This Story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright (c) 2024 by Yshomatsu
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this story or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. The following is meant for Adults only, if you are under the age of 18 leave now.
~*~ Chapter One ~*~
An exhausted brown war horse with armored plates charged for the southern jungles. Miles of grassy planes stretched out in all directions. Foam had begun to form at its mouth as the noble animal pressed on. Trained for war, the animal would never stop, unless its heart gave out first. The veteran warrior upon its back named Vince struggled to stay awake. His heart also pounded hard, however, caused by a completely different reason. For the man had barely made it out alive. A creature that should not have existed had hunted his group down, eliminating them one by one.
Vince had served the Horadric Legion proudly for well over sixteen years. Their army had never known defeat. Until recently... unnatural forces spawned on the battlefield overwhelmed them. Many good men fell that day to an unfathomable, green fog. Vince and three others had been ordered to retreat. Tasked with a desperate mission to get reinforcements. Their General had to know it was already over when he ordered the last four riders to get away. A true hero in all meaning of the word; sacrificing himself to allow his surviving men time to escape.
The four men fled with fear and regret. They were riding without rest for days when a storm began to form overhead. Powerful winds forced the party to seek shelter that night. Unbeknownst to them, the unnatural demonic force had followed them. Only Vince survived the events that unfolded that horrific night. The veteran once again fled without rest; fearing that the demon still followed him.
The violent storm never dissipated. The strong winds threatened to throw Vince from his horse. The noble steed that had once belonged to a young soldier named Tommy--Vince didn't know the animal's name, but he could hear the painful gasps for breath. The poor animal had truly been through a lot the past several days.
Large trees formed on the horizon like a painted canvas. On any other day the man would have admired that beautiful sight. Desperation prevented such emotions from baring fruit, however. He felt a wave of remorse as he kicked the noble steed for a boost of speed. One thought kept repeating in his mind. 'Make it into the tree line to hide and rest, just a little further.'
"Only a bit further, you can make it boy." Vince called out after leaning forward; lightly patting the animal's neck as it protested verbally. Regardless of the neighing in way of response the animal pressed on, all the harder. Truth be told, the veteran was frightened to look back. A cold shiver ran up his spine at the mere thought of seeing the demonic seductress flying after him.
Suddenly the horse halted, panting, wheezing for air. Vince's body jerked forward. Almost tumbling over the animal's head. It had finally pushed itself too far as its strong legs gave out and they fell hard onto the ground. The armored warrior rolled off into the dirt. Only to rise painfully, spitting out a mouthful of earth. They had almost made it to the tree line, now less than a quarter mile away.
Hundreds of trees that grew into all kinds of sizes were just part of the dense vegetation at the jungle's border. Vibrant greens so thick they blocked the view passed, like a giant natural wall. The veteran's people had called these lands home for longer than anyone could recall.
Vince wiped his greasy black hair back out of his dirty face. Patches of gray had formed over the years, making him feel old. The man watched the horse's body spasm painfully; a single tear fell down his filthy face. Vince's steel gray eyes began to water as guilt overwhelmed him. It's not like he had a choice though, they had to escape. If the horse survived, he swore he'd find it a good home to live the rest of its life, in peace.
Thunder roared overhead, interrupting his thoughts. Slowly Vince rose to his feet when the white flashes lighting the area morphed to red. The loud, pounding thunder transformed until it sounded like a raging hell mouth, screaming bloody murder. He looked up in horror as the dark clouds appeared to explode, spitting fire and brimstone. A deep red circular silhouette quickly grew in size. The object burst out of the clouds in a fiery blaze, plummeting towards them.
Vince's eyes opened wide as he threw his body over the horse's head. His body wouldn't provide much protection, but the horse deserved all he could give. The demoness had followed them after all! Fear filled his panicking heart as he thought of death. Having lived his life as a warrior he had always expected to die in battle, with honor... not like this.
The massive ball of fire raced towards the ground with a howling roar. On impact the ground shook violently. Vince swore he heard screaming before he realized the cries were coming from him. Chunks of earth flew out in all directions; spreading fires throughout the valley and jungle, sounds of splintering tree trunks echoed in his ringing ears. The intense heat began to burn his exposed skin as the horse cried out, knocking Vince to the side. The warhorse had found that one pain lessoned another and quickly chose to flee; leaving the armored man to fend for himself.
"Wait!"
Large flames reached up for the sky, burning everything in their reach. Vegetation on the jungle floor melted to ash almost instantaneously. Vince squinted as he covered the rest of his face with his arms. From what he could tell the large object had impacted a few hundred yards within the jungle. He had attempted to run after the horse, but the spreading flames boxed him in. Reduced to panicking the warrior spun around, searching for a way out.
The tight armor he had 'borrowed' from Johnny--Tommy's older brother, another that fled the great battle--began to burn. Its once polished sliver shine, glowed red. Vince stumbled and crawled in desperation, air became hard to breathe. Each breath became a gasping struggle as smoke filled his lungs, causing a coughing fit.
The storm continued raging as lightning sparked along the horizon. The fires had spread out into the jungle before rain started to fall. At first it felt like sharp needles stabbing his burnt flesh, adding to the horrendous pain he already felt. The glowing armor let loose a flurry of steam as the downpour rapidly cooled the metal. But once the sizzling had stopped, he felt the cold wet chill spread throughout his veins.
He watched with relief as the large flames slowly died. Nature it would seem had answered the jungle's painful cries for help. The veteran sat there in the mud baffled. He felt defeated, exhausted, burnt, and now freezing. Almost cooked alive only to freeze to death moments later, what a way to go. A neigh and hoof slamming into the mud behind him caused the warrior to jump. The noble horse came back for him, a smile spread upon his chapped lips. He wiped the filth from his face since the rain loosened it.
Vince didn't hear the animal approach and realized that he had been sitting there shivering for a while. Steam rose off of anything left standing. Massive trunks had been reduced to burnt carcasses of their former glory. The jungle floor had been turned black; its vegetation all but destroyed. Only small patches of the plants remained, appearing like skeletons among the surrounding jungle.
The veteran couldn't quite see how far the damage had spread. But one thing did catch his eye. A massive crater with a large chunk of rock glowing within the soil. All this time he had feared that the demon had descended upon him. Yet he had remained motionless long enough to dispel that theory. The priceless mineral from the sky in front of him caused his mind to overload with thoughts.
Myths were told among his people of falling rocks composed of the strongest metals anyone had ever encountered. If this proved to be one of those; his luck may have just changed, for the better. The horse nudged his shoulder, snapping him out of his daze.
After that frightful night fighting a demon, he had pushed the animal to the breaking point. All in an attempt to escape. The falling rock had driven the poor steed away, and then it returned. Returning to his people would just have to wait but a moment longer. Less than a day's ride along the jungle's border, a group of people lived in a small village called Rotherham. This important rock that could possibly tilt the balance--between good and evil--in his favor would be of interest to a man in that village.
The veteran knew he couldn't squander this rare opportunity. Reinforcements rushing to aid men already dead would only add more bodies to the battlefield. However, if they had a new weapon... now that might save the new army from sharing the same fate.
Carefully Vince climbed atop his horse, noticing small burns upon its thick hide. He let the animal set the pace once they started off in the right direction. Time could still be of the essence, but Vince refused to push the noble steed any harder. The two moved through the pouring rain steadily, but with newfound purpose.
~*~ Chapter Two ~*~
Both the horse and rider were exhausted, and the hours stretched. Vince wouldn't force the tired animal to go any faster as he struggled to keep his eyes open. Several times he caught himself falling asleep just before he fell from the saddle.
Sounds carried on the wind kept him jumpy as he expected to see the demon flying towards him at any moment. On other occasions he found himself picturing her sexy body only to find it very uncomfortable to ride a horse with an erection. He had almost fallen prey to the demon and now he couldn't stop thinking about her. Constantly imagining what it would have felt like to let her dominate him. The feel of her tight pussy riding his dick.
Vincent had to shake the thoughts from his mind on a regular basis during the final stretch of his journey. Since they weren't sprinting any longer, he had a lot more time for his mind to wander, and wander it did, constantly.
Half a day later Vince arrived at the small village of Rotherham. He felt like the rain followed him yet luckily it had reduced to a lite drizzle. The village consisted of three roads that ran parallel with the jungle. Those three roads had all of the villagers' homes built along them. The population had almost grown large enough to call it a small town.
The veteran traveled down the middle of the three roads. He squinted as he looked out at the buildings because of the rain, stinging his eyes. The homes weren't anything extravagant. Just simple shelters that kept their owners dry and warm. It had been many years since Vince had lived in a home like these. Ever since he enlisted into the Legion. A part of him felt jealous of these villagers, but he had lived mostly regret free. In fact, besides the horrible week he had just had, he hadn't thought about his past. The veteran had lived in the moment for so long he didn't really remember how life had been before he enlisted.
He passed many buildings, each different from the last. Many of them were built from jungle wood and bamboo, others with clay. Vince recalled the large bamboo section that marked the Horadric Legion's gates. Even though the Legion ruled all these lands, their army resided within the jungle, among the trees.
Some of the windows had candles lit. Vince tried not to react when they were blown out as he approached. He didn't like what that represented. Weren't these lands well protected by the main army? The veteran had been a part of the northern campaign for years, so he hadn't been to Rotherham for a while. Had the demonic presence spread this far south already? He hoped not.
