Jungle
Babe - In the Clutches of Cernunnos
Chapter
4: The Night's Black Wings
-----------
Hours
Earlier...
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Sandra
stalked through the carved stone hallways of the temple, her feet padding
silently across the smooth floor. Her tail swished in her wake, swiping side to
side in tense arcs. Her golden eyes smoldered with an animalistic fury she
could barely contain. She had just finished administering to Carmen and the
psychic backlash she'd suffered when her link to the Master's garden had been
so horrifically severed. She'd poured her a draught of the strong, sweet wine
from the ancient casks hidden in the temple to help ease the pain, but Carmen
had been terribly adamant that she should leave her be.
"I'm
fine," her had sister insisted, speaking with that strange, sultry hiss
that had accompanied her dramatic metamorphosis. "You ssshould go. The
Massster will need your ssstrength."
So as
reluctant as she had been to leave her sister to suffer her recovery alone,
Sandra had slipped away, and with every step she'd taken, the protective urges
she'd felt towards her sister had been replaced with a growing, howling fury.
She would find the men responsible for this. She would tear them apart.
That
had been mere moments ago. Now she approached her Master's chambers, and Sandra
meant to do whatever was needed to convince him to let her mete out her
revenge. But no sooner did she round the corner leading to the final hallway
than she saw her remaining sibling, the bat-like Angie, saunter through the
doorway, a strange, dark vial in her grip.
Sandra
stopped short. "Angie, what are you doing here?"
The
sultry redhead brushed back a lock of misplaced hair, smoothing it behind her
elfin, pointed ears. Her face was flushed, and she was absently sucking on her
glistening fingers like a child would at a sweet. She smiled impishly at her
older sister, mischief gleaming in her red eyes.
"The
Master has tasked me with something important," she explained. "The
humans have retreated to their little hovels. He wishes to send them a little
gift."
She
hefted the glass vial for Sandra to see. Inside the green glass, thick, viscous
fluid sloshed and swirled. Color rose on Sandra's cheeks. She didn't need her
puckish sibling to tell her what it was.
Amused
with the flash of jealousy she saw on her sister's face, Angie did so anyway.
"It's amazing how much he can cum," she said with a dreamy sigh,
"I would have done anything for him, but he insisted that I only use my
hands..."
She
laughed. "I guess he didn't trust me not to swallow it all, if he let me
use my mouth..."
Sandra
could contain her anger no more, "But why you?!" she demanded, teeth
barred in a snarl. "These humans dared to harm our sister, to threaten our
pride. As eldest, it should fall on me to deliver punishment, not you!"
Angie
cocked her head, smirking, "I think perhaps you're getting a little
carried away, my lovely lioness. Not that we don't appreciate your valor, but
the Master feels this mission would be better served with subtlety...not
savagery."
With
that, the crimson vixen skipped past her, and vanished into the dark halls.
Sandra watched her go, feeling confused, angry, and hurt. Did he really think
her so unfit for the task? But why? He had to know how badly she wanted the
honor, how fiercely she wished to serve. He meant everything to her. Every
aspect of her being was his to use, his to command; her loyalty, her lust...
Her
love.
She
felt horrible uncertainty tearing at her insides again. Had she done something
wrong? Had she fallen out of favor somehow? Trying to quell the disquiet
thundering in her chest, she turned back towards the great door leading to his
chambers, and stepped inside.
She
found him easing upon the great raised dais in the center of the room. Her
master was larger than any man, and the mattress was sized to match. She always
felt swallowed up by it; it made her feel small, helpless, powerless. Just the
sight of it made her little clitty start to throb.
As soon
as she entered, she felt his burning eyes upon her.
"Ah,
my dear Sandra," he said, his voice a rumbling growl, "Come. I've
been expecting you."
The
sound of his voice was completely mesmerizing to her. Sandra sighed
tremulously. The blush on her cheeks deepened, only this time it was not anger
coloring her features, but desire. She sauntered to the bed, acutely aware of
the way his eyes followed every sway of her hips. She climbed onto the
mattress, and crawled into his waiting arms. She straddled his leg, tangling
her fingers in the thick mantle of his chest as she stared up at him adoringly.
She purred contentedly as she felt his clawed fingers begin lightly petting
along the length of her supine back. Her ears folded meekly against her shining
mane of hair. Instantly, the frustration and anxiety she felt after her
encounter with Angie began melting away.
His
smoldering green eyes burned into hers. "I sense disquiet in you, Sandra.
Tell me what troubles you."
At that
moment, close to him, his hands upon her, Sandra felt as far from troubled as
she had in days. She would have been happy just allowing him to stroke her this
way, but her Master had asked her a question, and she was compelled to answer.
"It's nothing, Master...merely frustration; the humans must be made to pay
for their arrogance, and I had thought--"
"That
I would send you to cull their number?" he chuckled, "Like a lion
into a herd of sheep, you would have slaughtered them all. Is that what you
would have me do, Sandra? Unleash you into the unwitting herd of men?"
She
nodded slowly, blushing at the sound of pride in his voice. "They should
be routed. Torn apart. Their bodies should fatten the earth and their blood
water your forest." A tremor of excitement raced through her. "Let me
do it. Call back Angie, and let me take her place."
She
felt his chest rumble beneath her fingers, her words arousing his own
animalistic bloodlust. She felt his divine manhood stir against her leg, and
his hand moved to seize one of her large, eager breasts. She moaned.
"My
brave Sandra," he crooned, "I have no doubt that you would succeed.
Indeed, I believe you would do only too well." When he saw her eyes raise
in confusion, he continued, "It is not enough that we slay our enemies, my
pet. Humans are foolish, and care little for the spilled blood of their
fellows. If I allowed you to devour this pathetic band of resistance, their
death would simply spur the rise of another."
"And
I will kill them too!" she whined, grinding her suddenly overheated sex
against the unyielding musculature of his thigh. "I'll cut them down,
however many times they rise up!"
She
gasped as his arms wrapped around her, crushing her in his embrace. Her nipples
bored into his chest, hard and insistent. She could feel her wetness trickling
down her thighs. He made her this way, she thought in awe; just being close to
him drove her out of her mind with lust. She could feel him against her, hot
and throbbing, and wanted nothing more than to envelop him in her slick folds,
but she knew better than to act without permission. So she waited, writhing
hungrily in his arms, her desire for him growing more and more unbearable by
the moment.
"Valorous.
Ruthless. Beautiful. You truly are my golden lion," he said, his praise
nearly driving her to tears. "But a just ruler knows when to use force,
and when to be lenient. Some lessons, dear Sandra, are best learned not through
pain...but through fear."
He
grabbed hold of her thrusting hips then, and moved her atop the glistening head
of his cock. She gasped raggedly as she felt it spread apart the lips of her
cunt and braced her hands against his broad chest. Any protest she might have
made died the instant she felt him enter her. Her anger, her fear, her
frustration, all of it faded away, replaced by irresistible, submissive need.
He pulled her down his waiting shaft, plunging nearly halfway in. Sandra let
out a low, incoherent groan, her golden eyes rolling up. After being without
him for so long, just having him enter her was making her neglected pussy
quiver in small, rapid-fire tremors.
"Angie
will deliver their punishment, as I've commanded," he intoned, watching
with smug satisfaction as his cock overwhelmed the beautiful lioness. "But
never fear, my dear. I have a very special task for you...very special
prey..."
She
couldn't answer him anymore. He was holding her by her slim waist, moving her
up and down his pulsing cock. She arched her back, moaning gratefully, kneading
her own aching breasts in wanton need. "OOohh...oh master....oh
yesss..."
"The
woman the humans rescued from the vines, she is the real threat." His eyes
flashed hungrily. "You will find her for me, Sandra. You will subdue her,
and lay her at my feet."
"Yes...yes,
my lord....oooohhh yess...!" Sandra gasped, feeling him swell inside her.
Her hips rocked into his thrusts as he buried the full length of his taming
cock in her dripping pussy. So thick. So deep. She groaned in penetrated bliss
as his cock filled her with raw, enslaving pleasure.
"Such
an obedient pet," he chuckled, "Always so eager to please. I've
missed the sweet sound of your voice, my dear. Scream for me now...and
come."
And
Sandra, her mind going blank with white-hot ecstasy, helplessly obeyed.
--------------------------
Angie
leaned back against the thick trunk of the great oak tree, and stared down at
the small cluster of houses nestled against the forest edge. Chimney smoke
climbed towards the early dawn sky in long, winding trails. The sun hadn't
quite risen yet, and only the blistering pink edge on the horizon hinted at its
approach. The full, setting moon teetered perilously close to the ground,
brilliant and pale.
She was
twenty feet in the air, perched upon a thick branch. From her vantage point,
she could make out not only the town, but the dark, ramshackle fence the
villagers had erected on the outskirts of the tree line. She saw the men
patrolling about along the perimeter, some with heavy tanks strapped to their
backs. They moved about anxiously, peering fearfully into the deep shadow of
the woods for any hint of danger. Their instincts were correct, of course...not
that it would help them at all.
She
unstopped the brilliant green flask, and sighed dreamily as the scent of its
contents filled her nose. She felt a torrid, familiar heat blossom inside her,
and licked her lips hungrily.
Don't
be naughty, she chided herself, do as you're told. The master will be horribly
cross with you if you indulge...
So,
with some difficulty, Angie extended the flask over the side of her perch, and
tilted it down. The thick, cloudy fluid poured to the ground, and Angie watched
it go with a sense of almost painful loss. Such a waste, but her Master's
orders were very clear. As the noxious substance struck the soil it immediately
began to bubble and froth, until the last dregs of the flask were emptied into
the roiling puddle.
Angie
heard it hissing, and watched in wide-eyed awe as it sank into the rich loam.
For a moment, there was nothing but pregnant silence...but then she heard what
could only be described as a great, earthy exhalation as the ground all around
her began to puff and smoke.
Thin
swirls of mist flowed into great rolling waves, as all at once a vile,
unnatural miasma issued up from the soil in a wide, low cloud. Angie stared in
silent awe as it shifted and flowed, almost like a blind animal. Then, as if
heeding the call of some distant will, the mist began clawing along the ground,
moving with slow but sinister purpose towards the unsuspecting village.
In the
light of the setting moon, the ground looked alive with pale green
luminescence. An old rhyme suddenly sprang up in her mind, oddly fitting. Angie
smiled.
"It
is the very error of the moon," she whispered, watching the fog rolling up
to the makeshift fencing. She heard the suddenly frantic cries of the men along
the patrol...then shouts of alarm...followed by sounds almost too terrible to
contemplate. Down below, she could hear the screams gaining volume as the
villagers awoke to a nightmare.
"She
comes nearer earth than she is wont...and makes men mad..."
She
laughed, spread her wings, and vanished into the trees.
-------------------------
"We
have to get out there," Jungle Babe said to Anna, trying to control the
tremor in her voice. "The villagers, they're in danger. We have to save
them..."
"It's
a little too late for that."
The
women turned to see Samuelson leaning against the frame of the doorway. His
features were ashen.
Jungle
Babe frowned. "What do you mean? The villagers--"
"You
don't understand," he rasped through a throat as dry as parchment.
"Those monsters ARE the villagers."
Jungle
Babe and Anna stared at Samuelson in uncomprehending, mute horror. It was
actually Anna who found her voice first. "That...those things
were...human?"
Jungle
Babe looked at the ruined puddle of gore that used to be the head of one of the
creatures, looked at the spatters of blood on her trembling hand...and felt all
the blood drain out of her face. Oh god...what had she...
"How
is this possible? Jungle Babe demanded, turning on Samuelson.
The old
man looked at the corpses of the once-men, his face drawn. "I don't
understand the powers arranged against us any more than you do. I only know the
stories, and on this they are explicitly clear: Cernunnos can reshape living
beings to suit his twisted goals. These men were as much victims of his power
as the trees of the forest."
"Grandpa,
you have to leave!" Anna pleaded, rushing to the old man. "Please,
you have to go, or you'll end up like--you'll become just like them...!"
He
placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to steady her. "Anna, it's
alright...really...I don't think I'm at risk, not yet anyway. Look at their
boots, at their clothes; these were the men who were trying to eradicate the
corrupted vegetation. They were tainted somehow...and when the mist enveloped
the village--"
"They
transformed completely," Jungle Babe finished for him. She swallowed hard.
"But I was exposed to those plants too. Why haven't I transformed?"
He
looked at her wanly, "Isn't it obvious? You're female. The Beast has other
intentions for you."
From
the street outside, a low, distant groan floated into the town hall, abruptly
silencing the conversation. Samuelson pushed Anna towards Jungle Babe,
"There's no time. Any minute now more of those things might wander in
here, you need to go." He looked at Jungle Babe, his features pleading,
"Please, get Anna out of here."
Dana
nodded, her jaw set, "I give you my word."
"NO!"
Anna shouted, eyes shining wetly, "I'm not leaving you here! Come with
us!"
Samuelson
smiled at his granddaughter, pushing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes.
"I'm an old man, Anna. I'll only slow you down. Don't worry about me, this
building has many places that I can hide, and for quite some time. They aren't
interested in me. You, though, you're in imminent danger. These creatures are
extensions of the Beast, and will search you out. You must flee. Now!"
Then,
remembering something, he ran back to the main table. When he returned, he
shoved the heavy bound folio into Anna's arms. "Take this. It may contain
something you can use. Now please, go!"
He
kissed her goodbye, disentangling himself from her arms. She sobbed only once
before she seemed to draw upon some hidden resolve. She straightened, stilling
her shuddering shoulders, and angrily swiped away the streaks of tears on her
face. "Stay here," she said to Samuelson, "Stay safe. I'll come
find you when this is over. I love you, Grandpa."
She
grabbed the folio, and slung the crossbow over her shoulder, and with that, she
and Jungle Babe escaped into the mist-shrouded streets.
---------------------------
The
pale light of early dawn beat ineffectually against the clouds of shifting mist
enveloping Anna's small village. As she and Dana glanced warily up and down the
brick-paved streets, they were dismayed to find that visibility was woefully
bad. Even the building across the street from the town hall seemed hazy and
indistinct; anything beyond twenty feet away was simply swallowed up by the
fog.
Everything
was eerily still.
"It's
too quiet..." Anna murmured beside Jungle Babe, tightly clutching the
heavy book to her chest. "Why is it so quiet?"
Dana
shook her head, "Just stay close. How many people live in your village,
Anna?"
She
thought for a moment, "No more than sixty."
"How
many men went into the woods?
Another
pause. "Twenty or so. Anyone who was able-bodied took a turn either at the
fence or in the forest."
Jungle
Babe frowned. She had to assume they were horribly outnumbered. They were
barely armed, and while she was more than capable in close combat and Anna had
her crossbow, the low visibility made it far more likely that they could be
surrounded and overwhelmed with little warning. The creatures themselves seemed
ponderous and slow, but they were hideously strong, and with those prehensile
tongues...
She
shuddered, shoving the memory aside. They had to get clear of the town.
"I
need to get you to a car. You need to get away from here," she said
sternly to Anna. When the young woman opened her mouth to protest, Dana cut her
off, "I don't want to hear it. I promised your grandfather I would get you
to safety, and that's what I'm going to do. If you complain again, I'll carry
you out of here, understand?"
Frustration
welled in her hazel eyes, but she bit her tongue, and nodded reluctantly.
"There's a truck behind the grocer. It's not far from here." She
gestured down the street. "That way."
Wordlessly
they began cutting through the fog, keeping as close to the buildings as they
could. Dana's ears burned for how hard she was listening for any hint of
approach, but the village was deathly silent. They footfalls on the road seemed
to hammer in the gauzy air, and she had this almost irrational sense that they
were announcing their location far and wide. They had made it four or five
houses down when she noticed Anna had started to fall behind.
She
turned to the young woman, who was leaning against a building facade wearily,
"Anna? Anna what's wrong?"
Anna
appeared flushed, winded. She held a hand against her head, blinking heavily.
"I'm...I'm not sure. My heart's been hammering ever since those things
showed up at the town hall, and I...I just can't seem to catch my breath."
She swallowed hard. Her hand slipped down her face, and brushed absently at the
soft sweater she was wearing. "I...I feel kind of...funny..."
Dana
felt the color drain from her face. She grabbed Anna's arm, and gave the dazed
girl a hard shake. "Listen to me," she said, "This mist does
something to you, it messes with your head, with your body. It makes you feel
things, want things, but none of it is real. You have to push through it. Can
you do that?"
Jungle
Babe could see the struggle in the girl's eyes, but she nodded, lips tight.
Easier
said than done, Jungle Babe thought dejectedly to herself. She knew exactly
what Anna was going through because she was feeling it herself. The surge of
adrenaline from her encounter with the creatures was wearing off, and the ebb
of that momentary rush left her feeling heavy, tired. She could feel an
unwanted heat riding high on her cheeks, and the sinister pleasure that had
been forced upon her had not fully dissipated. It smoldered inside her
restlessly, and left her body feeling impossibly sensitized. Having suffered
the effects of the mist before, Jungle Babe was somewhat able to force those
feelings aside, but Anna...
She
took the girl's hand, "Come on. It can't be much farther."
They
reached the end of the row of houses, and Anna gestured for them to cut right.
As they rounded the corner of the last house, they heard the sudden clatter of
shattering glass, so loud in the unnatural calm that is might as well have been
the peal of thunder. Jungle Babe and Anna dove against the wall of the house,
flattening against it in a crouch. Dana looked at her young companion, who had
turned almost sheet white. A moment later, they heard more cracking,
accompanied by a low, whimpering moan.
Jungle
Babe glanced up at the window to the house, and motioned to Anna. The sound was
coming from inside.
Moving
with almost painful slowness, they rose up until they could peer through the
lower panes of glass. They were not prepared for the sight that awaited them.
The
window looked in on the kitchen, and the room was in shambles. The ground was
littered with fallen canisters and shattered wedges of china. A drawer full of
silverware had been yanked out of its cabinet and flung against the far wall, scattering
cutlery in mad arcs across the wooden floor. And in the center of it all were
two figures, one human, one decidedly not.
The
woman was wearing a simple yellow dress, marred with stains of the most
disquieting sort. She was laying across the kitchen table, while one of the
mist-creatures loomed by her head. Unlike the three from the town hall, this
one wore not a scrap of clothing, revealing its entire body to be the same
wiry, milk-white physique they had seen in the others. In one clawed hand it
clutched a handful of the woman's hair, holding her still while its thick,
veined cock rocked into her gaping mouth.
"Oh
god, that's Lorna Davis," Anna hissed, her eyes widening in alarm,
"We have to help her!" She grabbed the crossbow on her shoulder and
made to rise, but Dana grabbed her wrist, and forcibly pulled her back down.
Anna gaped at her incredulously, "What are you doing? Let me go!"
"It's
too late for her," Jungle Babe said, clenching her jaw. "Look."
Seeing
the look on Dana's face, Anna turned back to the sight in the kitchen, and
uttered a shocked gasp.
Her
eyes fell back to the woman's head moving up and down the creature's swollen
cock, and she realized with dawning horror that it wasn't the creature that was
moving, but Lorna herself. Her lips were fastened tightly around the
thickly-veined shaft, sucking hungrily, while her hand encircled him at his
base to steady him for her ministrations. Every stroke revealed how much of
that glistening cock she was taking into her mouth, with half the length still
to go. She seemed undaunted, eagerly trying to draw as much of him into her as
she could. They could hear the soft, urgent moans she made around his wet,
throbbing thickness. Her legs shifted uselessly on the table, rubbing her
thighs together in response to the secret, aching need subsuming her will.
"What's
happened to her?" Anna murmured in disbelief, "Why...why is
she...?"
But she
never finished her question; at that moment, they saw the creature's abdomen
clench, and Lorna groaned in grateful bliss. Her throat began swallowing
furiously, but she couldn't keep up. Thick, white cum spilled out around the
monster's pumping cock, leaking down her chin and neck, running in streams down
his shaft to cover her hand. Finally, when it seemed as though she might
actually drown in his seed, the creature pulled her off him with a choking
gasp. Lorna was panting, her cheeks flushed, and her tongue chased him as he
retracted his still-spurting head from her lips.
Before
their hopelessly rapt gaze, the monster reached down and grabbed hold of her
dress. There was a terrible ripping noise, and with inhuman strength it ripped
her clothes to pieces. Razor-sharp nails made short work of her bra, revealing
pert breasts capped by damningly hard, swollen nipples. With almost casual
strength the creature shifted her like a doll, pulling her curvy ass to the
edge of the table. Her slim cotton panties were absolutely drenched, so wet
they were almost translucent. She was writhing on the wood surface, moaning,
but made no effort to escape when the creature hooked the waistband of her
panties in its claws, and snipped them apart.
Her
head lolled towards the window, staring with glazed, half-lidded eyes. The mist
had her completely in its seductive spell, and any part of her conscious,
rational mind that might have resisted was totally drowned out by the surging
tide of her own unbridled desire. Even in her haze though, she seemed to notice
Dana and Anna's faces at the window, because for a moment her eyes seemed to
focus. She stared at them imploringly, and made as if to call out, but at that
moment the creature pressed the still-spurting head of its cock against her
drooling pussy, and drove inside. Lorna gasped, and uttered a deep, wounded moan,
and the light of awareness left her eyes. They rolled up in her head as she
arched her back, whimpering in helpless pleasure as the creature's cock slid in
and in and in. Her hips rose to meet him, and in a single drawn-out thrust, her
buried himself in her to the hilt.
The
sounds she made as he began to fuck her were not the cries of a woman wracked
by pain or consumed by terror, and somehow that made it even worse. Jungle Babe
noticed with a start that her own nipples were aching and swollen, peaking
through her animal-print bikini top, and her pussy was positively throbbing.
She shuddered, forced herself to look away, and fought to control her suddenly
too-rapid breathing.
Ever
muscle in her body was crying out for her to get up, to charge through that
window and snap that creature's spine...but what then? Could she save Lorna
too? How could she protect her and Anna when she had failed so miserably even
to protect herself? How many more women were there in that same position;
stripped, laid bare, lulled into being some monster's sexual plaything by the
insidious influence of the cloying mists.
There
was only one way to save her, and everyone like her; the Beast at the heart of
all of this had to be brought down.
"Anna,"
she said, her throat painfully dry, "Anna, we have to go."
"His
ring..."
Jungle
Babe turned back with a start, "What?"
Anna
stared through the window through half-lidded eyes. "Their hands...the
rings...they're the same..."
Jungle
Babe looked again, and saw that she was right. On each of their left hands, a
simple loop of silver glittered in the light of the ruined kitchen. Dana
blanched.
"It's
her husband," Anna whispered, her voice fluttering, "He came for her.
He did this to her...made her gasp...made her...moan..."
The
girl's voice sounded dreamy, far away; it matched the distant look in her
pretty eyes as they stared, helplessly fixated, on the nightmarish coupling
just beyond the glass. Jungle Babe's gaze darted to the girl's hands, and saw
them pressed between her slender thighs where she knelt, gently swaying, in
front of the window. Muttering a curse under her breath, the blonde heroine
reached down, grabbed hold of her wrists, and pulled her away.
"Anna,
snap out of it!" she begged, shaking the girl's shoulders. "Don't
give in. Stay with me. Anna!"
The
pretty brunette blinked heavily, sagging into Jungle Babe's arms. "I--I
don't...I don't know what's happening. Dana...I'm feeling so hot..."
Just as
Jungle Babe made to say something else, the sound of a footfall shuffling
through gravel--perilously close--cut through the air. She spun, and saw a dark
shape shambling towards them. It was barely fifteen feet away.
Dammit,
she let herself get distracted, let it get far too close! They had to run, they
had to run NOW.
"Anna,
RUN!" she shouted, grabbing her charge by the arm and pulling her hard
into a sprint. The dazed young woman stumbled, gasping in shock, but obeyed.
Dana felt something hot and wet graze past her neck, and caught sight of the
thing's monstrous tongue as it barely missed snaring her throat. All around
them now, she could hear slow, plodding movement. Dark shapes lurched in the
mist; everywhere she looked, she saw the mist-masked form of a new horror
angling towards them. It was worse than she feared. They were very nearly
surrounded.
The
street they needed to traverse to reach the general store and its waiting truck
stretched out before them, but just ahead, right at the edge of their
visibility, a mass of the creatures swayed in wait. Jungle Babe skid to a halt,
cursing. There was no way to get through. She couldn't fight so many of them,
not with Anna barely holding on. Her hopes of getting the poor girl to safety
were crumbling before her eyes.
You
took too long, she shouted angrily at herself, too slow, too late!
Out of
the corner of her eye, Dana saw something in the distance, rising just over the
cloying haze. The dull green of the tree line peeked over top of the rolling
mist. The forest...they were right at its edge.
Low,
moaning sounds floated threateningly from every direction. The creatures were
closing in. In a moment they would be within range of their lashing tongues,
and with so many, there was no way they'd avoid them all. Jungle Babe's heart was
hammering. She struggled to find another alternative, but only one horrible
answer presented itself.
She had
no choice.
"Stay
close, and don't look back, whatever happens," she muttered to Anna. She
grabbed the young woman's hand, clenched it tight, and broke into a dead run
for the trees.
Behind
them, the sound of the crushing throng rose to an angry pitch. Wet, snapping
sounds chased them as they drove through the mist, weaving one direction after
the next to avoid the slow, malignant shuffling of some new assailant. But the
creatures were relentless, and as they reached the sharpened pikes that made up
the perimeter fence, one of the things managed to lash its tongue around Jungle
Babe's wrist.
She
cursed, her eyes snapping to the source of the fleshy leash coiled around her
arm, and saw the thing standing beside the fence. Its clawed arms grasped for
them, eagerly reaching, but Jungle Babe wasn't about to let the same ploy beat
her twice. Rather than trying to pull herself free from the thing's inhuman
grip, she charged at its source. She let out a furious shout as her sprint
broke into a jump, and her kick smashed into the creature's chest with a sullen
crack. The force of the blow sent the monster flying back--right into the
waiting wall of stakes. It issued a gurgling hiss as it was run through from
behind, thrashing like a stuck pig. The tongue shuddered around her arm as the
strength left it, and it slid wetly away to convulse on the ground like a
headless serpent.
Without
a single pause, Dana grabbed a shocked Anna by the waist and pulled her through
an opening in the fence. She risked a quick glance behind them, and saw the
village streets littered with the silent, swaying forms of things that had once
been men.
They
ran; charging past trees and shrubs, feeling the underbrush cracking beneath
their feet. She didn't let them stop until they were well into the woods, far
from the cursed town and its mist-cloaked streets. She was breathing hard,
blood pumping at her temples. She looked up at the towering trees, and felt a
sick feeling churn in her stomach.
Out of
the frying pan and right into the fire, she thought sullenly. She looked beside
her at Anna. The young woman was panting fiercely from their escape, but the
shock and fear seemed to have cast off the creeping influence of the fog...at
least for the time being. she looked back at Dana with wide, wet eyes.
"No
way out of it," Jungle Babe conceded ruefully, "Whether I like it or
not, you got your wish."
Anna
swallowed hard, and forced her shaking voice to speak. "Better together
than alone at least, right?"
The
statuesque blonde looked at the dark woods stretched out before them. The world
that usually filled her with joy and excitement, the world that she most readily
identified as home, suddenly seemed exactly the opposite of all that. The air
hung with a palpable sense of menace, of unseen danger. What else was waiting
for them out there?
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