The Escapist

All characters are 18 years of age or older.

[Author's Note: Well, my non-erotic fantasy story "Blades of Cairndale" doesn't seem to be too well-received, so let's get back to what I'm good at, shall we? More monster girls, and different ones for once! You'll notice that these lovely, rapacious ladies resemble already established monster girls from works like the Monster Girl Encyclopedia. But I've renamed them so that I can use my own desired designs and specifications without messing up any pre-established stuff. Anyway, hope you all enjoy this short tale. I assure you, there is much more to come with this story. I just wanted to post the first bit of it so you all wouldn't forget about me, hahaha. As always, comments are much appreciated. And since I'm posting this in December: Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, or in my case, happy Yule to you all. May your holiday season be filled with mirth, merriment, and monster girls!]

*

My name is Devlin Silvermane, and I am going to be the greatest hero that Thuralia has ever seen. Ever since I was young, I knew I wanted to be a hero, a warrior who slew monsters without mercy. When I was ten years old, my father was devoured by a monster before my eyes. She'd come after me, but my father leapt in her path and she'd grabbed him, pulling him away from me as I turned and ran like a coward. I've never forgiven myself for that, even if I was ten. I could have tried to fight, I could have died with my father.

I spent the next several years training with my father's sword. I lived alone in our house, and was taken care of by family friends. They never let me roam beyond the village gates, lest I go hunting monsters. I kept my father's old sword from his days in the military, and I did my best to teach myself to fight. I'd like to think I'm pretty damned good now. I practiced for years, and now I am eighteen and I can go forth and avenge my father's demise by raining steel upon those evil monsters.

Thuralia's monsters are an interesting lot. Firstly, they are all female. They take many forms, but they are all women. Some are shy, some aggressive, some timid, others sadistic, but they are all women, and they all crave men. All of these monster girls require males for procreation, and most of them absorb life-sustaining energy from male semen. Some, like the Slime Girls, can also gain nutrition from sweat, blood, and saliva. Monsters are also known to consume males for food instead of or in addition to taking their semen. But men are not the only ones in danger of being raped or eaten by monster girls. If some monster girls capture women, they can feed off of them by eating them, violating them, or in certain cases, they can convert women into new monster girls. Thuralia is a strange, dangerous world. The wilds outside of settlements are not to be traveled without protection. My protection is my sword, and I intend to set out today and carve my name into the world, one monster at a time.

The guards at my village's wooden gates look me over as I stride past. I'm wearing soft leather boots, cloth pants, and a simple cloth shirt. I have a pack slung over my back and my father's sword at my side. The guards look confused and a bit concerned, but they have no reason to refuse me passage.

"You always said you would venture off this way," noted one of the guards. "Go on adventures, kill monsters, and all that. Only none of us ever thought you would do it, boy."

"I am and I will."

"You aren't too big," noted the other. "Be careful, Devlin. Fight with finesse, not brute force."

"Thanks."

It is good advice, even if totally unsolicited. I've found in my training that quick movement and swift strikes are more my specialty. I'm strong enough, but brute strength has never been my forte. So, keeping the guards' wisdom in mind, I leave my little village behind. I'm off to see what this world has to offer to a young man with great aspirations and nothing much to lose.

* * *

The dirt road leading to the northwest cuts across the rolling hills and green plains of Thuralia's southeastern region. Short trees dot the landscape and the sun shines high over my head. I'd hoped to get an earlier start, but saying goodbye to my old friends was difficult. I'd grown up in that little fishing village, it was hard to leave, but there was just nothing for me there anymore. Thuralia is so much more than just one little town, and I'll have to learn all about it if I'm going to be the greatest hero our world has known.

I know this road cuts through a forest a few days' march to the north. We trade fish for timber from a small outpost on the forest's southern border. What I'll meet between then and now I do not know, but I'll soon find out. My boots crunch on the dirt and gravel of the roadway, a rhythmic pulse set by my stride. My hand rests idly on the pommel of my father's sword. It is a short-bladed katana, razor sharp, and it will be the bane of any monster I encounter. Just as this thought crosses my mind, movement catches my eye.

Up ahead, in a stand of trees off to the right of the road, I swear I see something moving about, but I can't tell what it is. A direct approach could quite possibly get me killed or captured, so I move off the road to the left, covering behind the sparse trees and moving as quickly as I can from one to the next until I've come level with the little copse on the right. And there amidst the trees I see her, the monster who is fated to be my first kill. And how much more perfect could it be? This monster is of the same sort that consumed my father. My vengeance will be swift and brutal.

They call these monsters Entanglers. She is, like many monster girls, entirely naked. She is a head taller than me, with pretty fair skin and dark brown hair. Her arms, head, and torso are normal in appearance, but where a normal human woman's legs would be, instead a mass of long, writhing tentacles supports her. The tentacles end in suction cups, which I've heard can be used to cause great pleasure and pain. The Entangler is a sadistic creature, raping men into submission before devouring them with her razor-like teeth. It pains me to think what my father endured to save my young life. Now, eight years later, I'll claim one Entangler as the first of many lives to repay the debt the monsters owe me.

No sooner do I see her than the Entangler spots me, her eyes flashing with excitement and her smile exposing her meat-rending teeth. Abandoning any pretense of stealth, I draw my sword and stride into the road, ready to meet my foe head on. Her tentacles squirm as she glides toward me across the grass, though she keeps her distance from my steel blade.

"A boy," she sneers. "And you carry the scent of a virgin."

"That's no business of yours," I reply, trying to sound imposing.

"Cute," she taunts, "the boy thinks he's a big tough man. Oh, but I'll treat you like a man, don't you worry. It will feel so good at first, I promise. Then, it's going to hurt, a lot."

Without warning she surges forth, and two tendrils shoot out for me. I barely avoid them, hopping back and swiping with my sword. She avoids the blade and comes in again, forcing me to duck under a high pass of one tentacle and then trying to trip me with another. I skip sideways, stepping over the prehensile limb and dart in to stab at her chest. That is my mistake, and I realize it instantly.

"Mine," she cries, and three tentacles whip around my legs, knocking my feet from under me.

"No!"

I fall flat on my back and the Entangler moves over me, her tentacles draped all around me as she stands over my hips. Two tentacles restrain my legs and with alarming ease she knocks the sword from my hand, pinning my arms out to my sides. Already, more of her long tendrils are undoing my pants and pulling them down. I feel the caress of her smooth tendrils, and the gentle tugging of her suction cups on my most sensitive, personal regions. Though I frantically try to pull away, the Entangler is stronger than I am, and her soft touching starts to stimulate my penis until it is standing at attention. My face burns with shame and anger. This can't be happening, not so fast. I can't fail!

"Now comes the part where it hurts a lot," the Entangler maliciously giggles.

A tentacle squeezes tight around my shaft, the suction cup bruising my skin with painful force. Another begins to twist around my balls, flicking its tip painfully against them. I grunt in discomfort and try to pull away when the Entangler leans in so our faces are almost touching. It looks like she's about to kiss me, when instead she gives my face a long, thorough lick. I recoil in disgust.

"You taste good," she says over the sound of my pain.

"Get off me!" I roar with indignation.

"I'm not letting my meal go," she informs me. "But how about I make it more interesting."

My eyes go wide with horror when I feel a tentacle slide under me and start working its way into me from behind. The limb is just thick enough to hurt as it eases its way deeper and deeper inside of me. It makes my stomach hurt, and I let out a loud groan. The Entangler takes this as a cue to continue licking my face hungrily, occasionally giving my ears a playful nibble, which due to her sharp teeth, hurts quite a bit.

"Want to try and fit some more tentacles in there?" she offers, sending two more of her limbs to prod at me.

"Stop it, please," I beg, humiliated and revolted at this situation.

"Huh," she says suddenly, pausing, "you taste kind of familiar, and you look familiar too."

I'm about to ask what she's talking about when she gives me another lick, making me shudder in displeasure. My face is dripping wet with her saliva, its running into my eyes and mouth, much as I try to stop it. She looks me over and nods her head.

"Do you have a dad?"

"I did," I grumble, sighing when she eases her tentacles from my ass. "He was eaten... by an Entangler."

Could it be? This can't be the same monster girl who stole my father's life. Then again, why couldn't it be. So long as a monster has a steady supply of male life-force, she'll outlive any human. I redouble my efforts to escape, struggling against the Entangler.

"I carried off your father," she recalls fondly, "I raped him for days. But then he escaped from me."

"What?"

"He's an Escapist, you know," she adds casually. "But I tracked him down before he got back home, and then I ate him slowly, and kept him alive for as much of it as I could. You should have heard him screaming. I'll make sure you die slower, boy."

An Escapist? What in the Nine Hells is an Escapist? How could my father have escaped at first? The fact that he tried to get back home, but failed due to the Entangler, just makes my sadness more complete. Painfully so. It's like having a renewed hope, a burning candle that is snuffed out by a fresh gust of bitter wind. I go limp in the Entangler's clutches, not caring that she's now licking my neck, not caring that she's lowering her body down onto me, ready to rape me. Maybe it'll feel good before I die, who knows. My father's fate sounds miserable, and if he couldn't get away, how could I?

Without my struggling, the Entangler relaxes her hold on me. I feel the heat of her most intimate area as she readies to impale herself on my shaft. Then, as if struck by a burst of lightning, I come alive with power, my body reacting of its own accord. I wrench my arms free of her grasp and in the same motion sit up and heave her off of me. Not bothering to stop, I roll sideways and grab my sword, somehow ending up on my feet and charging down the road before I realize what I've done. I've escaped! I hear the Entangler screaming behind me.

"Come back here, male! I'll catch you and I'll make it hurt twice as bad now. I'll skin you alive!"

How did I do that? How did I just escape like that? I have no idea, but I can't stand around and think about it right now. I keep running, not stopping until I'm out of breath and far up the road, so far in fact that the Entangler is out of sight. I stop for a much-needed rest in the shade of a tree by the roadside, never letting my guard down. I take a moment to refasten my pants and sheathe my sword in its scabbard at my side. Then, I pull a handkerchief from my pocket and proceed to wipe the Entangler saliva off my face and neck.

"Had some fun, did you lad?"

I whip around at the sound of the voice, my hand flying to my sword. I half expect the Entangler to erupt from out of nowhere and then carry me off like some spoil of war. Instead, a middle-aged man is leaning casually on a walking stick. His clothes look battered and his face is bruised, but he doesn't seem particularly tired or upset.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"You're a Silvermane, aren't you?" he asks. "You look like your old man. How did he not tell you about me, about us?"

"You didn't answer my question."

He chuckles at that and paces for a moment before stopping in front of me.

"From the look of you, you're following in your father's footsteps," he notes. "I was worried when the Entangler grabbed you, she's a tough one to get away from."

"She killed my father," I mutter bitterly.

"Did she? When?" he looks genuinely shocked.

"Eight years ago," I say flatly. "For someone who knew my father, you didn't keep up with him very well."

"Ah, I assumed he was keeping a dragoness company," he admits sheepishly. "You know how possessive they are. Even an Escapist has a hard time evading dragonesses. I'm sorry he's dead, he was the best of our lot."

There's that word again, Escapist. What is it and why have I never heard of it?

"What is an Escapist?" I demand.

"You mean you don't know," he incredulously inquires. "I'd not have left you to the Entangler if I'd known. My apologies, lad. Escapists are... well we're men with an inate ability, a reflexive power to get ourselves out of bad situations, particularly captivity. And we're men who uh... rather enjoy the affections of the world's monster girls."

"What?" I can't believe what I'm hearing.

"You see, lad," he goes on, resting again on his walking staff, "if monster girls could only rape the men they caught, men would just stay inside and the monsters would attack them en masse. Chaos would ensue. We, the Escapists, are a balancing force, we let ourselves get captured, have a little fun, then slip away. Carnivorous monsters are tricky, but we still manage to evade their hunger for flesh while still satisfying other needs. Usually anyway."

He looks sadly down the road, in the direction from which I'd escaped the Entangler. He's thinking of my father, as am I. This can't be true. My father would let himself get captured by monster girls? He was some sort of pervert, who enjoyed these creatures' affection. That can't be the case.

"It's not so bad as it sounds, my boy," the man assures me, "Escapists are a good lot. We keep the world stable and, believe you me, those monsters appreciate us even if we get away from them. Though I know plenty of Escapists who've fallen in love and let themselves stay captive. I know this fellow named Marcus, not an Escapist mind you, but he lives in a mansion far to the northwest, with three monster girls, and he's a happy young man for it. A tired one too, I'd imagine."

I'm at a loss for words. Could I have my father's Escapist blood? Is that how I was able to shake off the Entangler? And I have to admit, even the painful parts of what she was doing to me felt kind of good. I still hate her for trying to attack me when I was young and forcing my father to give up his life for me, but that Entangler was fairly pretty. Gods, what's wrong with me?! She's a monster, how can she be pretty?!

"If you're going to start being an Escapist," offers the man, "I'd recommend starting with Slimes or harpies, as they won't try too hard to keep you captive. I know of a little cave to the east of here where some Escapists practice there stuff, trying to get away from the indigenous critters."

"I uh... I don't know what to do," I murmur.

"Well," he offers, "take this, just in case you decide to go for it."

He hands me a book from his pocket, a small volume embossed with the title "A Guide to Thuralia's Monsters." I pocket the leather-bound tome and am about to thank the man when I realize he's already gone a good way down the road while I was glancing over the book's cover. He's fast! He's also headed straight for the Entangler. Eh, whatever gets him off, I suppose. I'm not about to go after him. Would my father have gone toward the Entangler? I don't know what to make of all of this. It sounds odd, and perverse, to have willing sex with monster girls. But why should it be so? It's a perfectly legitimate idea, satisfying them to keep the attacks on innocent men to a minimum.

I straighten up and get back on the road. About a mile north, the road forks northwest and directly east. At that point I pause, considering what I can do. The left-hand path will lead me to the forest, where I can bloody my sword with monster girl blood. The right will take me to the aforementioned cave, where I can test my Escapist skills. I make my decision after a few moments of silence. I never knew this about my father, this life he chose to lead before my birth. Now, I will try my best to find out more about it...

* * *

It's late evening when I reach any sign of a cave. A small, dirt path led off from the main road and through the trees, leading me to the mouth of the cavern. It looks pitch dark in there, and I'm more than slightly nervous. What if I'm not an Escapist? What if my father wasn't, and that man was just some deranged fool? I can't be certain, but I still can't explain how I eluded the Entangler earlier. This is my only clue to knowing more about my father, it's all I can do to feel closer to him. So I rummage through my pack for my hand-lamp--a small lantern with a focusing lens to narrow and amplify its beam of radiance--and step into the blackness of the cave.

The gloom of the cavern engulfs me in its dank ambiance. My footsteps echo in the gloom and the air smells of musty earth. The focused beam of light from my lantern marks a clear path for me amongst the dirt and stones on the cave floor. The wide entrance chamber narrows into a small tunnel with a ceiling so low that even I have to duck down. So far, no signs of monster girls that I can discern in the near-blackness. But I push on, coming into a room with wide walls and a vaulted ceiling dotted with stalactites. A pool of water off to one side makes a soft babbling sound as it is fed into by a tiny waterfall up the wall. And there, in the center of the room, is a large wooden treasure chest.

I can't believe my eyes; a treasure chest, just like out of one of those old adventure stories. Surely this one won't be full of gold gems or magic rings, but still! Maybe other Escapists left items of use in there for curious adventurers like myself. There's only one way to find out. With a last glance around the room in search of lurking monsters, I stride briskly to the chest and reach for the lid.

The second my hand touches the lid, the box flies open and a loud scream of excitement assaults my ears. A female torso erupts from the box, which is far too small to have contained a full person. The woman, a red-headed girl with pretty green eyes and noticeably pointed teeth, wraps her arms around me and pulls me down toward the chest. I don't know how it happens, because the chest is far too little to contain one body let alone two, but she easily pulls me into the chest, letting the lid fall closed behind us.

"Finally, a new snack," she squeals. "I'm going to play with you, boy. It'll be great!"

"Hey, let go of me," I protest, more out of surprise than anything.

"No," she says in a cute, pouting tone. "You're mine now, and I'm going to rape you until I'm tired. Then I'm going to eat you, but I promise I'll make it quick. First, I'll bite off your balls, then your penis, then I'll eat your throat so you don't have to suffer anymore."