The Hawk Lord by Amy Sumida

Chapter Nine

Dalsharan was all business the next morning, acting as if nothing had happened between us while I was so wrecked by what he'd done that I had passed out in my own cum and woke up in the middle of the night with my pants glued to my belly. And now, just looking at him made my balls tighten. I couldn't imagine what really fucking him would do to me. Maybe it would be better if he never decided.

“Ravyn, are you listening to me?” The giant hawk who was carrying me asked.

“Nope.”

“That's not funny.”

“I'm not joking. I seriously wasn't listening. You've been saying the same things over and over for the last fifteen minutes. I get that you're upset over not telling me enough last time, but let me assure you that you've told me enough this time.”

“I'm going to drop you if you keep being so disrespectful.”

“Disres—” I sputtered. “Are you fucking kidding me?!” I screeched up at him. “You left me lying on my pallet covered in cum last night, but this morning, you act as if nothing happened, and now you call me disrespectful?”

“This is exactly what I was talking about,” he snapped. “If you can't do your job because I've distracted you, then we can't be lovers.”

“I think it was the other way around and that's why you're so pissy.”

“Yes, it was!” he roared. “And now, I'm trying to focus, but all you can think about is my dick.”

“That is not all I'm thinking about! I'm also thinking about your mouth!”

Dalsharan let out a surprised shriek of laughter.

“Look, I have no problem with doing my job. I heard everything you've said to me,” I went serious. “Keep to walls where my body heat will be covered by the cold coming off the stones, watch out for the feeding troughs—that was disturbing, by the way, and don't touch any of their treasure. Oh, and don't wear the Coyote Stone amulet. I got it.”

“Okay. Good,” he said, sounding mollified.

“And I can think about how fucking amazing you are without failing my mission,” I added.

“How amazing I am?”

“Don't fish for compliments,” I chided him.

He laughed again.

“But could you just tell me one thing?”

“What's that?” the Hawk Lord asked warily.

“Have you fucking decided yet?!”

Dal started laughing again, boisterously, but he stopped abruptly when we hit bad weather. The clouds darkened around us and thunder boomed in the distance. I gripped his bird ankles.

“Don't worry, I've got you,” he said. “We have to land anyway. The stronghold is just over that hill.”

“What hill?” I peered into the gloom just as rain started to fall.

I squinted against the stinging drops. The Fae have magic that works with nature and the natures of their beasts. Weather is not an issue for them. That being said, they can't access their other magic when they're in their beast bodies. So, Dal couldn't shield us. Not that the water bothered him much, it just rolled off his feathers, but I was getting wet.

The Hawk Lord set me down on a rocky knoll, then landed beside me and stretched a wing over my head. “This way.” His massive claws tore into the wet earth as he led me down the hill and up the side of another. The giant hawk settled into a squat and tucked me in against his side to shield me. I snickered.

“What?” Dal lowered his head to peer at me with one eye.

“I feel like a baby bird. Please don't vomit anything into my mouth.”

“The baby bird thing was cute but then you took it too far.”

I snorted. “In case you haven't realized it yet, I always take things too far. It's kind of my specialty.”

“Yes, I have noticed that.” He smacked me gently with his wing. “Now, take out the farseer and start watching the guards.”

I fished out the farseer and focused on the fortress several yards away. “There are five groups of—”

“I'm in hawk form, Ravyn. I can see them.”

“Oh, right. Okay.”

With the weather darkening the landscape, we weren't worried about being spotted, and I didn't have to wait for nightfall before heading in. As soon as I got the rotation of the guards down, I stuck in my earpiece, pulled on my gloves, unfolded my grappling hook, and headed off.

“Corporal!”

I stopped and looked back at him. The Hawk Lord had shifted back to his fae body and stood there naked, a barrier of air around him, turning the rain into a shimmering outline.

He slipped in his earpiece and said, “I'll be listening.”

“Put some fucking clothes on. I really don't want you saving me bare-ass naked.”

“If I have to save you, I'll do it in my hawk form. I want to be ready to shift immediately.”

“So, you're just going to stand in the rain naked?”

“For the sake of the blessed Moon!” Dal snarled. “No one is out here. Now, stop ruining a dramatic moment and get your ass in that fortress.”

I chuckled and headed for the stronghold, rain soaking my clothes. But it had been worth it to rile up the Hawk Lord. And to get another look at his naked body. That image had gone straight in the spank bank where it would earn monthly interest.

After scaling the wall and dodging guards, I slipped into the keep, just as I had the last one. But I made one fatal mistake. I remembered everything that Dal told me; that wasn't the problem. I simply hadn't thought of what wet weather would do to my boots. As I followed the pulse of another soul stone, I didn't notice the tracks I was leaving, or that they were distinctly not Farungal footprints.

Still, I made it into the treasure room and snatched the Coyote Soul without a problem. It wasn't until I was leaving and nearly to the main door that I realized something was wrong. The place was eerily quiet, even the walls seemed to be holding their breath, and as I retraced my steps, I saw them—my boot prints.

“Fuck,” I whispered as I scanned the entry hall warily.

“What?” Dal asked.

“I left tracks,” I whispered.

“Get out of there now!”

“That's what I'm doing, but I don't see anyone around—like no one—and it's really fucking quiet in here.”

“I don't see anyone outside either,” Dal's voice took on a wary tone. “The last rotation was done ten minutes ago.”

Ten minutes. Was that enough time to surround a human and kill him? Oh, yes. I sprinted for the door. I was nearly there when someone barreled into me. I cried out as a clawed hand closed around my throat, then started to squeeze.

“Ravyn!”

All I could do was make strangled sounds.

“A human,” the Farungal who held me declared in delight.

“I'm on my way!” Dalsharan shouted.

I was lifted by my throat as I clawed at scaly black skin, gasping for breath.

“Put him down before you kill him. Humans are so fragile,” another one said—this one had breasts.

Oh, fuck, the females were the worst.

The male lowered me to my feet and eased up on his grip, but didn't release me. He was about to reply when something big and covered in feathers slammed through the front doors. The Hawk Lord screeched, the sound going into a pitch that hurt Farungal ears. They cried out and cringed. I was suddenly released and I scrambled away. Dal used his beak like a spear as his wings swept out, knocking Farungal to the floor. I ran for him.

“Grab my leg,” he ordered.

I dove for Dal's leg and wrapped myself around the thick limb. He turned toward the doorway, but before he could launch himself through it, a group of Farungals slammed the doors shut and lowered a bar over them. They began to chitter—their version of laughter. Dal shrieked again, but the monsters had stuck something in their ears and it didn't affect them this time. He slashed out with his talons. I jumped off his leg and pulled out my grappling hook—the only thing I had that resembled a weapon.

I spun around to his back and started using the hook like the Hawk Lord was using his claws—to slash open Farungal throats. We were doing well too. Okay, he was doing well. Dal took down Farungals as easily as shaking ripe apples out of a tree. They fell to his beak and claws and wings. Sure, he could have used magic in his other form, but against a group of Farungal in tight quarters, his hawk form was the better option. The Farungal didn't have magic like the Fae; they could cast spells, but couldn't manage anything instantaneously, so he wasn't giving them an edge. All I did was watch his back as he kicked ass.

But that changed in a second.

A net dropped from the ceiling, and Dal screamed in pain as it covered him. I was caught in it too, but it did nothing to me beyond hampering my movements. I couldn't figure out what was hurting him until I saw the bits of iron woven into the net. I yanked at the covering, trying to drag it off Dal as he curled himself into as small a form as he could without shifting. The little hooked pieces of iron kept snagging on his feathers and while I struggled, the Farungal kept attacking. A hand caught my ankle, and I was yanked away. In seconds, I was overpowered, my makeshift weapon smacked out of my grip and then my hands were shackled.

With the iron weakening him and pushing down his magic, Dalsharan was forced into his Sidhe body. Dal snarled and thrashed. One hand shot upward, its fingers sprouting claws. He sliced at the net even as he shouted in pain, and his claws vanished. As soon as Dal was fully Sidhe, the net was yanked away and he was stabbed in both shoulders with iron spears. The pendant on his chest flared to life, one last-ditch effort to overpower his enemies. But before it could do whatever it was going to do, an iron spear with a hook at its end snagged its chain and broke it. The Hawk Soul fell away with an ominous clatter while Dalsharan was shoved backward and pinned to the ground. In seconds, he was manacled. The spears were yanked free and the female Farungal who had spoken earlier came clicking up on her clawed feet. She wore an armored dress and had her hair braided back from her hideous face.

She picked up the Hawk Soul and tapped it with a claw as she sneered at Dalsharan, “The Great Hawk has fallen. We knew that if we could just get you inside our walls, we could subdue you. You Avians rule the sky but once you're grounded, you're easy pickings.”

I clenched my jaw to keep from mouthing off to her. Dal had been far from easy pickings for them, but saying that wouldn't help him now. At least he wasn't screaming anymore and his wounds were starting to close. Even though he was manacled with iron, it didn't hurt him. The Farungal and Fae alike use manacles lined in silver to subdue their enemies and criminals without hurting them. Which meant that the Farungal weren't going to kill us immediately; they wanted something from the Hawk Lord. This had been a trap. But why not trap us at the first fortress? Had they been luring us further into Alantri?

“What do you want, Gremara?” Dalsharan growled.

I blinked in surprise. Dal knew her. I have no idea how he was able to tell her apart from the other females. Hell, the only reason I could tell females apart from the males was that they had boobies and wore their hair long. But, he knew her, and she knew him.

The female grinned and rubbed her hands down her curves. “I want you, Dalsharan Arandel.” She laughed. “Honestly, any warlord would have suited my purposes, but I figured it would be you. You're always the one to jump into the flames first. And considering that we took the other two golds...”

“And what about them? Why take the soul stones?” he demanded.

“Just to get you here. What do we want with those things? Singly, they'll only work for one of you and in a trinity, they require someone with certain strengths that we lack.”

“You mean willpower,” he spat at her. “Strength of mind and heart to command the Beasts. You're right, I shouldn't have worried about one of you using the stones; it's impossible.”

She shrugged and tossed the Hawk Soul at me; it hit my chest and landed on the ground in front of me. “Keep your soul stones, we don't want them. Their magic makes our skin crawl.”

I twisted free of my captors and scrambled forward to grab the Hawk Soul amulet. The Farungal chittered and cackled in amusement as I snatched it up, and they even let me shove the stone in my pocket as if it meant nothing to them,

“Then what do you want me for?” Dal lifted his chin, staring at her imperiously despite being stark naked.

She chittered and the other Farungal around her chittered too. “For breeding purposes.”

Dalsharan went pale. “You can't mean to...”

She chittered again, this time in a higher pitch. “Oh, yes, lover, I do. Your kind fucked ours long ago and made us who we are. We've been searching for a cure for this curse ever since and, at last, we have found one.”

“You cursed yourselves with your dark magic,” he sneered. “It had nothing to do with us. We were your victims!”

“If it's as you say, then why would one of you be needed for the cure?”

I looked back and forth between the female and Dal, wondering what the fuck she was talking about. So far, I was only being restrained, and I didn't want that to change, so I tried to keep still. But seeing the fear flash through the Hawk Lord was twisting my own gut. Warlords don't get scared. They lead their armies unfailingly and never showed fear. But Dalsharan was frightened and very, very disgusted.

“What cure?” Dal finally asked when it became apparent that she wasn't about to tell him without encouragement.

“I just told you.” She smirked. “Your seed, Hawk Lord. We're going to make a baby and that child will break the curse on my people. We will be beautiful again.” She leaned forward to growl, “We'll get our wings back and rule the sky!”

“Farungal and Fae cannot breed successfully,” Dal growled. “You will miscarry, or the child will die soon after its birth.”

“Once I've conceived, I will perform a spell that will ensure the child's survival.” She glanced at me and grinned. “And you've so thoughtfully supplied the human sacrifice I need to power it.”

Black magic. My blood went cold. This bitch wanted to kill me to make a freaky baby with Dalsharan. Fuck, no. Not happening.

“I will never harden for you,” Dalsharan said confidently.

“Oh, yes, you will,” she purred as she gestured to the men around him.

The Farungal soldiers grabbed Dal and started dragging him away. The monsters holding me yanked me to my feet and shoved me in the same direction. We were taken deep, down into the stronghold, to the subterranean level that I'd just come from. But we went past the treasure room and into a much larger space decorated in slaughter-chic. Actually, no. It was more like slaughter-shabby. This was the first room I'd seen that wasn't clean, and I really didn't want to know how the stones got stained.

They chained Dalsharan to a wall spread-eagle while I got tossed in a cage across from him like a dog.

Dal eyes went to mine as his voice whispered through my earpiece, “I'm so sorry.”

“Don't worry, Hawk Lord,” I whispered back. “I've got a plan. Just hang in there.”

Dal looked at me as if I were insane.

“Sorry, bad choice of words.”

He choked back a horrified laugh just as the female, Gremara, approached him. She looked him up and down, then trailed her fingers down his chest, retracting her claws as she did so that she cut only the topmost part of his chest. He didn't even flinch, just stared her down as the blood flowed. Dal's wounds healed almost instantly, his immortality kicking in. Even the holes in his shoulders had closed. You had to seriously injure a fae—especially a fae warlord—before his healing slowed down and made death possible.

Gremara picked up Dalsharan's limp dick and weighed it in her palm as if it were a cucumber she was thinking of buying. “Very nice. I've never seen your cock before, Dalsharan. It's as soft as velvet.” She pulled on it, and he winced. “Bring me the ointment,” she said to someone while keeping her black gaze on him.

Farungal have no irises. Or, rather, all they have is iris. Their eyes are black from rim to rim.

One of the males plucked a jar from an assortment of knives spread across a table and handed it to Gremara. She held up a finger and extended her claw. With a flick of that claw, the lid of the jar went flying and a sharp aroma filled the room. Dalsharan's eyes went wide.

“Recognize this?” She purred as she retracted her claw and scooped some thick ointment out of the jar.

“We destroyed all of your crops,” Dal hissed. “There are no flowers left to make the wild-rot.”

“You thought you destroyed our crops, but you didn't get all of them.” She licked her lips. “I have a hidden greenhouse full of creskas flowers, and I've made several jars of wild-rot to use on you. More than enough to last us until I conceive.”

Wild-rot? That sounded gross. I watched warily as Gremara spread the paste onto his cock, Dalsharan twisting to try to get away from her. His cock hardened as he gave a groaning cry, and his hips lurched forward as if seeking a hole to fuck.

“Perfect!” She handed the jar off to someone, then waved everyone out. “Go on, you perverts! I'll need some privacy to make love to my consort.”

The monsters chittered as they left and the heavy door shut behind them with a groan. I guess it was okay for me to watch. Either that, or she had forgotten that I was there. I wasn't about to remind her either. I needed to be near Dal for my plan to work. Okay, it wasn't exactly a plan so much as an idea. But I couldn't put it into action until the bitch left.

Except now, the bitch was getting naked.

Armor clattered to the ground and her clothing followed it. Despite all her monstrosity, Gremara was still humanoid and she rubbed that human-ish pussy over Dalsharan's cock. But as she angled her hips and grabbed his dick to work it inside her, Dal started whispering. The words came through my earpiece, but I didn't understand them. They sounded like Old Fae—a language even the Fae didn't speak anymore. He was casting a spell—something faeries rarely do. As I mentioned, spells are a different kind of magic and iron doesn't suppress them. It has something to do with the difference of calling on power outside of themselves as opposed to using what's inside.

Gremara cursed and lurched back. Dal's dick was limp again.

“You fool!” She screamed at him. “You could have just closed your eyes and enjoyed it. I would have fucked you for a few days and then let you go. But now, you're gonna rot.” She leaned closer and snarled in his face. “And I'm still going to fuck you! Your spell will wear off by morning and then I'll be back for you. You'll have pieces falling off your body, but your cock will be hard again because you won't have satisfied the wild-rot. You'll be begging me to fuck you even as you die!”

“No, I won't,” Dalsharan said as he met her stare. “I'll cast the spell again and again until you're left with nothing but a putrid corpse.”

Gremara hissed and struck Dal across the face. I flinched, but she had her claws retracted so all she left was a hand print instead of raking half his face off. I let out my breath softly as she stormed from the room and slammed the door shut behind her.

“What the fuck did she put on you?” I hissed under my breath as I reached for my boot.

“It's an evil potion,” Dal said, his voice strained, then he gasped.

“Dal?” I looked up to find him hanging limply. “Dalsharan?!” I hissed.

“I'm all right,” he murmured. “For now. In a few minutes, the rot will start. If you deny the potion its fuel, it starts to eat you.”

“What the fuck?!” I gaped at him.

“The magic in the potion feeds on the energy of sex. If denied, it will feed on the body it's applied to instead. I will start to decompose soon. You need to prepare yourself, Ravyn. It will be brutal and painful. I will likely scream. Don't watch. I don't want you to see me like that.”

“That's not going to happen. I won't let it.”

“There's no cure for this. None but sex.”

“Fine.” I sighed as if it were a great sacrifice. “I'll fuck you. Sheesh, you didn't have to go to such great lengths just to get me in bed.”

Dal chuckled but it was a grim sound. “To save me, you'd have to start very soon, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart. No, he didn't just fucking call me sweetheart when I was locked in a Farungal cage and his fucking dick was about to rot off! I pulled out my lock picking tools and started rapidly working the lock on my cage.

Dal's head lifted when he noticed what I was doing, and he made a huffing laugh. “Holy fuck, you do have a plan.”

“Stick with me, Hawk Lord, and I'll get us into and out of all the worst places.” I winked at him.

Dal chuckled again, then he groaned. As soon as the cage door swung open, I scrambled out and ran to Dalsharan. His head hung on his chest. I started to pick his shackles but as I worked, he lifted his head, and I caught a smudge of black in the corner of my eye. I glanced at him and flinched. Half his face was mottled as if bruised. As I watched, a lesion opened and pus leaked out.

“Fuck!” I hissed and worked faster.

I had him free in a few minutes. Dal took a single step and stumbled. With a deft dive, I caught him and swung his arm around my shoulders. He groaned and I heard a wet plop. I looked down and saw a blob of flesh on the floor.

“Shit,” I whispered.

“Keep going,” he groaned. “I'll be fine. Don't look at me, just get us out of here, Ravyn.”

“Yeah. Okay,” I said a little breathlessly.

We had to go slowly but luck was with us and most of the Farungal were absent from the corridors. At one point, we heard the cacophony of raucous voices and chitters echoing down a corridor.

“They're celebrating,” Dal whispered. “Just get me to the entry hall and open the door. I'll fly us out.”

“Are you sure you can?”

“I will fly us out,” he repeated firmly.

“Okay, okay.” I grabbed his waist and took more of his weight so I could speed our progress.

We made it to the entry hall in seconds, leaving a trail of Hawk Lord goo behind us. When I set him down and got a good look at him, I nearly vomited. One side of his waist was oozing pus and half his face was gone. But he shifted with a shimmer of magic, and then his enormous hawk body towered over me. I tried not to look at the rotted half of his head and its missing eye as I ran for the doors. The Farungal had removed the bar. With their prisoners locked up below, there was no need for it.

As soon as the doors were open, Dal stumbled out, his claws sliding on the steps. I ran after him. Farungal guards started to shout. They sprinted for us, but I latched onto Dalsharan's leg, and he jumped into the air. His wings pounded hard, taking us higher and over the walls even as bloody feathers rained down upon the monsters.