It took them a few hours before they started on their journey. An overgrown path took them into the more densely forested hills where the trees were much taller. Leafy branches far above them obscured the sunlight for long stretches while four men hacked at brush to uncover the way.
Tannah looked at her sword, sheathed on the back of their mule. They'd left their horses in the village in favor of the slower but stouter creature, and were all on foot now making their way up the winding path.
Tannah looked at Balter who was still making lusty eyes at her in her new outfit. She had packed away her leathers in favor of a thin fabric top that barely covered her breasts, and a short skirt that hung in front of her groin and butt, but left her thighs exposed.
"I can't believe you're making me wear this on the road," Tannah grumbled at Balter as he slapped her butt playfully and gave it a good squeeze.
"Again," he said, over the slashing noises the four men were making, "it was their idea, not mine."
One of them peered back at Tannah as his companions chopped at shrub. He narrowed his eyes and gestured to Balter as they all stepped slowly up the forested path. Balter reached across and lifted Tannah's skirt exposing her naked pussy to the man. He grinned and took a long look, then said something in his native tongue as he turned and went back to work.
"He says he hasn't fucked a cunt that good looking since his wife gave birth," Balter chuckled. "He can't wait."
"Neither can I," Tannah said sarcastically, knowing she would have to spread her legs and moan for each of the four men before the day was over.
"I must admit," Balter began as he walked slowly beside her, "seeing you in that is making me want you already. If we weren't so pressed to reach our destination in as few nights as possible I'd have you down in the brush squealing my name."
Tannah glanced at him and then back at the four guides leading them up the path, her skirt swaying while she moved, showing just the barest glimpse of her shaved groin each time she stepped over a root or rock.
"At least I don't have to sit in a saddle like this," she thought as she watched the group of sweaty men swing their blades and toss severed branches off to the side. She was already dreading having them pressed against her, coating her in their filth as they thrust their unwashed cocks into her mouth and pussy.
Then, suddenly there was a noise from somewhere in the canopy. Everyone stopped moving at once, their gazes going up to the tree tops.
"Zaggural!" one of the men shouted as a massive feline creature with a shifting prismatic fur pattern and a long whip-like tail fell from above, one of it's front paws pinning a man to the ground while it landed.
Dirt and leaves kicked up in a blinding cloud around them, and Tannah could hear their pony bleating in distress. The men shouted curses at the creature, their friend wailing as its claws pierced his body.
Without thinking Tannah darted toward the pack mule that was already scampering away from the huge cat as it batted at the two men brandishing their blades. In her peripheral Tannah saw the long tail uncoil itself from a tree trunk above and begin flailing about.
She dropped flat against the ground as it came whistling through the air, crashing through the brush and shattering tree stalks. The tree in front of her seemed to explode into wooden fragments as the powerful appendage cut through its base.
Tannah pushed herself up and ran toward the pony, broken trees falling all around the growling monster. She heard one of the men scream in surprise and pain. She reached for her bow, unclasped it and drew five arrows out of her quiver with great dexterity and turned around.
Only two men remained facing the creature now, their brush swords glinting in the dim sunlight as they waved them to fend off swipes of the Zaggural's giant claws.
Tannah took aim, knocked an arrow and loosed it.
In almost the same moment the Zaggural shrieked in anger, recoiling violently as the bolt embedded itself in its right eye. A dry cloud of leaves and dirt rose around it as it turned and bounded into the forest, whipping its humongous tail about in a fury.
Tannah snatched the other four arrows and followed the creature, hopping over roots and through the obscuring debris kicked up in its flight. She stepped over the mangled body of one of the guides, briefly noticing his vacant stare, and the blood running from the corner of his mouth as she darted and weaved between collapsed trees.
"Not yet, I'm not done with you beast," Tannah thought to herself as she pursued the huge animal. It was injured and would likely leave them alone so long as they left it to devour its kills, but Tannah didn't like leaving enemies behind who could harm her later. "One eye per head, that's what it costs to eat my men you asshole!"
Finally she found a clear path through the trees and could see the monstrous cat in the distance, pawing at the shaft stuck in its eye, and licking its bloodied paw.
She set four arrows in the dirt beside her foot. Swiftly and quietly she took aim with her bow, taking a deep breath as she pulled the string back. Its ears perked up just as Tannah let the arrow fly. It flinched at the sound of the missile sailing through the trees, causing her shot to miss its head completely.
Its fur rippled and changed colors making it almost invisible. Then it roared. Tannah saw movement in her direction but its shape was hard to tell apart from the plant life along the side of the mountain. Nevertheless she knocked another arrow, aimed and loosed it.
She heard the creature growl as the bow struck meat and bone, but it didn't stop the hulking cat from clawing its way up toward her. She watched it overturn the soil with each powerful beat of its paws. Patches of wet dirt burst upward along the ground closer and closer to where Tannah was standing.
Tannah took another deep breath, she drew back the bow string, aimed, and loosed. The creature howled. Its fur erupted in colorful waves as it staggered and hopped backwards, its other eye pierced, blood running down its face. It batted fitfully at the arrows protruding from between its clenched eyelids, making the earth shake as it hopped up and down emitting guttural cries.
It bounded about in a circle before turning and leaping up a thick tree stalk, embedding its claws in the wood, then launching itself into the canopy. She watched it hide in the greenery while she stood below the swaying branches with her one remaining arrow at the ready.
Confident, Tannah turned and made her way back to the where they had been attacked. She saw the remaining guides standing over the bodies of their friends, one of them crushed and punctured, the other disemboweled, his intestines arranged in a pile beside him.
"Won't get to try my cunt after all will you. Poor bastard," Tannah said quietly to herself.