"Devlin?"
The fighter glanced over at the man riding up next to him and sighed, "Yes, Naro?"
"When are you going to give up dallying with these monstrous women?"
"Maybe when they stop being so damn good at what they do."
"The Goddess forbids giving them your seed."
"As you have reminded me every two days since you joined us, cleric. As I have told you every single time, I don't follow your Goddess. There's also the fact that I don't see you dropping to your knees and offering to suck my dick with a big smile on your face." He glanced over at the man in white robes again. "Not that I would want you to," he added. "I've heard that some of your order will fuck anyone as long as it's another human."
"Last I checked, neither of them were sucking your dick either," said Naro with a glance back at the other members of their party.
Devlin cringed, "You got me there." Following behind were two men on horses with two monster girls walking between them.
Chatting with the bard was the troupe's other warrior, a lizard-girl wearing scale mail that covered her torso and upper legs along with a large steel shield on her back and a broadsword on her hip. Brek was a monster girl with a very human-looking body except for her scales and the long tail that flicked back and forth as she walked. The lizard-girl was not to be mistaken for the race of lizardwomen who existed before the coming of monster girls and suffered a similar fate to orcs and goblins. Although she could shift her arms and legs between lizard and human, the odd angles of her lizard appendages weren't beneficial for a creature walking upright. Her feet and lower legs were bright green, but the color slowly transitioned to a rich, royal blue as it moved up her body to her neck. Other than a white oval patch extending from the bottom of her neck to her chin, her head was also blue and sported green hair slightly darker than her legs. As she spoke with their bard, Naden, the lizard-girl repeatedly smoothed down the ridge attempting to rise up beneath her chin. She explained shortly after joining Devlin that the male lizards matching her scale pattern used the dewlap beneath their chin to attract females and scare off smaller males. Unfortunately, human men didn't find the protrusion sexy, and the flap became a problem when it extended while enticing a man into bed. At a distance, she looked to have the slitted eyes of a venomous, reptilian monster girl. Up close, her pupils were round with very thin yellow irises, and black, triangular spots above and below her eyes gave the impression of something more dangerous. Unfortunately for Devlin, she had small, pointed teeth on a bony ridge right behind her lips, making them very stiff compared to a human's. Even if she could cover her teeth with her lips, the teeth themselves were so sharp she would cut herself.
Walking next to her was Maris, the grey tabby cat-girl. Their resident thief and burglar, she acted as a scout on these types of missions. Devlin was thankful the feline didn't feel the constant need to steal stuff like a few other thieves he had known. The cat was pretty with black ears and stripes that lightly tinted her skin in a tabby pattern. She wore a brown, tight-fitting vest made of soft leather with a pair of tiny shorts that barely covered her bottom and sex. A belt lined with pouches hung loosely from her waist, and she currently had the hood of her cloak thrown back. Her golden eyes had the customary slit pupils of a cat and were currently looking annoyed as she glared at Sifid, the mage, who was presently ignoring her. Sadly, her tongue was what made Naro's statement true. It was so rough she could nearly take skin off with it. He didn't want to find out what it was like to have the flesh licked from his cock.
Maris could change her arms back and forth from feline to human. The cat-girl used her human legs when they were at camp or the rare town that tolerated monster girls but mostly used the feline versions when they were traveling as she had little problem keeping up with the horses unless they were at full gallop. Both of the girls had horses but preferred to walk. Brek had her lead rope in her hand while Maris had tied hers to the back of Sifid's saddle.
Devlin knew that if it weren't for Naro, the mage would happily accept the cat-girl's advances. At twice Devlin's age, Sifid was the oldest in the party, and he and Naro both hailed from the same town. The mage was an outcast for learning pagan magic, but the two became fast friends despite their differences and decided to go out adventuring together. Partly for the sake of adventuring, but also to get Sifid away from the ongoing persecution of the townsfolk. Since Naro was the only one who really accepted him, Sifid tried his hardest not to do anything that might upset the cleric, the only exception being his pursuit of magic. Devlin didn't think it was a very healthy friendship, but it wasn't his place to say anything.
"How much longer until we reach the beast's territory?" he called back to the mage. Sifid pulled out a small, leather-bound journal and flipped to a page with a green ribbon hanging out. Actually, there were three green ribbons, each a different shade, along with four blue ones, two purple, a brown, and seven or so reds. Devlin wondered at how the man kept track of them all. His ability to keep information organized made him the prime candidate for the party's chronicler and navigator. After checking the drawing in his book, he took out a crystal and drew a small spell in the air. The rune collapsed into glowing circles and lines that only the mage could understand.
"We should cross into its territory around nightfall. Its lair appears to be another few hours beyond that."
"Big territory," remarked Devlin.
"Big beast," added Naro.
"How much longer until we make camp?" asked Naden. "I think the boys are looking to rest their feet," he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. Behind the party was a small company of foot soldiers followed by mules holding the men's provisions, an unwanted gift from King Lermin, the monarch who hired them.
King Lermin had a problem. He was on his third marriage, and his latest queen was young enough to be his daughter. His first wife killed herself, believing that her body was broken and unable to bear children. The king's chambers were in the castle's upper rooms, but a previous queen who didn't care for her husband moved the queen's quarters into the eastern tower just above the castle stables. Nobody knew of her death until the body was found on the stables' roof the next morning. His second wife was caught sleeping with one of the king's viziers. Both claimed there was no affair and were merely trying to give Lermin an heir. The vizier had no intention of claiming the child. This only angered Lermin more. In a final act of defiance before the executioner's ax came down, the queen screamed out that the king's seed was weak and that any heir would not be his son.
Three years passed as Lermin scoured the lands, searching for a wizard able to remove the curse. The mages all laughed at him. Most told him there was no curse, as did the clerics he pestered until the church stepped in, telling him to stop or they would withdraw their priests from his lands. Instead of believing the numerous responses denying the existence of a curse, he continued his search until he ran across an old diviner who instructed him to take a new bride and to send a party of those not from his lands to fetch a horn upon the nose of a specific beast.
A few small parties went to slay the creature, but none returned. Lermin hired larger parties, but those also failed, with no survivors to report back with the beast's abilities. Devlin and the others had no plans to take on this suicide mission, but the pay they were offering was substantial, and the king was sending his foot soldiers along to ensure the creature died.
They didn't really want the soldiers because the trip took three times longer than it needed to. However, Devlin appreciated the extra sword arms with all the other groups of adventurers getting killed. He looked back at the men trudging along behind them and quietly sighed. At least he tried to appreciate them. Only the company commander rode a horse and had a proper sword and armor. The rest carried significantly cheaper spears and sported hardened, padded leather for protection. These were certainly not the best King Lermin had to offer.
On the other hand, the rest of the garrison didn't look much better. Despite lacking evidence of any real 'curse,' neighboring kingdoms and merchants were hesitant to invest in a reign where succession was uncertain. Over the years since her death, the second queen's words had damaged Teremin's economy far beyond anything she could have imagined. The effects were apparent in the number and quality of King Lermin's soldiers. Young and generally unskilled, it looked as though the struggling monarch was pulling farmers from their fields to fill his army's ranks.
Given their quest, a farmer with a spear was better than nothing.
"Sifid makes the call," answered Devlin before turning to the mage. "We should be within striking distance of the creature's territory, but I don't want them overtired and lagging behind tomorrow," he said with a glance at the soldiers.
The mage nodded in understanding before flipping his book open again. No sooner did Devlin face forward again before feeling a slight weight on the horse behind him, followed by a hand on his shoulder as someone vaulted over top of him to land nimbly on the front of his saddle. A moment later, two deceptively strong legs wrapped around him from the front as the woman lowered herself. Devlin scooted back in his seat as far as he could to give the woman the option of sitting down. Unsurprisingly, she stopped when the bulge in his pants rubbed across her groin.
"Hello, Maris," said the fighter.
"Sifid isn't paying attention to me," pouted the feline.
"As well he shouldn't," quipped Naro from beside them.
