Chapter 9

We joined Sinthia and Kira outside the tent and packed everything into the backpack. If the sound of us in the tent wasn’t obvious enough, Seraphines new tail let them know that I gave in. We walked through the forest back to the main path and continued our journey.

After only an hour of walking and talking we stumbled across a fork in the road with a sign posted. The sign pointed to the right path said ‘Sensluttia - many days away’. The sign pointed left said ‘Lureleaf - 3 hours away’.

“Three hours to Lureleaf sounds great to me,” Seraphine said.

“We could get some real food and have a real bed for a change.” Sinthia added.

“I would like that,” Kira nodded. “And we could ask around if anyone has seen the Orcs.”

“Let’s hope they have a proper bath,” I smiled. “Let’s head to Lureleaf.”

We turned left with the hopes of finding a prospering village that would give us some information, or just a place to rest. As we walked the sun rose higher in the sky and the temperature went up. The forest was beautiful and the air was clear. Kira was telling lake stories and making jokes, getting everyone to laugh.

“Did you hear that?” Seraphine stopped in her tracks.

“What was it?” I asked and noticed her ears twitching.

“There is someone or something watching us.” Seraphine looked around.

“Where?” Sinthia asked, looking in the trees.

“I’m not sure.” Seraphine shook her head.

“Let’s keep mov--” I began to say.

From the camouflage of the bushes and trees multiple figures came into focus as they approached us. They had fluffy ears coming out of the sides of their heads and small horns on top. As the stepped out with bows drawn I could see their furry legs from the knee cap down that lead to hooves. There was a mix of male and female faun, dressed in an assortment of brown leather clothing with a quiver of arrows behind each of them.

“Don’t move.” The alpha muscular faun said as he stepped forward.

His brown hair was shaggy and his blue eyes were fierce. He was the only faun with a sword at his side. His top half was bare, showing off his abs and he wore brown leather shorts around his waist.

“We mean no harm.” We held our hands up.

“No harm, huh?” He scoffed. “There has been whispers of a human killing women in neighboring villages and killing any man that gets in his way.”

“No,” Sinthia spoke up. “You must have the wrong person.”

“Yeah,” Kira joined in. “Our friend has never hurt anyone, he only helps people!”

“That’s right.” Seraphine crossed her arms. “You’ve got the wrong human. We’re just passing through, nothing else.”

“Is that so?” The alpha faun held his bow tight. “We will have to take you back to our village to--”

The sound of an arrow being released was matched with the sight of an arrow flying past the alpha, flying towards my face. Just before the arrow could pierce my skull, it stopped in place. The arrow was a few inches from my nose and I could see the feathers on the backside and a hand holding it in place.

I followed the arm and saw Seraphine as the glow of her pink eyes just finished fading. The fauns surrounding us were so surprised they had lowered their weapons, staring at her with their mouths wide open.

“How did you do that?” I whispered to her.

“I don’t know.” She whispered back. “But I’ve got you”. She said dropping the arrow to the ground.

The alpha faun lowered his bow as well and spun around behind him, showing off his short faun tail. With a voice as deep as the roots of the forest itself as he bellowed.

“Willowyn!” He shouted. “Come forward.”

From the bushes and trees stepped a beautiful young female faun. She was dressed in a dark brown leather corset with a halter strap. Without a gap of skin between the corset led down to her matching dark brown leather skirt, which was short and ended high on her thigh. The outfit had fluffy white accents that matched the fluffy transition from her hooves to her thighs. She had long brown hair that flowed down her back and her blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight that made it through the trees. Her horns were short and her hooves clacked softly as she walked onto the path.

“Yes, Rylan.” She said softly while holding her bow in front of her.

“What is the meaning of this? You fire off an arrow without being commanded to do so? without a true sign of a threat?” His voice still boomed.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t keep my grip.” She looked down and kicked her hooves off the ground.

“No excuses.” Rylan yelled. “You--

“Rylan!” Another faun called and ran towards him. “This isn’t the human we’re looking out for. Word tells that he travels alone looks nothing like this one.”

“Is that so?” Rylan glared at Willowyn.

“Yes.” The faun nodded and moved back into formation.

“My apologies, strangers.” Rylan turned back towards us. “My sister Willowyn will be punished for this misunderstanding.”

“Oh no,” Kira said, stepping forward. “Please don’t punish her, it was an accident. Right?” She asked, turning towards Willowyn.

“Yes.” She nodded, looking up from her hooves. “I didn’t mean to shoot at you.”

“See,” Kira smiled. “So there’s no harm done.”

“Well,” Rylan thought. “I will think about a lesser punishment later, how’s that?”

“Wonderful.” Kira smiled.

“Alright then,” Rylan motioned. “Let’s escort them to Lureleaf.”

“Wait.” I took a step forward. “If we aren’t the people you are looking for, then who are you searching for?”

“A rare human like yourself,” Rylan answered. “ And as I said before, he’s been murdering women and men in villages on the way to Senlsuttia.”

The fauns surrounded us and led us along the path. Some were tall, some were short, but they were all muscular and beautiful. Most wore tight leather clothing similar to Willowyns, some just wearing a simple loin cloth on their chests and waists. All had their bows ready as they escorted us through the forest.

“So you don’t know what that was?” I asked Seraphine.

“I have some idea.” She shrugged. “I know is that I was standing beside you and knew I had to grab that arrow. It’s like time stopped and I just did what I had to.”

“Maybe that’s the enhancement I give you. It has been less than an hour since we had sex.”

“If you give me the power to stop time, you might have me around longer after my tails are back.” She winked at me.

“Hey, human.” Willowyn said, walking over. “Can I talk to you for a minute.”

“Sure,” I said, turning towards her.

“Sorry about earlier.” She looked down and blushed.

“No, it’s okay. It was an accident.” I told her.

“I’m not as strong as some of the other faun, but I’m still learning.” She explained. “I’m sorry.” She said and shifted herself to the back of the herd.

Only half an hour longer and we arrived at the outer wooden gates of Lureleaf, and the tall wooden walls that stretched around the village. Two muscular male guards were posted above the gates and allowed us all to walk inside.

Lureleaf was a decent sized village with homes and buildings all made of wood. The streets were paved with dirt and the buildings were all decorated with flowers and plants. The shops had colorful signs and the open windows had flower boxes with a variety of flowers growing from them.

As we walked through the streets, we noticed there was not a single male faun in the village, aside from the few still following us from Rylan’s herd and the gate guards.

“So, is it normal for your village to be populated only by women?” I asked Rylan.

“Yes, it is.” He nodded. “The chances of a male faun being born are very low, one male born for every 100 female faun. Those that are born male, are trained to fight and protect the village.”

“Interesting.” I said as we were escorted towards the center of the village.

“I am the eldest male in the village. I train and lead our warriors. But since the chance of me having males is slim, I have allowed for some of the women to train as warriors as well. As you could clearly see today.”

“They were skilled.” I complimented.

“Most are,” He said and let his voice fall. “Except for the lacking of my sister.” He looked over his shoulder at Willowyn, who was trying to hide herself in the crowd.

Rylan brought us to the only stone structure I had seen in the village, a beautiful stone fountain that was filled with clear water. It had a statue in the center of a female faun pouring a jug of water into the base of the fountain. The sound of the water falling and splashing was peaceful and inviting.

“This is where I leave you. From here you can get to the inn and check in, I sent word of your arrival earlier. Feel free to explore the village, just be respectful.”

“Thanks, we could use a good night’s sleep,” Sinthia said.

“And It’s been too long since we’ve been able to soak in a bath.” Kira moaned. “Do you have one here?”

“Of course,” Rylan snarled as if disrespected. “Ask the inn keeper anything you need to know.” He turned away from us. “Herd, follow me.” He commanded as he walked off.

“Come on, let’s get to the inn and ask for a room.” I said.

“Right,” The girls nodded.

The Horned Haven inn was a short walk away from the fountain and had a large sign out front. It was a two story building with a wrap around porch, a chimney and flower boxes at every window. As we entered the main lobby the first thing that hit me was the smell. The air was clean and crisp, and had a flowery scent, like the air in the entire village, but stronger.

There was a young woman standing behind the counter, her horns were small and barely poked through her brown hair. She was wearing a simple green dress that fell off her shoulders, leaving her shoulders and cleavage exposed.

“Hello there,” She smiled and leaned forward, resting her breasts on the counter. “How may I help you today?”

“We need a room for four.” I said, stepping forward.

“Oh, a big strong man and three little girls.” She giggled. “It will cost a pretty penny.”

“I’m not little,” Kira pouted.

“You’re not?” The faun asked sarcastically. “You look so young, like you’re still a child. So tiny and petite, and your little breasts barely make a show through that tunic.”