Chapter 4

Edited by: Old Fart

Two figures silently made their way up to Carriston’s wall, stopping just outside of the light of the torches placed along the ramparts. They had spent the last few minutes carefully observing the city’s Night Watch and were now just biding their time, waiting for their opportunity to get inside.

A couple of guards stopped and talked for a moment directly above the place he and Ria had scouted out earlier. It was in the very center of the fortification between watchtowers and there were no obstructions on the other side beneath where the two men stood.

“Ready?” Kal whispered to the cloaked figure beside him.

Daxas nodded beneath the hood causing the cloak to fall open slightly and reveal one of Kal’s shirts and pair of trousers, cinched and rolled up to better fit the woman. The wolf girl was extremely uncomfortable wearing human clothes but understood the necessity. Once they were inside they still had to get to the entrance of the slaver’s hideout which meant going through city streets and any one of the people they met might raise the alarm if they discovered a monster girl among them. Wearing Kal’s cloak she was almost indistinguishable from a human, only the bump over her rear where the cloak laid against her tail was any indication of her canine heritage.

The guards finished their chat and continued in the direction they were facing. Once the guards had gone a few steps, human and wolf dashed up to the wall. Daxas held the cloak open and Kal put his arms around her, holding her tight. The wolf girl wrapped him up leaving only his head free as his strength rune shone brightly beneath the cloak. After pushing some of the protection portion of the strength rune into his passenger, the mage bent his legs and leapt skyward.

Kal had told the wolf they were going to jump over the wall but had forgotten to mention how. Daxas was none too thrilled about her and the human’s heads coming so close to the stone ramparts or how those same heads went sailing through the space so recently vacated by the guards, their feet made an arc above them as they sailed over the battlement upside-down. If not for keeping Kal and his spells covered she could have reached out and touched the guard’s walkway as they began righting themselves while dropping to the ground inside the city.

She noticed a little bit of white light leaking out from inside the cloak as their descent slowed dramatically, the feather fall rune letting them land with barely a whisper.

One of the guards paused and turned around, it had sounded like something fluttering behind him a moment ago. His fellow watchman had also heard the sound and noticed that his friend had stopped walking. Scanning the sky and the lighted ground outside the wall one finally looked at the other.

“Bat?”

His friend shrugged, “Big bat, but probably.”

They both turned about and continued their patrols.

When the watchmen had moved far enough away, Kal cautiously looked up, checking to be sure they wouldn’t be seen, then led the wolf girl away from where they had landed and through a few of the city’s darkened streets before stopping to get his bearings, as well as let out a huge sigh of relief.

“That was surprisingly easy,” he said smiling back at his companion. “I’m not holding onto any hope that the rest of this rescue will be the same.” His smile faded when he saw the look on her face, “Um, did I do something wrong?”

“No,” said Daxas, “just warn me the next time you flip me upside down, I nearly screamed.”

Kal bit back a comment about how next time he flipped her upside down she would be screaming for more. Now wasn’t the time for that. Gesturing for her to follow, they made their way through the back streets of Carriston. He did his best to avoid crossing major roads and made sure there was no one on the streets when left with no alternative. Occasionally, carts with lanterns hanging off each corner, manned by the Night Watch, forced them back into the darkness of an alley but those instances were rare. Thankfully, their destination was in a part of town that had remained abandoned long after the discovery of the river beneath them. People had just started moving back into this area as recently as a few years ago. City folk were sparse there during the day, at this hour it was a ghost town.

A half an hour later Kal and Daxas peeked around the corner of a nondescript wooden house, one of the few that appeared occupied, at the entrance to a rickety warehouse. Were it not for the two men standing guard it would be easy to assume that it was abandoned like so many of the other buildings in the area. According to Ria, the structure concealed the tunnel leading to Kogen’s hideout.

The mage looked back to see Daxas glaring at the men, one side of her mouth attempting to curl into a snarl. Stepping back, he firmly pulled her away from the corner, the wolf glaring at him as soon as she couldn’t see the slavers anymore.

Kal gave her a stern look, “Those girls in there need an alpha, not a rogue bitch intent on fulfilling a personal vendetta. I know that they hurt you badly, but this isn’t the time for revenge.”

The wolf continued to scowl at him for a few long seconds before grunting in acknowledgment.

“Good,” he said, nodding. Kal produced a small canvas bag from a pocket, fine dust fell from the bottom each time he moved it. “Do you have yours?”

After a moment’s searching, she wasn’t used to having pockets, the wolf girl held up a similar bag that also leaked the powder-like dust from between its threads.

Keeping to the shadows, they made their way carefully and quietly over to the side of the building. Above them, gray flakes of paint still tenaciously clung to the wood under the eaves, giving it a rough look in the faint moonlight. Time and weather had stripped away anything lower long ago. He and Ria hadn’t done much more than mark the location and worked out a path back to where he planned on going over the wall. Seeing the condition of the dilapidated storage building up close, he started to worry about whether or not the roof would hold them. Unable to think of a better option he decided to hope for the best. Stepping away from the side of the warehouse he motioned Daxas over. Once again, she wrapped his cloak around him as he used the strength rune to launch them both up to the top of the building. This time they were far enough away from the guards that the faint fluttering from the cloak went unnoticed.

Landing lightly on the roof, human and wolf slowly and silently made their way to the front edge of the building, each taking up a spot directly above one of the men. At Kal’s signal, they both held out the small satchels and gave them a little shake before ducking back behind the edge of the roof.

Seconds later a couple of indignant voices rang out below them.

“Oi! Da fuck is this!” said the slaver staring upward and looking for the source of the dust cloud that had just coated his head and shoulders. The only response he got was a series of violent sneezes from his fellow guard.

“Fug, I god id in my node,” said the second guard once he could talk again.

The first man scanned the sky one last time before going to help the other slaver, who had just noisily blown his nose into the crook of his arm before dragging his sleeve across his face to clean off the rest of the mucus. Clean being relative, his sleeve made it look like this was a frequent practice. As he neared the other man, the dust coating them began to glow. He experienced a moment of panic as the dust caught in his eyelashes blinded him with golden light before he pitched forward, sound asleep before he even started to fall. Kal cut the feather fall rune and dropped to the ground from where he had been drifting down above them, barely catching the man before he could hit the ground. Strikes or attacks canceled the sleeping spell and Kal had found out the hard way that falling flat on one’s face qualified for at least one of those.

The other guard had slumped against the warehouse wall when the spell took effect but only stayed there for a few moments. His boots dug shallow furrows in the dry dirt as his back slid down the side of the building, coming to rest on his bottom. He then sagged to one side and began to snore, large snot bubbles forming each time he exhaled. Kal situated the two men so they were leaning against each other before looking up towards the roof, only to see Daxas come around the side of the building.

“Hung off the edge then dropped down,” she said in a hushed voice, responding to the questioning look on his face. Nodding, he met her in front of the large double doors on the front of the warehouse. Easing one side open, Kal let the wolf girl slip inside before entering himself. Looking around one last time for any possible witnesses, he gently closed the door behind them.

Off to one side, eyes that glowed red from a darkvision spell widened at the events transpiring in front of the entrance to the slaver’s hideout. Even more so when the woman walked back to the edge of the warehouse roof and knelt, grabbing ahold of the eaves before flipping over the side.

As she hung there his enhanced eyesight witnessed her feet change from human to canine and fur covered. She let go and dropped into a crouch, the dog-like legs absorbing most of the impact from the fall but not all of it. The lump made by the woman’s tail showed plainly under the cloak until she stood up again. Her canine feet changed back to human just before she rounded the corner to meet her friend, who had left the two guards sleeping peacefully by the door.

The observer secretly hoped they enjoyed their nap, Kogen was likely to kill them if the two sneaking in did anything to disrupt his business. He watched through slitted eyes, hiding the telltale red glow from the darkvision spell as the male of the duo checked his surroundings one final time before disappearing inside. The beggar tasked with keeping up with the comings and goings of the slavers slowly backed out of the pile of trash and detritus he had been hiding under. His superiors would want to hear about this.

Kal turned around to see Daxas pointing at the roof near the back of the building.

“Really,” he said dryly. Where she was pointing there was a large hole which starlight shone through near the back wall. They could have avoided the guards altogether. Kal shrugged, nothing to be done about it now.

Before them lay a large ramp leading underground, heavy wooden beams braced the floors and roof of the tunnel and had small magical lights placed at even intervals. It wasn’t a lot of light, but still enough to keep a horse and wagon from caroming off the walls. Clay plaster coated the walls and ceiling, much like the larger wall at the end of the tunnel. Beneath their feet, something akin to the grout he had seen used to build stone or brick buildings covered the ramp, but this seemed much stronger and even felt a little like stone. However, looking over towards the center of the ramp it was easy to tell that natural rock was significantly stronger. The horseshoes on the wagon team had already done considerable damage to the floor in the middle of the tunnel.

Reaching out with magic he latched on to the material and lifted. Kal could tell it had stone in it, but also something else that made it feel slippery and unwieldy from a geomancer’s perspective. He returned the piece to its place in the ramp and decided to leave it be, that was a mystery for another time.

Looking up he saw that Daxas was a few paces ahead and had turned to wait for him, her expression letting him know she was unhappy with the delay. Giving her an apologetic smile for getting distracted, he quickly caught up to her before they continued on their way downward.

The leader of Carriston’s thieves’ guild lay in his bed moaning from the attention being paid to his prick by Madame Tufa’s latest ‘donation’. She was one of the newer girls and didn’t have amazing skills, but she was enthusiastic and seemed to enjoy what she was doing. If it was an act, this girl was damn good at it.

A staccato of knocks came from the door to his room, the pattern announcing who was on the other side. The girl bobbing on his cock stopped, the question plain in her large brown eyes. With a smile he reached down placed a hand on her head, pushing down slightly. Along with announcing who wanted to speak to him the knock also stated that it wasn’t a high priority, only the most important issues were worth interrupting a blowjob.

“Come,” he called out. A red-headed woman quietly opened the door and stepped into the room. The guild leader smirked, at times he found it amusing how even here, where it was totally unnecessary, his charges still made an effort to remain silent. The woman’s clothes were tight to reduce the amount of noise she made when plying her trade but without being restrictive. He’d seen how some of the more domineering of Madame Tufa’s girls dressed, while just as tight as the woman before him they often looked just a tiny bit awkward. The only way for the redhead to move more naturally would have been if she was naked, not that he would have minded one bit.

The woman ignored the girl still bobbing up and down on the man’s prick and handed him a piece of parchment. “Someone is raiding Kogen,” she said.

The guild leader lightly tapped the girl’s head, indicating that she stop and let him concentrate on the letter. Instead of pulling off, she sucked in a deep breath and ran her lips all the way down to his base, the head of his cock slipping into her throat with a swallow. The man grunted at the unexpected sensation. He looked past the parchment to see the girl had her eyes closed and a contented look on her face, her tongue making tiny movements that were pleasurable but not distractingly so. Madame Tufa might not get this one back.

The letter simply stated that one of the beggars’ guild’s lookouts saw a young mage and a dog girl breaking into the slavers’ hideout. The writer also thought it important to mention that they had left the guards alive. Admittedly, with the ruthlessness of many of his dealings, the guild leader did think it slightly odd for them to leave a potential enemy at their back.

“Orders?” asked the messenger. Her face was getting flushed, but the man noted that she directed her sidelong glances at the girl, not him.

“None,” he said handing the parchment back.

The redhead’s eyes widened, “You aren’t going to warn him?”

The man shook his head, “The guild isn’t getting a cut of his business, which means it isn’t our problem. Besides, we get a cut of the whorehouse’s profits, his slaves are hurting that.” He stopped speaking as the girl pulled back and took a couple of deep breaths through her nose before burying her face in his pubes again. “Try to get that to Rist if the beggar’s guild hasn’t gotten to him already, he has someone interested in a young man suspected of being a magic-user.”

“Understood,” said the woman then looked over at the girl, “Is she a keeper?” she asked.

“If she’s as good with her hands as she is with her mouth she is,” he said, groaning as the naked woman’s tongue began moving more vigorously over the underside of his cock. “Care to join us?” The woman pulled back and made a sound indicating she liked the idea. Since she started, she had yet to let his prick escape her lips.

“Sorry boss you know the answer to that, I don’t do dick.” The redhead reached over the bed and ran a hand over the naked woman’s ass, her fingertips brushing along her folds and bumping into the girl’s fingers that were making slow circles around her clit. The girl squeaked then let out a low moan as the female thief slipped two fingers inside her, seeking out the small rough spot on the front of her sex and gently rubbing it. She then let out a disappointed whine as the other woman pulled her hand back, leaving her empty. “Have you fucked her lately?” she asked holding up her fingers.

“Not since this afternoon,” he replied, trying hard to maintain focus on what the thief was saying.

“That means this is all her,” she said putting the fingers coated with the girl’s juices in her mouth and slowly licking them off. “Mmm ... tasty,”

While staring at the thief the guild leader reached down and directed the girl to go faster.

Smiling at her boss’s reaction she turned and headed back towards the door. “If you don’t cum in her pussy send her to me next,” she said over her shoulder, “and let me know if you want to keep her. I’ll start on her training right away.”

As the door to his bedroom closed the man reached down and grabbed two handfuls of hair on the back of the girl’s head. He then paused and watched with amazement as the girl lifted up on one elbow and angled her body in preparation for the coming throat-fuck, even more amazing was that she was using one hand to fondle his balls while the other flew back and forth across her clit. Shaking off his surprise he tightened his grip on her hair and began thrusting up into her mouth as he pulled her head down.

The girl beat him by a couple of seconds, shoving herself down onto his cock while her body locked up and ignoring him tugging at her hair so he could continue to move. He enjoyed listening to a woman moan as she came but the silence of the girl’s orgasm while her body spasmed with pleasure was certainly something he could get used to. The frantic working of the girl’s throat as she came proved to be too much and he began emptying his balls directly into her belly.

She held out as long as she could before the need to breathe made her pull back, the last couple of spurts landing on her tongue. Breathing deeply through her nose, she laid her head on the guild leader’s thigh, the head of his prick resting just inside her lips as it softened. He looked down at the happy smile on the girl’s face and saw that her hand continued to move between her legs, lightly teasing her lips and clit but without any urgency. Laying his head back against the pillow, he groaned; Madame Tufa was going to be so pissed at him for stealing another one of her girls.

Kal and Daxas both stared in confusion at the two large wooden doors standing before them. They were wide open.

Kal looked at Daxas and shrugged. “When they brought me in they didn’t stop to open them, and there doesn’t appear to be anything like stables down here for the horses,” he said looking around the large empty room. Inwardly he was glad he hadn’t decided on using the wagon as their getaway, that entire plan would have just fallen apart.

With the wagon driver and his helper absent the only thing left was the smaller door to the actual hideout

Locked from the inside. Kal had hoped for, but not expected, their lucky streak to continue. He began inspecting the door frame and hinges until Daxas got his attention. She waved emphatically at the door and made a wiggling motion with her fingers.

Kal leaned in close and whispered, “I don’t know the spell to unlock doors.” In a different situation, he would have laughed long and hard at the incredulous look on the wolf’s face. Instead, he went back to looking at the door.

It swung inward so knocking the pins out of the hinges wouldn’t work, he couldn’t reach them. The thick beams the door was set into didn’t appear to have any glaring defects, nor did the door itself. Kal let out a low growl in frustration. He had wanted to find a quieter way in, but nothing was presenting itself. Kal put his hands just above the door lock and pushed energy into the strength rune before giving the door a shove.

The door held as Kal skidded backwards into the middle of the room. He quietly cursed himself for forgetting to anchor his feet as he walked back. It was now Daxas’s turn to fight down the urge to laugh.

“Huh? What?” they heard from inside followed by an annoyed groan and some shuffling that sounded like someone getting up off the floor. The wolf’s eyes widened in panic, but the mage smiled, they might be able to turn this to their advantage. Kal had expected the disgusting man who checked him for weapons to sleep elsewhere. Then again, if he were one of the slavers he doubted he would be keen on having someone who smelled so bad sleeping in the same room.

Kal stumbled and fell up against the door, “Lemme in baby,” he said slurring his words heavily, “I walked all the way (hic) here to shee youu. Did I ever tell you, you live a fuck of a (hic) long way away from the tavern?”

“What the fuck!?” said the man on the other side of the door. The look on the wolf girl’s face made it clear she thought the human had completely lost his mind.

“You know it, baby ... I got what you need. Best dick in the city, (hic) right here. You wanna fuck? All ya gotta do is lemme in.”

“How the fuck did you get past the boys?” asked the man. He sounded like he was digging around inside the room.

“Boys? You got boys in there wit you? Need ta get rid of them boys ... you got a (hic)man out here to take care o’ you.”

“Can’t you tell I’m a man!?” the slaver yelled through the door. Kal winced, that was a bit loud

“Dat’s right baby, I’ll be your man. Gonna beat on dis door all night long until you lemme in so I can show you how much of a man I am!”

“Like fuggin’ hell you are,” the man inside grumbled, the words were accompanied by the soft click of a crossbow being cocked. “Looks like the guys are going to have one to pick up in the morning,” Kal heard as the man unlocked the door and pushed the handle down.

Kal moved as soon as the door began to open. Grabbing the handle on his side, he shoved with the help of the strength rune, pushing the dirty man back. As the mage stepped into the room he checked the door’s momentum with one hand, so it wouldn’t swing open and slam against the wall, while the other grabbed the crossbow and pushed it off to the side in case it went off. With the door taken care of, he let go of the handle and slapped the man in the forehead, a cloud of fine dust enveloping him. Pulling his hand back and letting the small satchel of dust drop to the floor, a dark purple magic circle appeared in front of it as he cast the sleep spell. When the dust began to glow, the slaver’s eyes went from shock and fear to drooping and finally closing as Kal pulled the unfired crossbow from his limp fingers and leaned the grubby little man up against a nearby wall.

Once the situation was under control the smell hit him. They had intentionally not eaten earlier in the day just to prepare for this room, it appeared to have been a wise choice with how his stomach was threatening to unload its contents. Glancing behind him, he saw that Daxas had retreated to the middle of the larger room. Even there she looked like she was about to retch. The wolf girl waved emphatically for him to get on with it.

Kal picked up the small satchel of dust from the ground and stepped over the sleeping man to the door at the back of the room. He carefully pushed the handle down and cracked the door open enough to peek out into the kennels.

Only to see a bleary-eyed Sylus standing in the middle of the room, staring at the door with a confused look.

Kal stood up straight and strode through the door.

The confusion quickly changed to recognition and surprise when he saw the mage. “You...” he managed to blurt out before the small bag of powder struck him in the chest just below his neck.

The speed rune flared as Kal dashed across the room, skidding to a halt in front of the salesman. Bringing up his hand he cast the sleep spell just below Sylus’s chin and pointed up at an angle, just in case he had exposed any of the dog girls to the dust. If he put one to sleep by accident he would need to carry her far away from Sylus and the other slaver, or risk waking them as well when he canceled the spell. It took a few moments longer because the powdery sand he used was all over the man’s neck and face instead of the top of his head but eventually the salesman’s eyes closed and he began to topple backwards. Kal caught him by the front of the shirt and picked him up, carrying him back to the small room he had just exited and Daxas was now making her way through, having taken a corner of his cloak and folded it over many times before holding it over her mouth and nose.

As Kal closed the door behind them a few of the nearby dog girls looked on with wonder at the two new people. So far, none of them showed any signs of hope that they were being rescued, despite a couple of them seeing Kal take out one of the slavers right in front of them.

“Get Jakis,” Daxas whispered, “Once you have control of them make them obey my orders and we can get them all out of here.”

“You’re sure, ‘orders’ not ‘commands’?” he asked.

“We only need the collars to punish them if one goes rogue.” She said removing Kal’s cloak and handing it back to him then going to work on the rest of his clothes she was wearing.

“Got it,” he said, nodding then softly calling out, “Ria.”

The sprite materialized next to her bag and flitted up to his shoulder, absent her normal greeting when she realized where they were.

“Grab her clothes and I need my staff.”

Jakis was just beginning to wonder what was taking Sylus so long, it usually only took the man a couple of minutes to drain his balls.

“Don’t move,” came a voice from behind him and to his left at the same time a piece of cold metal pressed against his neck.

The accountant just barely turned his head to see the man who had bought the wolf standing in the doorway by his desk, he held what appeared to be a sword with a three-foot blade and an equally long handle.

“Give me ownership of all of the girls,” said the man in the cloak.

“I don’t have ownership, Kogen does.”

The money-changer felt a slight sting as the blade just barely bit into his skin. “Liar,” said the man, a moment later the wolf he had bought stepped through the doorway behind him, without any sign of a collar.

Jakis wasn’t strong or brave, but he was smart, which is why Kogen hired him. He had also been fiercely loyal, up until the point Kogen nearly beat him to death, those days were in the past. “On one condition,” the cloaked man’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, “I’m going with you. If you take the girls there’s not a doubt in my mind Kogen will kill me. Take me with you and I’ll help you however I can.”

The man pulled the weapon away from his neck, “Done. I need ownership of the girls and the locks on their chains.”

Jakis took a deep breath. This was his point of no return, once he gave this man control of the slaves his life was forfeit in this city as long as Kogen was alive. That thought brought up another question. “Is Sylus...”

“Sleeping,” said the man, “I’d rather be out of here without any blood on my hands.”

That certainly wasn’t the answer of a man who would run him through as soon as he had the women. “All of the collars within my possession now belong to...”

“Kal.”

“Now belong to Kal.”

“Come,” said Kal.

“One moment,” Jakis opened a drawer and tossed Kal a familiar looking bag, “That’s the money you paid for her,” he said nodding at the wolf, “Kogen hasn’t been here to collect it yet. There’s a key to the locks in here somewhere,” he said as he began quietly shuffling through the drawers.

Kal whispered something to his weapon making it change into a metal capped staff before looking back at the accountant. “I don’t need a key I just need ownership of the locks,” he said. “It doesn’t need to be anything ceremonial just state that they now belong to me.”

“Th ... The locks on the girl’s c ... collars now belong to Kal,” he stammered, completely confused.

“That’ll work,” said the ghostly image of a sprite sitting on Kal’s shoulder. “Say the words, boss.”

“Ria store the locks on the girl’s collars.”

“Got it!” said the sprite excitedly before jumping off Kal’s shoulder and zipping through the leather curtain which the naked wolf girl was holding open.

Jakis grabbed the bag that held his personal money, he hesitated briefly before taking the bigger bag that held a sizeable chunk of the money Kogen had made in the last week. He then followed the man into the kennels.

Barely discernable strings of magic moved from the accountant over to Kal, tying him to each of the collars in the other room. They had gone unnoticed before and probably would have remained that way if not for so many moving at once. It was a stark reminder that he owned these women and not in the loving selfless way that he owned Ikuno and Bea. The feeling didn’t settle well with him.

As he and Jakis entered the kennels specks of light were floating up from the individual cages as Ria flew past, making a beeline for the bag at his waist. By this time there was enough of a commotion that even those who had been sleeping when they first entered pressed up against the metal bars of their door, peering out at the trio standing at the end of the room.

Kal raised his voice as much as he dared, “I am your new owner, for the time being. You will do whatever I say as well as obey any orders given to you by Daxas here.” Ria flitted back across the room and under the piece of hanging leather to collect the lock on Rose’s cage. At the same time, a wide array of emotions appeared on the faces of the dog girls. Some were filled with hope while others seemed to fall further into despair, seeing him as just another human master and not yet understanding that they were being rescued. A couple of them were casting hate-filled glares at Daxas. “You’re up Dax,” he said, smiling.