Fenrir did not rex his vigince again until he had left the city far behind and was approaching their campsite near the river, notwithstanding the concealment his now recovered cloak provided. After having been surprised twice by the princess, he felt disproportionately paranoid about being spotted again.

  'The first time would have been entirely avoidable if I'd just been paying attention, but the second was some seriously bad luck. The dead air in the alley meant my nose couldn't give me any warning, and the fact that she was standing still meant that there wasn't much noise to warn me either. Add to all that that I was deep in thought and not paying particurly close attention to my surroundings, and it's no wonder that I didn't become aware of her before I did. What really gets me is just how unlucky it was that I chose the precise alley she was in. The odds of our paths crossing like that must be barely measurable.' He shrugged as if to throw off his negative thoughts. 'I'll just have to be more careful from now on. I don't know what she pns to do moving forward, but I can't imagine it'll be to my benefit.'

  He paused as his nose apprised him of a presence a short distance ahead. The sky was now lightening along the eastern horizon, dawn not far away. Carefully, Fenrir crept forward, eyes alert for what his nose had already told him, and before long he found what he sought. Comfortably ensconced in the lower branches of a tree where she could see not only the camp but also had a good view over the surrounding underbrush, Katari perched, tired but still alert. Satisfied with what he saw, Fenrir straightened and stepped into her field of view, finally deactivating his cloak's enchantment as he did so.

  Katari noticed him almost instantly and nodded deferentially, but made no move to leave her post until Fenrir motioned for her to descend. Then she slipped down and followed him into the small clearing where the other two members of his party slept. Having briefly scouted the woods around their campsite and found it deserted, Fenrir decided to risk a small fire, and as the fmes began to spread their light and warmth through the clearing, Chellise stirred in her bedroll.

  She opened sleepy eyes to discover the source of the disturbance, but a moment ter all sleep was banished when she caught sight of Fenrir. Bolting out of her bnkets, she cried, "Daddy! You're back!"

  Chuckling as Chellise assaulted him with a hug, Fenrir spared a moment to give her an affectionate squeeze before returning his attention to the food he was warming. "Well, of course I am. I told you I'd be back around dawn, didn't I?"

  "You were walking directly into the minotaur's den, so to speak. I think you can forgive us for being worried about you," Kira said, stretching luxuriously in her own bnkets and smothering a yawn.

  "Fair enough," Fenrir admitted. A momentary silence fell, broken only by the crackling of the fmes and the sizzling of the meat Fenrir was roasting. Everyone gathered around the fire to escape the brisk morning air, and before long Kira could no longer contain her curiosity.

  "Well, what happened?" she asked. "Did you find a way into the cathedral? Did you see Safara? How did you get into the city?"

  "Well," Fenrir began, and then he had to smile as everyone leaned forward in anticipation. "I entered the city via the sewers. They had defenses even down there, if you can believe it. I was able to pass through, but not without leaving my cloak behind..."

  "...And then I took a quick dip in the river to clean up and returned here. So, what do you all think?" They had begun eating while he had still been speaking, and Kira chewed for a long moment before she spoke.

  "That smuggling ring you mentioned might be the key to getting Safara out of there. If they're moving goods through the cathedral, they've got to have a way onto the grounds without being discovered and we might be able to take advantage of that, but what worries me is the princess. It sounds like she got a good look at your face, so I wouldn't be surprised if the entire city is on high alert by now."

  "You also crossed paths with her twice," Katari added. "Were I her, I would not assume it was simply coincidence. Rather, I would believe you were hunting me for some reason."

  "Yes, that was unfortunate," Fenrir agreed. "Perhaps if I help her with the smuggling ring, I may be able to assuage her concerns."

  Kira shook her head. "I wouldn't count on that, boss. You're a monster, remember? Light-races don't tolerate Dark-races, ever."

  "And Safara?"

  "Safara's different. You kidnapped her and basically forced her to see the good side of us Dark-races."

  Fenrir grinned. "Maybe I should do that with the princess as well then."

  Kira snorted. "Pfft, yeah right."

  "Do you think those secret passages the knight mentioned could be real?" Chellise asked thoughtfully.

  "Hmm. Well, he seemed to doubt it, but it wouldn't be the first time I've heard of secret passages out of royal buildings. Not to mention the fact that if they were built, they would have to be kept as secret as possible or else their usefulness would become severely limited." Fenrir shrugged. "Of course, knowing they exist and actually being able to find them are two entirely different things."

  "I was just thinking that maybe that's how the smuggling ring is moving things in and out of the cathedral." Chellise gave an embarrassed little smile. "I don't know much about this kind of thing, but it made sense to me."

  "No, that's good thinking. Tonight I'll see if I can't get some more details on this smuggling ring, and with luck I may even find a way of contacting Safara." Fenrir yawned, in the process missing the concerned gnces exchanged by his companions. "For now, I'm going to catch some shuteye. Once you're done eating, don't forget to keep watch, whoever's turn it is."

  Stretching himself out on the ground beside the fire, he was very soon asleep. It was Kira who broke the silence. "He's going back in tonight?"

  "I do not like the thought of it, either," Katari said. "His encounters with the princess are sure to have resulted in raised security throughout the city, and while it is true that he is formidable in a fight, he is only one against many."

  Chellise only nodded, looking anxious.

  "We're not going to be able to convince him otherwise. Not if I know him half as well as I think I do. As long as Safara's in there, he's going to be trying to rescue her. I can't really fault it either, considering that that's why we chose to follow him." Kira grinned saciously. "Well, that, and one other reason."

  Katari blushed, and Chellise's eyes took on a dreamy quality as she recalled her test experience of that other reason, but then Kira stood up. "Well, I'll take the next shift. Katari, you should get some sleep as well, and Chellise, you clean up breakfast. Don't let the fire start smoking."

  Safara was able to avoid any awkward questions the first evening by ciming fatigue from her journey. At the bishop's command, after a sumptuous dinner she was shown to a guest room. While simple, her room was nonetheless comfortable and she relished the softness of the bed after days of sleeping in a bedroll. To her surprise, however, she found that she missed the presence of the succubi. 'I've slept alone all my life. A week or two shouldn't make that much difference.' But despite her rationalization, she found that she had difficulty falling asleep.

  The next morning, after breakfast in the rge dining hall which served all the inhabitants of the Cathedral, a lesser priest came to her with a message. "My dy Cidrin, Commander Valtos wishes to speak with you."

  "Very well, lead the way," Safara replied with perfect poise, but as she followed the priest through the halls she was thinking furiously. There could be no doubt of what the commander wanted from her, but she had no idea what Fenrir would want her to say. The truth was obviously not an option because that would mean betraying him and the succubi, likely to their deaths. But the closest he had ever come to telling her what she should say was when he had briefly hypothesized that perhaps she could report that they had been lost in a catastrophe. Even then, however, he had been doubtful that such a pn would work.

  'Okay, calm down, Safara. Let's think this through. I need to make sure they don't go looking for the soldiers, or if they do, that they look in the wrong direction. So how can I achieve that? If I cim the soldiers are still alive- no, no, at best that would just put off the problem, and at worst... well, I don't even know what the worst case is. Not good, though. So if I tell him that they're all dead... but what could kill an entire company of the Vigil's inquisitors? And how would I have survived when none of them would have? The Kharos mountains are pretty dangerous, but there isn't a lot that could wipe out the entire company. Not this far south. Unless maybe...'

  She was torn from her thoughts by her guide halting before a door which she immediately recognized as the Vigil's commander's office. He knocked, and in response to a muffled "Come in," he opened the door and announced, "Commander Valtos, Lady Safara of House Cidrin."

  She entered with all the cool grace she could muster, taking in the salient features of the room at a gnce. Behind a heavy oak desk in a surprisingly simple chair sat Commander Valtos, tall and solid, his bck hair graying at the temples. In the wall beyond him y bookcases filled with books and scrolls of various sizes, most of which appeared to have seen frequent use. Between his desk and the door y a rge rectangur table, which aside from a runner of bck fabric y empty. Perfectly ordered around it were high-backed chairs, the ones closest to and furthest from the door rger and more ornate than the rest. Windows equidistant from the desk on the back wall allowed light to flood the room, their heavy drapes only half drawn. Candle sconces on the walls and a mp on the commander's desk fulfilled all other requirements for light, a rge chandelier, currently unlit, hanging above the table.

  "Please, my dy, have a seat," the commander spoke, indicating one of two chairs in front of his desk.

  She passed down the length of the rge table and sank into the proffered chair with a gracious "Thank you," keeping her features carefully schooled.

  "Please give me just a moment to finish this, and I'll be right with you," Valtos said, returning to the paper he had been perusing. After perhaps thirty seconds, during which she gathered herself for the coming interrogation as best she could, he id it aside and turned his attention to Safara. "Now, my dy Cidrin, I'll avoid wasting either of our time and come directly to the point. You left the capital accompanying a full company of the Vigil's Inquisitors, commanded by the excellent if sometimes perhaps a little overzealous Captain Corducell. Your mission was to intercept and destroy a group of demons reported to the northwest. The demons in question were reported to be lesser in nature, no challenge for an Inquisitor company, especially one accompanied by a mage of your considerable talents. So how is it that you have returned alone?"

  There was no accusation in his tone, yet, but Safara could feel how easily the simple query might turn to suspicion. Commander Valtos was a seasoned soldier, keen-eyed, quick-witted, and tactically capable. He knew the capabilities of his soldiers, and he had a fairly good idea of the amount of danger into which he sent them.

  Taking a deep breath, she said as calmly as she could, "We picked up the trail not far from the hamlet of Wellspring. The demons were quicker than we expected, no doubt due to the small size of their party, so they distanced us to the Kharos mountains, fleeing up the Kharvionas pass. It has been some years since any has used that pass aside from wild beasts, so the old road has fallen into disrepair, and we made poor time much of the way. Due to this handicap, the demons maintained a scant lead all the way to the Wyldwood.

  "I am sure you are familiar with the dangers of that forest. The demons' desperation drove them to take their chances in the wood, and Captain Corducell ordered the company in after them. I believe that, due to how close we were to catching them, he believed we could overhaul them before they had gone in too deep. When I demurred, pointing out the obvious dangers of the pn, he told me to remain behind if I believed it too dangerous, but that he would take no chances of the demons escaping. I waited as he instructed for over a week, but they did not return. Eventually I had to return alone, lest my supplies become exhausted and leave me stranded without food in the mountains."

  There was silence for a long moment after she had finished speaking. Commander Valtos had steadily regarded her from under thick bck brows as she told her story, no hints of his thoughts appearing on his face. He searched her face carefully before dropping his gaze and sighing. "Thank you for telling me this. If you could be so good as to remain on Cathedral grounds for the present, that would be appreciated. An entire company being lost like this... I'm sure you understand."

  Safara stood and nodded. "Of course, Commander. Please let me know if you need anything else." But as she left the room, she wondered just how much of her story the commander had actually believed.

  Fenrir awoke a little before midday. The fire had gone out while he slept, and Katari slept peacefully to his right, one hand csped around the hilt of her sword. Opposite her Chellise struggled to repair a hole in her travel gear with needle and thread, a fierce frown of concentration on her face. "Stupid- thread- stop pulling out!" she muttered angrily under her breath as her thread once again escaped the needle.

  Fenrir straightened to a sitting position, regarding her with amusement. "Have you tried tying the thread around the eye of the needle? I've heard it can help beginners."

  "No, but Lilli never has to. She just pokes it through and it stays there. Guh, fine! So long as it stays." Painstakingly rethreading the needle, which had pulled out yet again, Chellise knotted it and began to patch the rip with rather more success, though not with any lessened concentration. "So, uh, good nap, Daddy?" she managed to spare enough attention to ask.

  "Not bad. Some odd dreams, but nothing too unusual. By the way, where did Kira go?"

  "She's keeping watch. Over there somewhere, I think," Chellise answered, gesturing rather vaguely. "It should be my turn soon, if you need her for something."

  "Hmm. Well, actually, I could use her help with something, so why don't you finish that up and then go let her know I want to see her? No hurry," Fenrir said, leaning back on his hands.

  "Sure, okay," the young succubus replied. A comfortable silence filled the small clearing, broken only by the chirping of a bird several trees away.

  Fenrir turned his thoughts towards his pnned second infiltration. He fully expected the city to have doubled or even tripled its guard detail, particurly around the pace, and he also expected the princess to be personally searching for him. 'That is if her bodyguard lets her. She struck me as the sort who likes to get hands on, but her bodyguard doesn't really seem the type to let her just waltz headfirst into danger. Either way, so far only the princess has actually seen me and I'd be wise to keep it that way. Slipping past the guards should be doable so long as I don't get distracted. The major problem, as always, is the Cathedral. Finding a way to get to Safara without alerting the whole damn compound is Priority One. Chellise made a good point earlier; if there are secret passages in and out of the Cathedral, that might provide me with the avenue I need. If I remember correctly, The Thief's Betrayal is more of a wall or dome than a sphere, so if this theoretical passage is deep enough, I may be able to circumvent the enchantment entirely. Best not to count on it, but it's something to keep in mind.'

  As he considered whether there might be any way of bringing his cloak within the city, Chellise straightened, surveying her work with a mixed expression on her face. "Well, it isn't pretty, but it should hold together. I think. Okay, Daddy, I'll go find Kira now."

  "Good, thank you," Fenrir replied absentmindedly, wondering whether he should try to swim around the wall to the docks. He discarded that idea when he remembered the second smaller wall which separated the docks district from the rest of the city. 'It's not as high as the main wall, but it would still be a significant challenge to scale, and it looked like it was made of the same stone as the main wall. Probably best to stick to the proven infiltration route.'

  He pulled himself from his thoughts when he spotted the approach of a certain succubus. "Ah, Kira."

  "You needed me, boss?"

  "Yes." Rising, he beckoned her to follow him, and slipped off through the forest some distance with the succubus in tow. Finally he stopped in a tiny space in the center of a mass of rge, thick bushes. "As you're well aware, there hasn't been a lot of time for fun on this trip, so I thought we might make the most of this moment."

  "Wha- Is this really the time? I mean, Carnachias knows I've been downright aching for it, but we're not exactly in the middle of nowhere here. Who knows who could hear us?"

  Fenrir grinned. "Why do you think I led you here? These bushes will swallow most of the sound, so long as we regute our volume a bit."

  "Sure, because 'reguting my volume' is the first thing on my mind when you're rearranging my insides." Kira shrugged helplessly. "Okay, fine, but I reserve the right to say 'I told you so' if we get discovered because of this."

  "Oh, I've got a pn for reguting your volume if you get a bit too loud," Fenrir said, smirking deviously.

  Kira gave him a suspicious look which was quickly broken by Fenrir's lifting her in his arms to bring her lips to his. She melted into the kiss almost instantly, arms coming up to encircle his head as she moaned lustily into his mouth. Without breaking the kiss, Fenrir disrobed her, taking the time to vish special attention on her breasts as they came free from their confines. Kira reveled in the sensation, her own hands stroking through the fur on his head and neck.

  When they finally broke the kiss to breathe, Kira moaned in a voice overflowing with desire, "Just skip the forepy, I need it! Gimme your cock, I'm going crazy here!"

  "Damn, you're hot when you beg," Fenrir growled, his own voice liberally stained with lust. In one swift motion, he swept his cloak from his shoulders and spread it on the ground. Pcing Kira on her back atop the mantle, he buried himself deep in her sopping pussy in a single smooth thrust.

  Kira gave a throaty purr at the sudden filling, lifting her legs to wrap around his back as best she could. "Mmm, that's the stuff. Give it to me, you glorious brute. Teach my pussy just how good sex can feel."

  Without a word he did so, catching her off guard with the sudden ferocity of his thrusts. As she had warned him, any thought of keeping her voice low was forgotten as Kira alternately keened her delight to the heavens or encouraged him lustily to ever greater speeds. Abruptly Fenrir shifted his grip, one rge hand closing on her throat and effectually throttling her volume. Her eyes went wide and her hands flew to his, but not to try to tear his hand away. Rather, she tried her best to tighten his grip, as her pussy spasmed uncontrolbly around his shaft and her legs tightened around his hips. Fenrir allowed his hand to tighten slightly, but not much lest he entirely strangle her.

  Kira did not seem to care whether she was unable to breathe. Her lips formed the words she had no breath to say as she mouthed 'more' over and over. Remembering something he had once read, Fenrir shifted his grip to press more heavily against her jugur while easing his hold upon her esophagus. She gasped heavily, but with the blood flow to her brain still restricted, the lightheaded sensation she craved remained. Satisfied with the result of his chokehold, Fenrir refocused his attention on her pussy, which clenched and fluttered around his shaft in a manner perfectly designed to bring him the most pleasure possible.

  A roar of pleasure bubbled up in his throat as he approached his peak, which with a considerable effort he smothered into a low groan, filling Kira's cunt with hot thick semen. The succubus barely reacted, the sensation just one more drop in the ke of euphoria she was experiencing. As Fenrir rexed his grip on her throat and gently pulled out of her, she gradually began to come back to herself.

  "Mmm, that was just what I needed," she murmured zily, moaning a little as Fenrir gently kissed the slight bruises he had left on her throat. "How did you know I liked being choked?"

  "I know quite a bit about you," Fenrir grinned back at her. "I didn't think you'd like it that much, though. If I had choked you as hard as you wanted me to, I could be having this conversation with a corpse."

  "Oh, shush, I'm not that fragile. I'm a succubus, after all. Rough py like this heals a lot quicker for us than it would for a human. Feels better too, I bet."

  "That'd be a pretty safe bet from what I've seen. Even with the special properties of my cock, any human woman would have a lot more trouble taking it than any of you have had."

  Kira smirked. "What can I say? I love being a succubus."

  "Somehow I'm not surprised. Not that I'm compining either, mind. Fucking you feels almost too good to be allowed."

  They y in silence for several minutes, enjoying the moment together, until finally Fenrir pushed himself up. "Well, it's about time for lunch. You hungry?"

  "Hungry?" Kira gave him an incredulous look. "After a fucking like that, I feel like I won't need to eat for a week."

  "Ah. Right. I forget that about you sometimes. Well, I'm hungry, and you're lying on my cloak, so come on."

  "C'mon, we can stay here just a few more minutes, right? It's so comfy, after all~"

  Fenrir rolled his eyes. "Fine, but only for a few minutes."

  "That's the spirit. Now come here, my big furry bnket."

  Fenrir y back down atop her, supporting most of his weight on his arms to avoid crushing the much smaller succubus. "Once a sleek and terrifying engine of destruction, now reduced to being a bnket for a smartmouthed succubus. How the mighty have fallen." Kira giggled underneath him, and he chuckled and kissed her. "I can think of worse fates, at least."

  TheBestofSome