There was much laughing and splashing as Lachlan and Connor bathed with Lyne, and Elizabeth couldn't help but periodically look over out of concern for her charge. Several times she turned toward the spring, intent on going to make sure that the nymph was keeping her promise. She started walking over, and then she would stop and shake her head. After roughly thirty minutes Lachlan returned with a rosy blush to his translucent synthetic skin. Connor took another thirty minutes to be alone with the water nymph. All the while Blair and Elizabeth's long ears twitched more and more, and any time their eyes met they blushed furiously!
The sun was well up and approaching its zenith by the time Connor said his goodbyes and rejoined their little group. When he approached and met her gaze she blushed while he smirked. When he noticed her blush beneath her honey-brown cheeks, he cleared his throat and nodded toward the woods as he announced, "These woods are very tricky, always moving, changing, and growing. Paths new and ancient leading the unwary astray as if they have a mind of their own. Still, I think I can get us to your Lord's manor before sunset."
"That's good to hear," Elizabeth answered but then corrected, "However, Gabriel Shara is not my lord!"
Connor harrumphed as he shifted the way his swords hung from his belt. Elizabeth was certain though that he was grinning at her response as he ogled her and took note of her new red tunic, and her lack of a red cloak anymore. His smile dropped for a moment and turned into a frown. When his eyes returned to hers he commented, "Seems you were busy this morning?"
Running her hands over her armor and tunic, she brushed out imaginary wrinkles from the cloth covering her hips and thighs as she blushed, "I am sorry about your cloak. Ailsa used a wish to change and repair my armor."
"I see," He mumbled before turning and led the way into the forest as he called back, "We better get underway if I am going to get you four home before dark!"
No one had anything to carry, or anything to pack except Elizabeth. On the side of her baltea she found a pouch. Flipping the flap open, she put Lyne's and Elowyn's Hearts inside before following. Every few minutes they sent Ailsa flying up into the canopy and above to scout where the house was in relation to their position, and then they changed course accordingly. Despite Ailsa's directions they somehow kept on skirting around the house to the west side of the property, and as they walked the forest grew dense and dark. The air began to feel heavy and stale as the trees seemed to move closer and closer together.
"Ailsa," Blair whispered. They had all started talking quietly as the forest closed in around them, "Fly up and see where the house is, please?"
Wishing to feel the sun on her skin, and more than a little unsettled by the malice she felt from the forest, Ailsa was more than willing to comply. She gave a firm nod and then leapt from Blair's kimono and 'vroomed' away.
As she watched Ailsa fly off, Elizabeth hefted her wicked battle axe as she scanned the surrounding trees for predators. When she looked back at Connor, she found him giving her a long, sidelong glance before looking away once her eyes fell upon him. Her tail whipped back and forth with anxiety and annoyance as she wondered what was on his mind.
She hated it when guys were mysterious, she thought to herself before chuckling, she was the only one allowed to be so enigmatic!
He needed to be more open. She was way more comfortable when she had a good idea of what he was thinking.
With a sigh and a shake of her head she decided to open up a dialog with the man, "You've been staring at me all day. I'm sorry about your cloak. It must have been special to you?"
"No, I'm sorry if I've made you feel uncomfortable," Connor apologized as he came to a stop and turned to her while they waited for Ailsa to return, "It's just, you remind me of someone very dear to me. You wear that tunic well. When it was a cloak it was hers."
"Her?" She asked.
"Yes, my daughter," He answered with a nod.
"A hunter, a wolf, and a girl in a red cloak," She gasped as the reality of who the person in front of her must be.
"Little Red Riding Hood!" Blair hissed.
"Oh!" Lachlan chuckled.
"So does that mean we are in a story," Blair asked, her tone concerned.
"I don't know, but it seems like it," Elizabeth answered before turning to Connor and asking, "Connor, what is your daughter's name?"
"Her name is Pyrun Amaroq Pandorasdottr," Connor answered.
——(!)——
Just before Ailsa flew into the canopy she saw a golden flash of movement disappear behind a tree almost fifty yards away. Swinging wide, weaving through branches and trees she went to scout out what it was, but when she arrived at the spot she thought she had seen the flash of gold, it was gone.
With a shake of her head she flew up again this time to reach the treetops to see where the house was, but as she weaved through the limbs and leaves the foliage became thicker. Tree limbs grew and moved to fence her in. Bobbing and weaving she tried for several minutes to push through but just as she would tear through the leaves, thicker stronger tree limbs weaved behind them to create a barrier she couldn't pass through.
With a hiss she gave up and flew back down. As soon as she came down out of the canopy she saw them. Two wolves, one with silver fur and the other with gold. The third wolf she almost didn't see even though it was twice as large. It was a shadow, black as a lightless night with one red eye that glowed in the darkness surrounding him. The other eye was simply missing, as if it had been plucked out.
All three wolves turned toward her and looked up, and Ailsa's mouth suddenly went dry from fear.
"Scream little one! Wail and cry for me!" The black wolf suddenly laughed at her.
Urine trickled down her inner thighs. The wolves laughed, but only the black one spoke again, "Ahh! What a beautiful voice you have!" He laughed now at her too, before continuing, "I have your scent now little one. Soon, you will be mine. You will all be mine. Make sure you let the Hunter know; I am coming to take his women away from him again…" As he finished the silver and golden wolves turned toward the shadow-wolf and stepped into him and disappeared. Once they were gone he turned and stepped behind the nearest tree and vanished.
Ailsa was shaking, she was so terrified her lips were peeled back in a silent scream as tears flowed freely as she flew as fast as she could in her panic. Her blood was pumping so loud it was all she could hear in her ears, her breathing was ragged, like she had just run the mile as fast as she could. Her breasts were heaving as she gulped in air, and by the time Blair came into view she was a little green hurtling meteor that zipped right into Blair's kimono and disappeared inside its folds!
——(!)——
"Was that Ailsa?" Lachlan asked as he turned to look at Blair, and then back the way Ailsa had come.
"Yeah," Blair answered as she clutched her breast where Ailsa was hiding beneath her kimono, "But she's shaking, like she's crying and scared?" She continued as she patted her chest.
"Scared of what," Elizabeth asked as she hefted her axe.
"We will have to wait until she comes out and shapeshifts," Blair responded with a shrug, and then sniffed and looked down at her kimono in mild surprise and disgust, "But whatever scared her, it scared her bad enough that she wet herself…"
"Weapons out, stay sharp," Connor growled as he pulled two swords out of their sheaths and scanned the forest, "We are being hunted," He whispered so only they could hear him.
"I think I remember reading a story like this one," Blair hissed as she called upon her Magic causing her kimono to catch on fire leaving her only in her underwear and the red obi girding her waist. Seven pink-flame foxtails appeared to grow from the base of her black tail as pink flames burst forth and engulfed her hands, and her auburn blazed a bright pink as her pouty pink mouth curled up into a smile, "Yeah, it was a dark retelling of 'Little Red Riding Hood'! We must be careful, nothing is as it appears…"
"Come on! We have to keep moving," Connor growled before starting off again but called back, "We can't be here when dark comes!"
Ailsa was left to hover once Blair's kimono disappeared, and with a flash she transformed into her very naked human form and ran to Elizabeth and cried, "I saw them! They're out there!"
"What's out there?" Elizabeth asked as she moved to step in front of Ailsa so that Lachlan and Connor wouldn't see her nakedness as she demanded, "You two close your eyes!"
Connor's eyes turned hard as he looked away, but didn't close them as he retorted, "Life or dignity, choose one. Personally, I choose life. If she doesn't want to be seen naked then put some clothes on. That goes for all three of you!"
Elizabeth glared at him, but then hissed as she turned back to Ailsa and asked again, "What did you see Ailsa?"
"At first, two wolves. A silver one, and a gold one, and then I saw the black one. It was twice as large as the other two and it spoke to me," She answered in a rush.
"Really? What did it say," Connor asked as he stomped over and grabbed Ailsa by the shoulder and turned her towards him before asking again, "What did the wolf say?"
"Let her go!" Elizabeth growled as she grabbed his hands and forced him to let go of Ailsa before she turned to face her and hugged her so that her body was hidden as much as possible.
Connor had been looking into Ailsa's eyes, but as Elizabeth wrenched his hands away he looked down in surprise at her strength, and then was surprised still further when he saw of Ailsa. Quickly he looked away, but he still asked, "Well?"
"He said," Ailsa started and then stopped, swallowed hard, and then began again, "He said he has my scent now, and that he is coming for us. That he was going to take your women away from you again…"
"God I hate that wolf," Connor growled as he turned and kicked an old stump. He fumed for several seconds and then he started stomping off again, "Come on we have got to get out of here!"
Connor set a fast pace, running through the forest as fast as he could without leaving Elizabeth and the children behind, or getting tangled up in the underbrush. The chill of nightfall was quickly falling over the forest, and was the only indicator that the son had fallen below the horizon. As the son disappeared the twilight of the forest fell into darkness. They could hear things moving to their right and left and behind them, but once night fell the howling of wolves sounded out in the distance.
"Hurry!" Connor yelled.
The trees seemed to grow even closer. Tree limbs pulled at Elizabeth, Ailsa, and Blair's hair. Gnarled and knotted old hands with mottled gray bark reached and snatched and tore at their clothing as thorny vines flailed and whipped and scratched their arms and legs, their buttocks and their backs. Wherever soft bare flesh was exposed they received merciless lashings.
The terrain turned into a ravine thick with briers while the trees retreated away. Connor chopped and hacked a path through the briers, but it didn't keep Elizabeth, Ailsa, and Blair from receiving a thousand more small lacerations from their heads to their toes. They were all breathing hard and crying by the time the ravine opened up into a small copse with sparse trees that seemed kinder somehow, and with a small log cottage with a thatch roof sitting in the middle of a glade.
Smoke wafted up out of a rock chimney. The windows were illuminated by the glow of candles burning inside somewhere, and the house had a kindly, welcoming appearance.
"Quickly! Inside!" Connor commanded.
It wasn't until they approached the front door that the wolves appeared at the top of the ravine and howled ominously. Elizabeth only had time to see deep gouges from claws across the door and the walls of the cottage before she flung the door open and counted; one, two, three, as Ailsa, Blair, and Lachlan dashed inside. Once they were safe she cast a furtive glance back at Connor who had turned to face his enemies.
"I'm patient, Hunter," The black wolf growled at Connor, "Not to worry though, I am coming for them, and then, I am coming for you."
"Come on then, Wolf!" Connor taunted in return, "Let us see who is the better, you or I! Let's end this!"
"In time, Hunter," The black Wolf promised, "In time. I will eat every woman you love first. I will torment you. You will watch helplessly. I will laugh at you as you break from the knowledge that there was never anything you could do to stop me from taking everything from you, and then, I will end you…"
Swiveling it's head so as to glare menacingly at Elizabeth from it one good eye, it nearly purred, it's tone now honeycomb, "The beautiful lady of mixed blood. Your scent is as pleasing to smell as honeysuckle, and your eyes! Mmm, your eyes are as sharp and bright as chips of blue arctic ice! My, what beautiful eyes you have!"
Elizabeth's eyes opened wider and her plump lips parted as her jaw dropped. She recognized the twisted play on words. Tightening her grip on her axe, she closed her mouth with a click and took a step forward only to be stopped by Connor's outstretched hand. The Wolf laughed wickedly at Connor before turning and leaving the ridgeline. Coming to a halt, the wolf launched one last taunt, "You will need more than 'Lambrys the Storm Cleaver' to stop me. Where is your daughter's mighty hammer Hunter? Where is 'Molnia'? Does that witch still keep it from you? What a pity! And who among you could even wield such a noble weapon should you somehow retrieve it before I kill you all? Surely not you, Hunter! Your hands are stained with as much blood as my teeth are! No! You are old and weak… You are no threat to me, only, I do so love tormenting you… I will miss that once you're gone..." He chuckled before vanishing into the forest. The silver and gold wolves stared at Connor for a moment before shaking their heads before turning following their alpha.
Connor growled until his whole body was shaking. He only came to a stop once Elizabeth laid a hand on his shoulder and beckoned him, "They're gone Connor. Please come inside and explain to us what is happening…"
He turned to her, his blue eyes flashing dangerously with his anger. Elizabeth's mouth dropped open and she took a step backwards before she knew what she was doing.
"Please," She asked again.
Connor looked down at her for several seconds and ogled her before he finally nodded and let her lead him into the cottage. Once inside, he glanced over at Blair who was once again garbed in her blue and violet kimono, and then his eyes fell upon Ailsa before he looked away. Lachlan on the other hand was sitting at the table watching everything all the while blushing until his translucent cheeks were as red as strawberries.
Pointing to a door at the back of the living room Connor offered, "That is a bedroom. There are wardrobes with clothes from my wife and daughter in there. You may see if there is anything that fits you."
"Thank you," Ailsa chirped quickly before darting into the room.
Elizabeth motioned for Blair to follow. Once the door was closed tight, she turned and whispered, "So you've read this dark retelling of 'Red Riding Hood'?"
"I did a couple of years ago," Blair answered as she looked through dresses tossed on a small double wide bed by Ailsa as she tried to find something she liked.
Most of the clothing was too small for Elizabeth. Connor's wife and daughter must have been shorter and petite. Blair shook her head after looking through the smaller dresses and finally sighed, "I will stick with my kimono. Besides, it seems to be enchanted or something and lend to my Magic. The only thing I wanted was a new pair of panties but I haven't found any!"
"Neither have I," Elizabeth mumbled as she searched through a chest of drawers, "I've only found a few corsets, all of which are too small for me."
"Most of these clothes are old," Ailsa complained as she held up a red dress, "Beautiful, but old! It's like we've fallen into some kind renaissance festival…"
"Ailsa!" Blair sighed while shaking her head, "If you ever pulled your head out of your romance novels and read the classics, you'd know that 'Red Riding Hood' is Germantic folklore set in the early renaissance period." She paused as she thought about the story before continuing, "However, this retelling I read drew from other similar tales going all the way back to Ancient Greek myth. Remember, Connor said his daughter's name was Pyrun Amaroq Pandorasdottr. Her name is a conjoining of Pyrrha from Greek mythology while Perun is a the Slavic god associated with thunder and wolves and thought to be the same god as Zeus and Thor. But that could all just be coincidence. If I remember correctly, there is an old Norse folk-tale of Thor being dressed up as a girl when the giant Prymr demands Freya be given to him as a wife. Pandorasdottr is a direct reference Pandora and whose daughter was Pyrrha. It is said that Pyrrha name is in reference to having golden red hair. Thought to be a legacy of her mother's curse, and that's about all I can remember…"
"That's okay," Elizabeth answered with a shake of her head as she found a drawer of bloomers and decided what she wore was good enough, "I think I am going to settle with what Ailsa made for me, though I could use a hand taking off this armor."
Ailsa hissed and threw a dress to the bed before whining, "I can't seem to make this dress into what I want it to be, like I did yours Elle!"
"Remember, Lyne said you could only make one selfish wish a year," Blair answered quickly.
"Yeah, but I made those clothes for Elle," Ailsa complained, "Not for me!"
"I think it is more about initiative and motivation," Elizabeth added thoughtfully, "Think about it, Instead of waiting for me to ask for your help, you took the initiative to fix my clothing for me, as a gift. Also, you said that your own fantasies may have crept into the wish, thereby influencing the end result," as Elizabeth explained she gestured to herself and the sexually enhanced appearance of her armor and tunic before continuing, "So, making this how you found it appealing also made your wish inherently selfish as well."
Ailsa grumbled but nodded her head in acceptance before picking out a pretty cream and green dirndl. She found a sleeveless blouse that she was able to get her feathered arms through, and then, with Elizabeth and Blair help, they cinched the corset-like bodice tight around her newly voluminous breasts.
Once they were finished helping, Elizabeth turned to Blair and asked, "Do you remember anything in the story you read about Connor?"
"Hmm," Blair hummed as she thought about the question. Shaking her head she answered, "In the story, Pyrun's father is Connor, but that isn't his true name. He is somewhat of an enigma, having used many different names during his life. What I do know is that the name Connor means "Lover of Wolves". Pyrun's name comes from Pyrrha which means "Fire" and Perun which means "Thunder", and their last name, Amaroq, also means "Wolf". So Connor's name literally means "Lover of Wolves Wolf"."
"I am getting a bad feeling about this," Ailsa mumbled.
"Me too," Elizabeth agreed with a nod as she finally found and picked out three full-back pairs of medieval linen panties that tied on each hip like modern bikini bottoms.
Tossing one pair to Ailsa and another to Blair, she balled up the pair she had chosen for herself before opening the door and walking out into the common room. Ailsa and Blair followed her to find Lachlan still sitting in a chair while Connor crouched in front of the fireplace and cut carrots and potatoes and threw them into a stew pot he'd already filled with water.
"Is there a bathing room we may use to wash and dress our wounds," Elizabeth asked.
"There is," Connor answered as he looked up from his work. Using his knife he pointed to another door to the back of the cabin, "Just through that door is the back porch. On the other side is the bathhouse. It's well lit, so the Wolf can not approach or hide in the shadows…"
Elizabeth nodded and Connor turned back to his work. Just as they approached the door and Blair swung it open Connor added, "Don't take too long. I will have supper made before long, and we really should all be inside the house before we depart for sleep. That way I can lock and bar the doors against what hunts us outside."
"Yes, of course," Elizabeth agreed, "We shall not be more than an hour then."
"One hour," Connor agreed, "Any longer and Lachlan and I will come looking in on you...to check on your safety of course."
"Of course," Elizabeth mumbled before motioning for Blair and Ailsa to lead the way to the bathing room.
——(!)——
Lachlan pulled his sword out of its scabbard, it was a very pretty thing with a long thick blade that was sharp on both sides. The blade was made of a layered steel with a bloodlet groove down the center with runes carved within for the entire length. The crossguard was worked into the likeness of a beautiful woman's head. The golden quillin block and silver chappe made up her face on one side and the back of her head on the other while the rest of the quillin block and the quillin's themselves were made into the likeness of golden hair. The grip was wrapped in scarlet dyed leather, and the pommel was cast, carved, and ornamented into the likeness of a golden crown with rubies set at four corners.
Laying it across his lap he looked up and asked, "So do you know any good stories Connor?"
"Any good stories," Connor mumbled as he mulled the question over and stirred the pot in front of him, cutting his eyes to look at Lachlan. His eyes shined golden briefly in the light of the fire as he answered, "Actually, I think I do."
Shifting in his seat so that he could tend to the stew but also see Lachlan, he began…
"In the first age of man, when humans were still young, men began having daughters that were so beautiful that even the gods took notice of them. The strongest of those gods became known by many names, and he took many daughters of men. Some were virgins while other women were other men's wives, he didn't care.
Jord Maenad and H'ra Fraega were but two of his many wives.
Jord Maenad was the most beautiful woman in all of the territory by the sea. She was the daughter of Queen Thaetish, wife and sister of Oceanus, a king of fleets of fishermen. While H'ra Fraega was the most beautiful daughter of Rheia and granddaughter of Kybele, Queen of all the mountainous regions north of the Mare Nostrum.
It was while he was away fishing when the god saw Jord Maenad sitting on the coastline repairing her father's nets. He was immediately taken with her beauty, and so approached her. Now, he was going to take her right then and make her his, but she was so wise and skilled in her craftsmanship that she put the god under a spell.
Seeing that he was taken with her, she told him that she would only be his wife if he could answer three riddles.
The mightiest of the gods to descend to earth, he was confident in his ability to answer her riddles for Jord Maenad did not know his origins. She proved her wisdom that day by posing three riddles no man could have answered, and yet, the god knew many things from before the earth's creation onward and so he answered Jord Maenad's riddles easily.
With her riddles answered, she thought, "Surely this was the wisest of men upon all the earth," and so without a second thought she rose up and went with him and became his wife.
Now, some time passed by and Jord Maenad and H'ra Fraega both became pregnant, but only after they became heavy with children was the god told by another of his kind that a child born to him by Jord Maenad would be mightier and would smite him even unto death. In fear of losing his power and position he transformed Jord Maenad into a sheep and ate both her and the child she carried.
Incensed by the god's ruthlessness, H'ra Fraega cursed the god, that he may never know the love and not receive the kindly touch of a daughter of man ever again. From that day forward the god was transformed into a wolf and in his rage he fed on the virgins of mankind for many moons. Then one day the wolf came upon a young virgin with hair, as white as the moon, and he fell in love.
She was fair and beautiful beyond any recounting, and so for the first time in many years he exercised the will to speak to the girl. When he asked why she was crying she simply said that she was afraid of dying. He asked her if she was afraid that he would eat her as he had so many before her, and she said no. Seeing an opportunity she told her that he would not eat her but rather she would become his wife. In return she cried that even if she were not to die by his fangs that day then her beauty would wither and she would die by the hands of time itself. With a laugh the wolf-god decided to make an offer to the girl that surely she would not refuse.
"Wife," He chuckled as she cried into the crystal clear pool that shined with the reflection of the moon, "Give me your name so that I may make a covenant with you."
Raising her eyes she saw for the first time that she was speaking to a wolf and in her surprise she answered, "I am Sah'Laehn daughter of H'ra Fraega."
Laughing and crying because he had found the daughter of his wife, H'ra Fraega, he saw now that with her blood he could be free of his curse, and so he bowed low to her. Taken with the wolf's kindly manner, Sah'Laehn leaned forward so as to put her hand on his head, but just as she reached out the wolf lunged at her and tore her clothes from her body before knocking her backwards into the pool of water.
Crying out in surprise she asked why her husband would take her virginity in such a ruthless manner. In return he answered that he was a wolf, and that their covenant must be sanctified by her virgin blood in the light of the moonpool. As the wolf took her as his wife, he went on to deceive her by saying, "I am a mighty god, benevolent and good, cursed by a witch and transformed into a wolf. If you take this curse from me bare it yourself, I will make you a goddess and give you immortality. You shall never again age. Your skin will forever remain fresh and youthful, and your beauty shall never fade."
"Who could turn down such an offer," Sah'Laehn answered in acceptance of the covenant.
In that moment the black wolf transformed into the god once again as the black shadow of his curse rolled down his body like tar and entered into Sah'Laehn where they were joined together in intercourse. As the curse entered Sah'Laehn her white hair turned black and her skin began to grow fur, and she knew she had been deceived!
Pulling the light of the moon out of the pool the god transformed it into a dagger and thrust it into Sah'Laehn's heart, binding her and his curse together as she died. From that day onward the moon refused to shed its light upon the world.
Seeing that what he had done would not go unnoticed, the god then took a dryad's tree that grew nearby and chopped it down and made a box. Once it was made he put his beloved wife, Sah'Laehn's body inside,but before he sealed it he pulled out the moon dagger and tossed it back into the pool of water. However, it was stained red with Sah'Laehn's blood and that day has been appointed to this very day as Sah'Laehn's Moon."
Connor fell silent as he finished chopping up the meat and tossed it into the pot. When he was finished he looked up at Lachlan who stared back at him with his mouth agape and his expression contorted with dread. Smirking, he asked, "Did you not like the story?"
"The question seemed to have popped whatever daze the boy was in, because with a blink of his eyes and a click of his mouth closing, he hopped up and announced, "I am going to go check on the girls!"
Connor chuckled, but he said nothing as Lachlan left to go find the bathing room.