Choices, and the future

After a late lunch, Fenrir called a meeting. They all gathered in the kitchens, sitting about the fire which had now burned to ashes. Fenrir placed himself at one end, the succubi stretching away in a semicircle to his right while Safara sat on his left. The elf was still obviously troubled and hardly seemed aware of her surroundings, she was so deep in thought. Yumiko claimed the place to his immediate right instantly, garnering a dirty look from Chellise, but the younger succubus conceded the position without fuss.

"So what's this about?" Nelith spoke up, once everyone was settled.

"I wanted to know what you intend to do next," Fenrir replied, addressing the room as a whole. This brought a surprised silence as everyone stared at him wide-eyed.

"You're asking us?" Nelith managed to conquer her shock enough to respond. "I kind of assumed you would make that decision for us."

"Then let me make it easy. As I see it, you have two choices. You may remain with me, or you may leave and go your own way, wherever that may lead. If you go, I will not hinder you, nor will I harbor any ill will towards you. If you choose to stay, I will expect your obedience, but I will do my best to protect and provide for you."

Nelith gave him a sharp look. "You know, most would just enslave us directly, and throw away the ones they don't want. Why give us a choice?"

Safara straightened beside him, clearly interested in his answer.

"You will be my first followers if you choose to stay. I may well have many unwilling slaves in the future, but I would prefer my first servants to have made the choice to serve me voluntarily. Loyalty, after all, is not easily won, and its worth cannot be measured in gold."

"Well, I'm staying," Yumiko spoke up decisively.

"Miko, hold on! We don't even know him!" Koreen cried, distraught at this sudden declaration.

"I know enough," Yumiko said, her tone absolutely resolved. "The rest of you can do what you like, but I'm his. ...Um, that is, if you'll have me," she finished uncertainly, looking up at Fenrir.

"I would be glad to count you among my followers," he replied, giving her a warm smile. Raising his voice to address the rest of the room, he continued, "I don't expect you to make your decision immediately. Feel free to take some time to think it over."

A succubus he had not yet spoken with asked, "But what do you plan to do? You haven't mentioned that at all."

He quickly looked her over. She was among the oldest of the succubi and had a motherly air about her, though that may just have been due to the way she was tenderly stroking the hair of another succubus lying in her lap. Long blonde hair and gentle green eyes under smooth black horns complemented a well-proportioned body, her various assets neither unusually large or small for a succubus. Her outfit reminded him of office attire from Earth, albeit significantly skimpier than would have been permitted in most businesses.

(Image by Luna Nyann)

Lilli
Female Demon
Lesser Succubus Lvl 7
Status: Curious, Concerned
Abilities: Lesser Seduction, Sneak, Minor Heal
Kinks/Fetishes:
loves to dote on her partners – tends to prioritize her partner’s pleasure – has unusually sensitive ears
Disposition Towards User:
aroused by him – is worried about what his long term plans may be

"That's because I don't really know myself," he finally replied. "Tentatively speaking, I planned to gather some more information about this part of the world and carve out a place for myself if I found somewhere that suited me. That said, I have no specific long-term goal at this time aside from surviving."

She nodded thoughtfully. "What would you expect from us if we joined you? How exactly would we be expected to 'serve'?"

"I would expect your loyalty, obviously. But beyond that, it largely depends on what your abilities are. I don't intend to sit back and do nothing while I **** you to attend to my every need, but you will be expected to pull your own weight in one way or another. But as I said, I don't expect you to decide immediately. Take your time, talk it over."

He stood, signaling an end to the meeting, and left the room. Safara rose also and followed him. He glanced at her, but as she did not appear to be about to speak, he continued on his way to the courtyard. Once there, he began the arduous process of preparing the soldiers' bodies for burning.

"What are you doing?" Safara asked, looking askance at the pile of bodies.

"Disposing of the remains," Fenrir answered simply.

"How will you do that?"

"I will burn them."

"You burned the succubus bodies too. Is that how your kind puts their dead to rest?"

"Sometimes, but in this case I only burn them because it is the easiest method of disposal. They do not deserve the respect I paid the succubi." Fenrir placed another body on the stack he was creating outside the castle wall, being careful to leave plenty of space for air to circulate. He wanted them to burn as thoroughly as possible.

Safara looked upset. "But..." she trailed off uncertainly.

"I recognize that you knew them, but I cannot respect someone who would kill a defenseless, injured girl. Furthermore, I saw no regret in the man's eyes as he raised his sword to strike. If I could, I would leave their bodies to be devoured by wild animals, but there are far too many for that."

Safara subsided and watched him thoughtfully for several minutes before, seeing her tent, she walked to it and disappeared within. Fenrir kept an eye on it, but continued his work.

Back in the castle, there was silence as Fenrir left the room. Finally it was broken by Nelith, who said, almost to herself, "Wow, I didn't expect that."

This opened the floodgates as everyone began talking at once, discussing what they wanted to do, what Fenrir would probably do, and asking each other what they thought of the offer. Koreen turned to Yumiko, beside whom she was sitting, and pleaded, "C'mon Miko, you can't stay with him."

"Why not? He saved our lives, remember? And ever since then, he's done nothing but help us."

"Sure, but-"

"But nothing. Have you forgotten that he was the reason the elf healed everyone? You would have died if he hadn't. And he got food for us, and he built a fire for us-"

"He did those things for himself as well!" Koreen cried desperately.

Yumiko was unfazed. "And just this morning he spent the entire morning getting the funeral ready. Remember what Kira said? He did it because we knew them. He cares about us."

"He was probably just trying to get us to let our guard down!" But not even Koreen believed herself.

Yumiko sighed. "Look, Kor, I get that you're worried about me, but just trust me, okay? He's a good person, I know it. He wouldn't use us and throw us away like you're afraid of. Remember, when he fucked me and I passed out, he carried me back down to the bath and washed me. That's not how a heartless monster would behave. And the way he fucked me... mmm..." She went glassy-eyed, savoring the memory.

Koreen sighed. "I really can't talk you out of this, can I?"

"Nope."

"Fine then. I'll stay as well. But only to make sure he doesn't screw you over."

"Aww, I knew you'd come around," Yumiko said, her tone slightly teasing.

"Yeah, you wish," Koreen replied, but a small smile came to her face as she submitted to the hug Yumiko assaulted her with.

"So are you going to stay?" Chellise asked Nelith, and the rest of the succubi fell silent as they waited for her answer.

Nelith took several moments to answer. Eventually she said slowly, "I... guess so... ...For now, at least. He hasn't really given us any good reasons not to trust him, and it doesn't feel like he's lying to us. But we have only known him for a day. What about you girls?"

"I'm staying!" Chellise volunteered, almost bouncing in place.

"...Yeah, I think I'll stay as well," Kira nodded. "At least until he fucks me. If he fucks as good as Yumiko says, then..." she shrugged, grinning.

"Ditto!" exclaimed one of the other girls. "I'm waiting to decide until he fucks me!"

"'Course you would say that, Aimi," sighed Koreen. "Me and Miko are staying. Looks like I can't talk her out of it, and I'm not leaving her here alone."

"Lilli?" asked Nelith, as all eyes turned to the last two in the room.

"I still want to talk with him a bit more, but if he responds the way I think he will, then we'll stay. We can't keep running forever." A hint of steel entered her normally soft voice as she said, "But if he mistreats Vi then all bets are off."

A wave of concurrence swept the group before the general discourse splintered into smaller conversations. The aforementioned Aimi, however, stood and left the room, purpose burning in her eyes.

Not much happened in this chapter, just a lot of talking, but next chapter things should get spicy again. Aimi, by the way, is pronounced the same as Amy, for those uncertain. We're nearing the end of what I would tentatively term act one. Still a couple chapters, probably, but then we set our sights a bit further afield, because Fenrir knows there's some very big nasties out there and he'd rather not wait around for them to find him.
Happy reading!