Oswin was more than pleased with the way this spell weaver turned out. As a fox, Oswin’s target had been powerful, masculine, intelligent and strong willed – traits that all carried over to his new, puma body.
Oswin continued kissing the sexy puma’s muzzle, lips locked in deep. He ran his paws over the cat’s tight, muscular body, listening to the kitty purr. He was so lucky the cougar was still kissing him rather than strangling his neck right now, considering all that had happened.
“Mmm,” Oswin moaned, pressing his muzzle forcefully into the cat’s before pulling away, “so tell me, pretty kitty, what’s your new name?”
The cat nuzzled into the ruff of Oswin’s neckfur, sniffing his scent.
“Veles.” the cat replied.
“Mmm, that’s a nice name Veles,” Oswin grinned, “But as much as I would love to sit here and listen to you purr, we need to take shelter for the night. Do you wanna go to the lodge?”
“Yeah,” the cougar finally said, one claw tracing the sizeable bulge in the stag’s tight leather trousers. “I think I’d like that a lot.”
Oswin gave the cat one final kiss before pulling away. He reached out a hoof and the cat took it, coming to his feet nimbly. Oswin enjoyed the look of pure desire in the cat’s eyes. There was a hunger in them that mirrored his own.
Finally, he thought to himself, my Ein is back.
The sun finally went down and the sounds of the night arose around the two.
“Well?” The cat cleared his throat, shivering as the warmth of the day began to recede and a cool wind picked up, “Where to?”
“Right,” Oswin composed himself. It was so exciting having Ein back that he’d temporarily forgotten himself. “This way.”
They hiked through the forest, the air growing cooler as night fell. As sweltering as it was during the day, the night was frigid in these parts.
The air continued to grow colder as Oswin and Veles continued their trek to the lodge. And the deeper they got into the forest, the more nervous Oswin noticed the puma get. It was an hour long hike to lodge, and Veles must have spent the last half of it constantly looking over his shoulder, as though he expected the entire thing to be one elaborate trap. But the puma let out a noticeable sight of relief as the forest opened up, revealing the large marble structure that Oswin used as his hunter’s lodge.
“Why does it look like a temple?” the cougar asked, pointing at the decorative columns and ornate, Celtic carvings in the building’s walls
“Because it was,” Oswin replied, slapping a horsefly off his face. “A big Druidic temple, dedicated to Harn, God of the Forest. Had a guardian spirit and everything.”
“What happened?” The cat asked.
“A long, long time ago… maybe… eight generations ago? Anyways, there was this nature cult. They get into a fight with the local foresters. We made our trade with lumber and mining and the Druids were pissed about it.”
“I see.”
“We didn’t kill them.” Oswin said quickly. “There were fights with them, but it wasn’t us that killed them. No, that would be the noble family that manages this area.”
“Does that make it better?” Veles asked.
“No…” Oswin hesitated, “but it happened so long ago that it doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”
“Well, I would be afraid of entering a desecrated temple. What about the undead?”
“Oh, the hunters a generation later who turned the place into a lodge dealt with those.” Oswin waved a hoof.
“How?” Veles asked.
“By killing and stuffing the guardian spirit. He’s still there in the middle of the temple. That was the key to breaking the curse, you see.”
“You are going way too fast with this lore.” Veles laughed, “Come on! Curse?”
Oswin sighed. “So they killed all the druids, right? Then they had to deal with the Guardian. He was a nine-tailed fox. They hunted him down and killed him. Problem was, there was a curse that said if the guardian was not in the temple, the forest would reject all who would claim it. So they stuffed him and put him on display forever.”
“Oh. Loophole exploited; I suppose.”
“Exactly” Oswin shrugged. “I normally don’t talk about it, but Ein…”
“Ein?”
“He was… he liked the stories about the druids. Too much, I guess.”
“And? You keep speaking about him in the past tense.”
“He died,” Oswin swallowed thickly. “Ein was always going on about how the Mayor was corrupt and that he was ruining the town. He blamed Rodrigo and his family for the dreariness of the town. He was right, of course, but that didn’t matter then and it doesn’t matter now.”
“Really?” Veles raised a brow. “He sounded like a good person. But here you are, being a bandit, working for Rodrigo.”
“Because there’s nothing to do about it!” Oswin snapped. “I liked listening to Ein. He had all sorts of ideas. But guess what? None of that mattered one iota of a shit when Rodrigo got a hold of him. Crocodiles can’t survive in the cold of this forest.”
“He was an anthro crocodile?” Veles said, confusion evident in his voice.
“No Veles,” Oswin snapped, “he was a puma, like you. But after Rodrigo was done with him…”
Oswin’s head drooped towards the ground, “I don’t know if there was anything of him left in that body, but he wasn’t an anthro, and he didn’t live long.”
“How did Rodrigo find out?”
“Ein was pretty outspoken. I told him to shut up, everyone did. But he wouldn’t stop. Then he got it into his head that all he needed to do was burn down the lumbermill. They were waiting for him.” Oswin’s voice got quieter. “And then Rodrigo made an example of him.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Veles asked.
“Because I think he was right.” Oswin said. “There’s a whole group of us who thought so, and still think so. I begged him, Veles. I begged Ein to just FUCKING wait. He wouldn’t and it set us all back a decade.”
“So when Rodrigo…”
“He decided to ‘root out terrorist elements in the community’. We lost a dozen good men and women that way.” Oswin spat.
“What were you missing? What were you waiting for?” Veles asked.
“A soul mage. Someone that could end this bloodlessly. Which was why I need you, Veles.” Oswin turned to look at the cougar. “I need you to Trim Rodrigo.”
“The Mayor?” Veles stared at him in disbelief. “Why not kill him?”
“Because that would just cause more problems. There’s another curse on the town, one created by Rodrigo’s family. If they die, so dies the town.” Oswin explained. “His ancient ancestor was a soul magic user, and she was a huge bitch. Tainted all the bloodlines. If he is killed, we die the EXACT SAME WAY. Cut off his head? ALL OF OUR HEADS FALL OFF.”
“But that… it only applies if you kill him, right?”
“The curse? Well, yes,” Oswin nodded, “Its fine if he dies from natural causes, obviously the village wouldn’t last long if we all died from that. In that case, the curse would pass down to his son or whoever he appoints as heir.”
“Less of a curse, and more like a failsafe,” Veles mused.
“A ticking time bomb!” Oswin hissed through clenched teeth, “We have to keep that fucker alive! EVERYONE WANTS TO KILL HIM! People he meets, travelers, everyone fucking hates him, but if they kill him-!”
“You all die too. He’s so obnoxious and useless, he’s a target for murder. But you can’t murder him or let him be murdered or the curse activates and kills you all too. So, how the fuck am I supposed to Trim him?”
“Trim the curse off of him! That’s it! Then we can kill him.” Oswin explained. “No curse, no problems!”
“Then why did Ein think burning down the lumbermill would work?”
“He… okay, so he wasn’t entirely all there in the head. Said that the temple’s guardian told him to do it.”
“And?”
“Well, obviously, burning down our main source of income is fucking stupid and I told him that.”
“...And? Come on, why did the guardian think it was a good idea?”
“Because the guardian can’t revive with a polluted forest or some shit like that. Look, I’m not a treehugger, I don’t give a shit about reviving the forest whatever.” Oswin said, “And who knows, maybe that spirit lied just wanted us all died and lied to him. I didn’t care then and I don’t care now.”
Oswin paused, “I just thought Ein was noble and sexy when he got angry. We need better management. Fairer management, not a psycho family of wolves.”
“So that’s why I’m not a horny beaver, then?” Veles said finally as they started up a set of stone stairs.
“Right, I gave you Ein’s old axe. I had someone enchant it.” Oswin winked at Veles, “you look good as a puma, though.”
“I looked good as a fox,” Veles’ tail swished in annoyance.
“You were fat.” Oswin said flatly.
“So?”
“Gross.” Oswin replied.
“Oh, I see,” Veles prodded the stag’s musclegut, “What do we have here?”
“Hey!” Oswin slapped Veles’ paw away and rubbed his stomach, “I’m just storing some extra food away for emergencies.”
“Mmmhmm,” Veles rolled his eyes.
Up ahead, they could hear the sounds of carousing coming from the giant stone temple at the top of the hill. Between the noise and the light shining from the windows, it was obvious the bandits were celebrating in spite of the losses they accrued.
“Come on, the guys are going to love you,” Oswin grinned.
“I’m sure the desecrated temple will be very comfy,” Veles said drily.
“Loggers stay here when it gets too late to walk back to town,” Oswin replied, pulling the cat close. “It’s got a bunch of beds in the side wings, nice and comfy, and there’s a full bar. It’s basically open every night.”
Oswin briefly stopped, “and it’s not desecrated. Not anymore.”
“Oh,” Veles chuckled, “so you put a bar in the, what? Sanctified temple?”
“Just a touch of blasphemy,” Oswin winked.
He remembered all the times he and Ein would come up here, get drunk, then find themselves in one of the rooms. He ran his hooves over Veles’ muscled form. The cat lay his head on the stag’s shoulder and Oswin wound an arm around his pretty kitty, pulling him close to his chest.
“I love you, Ein,” Oswin whispered, tears springing to his eyes.
“Huh?” Veles asked.
“Nothing.” Oswin wiped his face with his sleeve. “We’re here.”
Together, they stepped through the open double doors of the former temple.