The Serpent's Embrace
Daniel's breathing grew ragged, and from his mouth wafted a foul, unbearable stench of rot. Richard's face hardened until it could grow no stiffer. He clenched his teeth and shouted.
"How many days has it been since you took the throne, Rishar?"
Of course, Daniel had no intention of obeying. He thrust his face so close that their noses nearly touched. Richard was no stranger to the battlefield's reek after combat—the stench of corpses that crows and ravens so loved. But familiarity and revulsion were two entirely different matters. He turned his head away. It did nothing to escape the serpent-man's putrid odor, yet Daniel refused to allow even that small mercy. The creature seized his cheek and forced his gaze back.
"Five days? Or six?" Daniel continued. "The sun has set, so it must be the sixth. By your reckoning, it would still be the fifth."
With those words, he unfurled his forked tongue and dragged its full length across Richard's lips. Any attempt to resist proved futile. The sting of his split lip was nothing, but the crushing pressure of the serpent-man's powerful hand on his jaw was more than his mouth could withstand. That cold, revolting tongue forced its way inside. Nausea surged through him. His body convulsed. But the weight pinning him down did not budge. Instead, as if his struggles only amused him, Richard felt Daniel's cock twitch violently against his belly.
He lifted his legs, wrapping them around Daniel's waist in a desperate bid to pry him off, but he could not reach a position that allowed him to apply any real force. His limbs were simply too short. If only my legs were a little longer… No, even my weight would have helped.
"Ugh!"
Daniel's mouth pulled away. His lips curled downward in an expression of utter contempt. With a casual swipe of his sharp claws, he raked Richard's thigh where it pressed against his side. The grip on his legs loosened at once.
Richard refused to abandon his efforts to escape the serpent-man. Yet there were so few options left. The difference in their weight made it impossible to twist free while braced against the ground. His hands were already pinned. Using his mouth? He would rather die. He had already experienced womanhood in countless humiliating ways—even earlier that day while slaughtering the peasants. But this was not how he wished to learn it.
"Stop your whining, Rishar. I will give you everything you ask for even if you don't beg."
To Richard, who could offer only hollow, spiritless resistance in the face of utter helplessness, the reply was nothing but cold, mocking insult. Daniel extended that long tongue once more, this time sliding it downward toward his chest. The sharp tips of its two prongs brushed across his nipples.
"Ahk!"
"Heh heh heh…"
"You bastard…!"
"To think that in only six days you've learned to cry out so femininely. The power of the Lord is truly magnificent."
"Do not utter His name with that filthy mouth—ahk!"
Daniel gave a dismissive snort and flicked his long tongue rapidly across Richard's nipple. Richard screamed as he felt liquid leaking between his legs. Daniel threw his head back and laughed like a madman.
"Kahaha! Which is it? Are you scolding this serpent-man for blaspheming your god, or are you begging me to do more?"
Daniel seemed to derive insane pleasure from Richard's reactions. To pin down and toy at will with the ruler of a nation—the strongest knight on three continents, a foe no ordinary means could defeat—was not an opportunity that came every day. Gazing down at Richard with a filthy grin, he said,
"Not just anyone gets to experience this. Isn't that right, you little bitch?"
"Whatever vile thoughts are running through your head, the Lord would never permit it. Remove yourself from me at once. …Hurry."
"Oh, but that's not true. For example…"
With serpentine flexibility, Daniel finished unfastening the lower ties of Richard's doublet and slipped his hand beneath it.
"Even if I do this, the god who abandoned you does nothing at all."
Daniel's hand moved to Richard's lower belly. With practiced skill he undid the belt at his waist, then the garters attached to it, before ripping the hose apart. Richard's lower body was exposed to the cold night air. He instinctively drew his legs together. Daniel stroked his thighs.
"They say the Lord created us first in His image, then you. In that case, this so-called god must be a hideous creature who thinks with his cock."
"Stop! I will forgive you if you cease now. Get off me immediately!"
"That voice pleases me greatly. 'Please get off us now.' Did they not teach you proper etiquette in the Zylan royal house? When asking a favor of someone, what are you supposed to say?"
Richard spoke in terror. The sound delighted Daniel, who continued to taunt him. Realizing what was about to happen, Richard began to struggle far more violently than before. Daniel paid it no mind. His fingers reached between Richard's legs. After only a few strokes across his folds, a trickle of fluid began to dampen the curls at his mound. Daniel muttered in genuine astonishment.
"To become such a lewd body in only six days. It seems your previous habits haven't gone anywhere, Queen of Whores."
"Who…"
Richard denied it desperately, still fighting. But Daniel brushed his efforts aside with humiliating ease.
"How does it feel? The son of the earthly demon serpent-man and the great whore Shavillet, the Adversary of the Savior, is about to descend upon the earth after breaking through Hell itself."
"Don't make me laugh! Get off right now! Hurry!"
"Shut up."
Daniel struck Richard's jaw with his fist. Had the circumstances been different, it would have been a clean punch worthy of praise—two-thirds of its power landed true. The world spun. Two of the blows nearly knocked him unconscious. Daniel did not miss the momentary stiffness. In an instant he flipped Richard onto his stomach and mounted him from behind.
"I will speak no more. In the name of our Lord, I command you! Accursed serpent-man, remove yourself from my body at once! Or the curse of thunder and lightning shall fall upon you!"
"If such a thing were going to fall, it should have done so three hundred years ago. I've already sired over a hundred serpent-men on human maidens."
Richard's body went rigid. This was no longer a jest. He could feel two hemipenes—ridged, barbed organs characteristic of serpent-men—erect and pressing against his backside. This creature truly intended to rape him and impregnate him with another of its kind. Richard's mind snapped into sharp focus. Whether it could be called sanity was another matter. He babbled whatever came to his lips.
"Stop! Don't do it! Don't! I'll give you anything! What do you want? Yes—shall I abdicate to Matilda?"
"Too late."
Daniel bore down with his full weight. A person pinned by the neck had few options. All Richard could do was buck his hips, inadvertently stimulating the twin hemipenes while Daniel tore away what remained of his underclothes. Daniel mocked him freely.
"It will taste different from the Countess of Zad's, of course. The shape alone is entirely different."
"Please! Leo… help me…"
"Your precious prince will not come. Though it seems you already know that down there."
Just as Daniel said, the space between his legs was already soaked. He was utterly powerless. Laughing at him, Daniel rubbed those barbed, pointed hemipenes against both his slit and his rear. There was nothing Richard could do. Just as when Marion had pinned him down. He was nothing but a helpless female now. No—far worse. He was about to be raped by a serpent-man and might even bear its child. He wailed.
"Get off! Please! Leo, help me! I'll give you anything! Oh Lord, strike this creature down with the judgment of thunder! This cannot be!"
"As expected of one who was once a man—you certainly know how to please one. To think the strongest knight on three continents can scream so adorably."
"Agh!"
Daniel's hemipenis began to push in slowly, the upper one first. Richard screamed. He wanted to flee from it, but the terror that struggling would only cause greater injury paralyzed his body. Daniel sneered at him.
"You've grown obedient."
"Kgh…"
Richard despaired. He closed his eyes and drew a shaky breath. Was there truly no other way? No path of escape? If only he could get away from here, he would do anything. If someone—anyone—would come and save him, he would give them the entire kingdom, anything at all. A serpent-man! Even becoming a woman and having sex was unbearable to him. Rape was worse. If the one doing it was a serpent-man, he would rather take his own life. Sprawled on the ground like a dog, he cried out the only thing he could—the name of the only person who might save him.
"Leo, help me! Please!"
A sound like a watermelon shattering accompanied a thunderous crack. Cold brain matter splattered across the back of his head.
Daniel's skull had been smashed to pieces and sent rolling. No matter how resilient a serpent-man might be, there was clearly no coming back from that. Richard, too, lost all strength and collapsed where he lay. Daniel's corpse toppled over him. Once the tension broke, a tingling numbness began to spread through his limbs. The memory of nearly being violated by Marion resurfaced, and he shuddered violently. Whimpering, he shoved the serpent-man's body aside. Each time he touched the corpse, the creature's characteristic stench grew thicker. He vomited. When the vomit mingled with the serpent-man's remains, it produced a bizarre, unbearable stench that no sane mind could endure. On top of that, the blood sprayed from the peasants had dried into a stiff mask on his face, radiating cold in the night wind. The clothes that should have shielded him from it all lay in tatters thanks to Daniel. The numbness in his limbs, the stench, and the freezing cold were far too cruel for a woman who had nearly been raped to bear.
He gathered the torn remnants of his clothing as best he could. He had no desire to remain in this place a moment longer. Turning his gaze toward the direction from which he had ridden, he strained his ears and began to move slowly that way. That thunderous sound had been no ordinary noise. If a serpent-man's head had been shattered by such a sound in a place like this, there was only one possibility.
The one who knew of the musket—the newest of all new weapons—who could have taken one at will from the royal armory at Polbury, who knew exactly where Richard was, and who could have come here and blown Daniel's skull apart in a single shot… there was only one such person.
"Brother—! Richard, brother—!"
"—!"
Leo's voice rang out. It was not far away. So close, in fact, that he could not understand why he had not heard it sooner. The sound of hoofbeats followed. Joy surged through him and he tried to call out to Leo, but no sound emerged from his throat. Even when he turned toward the source of the voice, the night had grown completely dark. Eyes accustomed to torchlight could see nothing. Still, judging by the sound of the hooves, Leo had definitely spotted him. The galloping grew steadily louder.
The nausea, the cold, and the numbness all began to recede at the thought that Leo was coming. With a heart full of gladness he stumbled forward. Leo was riding toward him. The hoofbeats were unmistakably drawing nearer. He ran toward Leo as fast as his legs would carry him. But after only a few strides the sound of hooves stopped abruptly. He faltered in confusion. Just as self-reproach for stepping beyond the torchlight's reach crossed his mind, a white horse suddenly appeared before his dark-adapted eyes. He screamed and fell hard on his backside.
"Kyaa!"
"Brother! Are you all right?"
Leo leapt down from the saddle. "I-I'm fine. I didn't fall from any great height. You weren't riding that fast anyway, were you?"
Leo offered his hand and helped Richard to his feet. He let out a deep sigh of relief. Leo pulled him close and embraced him. Richard stammered in alarm.
"L-Leo!"
"What is it, brother?"
"Don't I smell terrible?"
"What does that matter when you are safe?"
Leo's voice was thick with unshed tears. The arms wrapped around Richard tightened with surprising strength. Richard was a little startled. He had thought of Leo as little more than a child, yet those arms were unexpectedly sturdy. Feeling his heart race, he said,
"S-still, my clothes are covered in blood and serpent-man entrails. You'll ruin your own garments. Let go now."
"I cannot. Allow me to hold you a little longer, brother."
"I said let go! Doesn't it look ridiculous, embracing me like some little girl?"
Leo refused to yield. "Worrying about such trivial things makes you sound more like the little girl, brother."
Leo would not listen. Richard truly could not bring himself to strike his adorable younger brother. So he simply remained quietly in Leo's arms. By his own reckoning, they stayed that way for nearly an hour. He did not particularly like it, but at least the cold night wind no longer reached him.