- Influence
- 1,900.00
Content Warning: Suggestive Scenario, Violent Imagery.
Time: 50 years ago
Location: An unknown swamp
A group of hares was trekking deep through the marshy and sticky lands of the swamp. There were about 20 of them in total, led by a young male named Heath, who had brown fur and sharp blue eyes. All of the hares were dressed in royal red combat uniforms. They all looked exhausted.Time: 50 years ago
Location: An unknown swamp
"We've been marching for hours! We've got to give it a rest, Colonel!" One of them in the back complained.
Usually, Heath would not have stood for such whining from his platoon, but he was exhausted. He couldn't show weakness, though. "Just a bit farther, lads. Just as soon as we find solid land, we'll make camp!"
Leading the crew further through the marsh, they eventually came upon a patch of ground elevated above the wetlands. It was a decent-sized clearing.
"Right! Let's make camp here!" Heath said.
The group of hares pitched their tents and then settled in for the night, leaving a few of them to keep watch while the others slept.
Heath immediately fell into a deep sleep; the trek into the swamp had been arduous, and he was much more tired than he initially thought.
He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep when he was jolted awake by a sharp prick in his neck. He tried to sit up, but there was a heavy weight on his chest. A paw clamped down on his chest, and Ajax found himself staring into the amber eyes of a vixen, who was straddling his chest. She was wearing a grey dress spotted with stars and moons, and had a sash wrapped around her neck.
"No words, my dear Colonel." She tutted, her voice sultry and smooth, yet laced with venom. "I've just pricked you with this knife." She held up a dagger, he could barely see it in the darkness. "Laced with a special poison. Not enough to kill you, though you will be paralyzed for the rest of the night... if you try to scream or struggle, I'll have no choice but to finish you off. Do you understand?"
Ajax wasn't sure how this vixen had managed to sneak in. He tried to move his arms and legs, but he felt them going numb. It seemed she was telling the truth about the poison. He could barely nod his head in response to her question.
Satisfied, Lorelei moved her paw from his mouth and stashed her knife.
"Who are you, what do you want? What do you want?" Heath asked, his voice straining.
"I am Madame Lorelei. I simply talk to you... Ajax." She leaned down, practically lying on top of him, while she ran a finger along his jawline. "The fates informed me of your arrival, and I've been simply dying to meet you~"
Ajax grimaced. "So, you're a seer, then?"
She nodded, batting her eyelashes. "Yes, I am, though I don't need to use my abilities to know your after the star that fell from the sky. Beasts from all over have been flocking to my swamp to try and claim it."
Ajax shook his head. "I don't want it... I'm claiming it for Lord Vernon."
Lorelei giggled a bit, and she started to unbutton Ajax's shirt. "It doesn't matter. Those who enter my swamp don't leave alive. You needn't worry yourself though, Ajax. For I have looked into the future and have a prophecy just for you~"
She leaned down, gingerly kissing his neck as she whispered in his ear.
"Deep down, you hide a reason for shame.
Deep down, you know that we are the same~"
She nipped his neck, using her paw to stroke his chest.
Heath was unable to move his body, no matter how much he willed it to. "We aren't the same, you sicken me."
She brought her head up, her lips only inches from his own as she continued to rub his chest, running her paw down the side of his leg.
"Leaving them feeling betrayed,
Breaking the bonds that you've made,
There is no price you won't pay,
We both know what it takes to survive~"
Ajax turned his head. He felt a burning shame in his chest. She was right. But how did she know these things about him? Before he could think for longer, she grasped his chin and made him look at her.
"Deep down, we only care for ourselves.
Deep down, we're lonely demons from hell~"
Lorelei leaned in and kissed him, and Ajax didn't remember much of what else happened after that, because he blacked out.
When the morning came, Ajax woke up. He reached for his sword, and he was surprised to find that he could still move. His shirt was back on, as if nothing had happened the night before. Standing up, he rubbed the back of his neck. The wound was still fresh, so it had happened the night before.
"Colonel!" One of his subordinates approached him. "We're ready to move out when you're, Sir!"
"Right...." He nodded. He wanted to call the whole thing off and try to leave the swamp, but he knew the expedition was doomed. If they were all going to perish, they might as well get a glimpse at the fallen star.
Once their tents were repacked, the platoon moved forward. It was another full day's march, and they had to light torches to see. It wasn't long after sunset before the platoon came across a clearing. There was a massive crater in the marsh, and the hares saw a strange-looking boulder. It was somehow earthen and metallic at the same time.
"Is this the star that fell from the sky?" Heath asked aloud.
"Colonel!" One of the others walked forward. "Something approaches..."
A pair of glowing amber eyes appeared in the darkness, and Ajax's blood ran cold. Walking out from the foliage was Madame Lorelei.
"Hello~" She smiled at him, before snapping her fingers. Suddenly, a second pair of eyes appeared in the darkness. Then a third, a fourth, dozens if not a hundred or more. But these were more reptilian. Approaching from behind Lorelei was a veritable army of toads, frogs, salamanders and lizards. The thing that shook Ajax to his core, and shook the morale of his platoon, was a massive snake that towered over the vixen and stared hungrily at the hares. How was it possible she had the whole swamp under her command?
Ajax turned to his platoon! "Run for your lives!"
But it was too late. Lorelei pointed at the hares, and the army of reptilians swarmed at them, the snake rushing forward and wrapping up Ajax in its coils.
The platoon tried to fight, but they were outnumbered. Their screams were drowned out by the cacophony of the reptiles, mixed with Lorelei's eerie chanting.
"Drown in your sorrow and fears!
Choke on your blood and your tears!
Bleed 'til you've run out of years!
We must do what it takes to survive!"
One by one the hares were defeated, some of them being impaled by sword and trident, some of them beaten with cudgels, others dragged down and drowned in the marsh. Ajax struggled in the coils of the snake, waiting for death to come, but the beast did not bite him; it only kept him restrained in its grip. Meanwhile Lorelei was reveling in the massacre, her arms raised as she continued to sing her dire hymn.
"Give up your order and faith!
Live up your life as a wraith!
Die in the blood where you bathe!
We must do what it takes to survive!"
Lorelei walked up to Ajax, once again trailing her finger along his jawline. "We are the same, you and I..."
Present Day
"Tch, how hard could it be to find the stupid Songfox..." She muttered. "He dresses like a damned clown." She tapped her fingers, a bored expression on her face as she played with the crystal ball she had set up on the stand.