, falling to his knees before her with his spear dangling over her lower belly. She watched him observe her as she moved sensuously beneath her own pleasuring paws, giving soft and needy trills. “Your teats are full-blown tits now… and they’re still growing!” he further marveled as they engorged further before his hungry eyes.

“That’s right. They’re all for you, Marco Lakan. And just so you know, I wouldn’t show my belly to anycreature but you. And Chris and Tara, of course,” she hastily amended, recalling a sudden image from the earlier encounter in the clearing of the normally tiercel-tucking Chris having groped Tara’s ‘boob’ from behind her back, to apparent mutual surprise and pleasure.

Wonder if he’d like to grope MINE? She suddenly flashed back to the depiction she’d seen outside of a griffon eagless having all her belly breasts groped at once by different sets of dragon talons, imagining they were human hands instead.

“I’ll be sure and let them know you said that,” Marco told her breathlessly as he got up long enough to slip a pillow from the bed under her head and then walked back around behind her while slowly stroking himself, his gaze all but devouring her. To Gilda’s great gratification, he looked to her like he was savoring the sight of her aroused eagless body before him, inviting her human mate to avail himself of her. “I’d love to see Chris discover the joys of tits. And pussy.”

As he spoke, he laid his organ over the top of her slit and began to grind its pulsing upper surface lightly against the sensitive nub there. It elicited a needy trill and shiver that passed through her entire body, starting at the base of her back before proceeding as a ripple of pleasure up her spine. The movement caused her now-impressive belly breasts to wobble hard and in tandem, her two pairs of uncia-long teats inscribing mirrored circular paths in the air a half-second apart that instantly caught Marco’s gaze.

“Pussy?” she screwed her face up at the word despite her excitement. “The Marines used that term, too. I take it ‘pussy’ refers to a nest?”

He grimaced slightly as his hands settled happily on her lowest set of mammaries, still thrusting his organ lightly over the top of her opening. “Y-yeah. Never mind why. It’s considered crude, and it’s not even the most vulgar term we use for it. Is, uh, yours still off-limits?” he wanted to know, leaving her appreciative that he’d asked her for permission first and not just tried to take it.

Especially since I’m not sure I would have stopped him if he did! she thought as she hesitated, wondering if there was any point in holding out for an actual mating round after all they’d been through. She could certainly make the case that he’d earned her fully by simple dint of fighting at her side and proving himself a warrior, and there was also the fact that she’d granted Karin Kazal access to her nest while lost in the moment. It was hardly fair to him, and yet…

And yet… she decided there was still a use to withholding it. “It is, sorry. I still want you to get good enough at fighting rounds to earn the right to rut me properly. As for why, it’ll give us both something to live for and a reason to fight all the harder,” she realized even as she told him, to what she was relieved to see was only mild disappointment. “But the rest of me is yours, Marco Lakan. Including my wings, teats, and tail.” She thrust her belly up at him.

“Can’t argue with your logic. I’ll live and train just for that! And there’s still plenty of your body to enjoy…” He bent over her to suckle at one of her lower teats like a cub, causing her to squirm and groan as the sensitive flesh was fondled and tugged at gently by his teeth.

“By the crows, you do that so well…” She didn’t know the words to describe the sensation in either Equish or Aeric, but she did know what she liked and what she wanted. “Harder, Marco. Bite and pull harder!” she implored him as she struggled to arch her back up into him despite her stiff wings. He obliged her eagerly, grasping the swollen mass of soft flesh around the hard and exquisitely erect nub to squeeze more blood into it, increasing its engorgement and sensitivity even further.

It sent shocks of pure pleasure through her as she felt her nest wink and water against his still-present spear, which she swore was dripping seed onto her fur just above its opening. Her mind starting to overheat again, she could only lie back and take it, her talons curling and pawing lightly at the air as he hit each teat in turn, worshiping both them and the greater mammary mass around them with his muzzle.

Worshiping her!

She moaned. She writhed. She even sensed herself squirt out the top of her nest at least once onto his human ‘balls’ as he moved further up her belly, sending her surging towards orgasm as he turned his surprisingly practiced attention on her upper set of teats next—and just how many human females had he been with before to get so good at this nearly unknown act to griffons? —but she held it off, not wanting to come until he’d had a chance to do what she’d invited him to.

The scent of cider hung heavy in the air around them again as her vision took on an intense and now-familiar pink cast; one that hadn’t even been present when the Archon was teasing them. Despite the rosy halo-like glow it gave Marco and the rest of her surroundings, it let her see and feel everything in exquisite detail, from his groping hands deliciously manipulating her mammaries to his spear now settling squarely between her lower set. If possible, she felt her teats engorge even more in his grasp, approaching and even exceeding Tara’s already-ample stature—at least before the cider enhanced her.

Sure wish she was here to see this! The disjointed thought flashed through Gilda’s head. Her spirits soaring and inhibitions evaporating under the cider’s effects, she resolved then that she’d invite the human eagless along with Chris and Marco to have her once the former were fully healed, in order to complete the aborted act they’d started in the forest clearing before going to Bale. Ancestors know they’ve earned it—earned ME! But here and now…

She laid her head back into the pillow and closed her eyes to concentrate on the sensations and the love of her human mate, though she did notice the glitter of gemstones in the ceiling in the low light, which were starting to glow weakly. Guessing they were the means the Changelings used to ‘harvest’ love, she vowed that she and Marco would give them all they needed as repayment for saving her soldiers, and even found she couldn’t fully dismiss the idea of being with the Archon.

Perhaps it was just her aroused state and the inhibition-shattering effects of the cider in her system, but she found herself amenable in that instant to everything from sharing Archex with Marco to watching her mate rut Giraldi to even orally pleasuring Guerrero, as she’d had the urge when he’d accidentally groped her in the cellar at Bale.

And from there, her flights of sexual fancy expanded further to imagine herself in some of the outside wall murals she’d seen, her mind focusing on the one picture of a griffon eagless being groped and fondled by multiple sets of dragon talons.

Her mating-fevered psyche changing them to human hands once more, she suddenly saw herself receiving the sensual attention of not just Marco but the entire Marine squad, boosting their morale by allowing them to grope and fondle her form to their heart’s content. She fantasized about them caressing everything from her feathers and flight muscles to the quartet of teats that Marco so loved, even inserting their soft talons into her nest and tail.

She trilled and shivered at the sudden vision, which only encouraged Marco more. Finally finished giving her teats oral attention, he pulled back to stare down at her with a dazed expression, shifting up her belly enough to lay his spear down the middle of her mammaries.

“Damn, girlfriend…” was all he could say as he gave her wingbase some attention with his hands next, feeling them quiver beneath his soft and deliciously groping digits. “Four tits, two wings, a clit, a slit, and a tail? Far as I’m concerned, you’re a lot more fun than human women,” he further told her, now straddling her with his sac resting squarely on the top of her slit and his spear jutting between both sets of her belly breasts, barely visible with the end of the organ poking out the top.

Gilda gave a rare purring sound at that. “You’re just making me like you even more, dweeb,” she told him with a half-hearted glower. “Now stop stalling and take my tits! And if I enjoy it enough, then maybe I won’t tell Tara you said that griffon eaglesses are better than human ones,” she added with an evil grin.

“You wouldn’t…” He recoiled in mock horror as he fondled her flight muscles.

“Oh, yes I would!” she teased as he picked up her talons and placed them against her upper set of teats, making her cup her own mammaries to push their greater mass against that of his shaft.

“Then since I don’t want to get smacked by her again, I’ll just have to make sure you ‘enjoy it enough’…” he decided with a purr of his own as he did the same with his hands on her lower set and began to thrust lightly between them, letting her feel and savor the unfamiliar sensations as much as she could.

“Ancestors…” Gilda stared down at herself in wonder as they registered. She watched in keen interest as the head of his organ nearly disappeared when his hips pulled back, only for the last two uncia of it to reemerge out the middle of her mammaries when he thrusted forward again, pointed right at her head. She marveled at the sexual stimulation it gave all four of her belly breasts at once, which were only accented further by the talons of herself and Marco on them, squeezing and kneading them as he continued to thrust between them.

“Fuck…” Marco was already gritting his teeth hard to feel what she knew was his own rapture at the unlikely act. “Feels so good… I’m so keyed up that I ain’t gonna last long at this rate, girlfriend…” he just managed to tell her through increasingly ragged pants.

“Me neither, but I don’t care…” Gilda told him, her own breathing coming equally quick. “I want this. I want you. And I want to do this over and over again…” she said as she continued to stare wide-eyed down her belly at her unfolding subjugation, feeling more memories trying to rise up from the night of the cider. The vision of multiple human hands on her obscenely swollen teats flashed through her memory again, but this time they were replaced by a mixture of human and… griffon ones?

For an instant she saw two sets of foreign talons on her and a pair of tiercel spears taking her teats from opposite sides—Giraldi’s and FORTRAKT’S? she realized in only momentary shock and fresh fantasy—before the memory was scattered in favor of the one she was making now.

She pushed her pillowy flesh even harder into the sides of Marco’s organ to form a full tunnel around it, to which he responded with a groan and a series of harder thrusts between them. Each additional movement tweaked her teats and sent fresh thrills through her, driving her ever-closer to orgasm.

Her back beginning to arch hard as she sensed Marco begin to tense as well, she spared just enough mental effort to thank her Ancestors for delivering her not just from the Cloven, but back into the arms of her human mate, renewing her vow to them that she would never again turn down sex with a worthy partner.

As if in response, she felt a wave of fresh warmth wash over her like divine favor, leaving her feeling like she was in the glow of Valhalla itself. But it was lost as a powerful and irresistible climax rose up from not her nest but her four bulging belly breasts to claim her.

It once again crashed over her like an ocean wave, only this time, there was no illicit pleasure in it, other than that of performing the previously unheard-of act. She felt Marco give one final string of human cursewords as he came hard as well, spurting all over her feathered chest and even onto her face, with more than one streamer making its way directly into her wide-open beak as she announced her own rapture with a loud and passionate trill of pleasure.

She wasn’t sure how long her climax lasted, only that she never wanted it or the moment to end. But end it finally did, leaving her rigid and arched body slumping back to the carpeted floor as Marco nearly fell off her, having to brace himself against the rug with his hands.

She was only barely cognizant of him at that moment, feeling herself all but floating from the lingering rapture and suddenly very close to sleep. Her mind in a twilight state, she beheld what looked like a young and quite naked human version of herself in the room. Her seeming twin was gaping down at the scene with her and Marco in visible shock, gesticulating with soft human talons while speaking to someone off to the side.

When Gilda turned her head fractionally to see who her strange counterpart was talking to, she beheld what she could only describe as an exceptionally tall and mature human woman version of Rainbow Dash in odd skintight attire and bearing prismatic wings, staring smugly down at her and Marco over crossed arms.

“But he’s so dweeby…” her teenage human self complained somewhat petulantly while Dashie’s doppelgänger just laughed and Gilda smiled, not knowing if what she saw was real but also not caring.

That he is… she granted as the strange vision faded away. But I love him anyway! was her final thought as a blissful sleep claimed her.

Gilda didn’t know how long she slept, but found herself feeling infinitely better when she finally woke up at the feeling of Marco stirring against her.

“Ancestors…” she breathed softly as she licked his half-dried seed off her beak, marveling that she’d once again gotten off from teat stimulation alone!

“How ya doing, Gilds?” he asked her in a tired but affectionate tone, kissing the back of her head.

“Crows take it… thanks to you and those murals outside, I think I’m addicted to ‘tit jobs’,” she admitted in only mild disgust that she was enjoying what was basically another creature dominating her, using her teats as toys.

“Oh, yeah? I’ll be sure and tell Tara you said that,” he teased before pulling back slightly, his organ only barely softened as it continued to ooze onto the junction of her fur and feathers. “And if you like, I’ll clean you up?”

“Sure…” she said slightly dreamily as she continued to lay back, basking in the afterglow of the act. Despite his offer, it was another minute before they parted, with Marco going to the bathroom to find a towel.

When he got there, he audibly gasped. “Holy shit… forget Catlais, we should have just come here! I mean, look at this place!” Marco marveled as he glanced around, opening the back door before sticking his head into a sunlit room where Gilda could hear what sounded like a small waterfall.

“That’s not a tub, they’ve got a fucking pool back here complete with plants, a waterfall and everything! And there’s more of those murals, too. So, Queen Lepidoptes uses this for ‘business negotiations’, eh?” he said with a chuckle. “Judging by those pics, she must be one hell of a negotiator.”

“If that Archon is any indication, she is,” Gilda granted as she pulled herself back up, admiring his human flanks from behind as he stood at the entrance to the washroom. Or given Marco’s description, was it a spa? “Crows take it, he nearly got us both.”

“He would have if he didn’t pull back. He wasn’t lying, Gilda—he’s so fucking good at seduction that I don’t think either of us could have resisted him otherwise. Hell, I don’t even think your Queen could have,” Marco admitted as he bent over to sample the water of what looked like a secluded pond-like pool. It was lined with grasses and even lily pads around its periphery, though she noticed a stone shelf with various bottles of different colors and labels was visible beside the waterfall in back, which she guessed took the place of a shower.

“Water’s warm, and come to think of it, we really do need a bath. Wanna have some fun in the tub, girlfriend?” he suggested hopefully, staying deliberately bent over in display.

Though the thought warmed Gilda’s already-hot cheeks further—the idea sounded doubly delicious for how dirty she was and how badly she needed to preen her filthy and occasionally askew wingfeathers—she shook her head, walking into the room behind him, her erect wingtips scraping the sides of the opened double-doors.

“Tempting. Very tempting. But I’ll pass, at least for now. Reason being, I don’t want to be presentable for the Tribune. I want him to see how beat up and bloody we are after those battles.” She reared up to lean against his back with her talons on his wingless shoulders, squeezing them lightly as she nuzzled the nape of his neck, inhaling his human scent deeply.

He glanced back at her and nodded, patting her left set of talons with his right hand. “I can respect that. Guess I’ll meet him the same way. Hope you don’t mind if I’m a bit sweaty and smelly, then…” He leaned back into her teasing tongue, which briefly found the inside of his ear; it tasted a bit tangy as well as salty. “We’ll save the bathing for later, then.”

“Works for me.” She scanned the insides of the incredibly opulent washroom from over his shoulder, which easily outdid any spa or sauna she’d ever seen. He hadn’t been lying about the explicit images on the walls there either, though they were water-based as befit the room; a few even showed changelings having sex with rarely seen hippogriffs!

Though Gilda found herself admiring their exotic forms and erotic poses, which were depicted in both their land and sea forms, she felt a bit dirty for doing so. Hippogriffs were generally looked upon as something of a rival race to griffons, given they had an equally strong military culture and had aided Equestria against the invasion of the Gryphon Empire.

Their races might have made up in the centuries after the war, but given the hippogriff nation was located on a remote island complex in the southern Sea of Serenity, the Kingdom kept no contact with them outside of occasionally meeting a few of their athletes during the Equestria Games. “So, what do you think?” Marco motioned to those images, pushing his rear back into her still-enlarged teats for a moment and wriggling against them.

“Well, I guess if you’re into sea ponies…” she said nonchalantly, noting that their females had four belly breasts instead of two like Equestrian mares. There were at least a couple images of them being shown with griffons, with a particularly notable instance catching her eye of a griffon eagless and hippogriff hen—that was a griffon nickname for them; she didn’t know what hippogriff females were actually called—performing the swirl with beaks parting each other’s nest as front talons closed on each other’s swollen teats; the changeling was the griffon in that case.

“Is that what they are?” Marco sounded mystified. “Well, I do kind of like the girl-on-girl action there…” He pointed at the picture Gilda had been staring fixedly at.

“You would,” she teased as she pushed off him to fall back into a sitting position with her head just above the level of his bare flanks. “But that’s okay. So do I…” she admitted in an increasingly husky tone as she used her thumb talons to spread his cheeks so she could see what lay between them, from the back of his balls to the slight ridge that started from their base at the very center of his cleft. It led all the way back to his anal opening, which wasn’t as prominent as it was on other creatures but was still pleasingly puffy.

He was still very hot and sweaty, and yet, she couldn’t get enough of his scent, both familiar and exotic. To say nothing of spiced by the cider he excreted along with his sweat. “You smell and taste good to me, Marco Lakan. Even all that explosive powder ash from your cannons on you is a good odor. Makes you smell like a warrior.”

“Wow. Who would have thought that gunpowder was the way to a griffon’s heart?” he chuckled as he bent over slightly to present himself, bracing his hands on an overhanging branch. “I’ll gladly wear it and some gun oil in place of cologne. I guess we still have some time, so, uh... anything else you’d like to do?” He waved his rear in her face.

She got a mischievous look. “I was thinking… this,” she announced as she stuck her beak between his spread cheeksand began licking the entire area from the back of his balls all the way to his anal area, causing him to groan and fall to all fours before her as she lapped up all of the salty-sweet sheen she could, holding his hips up with her talons. “And since one good oral act deserves another…”

Focusing her attention near the top of his exposed cleft, she didn’t hesitate to first bathe the sensitive sphincter and then stick her tongue inside him right through his sweat-slickened opening, gratified when he stiffened and gave the squeal of a teenage eagless followed by a surprisingly griffon-like squawk.

Hearing him gasp and groan, she continued to pleasure him there until his quickly crumbling resistance was reduced to nothing, leaving him only able to try to squirm and crawl weakly away from the intense but illicit pleasure. But in the end, he couldn’t as it proved overwhelming, causing him to call her name and even invoke the human gods as he came hard onto the floor beneath him.

“Damn, girl…” he told her in dazed wonder after he’d recovered again. “I didn’t think you’d do me there!”

“If you like it, that’s good enough for me, Marco Lakan,” she said as she licked her beak, then crouched before him to present her own rear with tail held high. “So now if you’d like to return the favor…?”

Another hour and two more lovemaking sessions later, Gilda was awoken not by a knock, but by a gentle pressure on her mind followed by an increase in the light level of the room.

“Wakey, wakey…” She heard the amused voice of Archon Archex in her head as much as her ears. Her unfocused eyes fluttered to find him standing by the bed they’d eventually ended up on with what looked like a waiter’s tray, on which sat a drink bowl and a mug along with some form of bottle held in his magical grasp. “It’s time to get up, Centurion, though I see Mister Lakan already is.” He nodded down to where Marco’s renewed erection had ended up between her legs; its shaft pressed up against the entrance of her equally aroused nest.

Despite that and their very compromising position, Gilda could only groan and glare, to which the large male Changeling chuckled and began pouring them both a drink. “I’m sorry, I truly am. We would be more than happy to let you two rest and rut for the massive amount of love we have already collected, but it’s nearly noon, and we’ve just received word that the Tribune is on his way.”

“Fuck the Tribune…” Marco growled tiredly, not caring that he was naked and aroused before the drone. “Not literally, of course.”

“Speak for yourself, Marco Lakan. Tribune tiercels are a particular favorite of mine for how much I find they enjoy not being in command for a bit. But it would seem that your time here was spent well.” Archex nodded towards the collection of crystals embedded in the ceiling, which were now brightly glowing.

He then helped them sit up with gentle magical pressure on Gilda’s neck and lower back, away from her wings. “Here. This will help restore your energy and alertness, at least for a time. And it should also help subside your excitement—yes, hard as it is to believe, not everything we possess is meant to increase it.”

“What’s in it?” Gilda asked as she struggled to shake off her sleep and sit up, though she didn’t move her hindquarters right away, wishing for a moment that Marco’s still-swollen spear would accidentally slip inside her when he tried to push back. Can’t blame him for that, right…?

“Be assured that it’s nothing magical or alcoholic. Just a strong jolt of a special coffee strain we commissioned from the zebras, combined with a flavored sweet syrup of our own make and simple soda water. Our younglings find it quite invigorating and refreshing,” he told them as she heard it fizz when it hit the bowl.

Her nose twitched appreciatively as the switchel-like scent reached her. “That smells good.”

“I promise that it tastes good, too. It may interest you to know that this is another item we’ve considered selling to griffons in an effort to more easily make money for our various… business ventures. The joke among our kind is that for as much energy as it imparts, it will ‘give you wings’ if you don’t already have them,” he noted in amusement, causing Marco to suddenly cough hard as he took a sip from his mug. “And if that worries you, Mister Lakan, be assured that description is not meant to be taken literally. Though if you like, we do have potions for that.”

“As fun as having wings might be, I’ll pass. As for this, I think you guys might be sued for trademark infringement if you tried selling it on Earth…” he mused as he propped himself up on an elbow to take a longer draw. “Whoa. Damn, that is good. Try it, Gilds.”

“Okay.” Though Gilda had no idea what Marco meant, she accepted her bowl as it was placed on the bed beside her and raised her head enough to dip her beak in it. To her surprise, it tasted not unlike the overly-sugared sodas she’d occasionally enjoyed with Rainbow at malt shops in Cloudsdale, if a bit less sweet and more stimulating.

Mere seconds after taking it, she felt it soaking into her system swiftly, causing her talons to flex against the sheets and herself to stretch her stiff and still-sore body out hard.

For just a moment, the movement caused the head of Marco’s only slightly-softened spear to press directly into the entrance of her still-engorged nest. But before she could do anything about it, it slipped back out, though she froze briefly along with her human mate, who took a ragged breath as his spear and her teats swiftly surged back to full engorgement in direct view of Archex himself, the former poised and eager to enter her.

None of which was missed by the perceptive Archon, who studied them with an almost academic interest. “Remarkable. Overcoming the effects of the drink and self-enhancing your own sexual attributes? I daresay you two would make excellent drones, and I would greatly enjoy seeing an example of human lovemaking so I can both bask in it and later copy it. Unfortunately…”

He bodily separated them with his aura, moving them to opposite edges of the bed without touching or stimulating anything untoward. “I cannot, and neither can you.”

“Hey!” they both squawked in protest, to which he met their glare head on with his pupil-less gaze.

“I’m truly sorry, Centurion and Mister Lakan. But there is no time for this. Tribune Cipio will be here in mere minutes, and the Queen believes that you should not disrespect him more than you already have. You demanded his presence, and he has come. You should be there to meet him along with her and your subordinates.”

Gilda relented at his words, suddenly angry at herself that she had to be lectured by a Changeling of all creatures on self-control. “You’re right. Sorry. We have to get dressed, Marco,” she called over her shoulder to him. “We’ll finish this later.”

“We’d better,” he groused as he sat up facing away from her, upending the mug’s contents into his open maw. “Maybe it’s just as well, though. Because now I’m gonna be even grumpier when I see him. Can’t wait to say exactly what I think of him for endangering us like that…”

By the time she and Marco emerged back in their dirty clothes and armor beneath the noon sun, which was still shrouded by a smoky pall that it only showed weakly through with an orange hue, she found her available human and griffon soldiers standing in formation behind Queen Lepidoptes.

Fortrakt, Giraldi and Miles Fortuna were there as well along with a returned Obsidian Ire. She stood at the head of the drakina contingent, though she had very deliberately left an empty spot in their line for the missing Red Hot, who was still being healed below. In fact, it was only then Gilda noticed that all the formations were only half-full, studded with empty spots for dead or wounded soldiers.

Though she didn’t have a chance to ask him, she guessed it was on Giraldi’s instructions, wishing to emphasize their awful losses to the Tribune. Taking her place at the Queen’s left in front of the lowered gangplank, she was finally able to look out over the field below and see that somewhat to her surprise, her instructions had been obeyed—Tribune Cipio stood at the head of a mixed century in formal attire along with several civilian officials, though he was flanked by a decade of heavily armed Paladins and further defended by two mages.

A quartet of Kingdom flags fluttered in the breeze along with the standards of the City and Southern Territory, to which the Queen had answered by raising her own rarely seen standard to the top mast of her airship. It was orange and blue with crossed sabers beneath a helmeted Changeling head bracketed by their distinctive dragonfly wings.

Well, what were you expecting, Grizelda Behertz? Crossed phalluses over a nest-shaped opening that’s studded with pink hearts? She asked herself somewhat derisively to see the martial design, realizing that the Changelings would require a military tradition of their own in order to survive among griffons.

“So nice of you to join us, Centurion,” Fortrakt said slightly testily as she took her place beside him; he spoke in a low and barely audible voice without turning towards her. “I was worried that you were stuck on Marco’s spear.”

“Don’t be jealous, cub,” she replied with a wry note in a whisper, but he didn’t seem to appreciate the tease, giving her a brief glare.

“Of you getting to have sex? No. Of you getting to sleep…?” he snapped back under his breath, causing her to fall silent, realizing only then she’d indulged herself while ordering her subordinates to stay up and write reports. “Forgive my tone, Centurion. But I really need to rest.”

“I know,” she said in a far more subdued voice. “I promise that I’ll release you and everycreature else from duty after this. And I’ll stay up all afternoon to make up for it.” And besides, after drinking that weird energy brew, I’m not sure I could sleep anyway…

They both fell silent as Giraldi called for attention and all present stood up straight and tall. The two Archons then descended to meet the visiting force in place of their Queen, who remained on the ship she could not leave. Salutes were exchanged—the Changelings used the griffon kind—followed by a series of words she couldn’t hear over the smoky breeze.

Face to Face
Baki OST - Confrontation (10 minute extended HQ)

Introductions were then made of the civilian officials by a thinly smiling but clearly smoldering Cipio, who Gilda noticed glanced up and glared at her for a moment. But then abruptly, the two Archons attacked, with Archex whipping a sword around to cleave a Paladin helmet and the head beneath it in two, while the other released some kind of chain hidden up his armored sleeve with a spike on the end.

It went right through a noble’s eye and burst out the back of his skull. Weapons were raised in shock, but then just as quickly lowered as the blade and spike were withdrawn from the slain griffons to reveal Cloven parasites impaled upon them.

Beaks dropped open to see it. “But… they were alive!” one of the mages said in disbelief, and Gilda shivered at the implications.

Then it’s possible for the Cloven to corrupt LIVING hosts? She had no idea how they were going to combat that until the Archons explained that Changelings could detect the presence of Cloven parasites, ordering the entire formation to hold still until they were scanned. Crows take it… now what?

Thankfully, there were no other compromised griffons in the clearly unnerved formation, who were held at arrowpoint from hovering drones until the search was complete. “As this one was in possession of a standard ibexian anchor beacon, they were likely going to teleport in a force to assassinate you and the Queen once you were together,” the other Archon noted idly as they found the gem in the civilian’s robes.

“Though I do not know how the Cloven managed to start controlling live creatures, it matters not. We can still mitigate this threat, but it must be done immediately. We will need to scan every one of your soldiers and staff to make sure we get them all. With your permission, Tribune, we will send a century of drones to check your headquarters, and then have turma-sized patrols overfly your battlements to look for Cloven puppets there.” The large chain-wielding drone gave orders like he was an officer himself.

The suddenly wan and slightly pale Tribune gave his permission immediately, though he requested that they stay in disguise as they did so. With a nod, the hovering drones turned into griffon Talons with bursts of green fire that consumed them, earning startled flinches from watching griffons.

Once they were all shapeshifted, they took flight with a single one of Cipio’s subordinates in a surprisingly practiced sky griffon flying formation. The two Archons then escorted the town’s Maior along with a Tribune and a single aide—the Optio adjutant Gilda had met before—up the gangplank to meet Queen Lepidoptes herself.

The Queen stood regally in full battle armor to receive them; a quartet of armored drones bracketing her in front. Upon reaching the top of the ramp, the three visitors bowed low before her and flared their wings, if somewhat nervously in the case of the Maior and Optio Virgo.

Tribune Cipio, however, did not flinch from her presence, though Gilda did see a wary note in his green-eyed gaze that she wasn’t quite able to categorize. As he got closer, she noted that he no longer wore just the copper chain that gave him the ability to direct civilian security forces, but also a gold one that granted him the authority to command the Knights and—by dint of their being a subordinate service—the Talons.

Though surprised to see it, Gilda supposed she shouldn’t have been, given he was the commanding officer of the Aricia garrison and its district. From what she’d heard, thousands of soldiers from other service branches had fled fallen bases for Aricia and lost their commanders along the way. As the only ranking officer left, there would have been no choice but to make him their leader.

Still, it was very unusual to see even a senior Auxiliary Guard officer given authority to command the Knights, no matter how experienced or respected. Which only spoke to how dire the situation the Kingdom faced was, scrambling to reestablish a broken chain of command using whatever surviving officers were available regardless of service branch.

Despite that, he was in formal military uniform, though Gilda guessed from the fact it wasn’t as tight-fitting as usual that he was wearing a layer of armor beneath his dark blue cape and tunic. Once the Queen had returned the bow with a dip of her head, he rose to face her, pulling out a command crystal and speaking into it while facing her.

It caused his voice to boom out over the remote anchorage, equally audible within its area of magical influence. “Greetings and welcome to Aricia, Queen Scylla Lepidoptes the eighth! Your hive has lived among us for centuries, and yet it is only now that we make formal contact. It is truly a momentous occasion, even if it is brought upon by the most trying of times,” he began.

“I sincerely apologize for not meeting you sooner, but these are… exceptional circumstances that require severe security precautions. And I believe you can now understand just why I didn’t want to chance seeing you before this.” He looked ruefully over his shoulder at the remains of two felled Cloven corpses, who were already being incinerated by the pair of Magus.

“Trying times indeed,” the Queen answered, using her magic to boost her own voice to booming. “And ones that require painful sacrifices from us all. But it is my sincerest hope that out of the ashes of war will come a new beginning for both our races, where my Hive can at long last step out of the shadows and live among you openly. To that end, I wish you and all griffons to know that we fully intend to fight and die at your side, lending our strength and magical skills to ensure the Kingdom’s survival.”

Not a bad response. I wonder if she rehearsed it? For all I know, she’s been saving that speech for centuries… Gilda thought idly, noting that Cipio hadn’t looked at her since boarding the vessel.

But he had glanced at Marco and Imlay at least once, with his eyes settling for a moment on their cannons. Marco himself was standing with the Marines, though she’d overheard Imlay order him to ‘keep his fucking mouth shut’ when the Tribune passed, threatening to put him on laundry detail if he didn’t.

She smiled at the memory before tuning back into the conversation. “... is to your enormous credit. And that you have already aided our efforts has been noted with great gratitude and appreciation, as is the fact that you have fled your longtime home,” the Tribune gave what sounded to Gilda like an equally scripted answer. “For doing so, the Queen herself sees fit to honor you.”

He then sat back and unfurled a scroll. “By order of Her Highness, Queen Molyneux herself, we are instructed to give you the full honors due a visiting head of state and welcome you as an important ally in our struggle against a mutual and murderous foe. She affords your airship the status of embassy, and when we emerge victorious, she fully intends to reward your aid with land and wealth, up to and including a formal recognition of your Hive’s sovereignty.”

Despite the fact she was supposed to be standing at attention, the news caused Gilda to smile as the Tribune then passed the Changeling monarch a scroll bearing the royal seal of Queen Molyneux, which she supposed had been delivered by dragonfire courtesy of friendly drakes or drakinas.

That means he complained to the Queen about my orders and was then told I was right—that he should greet her properly and treat her as an ally! I bet that hurt, Tribune… She couldn’t wait to rub his beak in it later.

A few more pleasantries were exchanged and a speech was then made by the city’s Maior, an older eagless of minor nobility. She bade the Queen welcome in a slightly awkward air, seemingly having trouble looking at her. She offered her what little hospitality they could “under the circumstances,” inviting her to visit her heavily guarded house later once security arrangements could be made.

To her relief, Queen Lepidoptes respectfully declined, explaining that due to its “sensitive cargo”, she could not leave the ship. In its place, she offered to entertain the Maior herself more directly later, up to and including dinner and a tour of the vessel.

The initial greetings concluded, the Tribune was then invited by the Queen to meet and inspect her civilians and guests, though Gilda could easily tell that he didn’t want to be there any longer than he had to. She wasn’t sure if it was out of distaste for the Queen’s presence or simply a desire to get back to work defending the city, but it would also have been impolite to refuse her.

So following her lead, he allowed Queen Lepidoptes to guide her from formation to formation, starting with Optio Giraldi, who he greeted at least half-warmly. Gilda could just overhear him asking why her former First Spear refused a long-overdue promotion to Centurion and command of a century, to which Giraldi replied that it only honored him when others were more deserving.

“I did not lead us through this nightmare, sir, acting with incredible ability and honor in her first-ever command. Centurion Behertz did. And you slandered her by not acknowledging her efforts. To say nothing of the efforts of our soldiers,” he told the Tribune point-blank.

Whatever was said after that was too low for her to hear before Queen Lepidoptes led the Tribune on, though Gilda thought she might have briefly heard feathers ruffling. He was then introduced to the Queen’s senior military officials, which included what they called a ‘Captain’ and ‘Commander’ in Equish. Gilda gathered from what she overheard that improbably, the Changelings had not one but two military service branches despite their Hive’s small size, involving a ‘Guard’ and something called the ‘Silencers’.

With regards to the latter, she’d noticed that a few of the drones were not blue or orange-trimmed, but black with even their normally green pupils showing no color at all. They also tended to be armed with twin blades and a bevy of other items, leaving her wondering if they were somehow equivalent to the Ravens in function.

Then the Changelings have assassins, too? She was momentarily incredulous, then recalled stories from the long-ago conflict with the ponies of drones stalking and slaying high-ranked Imperial officials. They know how to make love, but for the simple sake of survival, I guess they also need to know how to make war…

After that, Tribune Cipio was introduced to Marco, Imlay and his available Marines, of whom only eight stood in line with the rest still being treated below. To her relief, Marco deferred to Imlay, who answered the Tribune’s questions respectfully. And when asked about their combat capabilities, he said that by Gilda’s order, a demonstration of their weapons was already arranged.

But the Tribune ended the conversation somewhat curtly on that note, saying only that he would try to find time for it later. After that came the surviving Ravens, and to Gilda’s surprise, Miles Fortuna was equally short with Cipio when he greeted her, saying only that the Tribune should “read her report” if he wished to know her opinion on the matter. The Queen also wisely steered him clear of Obsidian Ire, who was slouching off to the side with her sisters and glaring at him.

It was only then, after he’d seen the Talon and Knight formations to witness their casualties and get a sense of their anger, that he was led back to the fore of the formation to see Gilda herself.

“Centurion Grizelda Behertz,” the Tribune acknowledged with a cool look as she and Fortrakt saluted him crisply while staring straight ahead. “Congratulations on your promotion. A rise in rank was perhaps overdue for you, though I am surprised that you became a Centurion so swiftly.”

“Thank you, sir,” she said perfunctorily, baring her throat as much to show off her command chain as acknowledge the compliment. And though she would normally have left it there when being inspected by a superior, she decided to start needling him immediately. “I am pleased that my orders to you were carried out so promptly and obediently despite the difficulties involved. Be assured that I will note as much in my report to the Queen.”

As she watched, the Tribune’s beak clenched as his cheeks went red and his crestfeathers flared hard; she wished she could turn her head enough to see Fortrakt’s reaction, who she was certain was now stifling a smile. “It wasn’t your orders I was obeying, Behertz. It was the Queen’s.” He raised his voice to make sure nearby griffons heard him.

“As you clearly tried to go over my head to her, she concurred with my instructions, as I knew she would,” Gilda replied smugly, her deliberately insubordinate tone baiting him further. “She also clearly agrees with me that you were acting irresponsibly and dishonorably with regards to the Changelings. And I have no doubt that once she knows the facts, she will further concur just how incredibly idiotic you were to endanger the humans.”

His eyes narrowed and feathers ruffled. “You have a very outsized opinion of your own influence, Behertz. One I will relieve you of soon, once this little diplomatic affair is finished. I do not brook disobedience in wartime, and I fully intend to make an example of you.”

Gilda was unimpressed. “You can insult and threaten me all you like, but you’re ultimately here because I told you to be, Tribune. And by all the Ancestors who aided us this past day when you didn’t, I don’t care if it costs me my chain and rank. I don’t even care if it gets me thrown in the mines. I’m going to make sure you know exactly how crow-damningly stupid you were to risk the humans like that,” she told him to his face, relishing being able to backtalk like she was a teenager once more. “And then I’m going to make sure that you can’t ever do it again.”

“Are you quite through destroying your own career yet, Behertz?” he asked her acidly.

“No, sir.” She broke her attention stance and looked him in the eye, dropping her voice enough to make sure no nearby griffons other than Fortrakt could hear her. “If nothing else, I hope you’ve taken note that nocreature here is happy with you, Tribune Cipio. The reason is that they know how foolish your orders were, and what it could have cost,” she grated out the words through a clenched beak of her own, then stretched out her neck to go nose to nose with him, her posture low and wings starting to flare in anger.

The Tribune looked ready to grab her by her armored collar and throw her over the side, but he restrained himself, perhaps only due to the presence of the Queen listening in beside them.

“So heed my words and heed them well, sir. If you don’t want to be humiliated in front of your own troops by a public demonstration of human firepower that shows them directly how big a crow-damned fool you were, then I suggest you quit posturing like an overstuffed Paladin peacock with a spear up his rear… and come with me immediately.”

Before he could reply, she heard a stifled snicker at the dig from Fortrakt, which immediately gained the Tribune’s attention and ire.

Turning, she saw him smirking despite his tired features, which he didn’t erase even after the Tribune stepped in front of him. “Am I to take it that you agree with her insubordination, Decurion?” he tried to intimidate Fortrakt in her place, but he wasn’t having it, either.

“Sir. Yes, sir. We all do,” he told him without hesitation despite an audible quaver in his voice. “With due respect to your rank and station, every word she said was true. You were a crow-damned fool in risking the humans, and your actions could have cost us everything!” He was shaking but also standing straight as he said it.

Gilda was impressed, recognizing that talking back like that went against every fiber of his being. Wow, cub. I just hope that if I’m relieved of duty, you don’t go down with me!

When Tribune Cipio looked ready to not just snarl a reply but order his arrest on the spot, Queen Lepidoptes herself intervened. “With greatest respect, Tribune, I strongly suggest that you accept the Centurion’s offer. Passions are running understandably high right now, but these issues cannot be resolved standing in a receiving line. She is right that it is time for you both to talk, so I also invite you to do so. You may use my personal meeting room for the purpose, which is below.”

“That is more than acceptable,” Gilda told him through a glower. “I trust you agree, Tribune?”

“As I am instructed by Queen Molyneux to give you every consideration, I will do as you wish, Queen Lepidoptes,” he said shortly. “Fine, we’ll talk. But by our Queen and realm, don’t expect this to end well for you, Behertz…”

Since the next chapter in story order is the T-rated chapter 33, click on the link below to be taken to chapter 34:

—Firesight

===> next: Chapter 34