Time in the Tavern

“Alright, well this is an interesting start to my day.” Lexi said to herself as she hopped over a log and a stream to make her way down the hillside. Behind her, following close in tow, was Ceylon the gryphon, the beast that had brought her here against her will. “So what am I going to do about being a couple dozen kilometers away from the nearest group of people? You haven't made this easy for me.”

That morning at the break of dawn, she and her Feral Liberation Front team had come across a large gryphon drake tied to a tree on his back, cock hard and needy. Some blue and white wolf with green armor had left him there while she went into town, so it was the duty of Lexi, Em, Trisani, and Natasha to liberate this feral gryphon from his binds and go on with their lives. However, things did not go according to plan, and the gryphon drake's arousal had made him sexually aggressive towards not only Lexi the otter but also her three female companions, resulting in him breaking loose and carrying Lexi over the vast fields south of Uriel to the southern hills.

In a hot spring halfway up the mountainside, the gryphon took her, knotting them together for many hours until noon had passed, leaving Lexi sore and bow-legged in the wake of his mating ritual. As a result, she struggled to make her way down the mountain in an attempt to put some distance between the two of them, but Ceylon kept following her, never straying far.

She only knew his name because of some embroidery on his leathers, and she assumed the blue and white wolf was Ithilwen based on the other name she found on those same leathers. She didn't want to bother herself too much with that, since she had completed her task by releasing Ceylon into the wild where he belonged and now her only concern was returning to her allies or getting in contact with an FLF member to let them know what had taken place.

The problem with those plans, however, was that Ceylon was not parting ways with her no matter how much she waved her arms and tried to scare him off. Instead, he just cocked his head to the side and chirped at her before lightly placing his chin on her head. This frustrated her, but she found out that Ceylon must have been domesticated in some way because he had no interest in freedom.

Quite the contrary, he had a persistent and vested interest in Lexi, especially what lie between her legs. Any time he got close enough to her, he burrowed his beak under her tail for a sniff.

“Would you cut it out?” She said, batting him away as her tail pumped down to protect herself. “You already had me once today, how much more could you possibly want?” All her knowledge of gryphon behaviour and mating habits told her that once they'd tied, they were supposed to be satisfied at least for the day while they replenished their seed, but that wasn't the case with Ceylon. She came to the conclusion that Ithilwen must have trained him to mate with her multiple times a day.

While this struck her immediately as abusive of his trust, she couldn't help but think that maybe this gryphon was just like that. As far as feral beasts go, gryphons were at the top of the pile with dragon kind, ahead of wolves and dolphins and apes. It was entirely possible that this gryphon drake just had a distinct, sexually charged personality.

In that brisk moment as she theorized, she felt a moisture trickling out from between her nether lips. At first she thought it was just a result of her latent arousal, but when she looked down she saw that it was just another dollop of gryphon seed trickling out of her to soak her inner thigh. That was what Ceylon was trying to get at, cleaning up his mess like a gentleman drake. Good for him.

“Fine, go ahead.” She conceded, turning and peeling her short skirt up to reveal herself to him, legs partially spread. Though he had torn up her clothes and left her mostly nude on the trip to the hills, There was enough fabric to fashion a simple tight fitting tank top and short skirt from the scraps. It wasn't much, but it covered her enough to keep her modest, if only barely.

Ceylon leaned into her and started prodding at her lips with her tongue, lapping up the mess before it got to her thighs or soaked into her fur. The light texture on her sensitive loins made her knees buckle a bit, but she was able to keep standing, resisting the pleasures he offered her. Of course, most of her resilience came solely from the fact that she still harbored some resentment towards him. When he was done, he pulled out and perked his head up high, ears standing tall as he chirped at her, cool blue eyes staring directly into her soul, smiling at her without lips.

“Yeah, that's right. You clean up your mess.” She commanded of him as she let her skirt go back down. “Now would you please leave me be while I get back to finding out how I'm going to get back to my people? I don't suppose you'd fly me back, would you?” She looked up and down his body before sighing and turning to hop back over a log, still heading down the mountain. She knew he was going to keep following her, so she considered just giving up on trying to shoo him away as she found herself in a sloped, meadow-like clearing from which she could see the plains between where she stood and the tall walls of the Port City of Uriel.

The parting of the trees gave her a bit more perspective, allowing her to see everything before her. It was that moment that she realized that it would take her days to walk back to her crew unless everything went perfectly and she didn't experience a single delay. At best, she could make it to the small farm town of Affity, a village of a few thousand directly between her and her destination in the middle of the plains surrounded by crops and livestock.

She stared at the patchwork of the village in the plains before her, then turned to Ceylon, narrowing her gaze at the gryphon. “Well, you got me here, you can get me back.” She informed with authority as she stepped up to him, grabbing at his neck feathers to hop up on his back with her legs nestled under his wings. “I don't know how to make you move, but you better get to it one way or another. I'm only here because of you and you had better rectify that!” She kicked her heels into his side, gently urging him forward.

To her surprise, Ceylon lowered his head and flattened his ears to his skull, leaping forth to dive and dodge through the thick vegetation of the forest. He was quick, moving so swiftly that ferns and branches slapped her in the face every few seconds. To protect herself, she lowered her face to the back of his neck and held on, pressing her cheek to his plumage as she tried her best to not fall off.

Ceylon bounded his way down the foothills of the mountain, leaping over logs, weaving between tree trunks, and forcing his way through the underbrush for hours before bursting free of the treeline that served as the skirt around the mountain's foothills. Hours of stressful galloping passed as Ceylon ran and jumped over and around every obstacle, leaving Lexi sore and exhausted herself, despite the fact that she didn't do any of the work.

She was so tired from riding him that she felt like he'd been deliberately finding trees and logs to weave around and jump over just so he could make his path as erratic and long as possible. Lexi knew he likely lacked the cognitive ability for passive aggression, but the assault on her crotch, thighs, and tail made her think otherwise, as there was no other possible explanation as to why he would deliberately extend the trip that long.

After bursting into the plains of Farragouth on gryphon back, Lexi felt like she needed a bit of a break. Ceylon had covered nearly a quarter of the total distance to the city in a matter of hours, vastly cutting down on the total time it would take her to return. While this was good for her, it also left her feeling nauseous and weak, so she hopped off and walked in circles until she regained feeling in her legs and the nausea dissipated. Ceylon remained sitting in the grass next to her, watching.

“What?” She spat. “This is your fault.” She then stretched and took in a deep breath, knowing full well that she would have to keep going if she wanted to at least make it to Affity before sundown.

Ceylon simply shook his head, lowering one ear as if he understood her, beak agape in a smile.

This perplexed Lexi, but she chose not to focus on it and instead hop back up on his shoulders once she felt properly rejuvenated. Luckily for her, the open plains weren't as rigorous a workout for her as they lacked any trees to weave around or fallen logs to jump over. He did seem to find every rock, boulder, and stream he could to jump over and off, though.

Another hour or so of steady trotting brought them to the edge of Affity, as they had finally found a dirt path that led through the surrounding farms and took them directly into the center of town.

Affity itself was very rustic, and while it may not have been a large town, the surrounding rural area made it seem significant as it was home to hundreds of farms spread out in every direction housing nearly two thousand people in total. The many types of produce and livestock that were harvested and butchered ensured that the town's marketplace – divided equally along two trade routes that met in the middle – was always thriving and active. There, travellers or locals could grab a bite to eat, shop for groceries, sleep at an inn, or go drinking.

The entire city center, as best as it could be called that, was on one of these two roads; every business and every merchant shop could be found there, with the buildings closest to the intersection itself being the most busy at any given time. This was where Lexi needed to be if she was going to get something to eat.

Her problem was that she lacked any coin, and that made buying food or drink quite hard.

It was times like this that she was thankful to be an attractive female in a world full of stallions and drakes who couldn't get enough of that in their lives. Had she not been as hungry as she was she never would have considered such a thing, but she hadn't eaten all day and had been subjected to some pretty physical activities in the form of an intense gryphon tie followed by a rough gryphon ride.

She needed food and that was the only way she was going to get it. Given that predicament, she hopped off Ceylon's back and grabbed him by the chest plumage, ensuring he didn't stray far as she walked down the northbound street amongst hundreds of other shoppers, both local and from out of town. Given the number of people she had to contend with, she did not want someone else to take Ceylon from her, or for the gryphon to panic. Luckily for her, he was quite obedient and well behaved.

The two roads that made the city's sole intersection were both incredibly wide, with enough room between the rows of buildings to allow a dozen carriages to travel through side by side. Some of that space was filled by merchant stands and vendors, all calling out to sell their wares and goods while potential shoppers trotted on by.

Lexi kept a keen eye on the buildings behind the vendors, looking to find one that would have some men of ill repute that would drop a few coins for a few minutes of her time; a tavern or pub would do best as drunk men were the easiest from which to coax money. Finding such a location took only minutes, but her eye was drawn by the image of a blue and white canine with bright green clothes, a quiver on her back and a bow over her shoulder. She was staring directly at Lexi and Ceylon, eyes narrowed as she aggressively walked towards them.

Ceylon noticed his master Ithilwen and immediately hopped in excitement, breaking away from Lexi to barrel his way through the crowd towards her, preening and nuzzling at her as she put a lead rope around his neck, never taking her eyes off Lexi.

This spelled doom for the otter, as she had been watching Ithilwen long enough to know that the canine was an adept geomancer and could do some real damage to Lexi if she wanted to. She also knew that she wasn't the kind to release spells in a crowded marketplace, so she opted for the path of least resistance by lowering her head and disappearing into the crowd. She was short to begin with, so hiding wasn't a challenge as she slipped in between two buildings to emerge behind the tavern that she was eyeing, wedging herself in between two barrels the color of her fur to camouflage herself. Near her and behind the building, a hitching post housed a half dozen horses and a dragon, each patiently waiting for their riders while munching on some hay and what looked to be insect chow for the dragon.

All she had to do was wait it out, stay there long enough for Ithilwen to lose track of her, then she could go about her day earning some food and lodging before continuing on her quest to get back to the Feral Liberation Front and continue her work. She knew it wouldn't be that easy, but she still held some hope in her heart that all would go well for her, at least until she saw Ithilwen step around the other side of the building with Ceylon next to her, eyes narrowed while walking to the hitching post.

She didn't seem to see Lexi, so the otter crouched down to hide behind the barrel, hoping that nothing came of this. 'Just go away', she thought to herself, referring to Ithilwen, 'Just go away'.

“I can feel you, miss otter.” Ithilwen called out, having finally hooked Ceylon up to the post. “You can come out, I'm not going to cast a spell on you.”

A brief, adrenaline filled moment passed where Lexi considered bolting, but she instead composed herself and took in a deep breath as she stood behind the barrel, head and shoulders barely taller than it. “What do you want?” She asked, voice low and monotone, not wanting to give away the fear that she held within her.

Ithilwen put the finishing touches on Ceylon's lead rope, letting it hang loosely around the gryphon's neck as she tightened it to the post. She barely looked up from her work as she ensured it wasn't going to release on her. “Just you. We need to have a talk about my boy here, and I'm sure you don't want there to be any trouble, do you? Come with me, please.” She waved at Lexi to coax her forward, inviting her closer.

While reluctant, Lexi figured there was no point in running away at this point, so she lowered her head and slipped out from between the barrels and followed Ithilwen in through the back door of the tavern, passing by the kitchen and getting a blast of savory smells to her snout before eventually coming to sit in one of the private booths. Rowdy men were drinking and singing in the surprisingly well-lit establishment as her belly rumbled, reminding her of her hunger on top of her fears for what Ithilwen had to say. This was rather depressing to Lexi as she felt she could have been using her wiles to entice one of the men into buying her a meal or giving coin; the pleasant scents from the kitchen weren't doing much to tamper her hunger or the grumpiness that came from it.

“Sit, darling, and stop giving me that look, you're the one who stole my Ceylon from me and rode him half way across the region.” She slid into the booth and motioned for Lexi to do the same on the opposite side. “Let's get your belly full of food before we decide what's next for you.”

Food was good. Food was the magic word that got Lexi to slip into the booth opposite Ithilwen. Food was going to be what gave her the energy to get out of this establishment and hopefully leave Ithilwen behind her never to be seen again. Once she was comfortable, she interlocked her fingers on the table and faked a smile. “What kind of food are you giving me? Is this a last meal sort of deal?”

Ithilwen snorted and slowly shook her head, unable to resist laughing out loud at Lexi's comment. “Wow, you really don't think highly of me, do you? No, I'm not executing you, lass.”

“Well, you did imprison and break a majestic creature for your own benefit, so I'm not exactly far off accusing you of being a terrible person, I don't think.” Lexi countered.

“That's what you think happened? No, no, nooooooo. Ceylon chose me, years ago. I know about your little animal rights group, and in many ways I agree with your mentality, but I'm not abusing Ceylon. I couldn't abuse him if I wanted to.”

Lexi scoffed. “Then why did you have him tied to a tree like that? Why was he bound in leathers and marooned outside of a city known for their treatment of ferals? Why would you do something like that knowing that it could be deadly?”

Ithilwen half smiled, slowly shaking her head. “Darling, darling, there's a per-” She stopped to let the waitress come over and offer menus, still smiling as she leaned back in the booth.

The waitress – a thin, purple-skinned nolse – seemed chipper as she introduced herself and gave the specials. “Hi, I'm Cammie, I'll be your server this afternoon! Today's special is rancher's pie, stewed ulokar meat miced with corn, peas, spices, gravies, and a touch of hot sauce smothered in garlic potatoes and baked in a rock-wood oven. It's like shepherd's pie or cottage pie, but with ulokar and a few other scrumptious additions on top. Seriously, I recommend it, yeah. So what can I get you to drink? We can start with that.”

“I'll take a water.” Lexi said, gulping heavily as she was incredibly thirsty.

“Your finest mead.” Ithilwen added. “And I don't know about her, but I want some of that pie.”

Lexi concurred. “Yeah, that does sound good. I don't even want to look at the menu after how good you made that sound. Tell me, how big is the bowl?” She widened her hands to different sizes, trying to figure it out. “Because I'm very hungry.”

“It's pretty big, yeah! You two gals could probably split it even if you're heavy eaters. We get a lot of larger carnivores coming through, so it's designed to feed a dragon.” Cammie explained.

Ithilwen nodded with a grin. “Good, we'll take two, we've both had quite the day.”

Cammie smiled and took both of their menus, happily heading back to leave a ticket for the cook,which gave the two gals some time alone to talk again masked by the sounds of the rowdy males.

“My name is Lexi, you know. You can stop calling me dearie or miss or whatever.”

“Pleasure to meet you, my name is Ithilwen.” They reached across the table to shake paws. “Now that we've got that out of the way, we can continue. Like I said, there's a perfectly good reason for all that if you'll hear me out.”

Lexi leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. “I'm listening.” she said, belly gurgling.

“So, I'm sure you know, people there aren't exactly what I'd call feral friendly. That's why your little group exists, because the people of Uriel are not known for their kindness to ferals of any sort. I had a lead that took me to the underground, but I knew that if I took Ceylon in he'd be mauled and harassed very badly. Thing is, I'm not worried about the gryphon as much as I am those who dare to-”

“I thought you said you cared about animals.” Lexi interrupted, then stopped herself from a followup question since she realized that her hunger blended with the aromatic smells coming from the kitchen were making her ornery.

Ithilwen could tell that Lexi wasn't trying to be grumpy, so she waited for her turn to speak again. “I do, I truly do. Like I said, though, Ceylon is never in danger, as he possesses vast amounts of magic for self defense. Once, when we got ambushed looking for the Eye of the Cat, a gem that could let me see into the mind of another, Ceylon saved me by using his magic to topple a cliff on top of us all, enemies and allies alike, while keeping the rock a full meter off my head with physical magic. He's been known to transform, is occasionally female, sometimes biped, sometimes wingless, always him.”

Lexi seemed taken aback. “Wait, Transformation magic?”

“Yeah, hardest magic to learn, Ceylon has it intrinsically. Doesn't even seem to have control over it. I've seen him summon storms, conjure snow in the summer, and do all sorts of magic that even the grandest mages can't master, and it all seems to be instinctual, he doesn't appear to have any of it under his control. As best I can tell, his magic ability is brought out by danger and fear, in self defense. That's why I said he's not in danger, that's why he's not in need of your protection. If he didn't trust me, if he didn't respect me, and if he felt I was in danger, he could raze that entire forest to the ground.”

After letting some of this soak in, Lexi was starting to grow curious about Ceylon, and was piecing together bits of history, mythology, and lore together. Before she could speak, Cammie came over with two wooden platters each with a massive bowl of steaming rancher's pie on it.

“There ya go, m'ladies! I'll be right back with your drinks. Happened to have some food ready for you already so I brought that first, since you seemed so hungry.” She then chirped and bounced away back to the kitchen to get the mead and water.

In her absence, Ithilwen continued. “So I'm sure you see where I'm going with this, right? Ceylon is not some dumb animal, I don't think. He's not some beast in need of rescue, he's something more than that. Ever wonder why I called him Ceylon?”

“After the Godfather of transformation?” Lexi posited.

“Exactly. I think Ceylon might be the offspring of the godfather of transformation himself, if that figure is even real. Same body type, same shape, same colorations, same skills, but feral. It's a long stretch, but when I tried to use the Eye of the Cat on him, well...let's say there's a lot more in his mind than it seems at first glance.” She grabbed her fork and stabbed through the ranchers pie to get a bite. “Did you not notice how, despite not speaking or communicating, he seemed to be a bit more tuned to the things you say, responding to your suggestions with surprising accuracy? It's uncanny, right?”

Cammie came back with their drinks, offered a curtsy, then went on to go serve another table.

“It's a wild theory, to be sure, but it makes a lot of sense, or would if I believed the stories of the Cradle of Dalon and all that mumbo jumbo.” Lexi admitted. “I mean, those tales are interesting, but there's no way they're real.”

“You're probably right.” Ithilwen said as she blew on another bite of meat and potatoes. “But you have to admit it's all a little too coincidental to completely dismiss. Maybe he's not the bestial offspring of a god, maybe he's nothing special and he's just a smart, magically advanced feral gryphon who happens to look and act exactly like a legendary figure. Even if he's nothing, he's still something special to me and that's why I can't let you take him from me.”

Lexi was happily munching on bite after bite, savoring the flavors before swallowing. “It looks like I have no choice in the matter, anyway. He's chosen you; I've freed him and I witnessed him happily return to you, so I can't really argue anymore. He's yours, it seems.”

Ithilwen nodded. “Which is exactly why I have absolutely no interest in punishing you for what you did here today. Given the circumstances, anyone would have thought the same thing and I admire you for your actions. However, you now know that Ceylon isn't just some dumb beast and he's not in need of rescuing. I'm also sure you realize that he's taken quite a liking to you, so I'd be honored if you joined me on my adventures with him.”

“Wh-what? Naw, he doesn't like me.” Lexi countered with a blush. “He just, you know, flew me across the Farragouth Plains for no reason.”

“Lexi, I don't know how good your sense of smell is compared to mine, but I can very clearly identify the distinct aroma of his essence wafting up from you. He's had his way with you, and he's still with you after you parted ways. He likes you. A lot.”

The otter could only lower her gaze, blushing as she swallowed another bite of her ranchers pie.

“So what say you, give up your life of crime and come adventuring with me? You seem physically and mentally capable of keeping up, Ceylon likes you so you will never have to worry about getting hurt or caught, and your tiny little body will be perfect for getting into tight spaces that I cannot. Plus, underwater is one realm I can't explore and there's a lot of treasure buried in underwater caves.” Ithilwen grinned and nodded before taking another bite.

Lexi was still quite hungry, but couldn't bring herself to take another bite of her meal. Instead, she stabbed her fork in the potatoes, mixing it with the beef and vegetables as she paused to think. “I really don't know if I can just up and leave my life. I have friends here.”

“I'm sure you do, but most people kind of suck and it sounds to me like these people like putting you in danger for their benefit, and for their misguided logic regarding ferals.” She took another bite, then sipped her mead to wash it down. “And who says you can't come back? You have a lot more to gain by becoming a treasure hunter, and no risk of being thrown in jail since the treasures I seek are not under any local jurisdiction, as far as I know. If you keep doing what you're doing, you will eventually lose a hand or be thrown in a dungeon somewhere.”

“I've got a lot to think about before I make any decisions, for now I just wanna eat, okay?” She took a big bite and leaned back, sipping on her water to wash it down. “I like what you're saying, and it does sound like a lot of fun, but I'm not the kind to just get up and leave my life behind. I'm not the most impulsive person, I like to think things through and make a decision based on logic, you know?”

“I can respect that. You do what's best for you, but hear me out on this one. If you decide to stay with your current group, it's only a matter of time before you get caught or piss off the wrong group, and you will not have anyone to cover your tail. With me, you've got worlds of riches ahead of you, and you get to spend your days with Ceylon.” She leaned in close, smiling with a broad grin. “You know what, forget every other reason, you get to spend time with Ceylon. Whether you're riding him, he's riding you, you're flying with him, or he's protecting you from any danger that might befall upon you, he will always be there. No matter what happens, that's quite the adventure in itself.”

Lexi waffled a bit, half shrugging and half nodding as she considered that possibility. Ithilwen was in fact correct, and the thought of spending more time with Ceylon was appealing enough to make her reconsider so much of the life she had ahead of her. While she had a job and a career in Uriel as the apprentice to a blacksmith, she worried there wasn't much of a future for her there, as she had already evolved well beyond what her master could teach her.

Outside of work and her duties with the Feral Liberation Front, Lexi spent much of her time trying to figure out how to master flight without wings, or how to better smelt and form metals for blacksmithing. Her research and findings had given her plenty of ways to better make swords and armor, but her master refused to do anything other than what he had gotten used to, which meant that she had found herself stuck in a dead-end job.

The more she thought about it, the more she came to accept that perhaps it was in her best interest to take that next step in life. She liked her existence as it was, but she didn't love it. She had skills and experience in many different categories, but felt like she wasn't making any progress, like she was stuck running in place while others pulled away. The eureka moment came when she realized that she needed the help of an outside force to push her in the right direction, since that's how physics worked and she had long since accepted that she wasn't going to be the one to divert her own path.

Logic dictated that she had a clearly superior option before her. If she stayed in Uriel, working for a blacksmith that didn't appreciate her intelligence or suggestions while moonlighting as an animal rights activist, then she was either going to stay in place or end up in trouble. It was comfortable, she was good at it and she had all but mastered her craft, but she knew she was better than that. Lexi had so much more to offer than what she was giving in her current life.

Clearly, the better option was to shuffle things up a bit. To try something new. With Ithilwen, she could travel the world, explore new options, maybe even learn some magic. With Ithilwen, she could spend days and nights with a majestic gryphon and hunt for treasure. With Ithilwen, she could expand her horizons and show the world what she really had to offer. If she changed her mind later, she could always come back to her boring life in Uriel; on the other paw, if she said no then she would never be granted an opportunity like this again.

The answer was obvious, accented even more by the fact that she was wearing a skimpy tank top and short skirt, so it wasn't like she appeared all too dignified.

“I'll do it!” She said, after spending her entire meal slowly contemplating while munching on her rancher's pie. “You're right, I've got absolutely nothing keeping me here other than a dead-end job and some friends that would probably cheer for me. I'd love to be your adventure partner!”

Ithilwen nodded, smiling as she raised her hand for another round of drinks. “I'm glad to hear it. Keep in mind, I'm really not that amicable to most people, so I don't offer companionship to many. Like I said, you seem to have some skill, I can see your brightness through your eyes, and Ceylon likes you. Here, take this and put it on. You look like a whore.” She grabbed a light green tunic and some leathers to toss them across the table.

Lexi held them up and imagined herself in them, realizing that while the green wasn't her color, it wasn't terrible either. “Restroom?” She asked, pointing to the back.

“Sure. Restroom, here under the table, I don't care. I just don't feel the need to be walking around town with a smokin' hot otter girl. People might think you're a kid or something, and that's really not my thing.” Ithilwen said with a dismissive wave.

“Ugh, mine either. I'll be right back.” Lexi was quick as she darted out to go to the restroom, ignoring all the stares and whistles she got on the way there. Much of her energy had been replenished as she had eaten a good quarter of the pie already, so she was able to toss her skirt and tank top aside to quickly slip into the new jungle green tunic. Though she lacked a mirror to get a glimpse of herself, she could tell it looked quite nice on her. Despite this, she still found that she got far fewer looks upon returning to her table with Ithilwen. “Can I get something fruity, mango and vodka or something? I feel like celebrating.”

Ithilwen snorted a bit. “Well, I wouldn't get to celebrating just yet, you haven't earned anything and it's a hard, potentially dangerous life. You have got a lot of work ahead of you if you want to reap the benefits of a treasure hunter. You'll be a vagrant, a wanderer, technically homeless. If you have anything important back at home, it won't be there if and when you return.”

Though those words did put a damper on Lexi's spirits, the thought of leaving everything behind was liberating to her. That was what she wanted, what she needed. Her possessions were holding her back and she knew it. “That's fine. I'd like to go back home, get some of my stuff, then we can leave. Sound good?”

“Seems fair, yeah. Lets get your belly full as best you can, then we can see about heading back north together, so you can say goodbye to your friends, quit your job, and settle any issues you have before you leave.” Ithilwen bowed again, then downed her mead and finished up what she could of the rancher's pie, leaving half of it to enjoy on the road. Lexi finished about one third of hers before she had to give up, requesting the food be put in bags to leave.

As Cammie came over with wooden food containers, she informed the two ladies that they needed to pay extra for the take-home, and Ithilwen agreed to the price before slamming down a few silver coins. The food and take out containers got paid in full, so the two headed out back to get Ceylon, only to find that the gryphon had disappeared and was no longer tied down, leaving a few mares and a stallion where she once was.

Lexi gulped a bit, glancing side to side in an attempt to find him, to see if he slipped off to the side to drink from a nearby trough. “Um, Ithilwen, Ceylon appears to be gone.”

Ithilwen rolled her eyes and reached over to under the tail of one of the mares, where she saw the slimy gryphon cum dribbling out from between the horse's thick vulva. She gave it a sniff to make sure it was his before she reached into her satchel. “Not a problem, Lex.” She pulled out a tiny humming gem that appeared to be grown right into a gnarled root, a series of smaller gems hewn into the bark. “As long as I've got this I'll always be able to figure out where that rapscallion went.”

“Really? How in the world does that work?” Lexi asked, stepping up close to get a better look.

“Well, that's the glory of going on adventures and hunting for treasures! This was one of the many relics I picked up in my travels, found it in the mountains beneath the Cradle of Dalon.” The relic was really simple, with a glowing teal gem in the middle, perfectly smooth and round but surrounded by a twisting, palm-sized piece of wood with what looked to be like an arrow on one end with tiny gems lining the outside. Ithilwen turned, and the gem in the middle intensified. “As you can see, this part of the relic glows depending on what direction I turn, and in this case, it will be brightest when I am aiming at Ceylon.”

Lexi remained skeptical, but her knowledge of magic and chemistry allowed her to understand just how little she knew about the worlds of potential in an ancient relic. “So how does it know to point towards Ceylon? And is that how you found me so quickly?”

“Yes, this is exactly how I was able to find you, and this is only half of the artifact. There's another gem that's supposed to go on the end of the pointer, about the size of a thumb pad. I have put it inside Ceylon in a place that it will not come out.”

“Oh. Well, okay I suppose.” Lexi conceded, only to think about that for a second before she followed that statement up with more questions. “Wait, one second. Assuming this actually works, where could you put it on Ceylon that he wouldn't claw it out or pass it through?” She could only think of places like in the ear or down his belly or up his rump. The only place she thought that might hold the gem other than that was up his sheath somewhere, but then she realized that he'd have clawed it out.

Ithilwen had a simple response. “His womb.”

“Womb? Ceylon is clearly male; I saw no female genitals on him.” Lexi countered.

“I told you already, Ceylon does a lot of gender transformation. A few months back, he was the size of a house cat, female and in heat as she sat on my shoulder, displaying herself for any male who came close enough. That's just how she is. Catch her in a mood and you could probably go shoulder deep in her, so I did. That's when I put the gem in her womb. The tracking relic has worked to find her ever since, even once she transformed back into male.”

Lexi was impressed, and she was ready to get on board with whatever Ithilwen said. “Alright, then. I have only one question left, then. If you're so sure Ceylon loves you and wants to be with you and has chosen you, why have you got a tracking relic on him? Hard for him to chose you when you have a device like that for never letting him stray.”

“You know, under most circumstances I would say you are right to ask but this is mostly just for my own peace of mind. Right now, I'm sure you want to get back to Uriel as soon as you can and it would be best to not waste any time now that your belly is full and you have your next steps planned. I could climb up to the tallest building and lay on the roof, and when I woke tomorrow Ceylon would be next to me, this I know, but having the gem allows me to-”

Ithilwen was cut off by the sound of a few bottles crashing and the sensation of a deep, rumbling thud beneath her. Both her and Lexi looked around to find the source, when they saw next to a pile of felled barrels an open gate to a wine cellar. When Ithilwen pointed the tracking relic gem at the cellar door, it started glowing and humming as aggressively as Lexi had ever seen.

“Well, that answers two of our questions.” She said, then quickly hopped through the open door with Lexi in tow. The two of them gently closed the door behind them as they emerged into a rather small room to see Ceylon licking at a puddle of spilled wine in the opposite corner. The gryph turned and chirped at them before returning to the puddle of wine.

Behind them, a small port window was looking out over the nearby street, evening sunglow streaming in to illuminate the wine cellar. Lexi stayed half way up the stairs as she looked over at Ceylon. “Is this a common issue with him?” She asked as she got a glance at the silhouette of his partially erect cock dangling out of his sheath. She cocked her head to the side to get a better look.

“No, it's really not. Ceylon generally doesn't like any sort of alcohol as far as I've experienced, so this is actually something new for me.” Ithilwen stepped up to the gryphon and patted him on the shoulder, getting in close to give him a hug. “Everything okay?”

Ceylon slurped up some more of the wine before twisting his neck and giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek, slathering bits of red all over her white fur, making her look like she was blushing. His tail swayed, knocking other bottles of wine over but not breaking them.

Ithilwen leaned into his kiss, sniffing the air. “Wait, this isn't wine, it's just a particularly rich juice. There's no alcohol in this.” She commented before kneeling next to the quickly disappearing puddle to collect some on her fingertips and taste it. While she was down there, Ceylon kept licking, cleaning up as much of it as he could before it disappeared between the cracks in the board. “Well would you look at that, Ceylon loves juice. I thought he was only into water.”

“That's it? Just juice?” Lexi asked, still glancing up under Ceylon's hind legs to see his cock.

Upon looking over and tracing Lexi's gaze, Ithilwen saw that Ceylon was quite excited still, something she attributed to the fact that he'd just pumped multiple mares and one stallion with his seed before breaking loose and coming to the wine cellar. “Well, it is just juice, but I don't think there would be any harm in sticking around for a bit, do you?”

Lexi's eyes narrowed a bit before she glanced back up the stairs to the doors. Though she wasn't sure she liked where Ithilwen was going with this line of thought, she couldn't help but feel that familiar moisture between her legs as she remembered the pleasant times she'd had with Ceylon high in the mountains at the hot spring. The only thing stopping her from wanting to let that majestic beast ravage her again was the risk of some employee coming out for wine. “I mean, are you sure now is the best time to be doing something like that?”

“Something like what?” Ithilwen goaded as she stood up, slipping her hand under Ceylon's belly as he kept drinking. “You know, if you want to be an adventurer, that title needs to apply to all situations, not just times and places when you're hunting for treasure.” She got down to one knee and cradled Ceylon's length in her palm, fingers teasing the underside of his shaft. “Besides, not all treasure is gold and gems; sometimes you gotta go looking for pearls, if you know what I mean.”

Lexi watched as Ithilwen leaned over and wrapped her lips around Ceylon's cock tip, tongue protruding out to lap at the fluids that he'd been secreting. Lexi's loins twisted and tingled as this happened, her mind and body at odds with one another as she worried about getting caught. She wasn't wearing any panties under her green tunic, however, so she did feel a gentle trickle of her arousal running down her inner leg, a subtle sensation that urged her to look around until she found a way to lock the cellar door from inside. Luckily for her, the cellar was useful in a tornado and there was a metal bar and bracers to ensure that the door couldn't be opened from outside.

Perfect.

She quickly slammed the door closed and locked it before hopping down to the bottom of the stairs, eyes trained on Ceylon and Ithilwen before her. Her instinct was to join in, but instead she found her knees weakened just enough to keep her from doing so. While she remained at the foot of the stairs, she wrapped her arm around the beam and slipped her other hand up under her tunic, lightly prodding at her own loins, paws parting her lips and slipping inside herself as she watched.

Ithilwen could see this as well, so she chuckled and gave another gentle lick to Ceylon's cock before glancing over. “What? You can't be too shy to come over and join me, can you?” She held her place as Ceylon bucked, nearly knocking her over entirely only to have her grab at his knot with both hands and stay up.

Lexi simply shook her head, one leg up on a step while she slipped her fingers inside herself. Her paw pads felt nice against her flesh, but she knew it wasn't as fun or as interesting as it would be to have his barbed cock tip plunging back into her. She was still just the slightest bit sore from before, but that only made her even more sensitive, so much so that the slightest touch at her clit made her tail twitch in place and her spine shudder.

“Fine, more for me.” Ithilwen joked, leaning back into Ceylon while yanking on his knot and slipping her lips over his shaft to swallow half his length in one gulp. She bobbed her head a few times before pulling away, leaving a gooey strand of fluid from her tongue to his tip. “I'm not sure if this helps, but he smells a bit like mare in heat as well as his own drakely musk.” She sniffed at him a bit, taking in his scent. “And best of all, I catch the faintest whiff of you in here, too!”

Though she was trying to hold back as best she could, Lexi couldn't help herself but to pull her hand out from under her tunic to stomp her way across the room to slide up under Ceylon with Ithilwen. The gryphon glanced back at them, but otherwise kept his neck outstretched and his back dipped to peel his sheath back as far as it could go. His member was fully exposed, and as Ithilwen had said, had the faintest scent of estrus mare on it. This was not a turn on for her, but the overwhelming musk of Ceylon himself was enough to make her forget that. “I can already tell you're going to be the death of me one day.” She accused before grabbing Ceylon's cock to get a suckle of her own at the tip.

Ithilwen leaned in and nuzzled at Lexi's neck and chest, lightly licking and nibbling as the otter had her turn with Ceylon. She leaned up to whisper in Lexi's ears, “Not as long as you're with Ceylon; I guarantee you're safe with him, as he's my lucky charm.” Her hand slipped up to lightly caress and tickle at the gryphon's balls as she said 'lucky charm' before she slid out from under him through his hind legs. “And I don't know if you're into it, but Ceylon here loves his rump played with.”

“Mmm?” Lexi hummed as she perked her ears up. She couldn't say much, as she found her lips were easily catching on the many barbs of Ceylon's cock tip. The idea of feeling his member bulging out her throat made her drip with arousal, but she knew better than to go too deep without proper preparation, so she instead began massaging his member with both of her palms and all of her fingers. The slime his length had secreted gummed up her fur and skin both, forming webs of drake lubricant that glistened in the evening light, looking pretty enough to lick up.

The wolfess dismissively pushed Ceylon's tail to the side with the back of her hand as she stood tall behind him, exposing his ebony fleshed rump. “You probably don't want him in your maw when I do this, lass. The barbs will expand and he bucks.” Having felt she gave enough warning, Ithilwen started gently rubbing at the gryph's puffy pucker, smearing his own lubricant over the flesh to give it a glisten before she leaned in to steak a kiss from it.

As expected, Ceylon bucked gently and his barbs flared out, nearly catching on Lexi's tongue before she spat it out and fell on her rump. Her knees were up and her legs spread as Ceylon's cock started to drool precum all over; her position on her back was perfect to let it pool in her belly, but with a fold of the bottom of her tunic, she was able to expose herself and feel the warmth of his essence coating her nethers, soaking into the fur around her vulva and up her inner thighs.

“I told you not to be in that position when he bucked, but but I guess you might have a more adventurous spirit than I initially thought!” Ithilwen teased before rubbing back into him, her fingers slipping into the dark abyss of Ceylon's tail hole as she pried and massaged him from within, tugging at his flesh while her other hand tickled his furred balls. After loosening him up a bit, she slipped her whole hand into him, using all five of her fingers to push down against the floor of his rump; she didn't want to get too intimate with that part of him, so she gave him a few button presses before pulling out.

Ceylon's tail lifted high and his rump gaped open for a split second before closing back up, his cock fully erect and spewing slimy trails of his precum in webs all over Lexi's pussy and lower belly. His entire body shuddered in delight as he arched his back, barbs splaying wide enough to catch Lexi's attention while his tail whipped around.

The otter grabbed at his cock tip, wrapping her fingers around him to squeeze all the barbs tight to his shaft while she opened her maw to catch as much of the spewing precum as she could. The barbs of his member caught on her palm flesh, stabbing her gently with every buck but not enough to make her uncomfortable. She watched Ithilwen walk by to Ceylon's front end, which told her that the brief anal play was over; good, Lexi wasn't as into that as she was tasting him or feeling him inside her.

“Having fun, darling?” Ithilwen crooned as she stepped by. “Because this is sort of your life, now. Gotta make sure Ceylon is taken care of at least once a day, sometimes twice.” She remained perky and chipper as she hopped up onto a barrel, spreading her legs as she lifted up her outfit, exposing herself to the gryphon, who immediately dove forward and buried his beak between her legs.

This knocked Lexi over onto her back again, with his cock spewing gobs of his precum and lubricant all over her belly. While she laid there, looking up at the pulsing length of gryphon cock above her while biting her lip, she noticed that her own loins were throbbing in unison with Ceylon and that there was only one way to deal with that. She quickly hopped onto her paws and spun around, flipping the bottom of her tunic up over her tail to expose herself to him while wrapping both arms around his front leg for balance.

All at once, Ceylon stepped forth with his hind legs and arched his back, cock tensing up to aim itself directly under Lexi's tail as he started to give Ithilwen a tongue lashing. He bucked once, length of his shaft plunging into Lexi with ease, forcing her down to her knees in the process. As expected, his barbs splayed out to tickle her inside, tugging gently at her flesh as he grinded and bucked again.

Ithilwen threw her head back, giggling and whimpering as Ceylon's tongue probed at her depths and slapped at her clit. “Mhh, yeah-aahh! Ghh, hmmmmmm...” Her many vocalizations trailed off as she found herself gyrating her hips and twitching every time she felt the crest of Ceylon's beak rub against her clit. Eager for more, she grabbed at each of his ears, keeping him in place as she kept grinding down on him, staring into those vibrant, sky blue eyes.

The gryphon offered another powerful buck of his hips, burying himself to the knot in Lexi's sex, his cock tip pushing through her cervix with ease. She was a little distressed by that, as she knew she wasn't supposed to be loose there, but then she dismissed it by claiming it was a residual of what he had done to her earlier that day. Her mind was swirling with dozens of thoughts, most of them focused entirely on how she was going to get Ceylon to knot her again, followed immediately by concerns about having someone show up.

Of course, she wouldn't have minded having someone come and watch, especially knowing that Ithilwen and Ceylon would protect her if the situation would arise. That thought was what made her realize that, while knotting felt good, it wasn't what she wanted today; if she got tied with Ceylon again, that was another few hours together in the middle of town. Not something she was prepared to deal with. Instead, she grabbed him by the base of the knot and held him there, gently rocking back and forth as she felt his ridges and barbs tickling and massaging her from within.

“That's a good boy.” Ithilwen crooned, smiling down at Ceylon as Lexi continued to grind and bounce back against him. She, on the other paw, had no concerns about getting caught. In her experiences with Ceylon she knew that she was never in danger so she never had to worry about being ostracized or punished for her persistently lewd behaviour. Years of travelling with him assured her that it didn't matter what she did, she had a one way flight away from wherever she was at any given time.

Her motto was that, when you have a lucky charm like Ceylon, you rub it every day to keep it happy. If constantly lifting her tail to him was the cost for godly luck, then she would happily offer herself to him. A clever and wily excuse, considering she'd let the gryphon take her any time even if he wasn't also in possession of such power.

She grinned and wolf-purred at Ceylon as she widened her stance further, parting her lips in the process to better give her mount access. He took the hint and leaned in closer, nuzzling deep and nearly pushing Ithilwen off the barrel before he placed a talon on her thigh to hold her there as his tongue probed deeper and deeper, its length like a tendril or tentacle as it slipped in as far as it could go.

Lexi got a glimpse up in between her gentle rocking motions, smiling at Ithilwen as she slowly allowed that dumb, pre-orgasm face to become her expression. Lax eyes, a gape-grinned smile, and twitching whiskers betrayed her stoic facade as Ceylon took over, rhythmically pumping into her with perfect consistency, his member sliding in and out without having her need to move on her own. She clenched, squeezing him tight as she felt him pump, teasing at her cervix and tickling her flesh with his barbs. His hips bucked and thrust, she pushed back, and the friction between his girth and her depths quickly turned to the deep sort of pleasure that rendered her unable to speak.

Again and again, he offered her one full-length thrust at another, knot slapping at her pussy lips and tip stabbing at her depths as her walls quivered and contracted, each of her motions accented by a gentle and low-key squeak of her pleasure. Lexi's toes curled and she held his front leg tight to her shoulder in orgasmic bliss until a sound came from above them, a wooden rattling and knocking as someone tried to open up the cellar door.

Both Ithilwen and Lexi froze in place, while Ceylon kept forcefully pumping into Lexi.

“Hey, who's down there? Cammie, you better not be using the bottles to masturbate again!” A female voice called down. “And if you are, at least label the bottle so I don't sell it!”

Lexi struggled to pull herself off Ceylon's cock, wincing a bit as she felt his barbs snag on her vulva on the way out, leaving her gaping and leaking fluids of all sorts but not the seed she wanted. “What do we do?” She asked Ithilwen in a hushed whisper.

Ithilwen shrugged and nuzzled at Ceylon's soaked beak, smiling. “Nothing, just cover yourself up and we'll have to be on our way.” She looked directly into Ceylon's eyes, licking him on the forehead as she spoke, “Time to go now, Cey. Put it away.”

Then, like he understood, Ceylon bowed as his sheath extended to swallow up his knot and the rest of his length in one gulp, leaving only the leaking, barbed tip poking out to leave a puddle of his precum on the wooden floor between Lexi's feet.

“Hey, whoever you are, you should really answer me or we're going to have a problem.” The voice called out again, tugging on the door a second time, harder than the first.

Lexi got to her feet and brushed herself off, trying her best to dry the webs of gryphon cum that had splattered over the belly of her tunic. “It's fine, we're coming.” She called out, glancing over to Ithilwen, speaking silently to her new partner. “So what now?”

“What do you mean? We go up there, we tell her that Ceylon found his way into the cellar while we were eating, we pay for the wine bottle he broke, and we leave. You're so anxious, don't be!” Ithilwen explained as she slipped past Ceylon and up the stairs, quickly removing the barricade and opening the door. Before her stood a biped charcoal splotched mare with a cowboy hat and a simple shirt that partially exposed her breasts. Ithilwen bowed to her. “Sorry about that, our gryphon managed to get away from the hitching post and we found him here, drinking your wine.”

The mare flicked her hear and ran her hand through her mane after removing her hat. “That doesn't explain why you had the door locked, though. Were you stealin' from me? We don't take kindly to thieves 'round here.” She threatened as she revealed the machete strapped to her hip.

“Not stealing, no.” Ithilwen assured her, opening up her coin purse to reveal her wealth. “I've got no reason to steal from you, especially not after how delicious that rancher's pie was.”

She whinnied and tossed her head back in a nod. “You liked that, did ya? My husband made the recipe, and it's been the cornerstone to our little restaurant ever since. So tell me, if you're not stealing from me, you're not carryin' out bottles of wine or mead, then what were you doing in my wine cellar?”

Ithilwen glanced back down the stairs to Ceylon and Lexi before leaning in close, motioning for the mare to lower herself for a whisper. “The truth, we needed to punish our gryphon for what he did to the other mares tied to the hitching post, as well as the single bottle of wine he did break. Last thing we needed was to have people see us doing what we have to do to keep him in line.” She slipped a single gold coin into the mare's hand – enough to pay for a dozen bottles of wine – closing fingers around it as Ceylon lowered his ears and made himself look sad, whimpering a bit to really sell it.

Lexi was shocked at how well things were going, especially how Ceylon responded perfectly to every one of Ithilwen's prompts. It was quite uncanny, but Ithilwen had claimed godly luck and higher intelligence in the gryphon, so Lexi simply nodded and patted him on the shoulder, going along with it.

The mare put her hat back on and took the gold coin, stepping back from the cellar door to let the two girls and the gryphon out. “Go on, then. Just, in the future try to keep him from wine cellars in the first place. It's very unbecoming of a gryphon. They need to be treated better.”

“I agree!” Lexi declared as she walked by the mare. “You have a wonderful day!” She waved while Ithilwen and her guided Ceylon out from the wine cellar, grabbing their food and a lead rope along the way.

Once they returned to the busy, packed road with the hundreds of shoppers and locals, Ithilwen turned to Lexi, speaking softly but with intensity. “We have a bit of a problem.” She warned.

“What kind of a problem? Is someone following us?” Lexi asked, heart aflutter.

“No, we have a gryphon problem. He didn't finish did he?”

Lexi gulped and shook her head. “No, I figure he was about to, though. Is that a bad thing?”

“Yeah. Part of our agreement is that he gets what he wants when he wants it, and in exchange he bestows upon me his vast wealth of magic and luck. We need to find a place to help him finish up before we go on with out lives, or our luck might run out and we'll get an ornery, powerful gryphon with a grudge travelling with us. Understand?”

“I think so. Where can we go to do something like that without being caught? These are the Plains of Farragouth, the only law out here is that which is dealt by the locals.” Lexi explained, chest getting tight with worry.

Ithilwen patted her on the shoulder, giggling as she lightly teased. “Lex, darling, you are going to have to get a bit more bold than that if you're gonna be travelling with me. Besides, as long as you succeed in keeping Ceylon happy, you don't have to be worried about what others think or want to do to you; come on, let's go find a place to take care of this bloke before he pins you down and takes you here in the street.”

Admittedly, the thought of being forcefully taken by a gryphon in public like that made Lexi even more moist, but she didn't want to admit it even though she was sure that Ithilwen could smell her arousal. “Alright, let's go.”