This story takes place a few years before the other chapters in this series.
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The breeze swayed the tall grass back and forth in the blue sky above Lilac's head. The chill of winter was early this year and it was often overcast, so she'd taken the opportunity to have a nap under the fleeting sun.
Nestled in the dying stalks, she heard hooves on earth and pushed her front half up to investigate. Through the dancing grass, she watched a shape cross the clearing. As it got closer, she could see it was a centaur. The creature slowed to a walk, clearly out of breath, and passed not far from where Lilac was hidden. It was a male, broad shouldered, with sharp facial features and long dark hair. His coat was dapple grey, with dark legs and black tail. Although centaurs were large beasts, this one was unusually small. Fauns were smaller than humans, yet his torso wasn't that be much bigger than hers.
The centaur moved on without seeing Lilac. Her pale horns and white and tawny coat meant she was camouflaged in the grass. His presence and size were a curiosity to her. Centaurs were herd creatures, and although stallions did travel alone sometimes, there weren't any others in the area. She wondered just where he was going. He was capable of covering ground quickly, so it was possible he knew where she might find green grass.
Lilac followed the beast at a reasonable distance. Even at a walk he was faster than her dainty hooves moved her. She was a little apprehensive about getting too close. Centaurs were renowned for being powerful creatures, arrogant and stubborn in nature. They were flighty, fiery things when threatened. But they certainly weren't rumoured to be cruel or sadistic. She expected if she tried to talk, he would begrudgingly help, or rudely dismiss her. He was intimidating in looks, but she held no fear for her safety.
Ahead, the centaur disappeared over a hill in the forest. Lilac continued on, hoping he'd lead her to food. When she crested the hill, she discovered he'd led her instead to water. A sweet little stream ran a path through the forest floor.
The centaur stood by the edge, wiping his mouth on his arm. There was mud clinging to his knees where he'd knelt to reach the water. Lilac had taken so long to catch up he'd already finished drinking. From behind a tree, she watched him wander the bank. He reached down to dig something out of the mud and brought it to his lips.
Lilac wished she could do that. Unlike horses, centaurs had a secondary part of their stomach that was capable of digesting small amounts of protein. Though, he'd be in trouble if he didn't also get some plant matter.
He was definitely better fed than her, judging by his muscle tone. From her angle she had a perfect view of his rump, and the enormous ball sack that hung between his hind legs. Lilac had no idea how he could even walk with that there. It had to be nearly as big as her head.
As he turned around, she saw his cock had spilled from its sheath, hanging fat and long towards the ground. The sight of it sent a chill thorough Lilac and made her squeeze her thighs. She couldn't help but imagine that monster inside her. This time of year, she usually came across huge palmeret plants, the large fronds circling reed-like shafts, topped with a phallic shaped fruit. The shaft was easily held in her clumsy two-fingered hand, and she quite often used them to relieve her horny itch.
Not wanting the centaur to leave before she'd spoken to him, Lilac moved down stream, keen to approach him from further away. By the time she came down the hill, the creature's erection had retreated out of sight. He had exceptionally good hearing and heard her coming before she was anywhere near.
He suddenly stood straight, staring at her, and snorted. Deeming her no threat, he went back to searching for worms. Lilac crouched by the water, eager to quench her thirst, before slowly walking towards him.
"Hello."
He straightened his upper half to look at her. "Hel-lough."
His heavy accent made her smile. She spotted a small flowering plant between two rocks and pawed at it with her cloven fingers until she could grasp it. She eyed the centaur while she chewed.
"Why are you so small?"
"Oh...magic." He sent her a sly look. "Gone wrong, obviously." He chuckled.
"Really?"
He was still grinning. "Absolutely."
Lilac didn't know whether to believe him or not. "Do you by any chance know where there's more food?" She glanced at the mud. "Something I can actually eat?"
"South. Toward the sea. Gotta get out of the mountains."
"Which way is the sea?"
He gestured to the direction he was heading earlier, and started walking. Lilac tottered along a few feet behind him. He'd turned out to be surprisingly nice, though a little abrupt.
Over the next hour, the centaur set a good pace across the land. He glanced over his shoulder to see if Lilac was still there a couple of times, but said nothing more to her. As they came over the top of a ridgeline, he broke into a trot.
Bollocks.
Lilac increased her pace to the bouncing gait, but on her two shorter legs she had to exert herself to even come close to meeting his speed. She'd lost so much ground she thought she'd never catch him, until he stopped to drink at a creek. Lilac fell to her hocks on the bank, panting hard.
The centaur looked her up and down. "You're a pretty determined little thing, aren't you? Are you going to follow me all the way?"
Lilac's throat was too dry to answer. She crawled to the water and dipped her mouth in. She was still trying to catch her breath when the centaur crossed the water. Maybe he took pity on her sitting there, water dribbling down her face, clearly unable to follow, because he stopped and lowered himself onto his belly.
"Get on."
Lilac gapped at him. "On your back?"
"Hurry up."
She scrambled to get up and waded across to meet him. Leaning over his wide back, she lifted one leg over and hauled herself up. "Thank you."
"Hold on."
"To what?"
"Anything." He jerked forward as he stood, making Lilac grip a chunk of mane.
