Heart-to-hearts and a continued siege

IMPORTANT: I've rewritten the last part of Introspection and Interrogation, specifically the interrogation and its outcome. I highly recommend you go back and reread that part now as it changes how the story will develop going forward. There's more about why I changed it in the author's note of that chapter.

They sat in silence for some time, Koreen leaning against his chest and idly playing with his fur while Fenrir thought over everything she had just told him. She had had a rough life thus far, no doubt about that. And reading between the lines, he could see to how great an extent she had placed her trust and perhaps even her love in one authority figure after another, only to have that trust betrayed over and over. Small wonder that she had rejected him so steadfastly and for so long.

Some of the things she had detailed had him wanting to visit retribution upon those who were to blame, but Koreen didn't really seem to carry all that much hate for those who had betrayed her. On the contrary, she had largely let go of her past in favor of focusing on the future, which he could not help but find admirable. And since tracking any of them down would likely take years at the least, he had to conclude that his energy would be better spent ensuring such pain could never visit her again.

He glanced down at the cerulean succubus in his lap. As painful as it had been for her to revisit her past, she seemed more at peace now than he had ever seen her. Even as he looked at her, she turned her face back up to his. "So, uh... Where do we go from here?"

"We carry on," Fenrir replied. "The fact that you were willing to tell me all this means that you've chosen to trust me, at least a little. And having heard everything that's happened to you, I now know how difficult, even terrifying that must be for you. I was already treating you as one of my followers, and you were already obeying my orders. The difference will be in why you do it, and, I suppose, how close we are otherwise. I mean, you would never have consented to sit on my lap like this when we first met."

"That didn't stop you from picking me up and carrying me around," Koreen muttered, giving him a glare that lacked any real heat. Fenrir just smirked back at her.

"Still, I guess you're right," she said after a moment. "I mean, I was only doing what you said because otherwise I might not have been allowed to stay with Miko, and it's not like she was gonna leave you anytime soon. I'm not saying I trust you, but I suppose you deserve a chance."

"I'll do my best to ensure you don't regret it."

"You better."

Despite the biting nature of her words, Koreen smiled back when he grinned down at her, and another comfortable silence passed as they both watched the flickering fires below.

"So, your turn, big guy," Koreen spoke up again, poking him in the chest.

"What do you mean?"

"I told you my story, but I haven't heard a peep of yours. So spill; how come you showed up in the castle when you did? It was awfully convenient, y'know. If you'd been fifteen minutes later we'd probably all have been dead."

Fenrir raised his eyes to look out over the valley. He'd never told anyone where he really came from. Even now, the thought of telling Koreen made that same familiar yet somehow alien **** rise up within him, the same that had stopped him from revealing the details of his past on any other occasion. But she deserved something. Telling him her life story hadn't been easy either, even if she did feel better for doing it. And if he refused to share anything now, it would damage, perhaps even destroy the fragile trust she had just placed in him.

He cleared his throat, looking back down at her. Uncertainty had crept into her expression while he had been thinking, along with a hint of hurt. "You know that I could become a Demon King in future," he said.

She nodded.

"That wasn't something that just 'happened', or came about by accident. It was offered to me and I chose it, though at the time I had no idea what I was really agreeing to. I am bound, if loosely, by forces I do not fully understand, and these forces warn me against sharing the details of my past with anyone."

"Forces? So like, the gods, or something?"

"That's my suspicion."

Koreen frowned, and Fenrir continued. "I don't believe me being placed in the castle at that particular moment was an accident either. I believe I was placed there by the Dark Twins because it gave me you girls. True, I had to fight off a platoon of human soldiers first, but that only put you in my debt, which gave you yet another incentive to serve me on top of the fact that having me around meant you'd be safer, not to mention my ability to serve as a source of food for all of you.

"And then there's Safara. I believe she's a rare talent in the art of runeworking, and isn't it convenient that she of all mages should happen to be accompanying those soldiers at that particular time?" Fenrir spread his hands. "No, it was no accident that I showed up there when I did."

"Huh, I guess the gods are more active in Ruyanei than I thought."

"They certainly do influence events, though I believe direct intervention is rare."

"You seem to know a lot about it. Is that part of being chosen to be Demon King or whatever?"

Fenrir chuckled. "I suppose so, though it's more of a side effect than anything."

Another silence settled and was again broken by Koreen. "So you can't tell me anything about who you were before you showed up in the castle?"

"It's not quite that cut and dry. If I had to describe it, it's as though there's a **** inside me warning me not to disclose anything about my past. I think I could **** myself to ignore it if I needed to, but because I suspect the origin of this feeling to be the gods themselves, I wasn't inclined to challenge it without good reason."

Koreen sighed. "Yeah, I get that. I don't really like it, but I get it."

"I will tell you that I'm very much unlike the person I was before I was given that offer. Enough so that I don't believe anyone who knew me then would know me now, even if they spent a considerable amount of time around me. Enough so, in fact, that at one point I questioned whether I was even the same person or had simply been given that person's memories."

"Wow. Do you think that's true?"

"That I'm not the same person? No, I'm fairly certain I am still the same person, or rather, that my soul is the same one. My personality has changed quite a bit, and well, no one is quite the same person that they were a year ago. We're all changing, all the time. It's just that normally it's gradual enough that we don't really notice in the moment."

"I don't really know anything about that, so I'll take your word for it," Koreen shrugged.

Fenrir chuckled. "Not a philosopher, eh?"

"Nah, that's- I mean, that was Renna's thing."

The great lupine nodded soberly; he recognized the name as one of those which he had carved onto the memorial for the dead succubi. None of the succubi still living had talked all that much about those they had lost since the funeral they had held for them, at least not in his presence. But then, he had left for a month not long afterwards, so it was possible he just hadn't been around for it.

Koreen shook off her momentary despondency by hopping off Fenrir's lap and stretching. "Well, if you can't tell me then it's whatever. It does make me feel a little better that you haven't told anyone. I thought for sure you'd told Kira and Nelith at least, and maybe some of the other girls as well."

"No, at the moment you know the most out of anyone. Barring the gods, of course," Fenrir smiled at her, stretching out a bit himself. His ear twitched as the sound of a footfall came from behind him, and a moment later a voice followed.

"Know what?" Nelith asked, coming out onto the promontory with her own cloak wrapped close about her to ward off the early morning chill.

"Where Fenrir-" Koreen cut herself off, glancing at Fenrir as though uncertain whether she was supposed to keep what he had told her a secret.

"It's fine, Koreen," Fenrir said, chuckling. "I'd prefer if you didn't tell anyone we can't fully trust, but Nelith has more than earned the right to know."

"Well, now I'm really curious," Nelith said, glancing between the two of them.

Koreen shrugged. "I just asked the big guy where he came from, and he told me that apparently the gods don't want him to talk about it."

Fenrir had to laugh. "That's one way of putting it. To be a bit more specific, shortly before we met in Kharvionas Castle I was given an offer which ended in me becoming who you see now, complete with a **** to speak about my past life that feels as though it doesn't actually belong to me. I don't know that it's the gods' doing, but all the evidence I do have points to them."

"...Huh. Darn, I was hoping you'd tell us someday about where you came from and who you really are, but if the gods themselves told you not to talk about it then I guess I'm out of luck."

Fenrir shook his head. "It's not anything as strong as a direct order. More of a feeling that it'd be a bad idea. I'm pretty sure I could tell you if I really made my mind up to do it, but since I'm pretty sure this **** comes from the gods I haven't been inclined to challenge it without a solid reason to do so. And considering that I'm pretty much a completely different person now, who I was just isn't that important."

"I see. I guess I'll just have to restrain my curiosity then." Nelith walked over to get a kiss from Fenrir before taking a seat next to him. "How'd your scouting go?"

"It was interesting, to say the least. I managed to kidnap an officer of the Issala-Bas clan and get quite a bit of information out of him."

Nelith turned concerned eyes up to him. "You let him see you?"

"Yes, but don't worry, I made sure he won't be able to carry any tales back to his comrades," Fenrir replied, giving her a reassuring smile. "We had a duel after I finished asking him questions, and as you can see, I won."

The dark-haired succubus looked him over with narrowed eyes, but when she was unable to spot any wounds, she relaxed. "...Well, I trust that you know what you're doing. Just be careful, alright?"

Fenrir let his hand come to rest atop her head, ruffling her hair. "You know, you keep telling me to be careful as though I didn't hear you the first time."

"Maybe I wouldn't if you didn't keep doing things that make me wonder if you did hear me," Nelith shot back, though much of the sharpness of her words was stolen by the slightly self-conscious look on her face. "I'm just worried about you, Chief. I know there's really no 'safe' way to save clan Aqun, and that makes me worry."

She continued, interrupting Fenrir before he could more than open his mouth. "I believe you can do it, but just sitting around camp while you're out putting yourself in danger is nerve wracking. Tell me we won't have to sit and wait forever."

Fenrir opened his mouth again, then hesitated. "...You won't have to wait forever, but until the alliance between Issala-Bas and Kata has been sufficiently disrupted, we can't risk them realizing that we're around and helping Aqun. That would be disastrous; right now, they barely recognize clan Aqun as a threat, but I've demonstrated that we very much are. And the fastest way to strengthen an alliance is to give it a common enemy."

"So you figure you're going to be able to break up this thing they've got going?" Koreen asked.

"Based on what I've discovered so far, yes. It's barely hanging on as is; neither side is too enthused about dealing with each other. But as soon as they realize I'm here it'll become far more difficult."

Koreen nodded and took a seat on Fenrir's other side as Nelith sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll be a good girl and stay put. But in the meantime you make sure to give us plenty of sex, alright? I want to get to a level where I can actually hold my own against our enemies."

"I'm sure that's why you want it," Koreen snickered.

"It is!" Nelith protested. "It's not my fault he also gives the best dick this side of anywhere. You might not have noticed between getting fucked **** repeatedly, but sex with the Chief makes us stronger a lot quicker than anyone else I've ever fucked."

"Wait, really?" Koreen seemed to focus inward for a moment. Fenrir took the opportunity to check her stats himself.

Koreen
Female Demon
Lesser Succubus Lvl 8
Abilities: Lesser Seduction, Sneak, Lesser Fireball
Kinks/Fetishes:
likes both dominating and being dominated – enjoys being tied up or otherwise having her body controlled – being helpless arouses her
Disposition Towards User:
is amazed at his sexual prowess - holds a tenuous hopefulness that he is different from her masters in the past

"Wow, you're right. I'm already level eight, and we've only had sex like what, six or seven times? At this rate, I could become a full succubus in just a couple months."

Nelith looked distinctly smug. "I'm going to be one inside of a month." Then she sobered. "Succubi aren't really built for fighting, though, so I need as much strength as I can get if I'm going to stand beside the Chief and fight his enemies alongside him."

Fenrir shifted; the thought of Nelith standing on the frontlines of a fight bothered him. Privately he determined to give her- no, give all his succubi as much sex as possible in the future. Oddly, he didn't have nearly the same concern for Katari, but then he had been sparring regularly with her over the past month. She was exceptionally skilled, enough so that he expected her to be able to trounce any ordinary combatant and even hold her own against opponents of much greater raw power than herself.

He glanced at the eastern horizon. Light was just beginning to show along the lowest parts of the skyline, so he stood and shook himself lightly. "Well, I think I'll head back to camp and catch some sleep. You coming, Koreen?"

"Sure, I'm feeling a little worn out myself," Koreen replied, taking the hand Fenrir extended to help her to her feet.

"You two have fun," Nelith teased, settling herself more comfortably on the log and wrapping her cloak around her.

Fenrir grinned as Koreen fixed him with an inquisitive look. "Not too worn out for sex, eh? Sure, we can go for a round or two, but I'm going to gag you so you don't wake up Katari if we do."

"Deal." Koreen practically skipped down the trail back to camp ahead of Fenrir, her wings fluttering in anticipation.

Unfortunately, Fenrir was awoken about midmorning by Nelith. "Hey Chief, it looks like the oni are gearing up for another battle."

He got to his feet, being careful to avoid waking Koreen, who was sleeping beside him, and stretched. Glancing around the camp revealed no sign of Katari, but otherwise all was in order. With Nelith at his heels he quickly made his way back to the lookout point.

That was where he found Katari, standing stone still and watching the movements of the oni below as the wind coming up the valley whipped her hair about her. She glanced up at Fenrir as he came up to stand beside her, giving him a respectful nod before going back to watching the scene before them. Her face was pale and tense, though at his presence her shoulders seemed to relax a little.

Fenrir turned his attention to the oni below as well. Shouts drifted faintly to his ears as the three factions positioned themselves, clan Aqun making full use of the terrain to limit the number of attackers the other two clans could bring to bear at once. Even with this advantage, however, their victory was far from assured due to how badly they were outnumbered.

"What do you think, Katari?" he asked.

"I do not like it, my lord. Clan Aqun needs assistance soon. This battle will sap much of their remaining strength."

"Hmm. Well, I'll just have to interrupt it then." Fenrir turned to Nelith, who had come up on his other side. "You didn't want to sit around forever, right? Well, now's your chance. We're going to go cause a distraction; between the two of us I think we can make enough of one to convince Issala-Bas and Kata that they've got better things to do than fight clan Aqun."

Nelith's eyes widened. "Really? Sure! I didn't expect to get a chance to help this early, but I'm not gonna complain."

Katari looked up at him, a silent entreaty on her face, but Fenrir shook his head. "You'll get a chance to bloody your blade, but not yet. Stay put for now."

Her face fell, but she nodded her resignation and went back to watching the battle preparations. Fenrir followed her gaze, this time focusing on estimating how soon the battle could be expected to start. The oni were nearly all in position; he was running out of time. "Nelith, come here."

He lifted her to his shoulder, where she settled herself with the leonine grace characteristic of her. Despite the suppressed excitement in her eyes, her voice when she replied was calm and steady. "Ready when you are, Chief."

"Good. Now- Actually, there's a small experiment that we had better do first."

A few moments of experimentation later they had established that Shroud did not in fact hide anyone he was carrying, unless they were physically occluded by his body. While it was slightly annoying that the ability didn't seem to extend beyond his body, he was relieved to know that there was still a way to hide others with it.

"Alright, now we're ready. Keep an eye on the fight, Katari, and if Koreen wakes up before we get back fill her in on what's going on."

Katari nodded and laid a fist over her heart in salute. "Good fortune be with you."

This chapter felt like it took a while, not because I didn't have time to write or had trouble with it, but because halfway through I came to the realization that my choice to have Fenrir ally with Defram was the wrong one, and the story would be better in the long term if he didn't. I went back and forth on whether I should go back and change it for a couple days, but in the end I decided that yes, I should. So I spent a couple more days rewriting the end of that chapter before I could get back to this chapter and finish it.
Thankfully, seasonal work is now winding down, so I have a little more time to write and with any luck, my uploads should become a bit more frequent for the next couple months. But I promise nothing. :P
Enjoy!